Contributed by Ronald Byrd
Chain (AKA Gordon), one of the many super-villains active in Astro City, was among the victims of the so-called “Black Mask Killer,” killed when he became suspicious of a mass crimewave that was part of a master plan by the ex-hero known as El Hombre. Never actually seen, his murder was reported in #14. Following his death, Chain’s unnamed spouse, an African-American man, notes that he “always tried to get [Chain] to go legit—sell his apparatus to some big company, or something. I mean—shifting your mind into a metal body. Think of what that’d mean to undersea work, or space exploration.” Unfortunately, Chain was never interested in this potentially more lucrative use of his capabilities. He is known to have cleared at least two million dollars in a “Montreal raid,” but like most other super-villains, he had little ability to hold onto money.
Via unspecified technology, Chain was able to shift his consciousness from his human body into a metallic one made of links. In this form, he could be scattered into pieces, only to re-form himself and recover from any physical damage; only his “brain-link” was vulnerable to harm. It might be presumed that he had various other superhuman traits as well.
Chain was confirmed as gay in Astro City #15, vol 2.
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