| |
|
| |
|
| Raised in Seattle, Washington, by his alcoholic father after his mother had died, Martyn Van Wyck was a bitter and resentful man. He was continuously getting into trouble with authority figures and though he tried to make a career as a musician, he found he couldn't even get a menial job in the music industry. |
| One night, a female acquaintance kicked him out of her car after an argument. Left 54 miles outside of Seattle, he was about to start hitchhiking back when a bright, overpowering light appeared in the sky. Van Wyck only had vague images of being in a room with figures standing over him. He was on a table and had the impression the figures were going to hurt him. The figures were the Controllers, an alien race that had originated on Maltus and had split from the Guardians of the Universe some three billion years ago. They had experimented upon Van Wyck and other humans to create super powered beings to replace the Darkstars they had once empowered as space-based protectors. |
| Six days later, two men in a pickup truck found Van Wyck in the middle of the road. Van Wyck was naked and confused so the men took him to the nearest emergency room. The doctors could find nothing wrong with him except for his eyes had changed from blue to flickering orange flames. |
| Meeting with his friends, Van Wyck told them all he knew about his condition. When the owner of the coffee shop they were sitting in asked them to leave, Van Wyck responded with a beast made out of flame. He realized he could do anything he wanted with his newfound powers. Talking with his girlfriend, Trace, Van Wyck explained how he was sick of being "pushed around" by others and now that he had powers things would change. Van took the name Effigy. He was leaving Seattle and Trace as well. As far as he was concerned, his life as Martyn Van Wyck was over; he was now only Effigy. |
