Kung (comics)

Kung
File:Kung.jpg Entry from Who's Who #13
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Wonder Woman #237 (November 1977)
Created by	Gerry Conway José Delbo
In-story information
Alter ego	Thomas Morita
Team affiliations	Brainiac's villain army, Agent of Prince Daka Agent of Emperor Hirohito
Notable aliases	None
Abilities	Ability to transform into animals

Kung was a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. The character was a supervillain who fought the Wonder Woman and All-Star Squadron of Earth-2 in stories taking place before the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Character history

The early life of Thomas Morita was fraught with difficulty. His family immigrated to the United States from Japan before the Great Depression. During the Depression, his father was unable to find work and eventually died. His mother died soon afterward, leaving only Thomas and his sister, Nancy. Morita traveled back to his homeland to train as a samurai and learning of the Japanese-American internment only further fueled his hatred of America.

Kung undertook his first assignment on December 30, 1941, to kill Prime Minister Winston Churchill on his way to Washington, D.C. but was stopped by the hero Steel. (All-Star Squadron #8 [April 1982])

On March 4, 1942, Kung was hired by the mysterious Prince Daka to team up with Tsunami, Samurai, and Sumo, to infiltrate the All-Star Squadron's headquarters and steal Starman's gravity rod. This theft was thwarted by the Guardian and Kung escapes with Prince Daka. (All-Star Squadron #42-43 [February-March 1985])

In 1943, Kung was assigned to kill General Douglas MacArthur in Washington, D.C. Wonder Woman foiled the assassination attempt, but Kung escaped to his sister's home in New York's Chinatown. Kung tried again to assassinate MacArthur at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, but was himself killed while saving his sister from the weight of a teetering battleship whose drydock supports had been washed away. (Wonder Woman #237-238 [November-December 1977])

Sometime prior to his death, Kung was brought aboard the Monitor's satellite by Harbinger as part of a combined effort to save the remaining Earths from the Anti-Monitor. (Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 [August 1985]) He was later recruited by Brainiac as part of his massive supervillain army to conquer those remaining Earths. (Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 [December 1985]) Kung was excised from DC Comics continuity upon the conclusion of Crisis.

Powers

Kung had the ability to transform himself into animal forms through concentration. Among the animals he transformed into were a man-sized insect, a tiger, and a rhinocerous. If Kung somehow lost his concentration, he reverted back to his human form. As a samurai, he was also a master of Japanese martial arts.