Publisher DC Comics Team affiliations Villainy Inc. Creator William Moulton Marston | Alter ego Byrna Brilyant Notable aliases The Snow Man Affiliation Villainy Inc. | |
Created by William Moulton Marston Abilities Used a telescopic snow ray to create and reverse blizzards
Brilliant scientist First appearance Sensation Comics #59 (November 1946) Similar Queen Clea, Orana, Hypnota, Angle Man, I Ching | ||
Blue Snowman (also known as The Snowman, real name Byrna Brilyant) is a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe who appears primarily as an enemy of Wonder Woman. Blue Snowman is a woman disguised as a man who uses the invention of "blue snow," a special form of precipitation that freezes everything it touches. She is also notable as being a member of the original Villainy Inc.
Contents
Publication history
Blue Snowman first appeared in Sensation Comics #59 and was created by William Moulton Marston.
Golden Age
Byrna Brilyant's scientist father died while working on his invention of "blue snow," a special form of precipitation that freezes everything it touches. This invention was intended to "serve humanity," although precisely how seems rather vague. Thinking to put her father's work to more profitable use, Byrna creates the masculine identity of the Snow Man and unleashes the petrifying power of blue snow upon the farming community of Fair Weather Valley, demanding each farmer's "life savings" in return for the chemical antidote that will free crops, livestock, and people from the snow's effects. The Blue Snow Man is discovered in "his" mountain sanctuary by Wonder Woman, who forces "him" to defrost the valley.
Like many of Wonder Woman's enemies, Brilyant is sentenced to prison on the Amazon penal colony Transformation Island, but in 1948 she and seven other female super-villains escape and pool their talents as Villainy Inc.; led by the Saturnian slaver Eviless, the evil eight are again defeated by Wonder Woman. In this appearance, she calls herself the Blue Snow Man.
Byrna retained her male appearance and name in this second appearance, but what if anything is to be made of her choice of criminal identities is unknown.
Post Crisis
After all of the Golden Age Wonder Woman stories were erased from history by the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, Blue Snowman fell into obscurity. A new Post-Crisis Blue Snowman recently reappeared in Power Girl #7, where she is pursued and defeated by Doctor Mid-Nite. She is accidentally killed and devoured by a giant alien bug that Vartox brought to earth in order to impress Power Girl. In this version, Byrna uses a robotic suit of armor that is capable of creating snow. She is mentioned as "an old Wonder Woman foe," suggesting that her battles with Wonder Woman had occurred in the past. She was also mentioned as having worked with the Ice Pack, which did not exist in that continuity.
The New 52
In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe) Blue Snowman appeared briefly after battling Wonder Woman and her ally Hessia alongside her robot minions.
Powers and abilities
Blue Snowman possesses no superhuman powers; she relies upon a "telescopic snow ray" to create petrifying blizzards and a "defroster ray" for reverse effects. She uses a variety of gadgets, including a hat that produces blue snow and a smoking pipe that projects icicles.
DC Super Friends
Blue Snowman appeared as a member of the Ice Pack with Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Minister Blizzard, Killer Frost, and Icicle in the Super Friends comic book series. Along with the Ice Pack, the group was able to freeze the Super Friends in a solid block of ice. Later, Blue Snowman argued with Killer Frost over the Selma Diamond, which resulted in the two women encasing each other in ice and allowed Superman and Aquaman to take them into custody.
The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Blue Snowman appeared in the All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold comic book series (which is based on the animated series of the same name). She was seen with the other Wonder Woman villains (consisting of Amoeba Man, Angle Man, Cheetah, Crimson Centipede, Fireworks Man, Mouse Man, and Paper-Man) as they, along with an assortment of Batman's villains, crashed the wedding between Batman and Wonder Woman. They were swiftly defeated by the joint efforts of the Justice League and the Amazons of Themyscira.
The Legend of Wonder Woman
Blue Snowman was set to appear in the second volume to The Legend of Wonder Woman, a retelling of Wonder Woman's origins by Renae de Liz and Ray Dillon. However, DC cancelled the project under unknown circumstances. De Liz later posted preliminary artwork featuring Blue Snowman on Twitter.