Rip Hunter
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Rip Hunter is a DC Comics character who first appeared in Showcase #20 (May 1959), then got his own series which ran for 29 issues (1961-65). He later starred in the 8 issue Time Masters series from 1990 which was written by Bob Wayne and noted author Lewis Shiner. He was created by Jack Miller and Ruben Moreira.
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[edit] Fictional character
[edit] The Time Masters
Rip Hunter spent his entire adult life preparing for enemies a time traveler would face. "Rip Hunter" is in fact an alias. His name, his date of birth, and where he grew up is unknown to prevent enemies from killing Hunter before he becomes a threat.
Rip Hunter was an ordinary man who used his Time-Sphere time-travel machine to delve into time. Aided by his friend, Jeff Smith, girlfriend Bonnie Baxter and Bonnie's kid brother Corky, they had many adventures in time.
[edit] Linear Men
After several trips back and forth, Hunter was eventually recruited to be one of the Linear Men. Simply calling himself "Hunter", he involves himself in several time travel events, starting with "Armageddon 2001." His appearance is noticeably different. He has white hair and has apparently aged several years, in addition to a bionic eye. During "Armageddon" he had a limited role, merely appearing alongside the Linear Men when Waverider and Monarch first emerged.
Hunter would surface again prior to Zero Hour. After an altercation with Monarch, Waverider inadvertently evolved Monarch in to Extant. Prior to the day's events, Hunter looked into the future and saw Monarch's death, but time was altered. Extant proceeds to jump start the crisis in time that involved the universe's destruction and rebirth.
Several years into the future, Hunter appears at the birth of Superman and Wonder Woman's son. Before he arrives Gog attacks, unaware that Superman had ever had a son. He had been going back in time and killing earlier and earlier versions of Superman, creating a time paradox. The Linear Men are perplexed by the problem because it is having no effect on the timestream. Following the attack, Hunter brings Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman to the year 1998 and retrieve the baby. After Gog's defeat, Hunter reveals he has been working with the grown up version of the child, Jonathan Kent. The existence of Hypertime is revealed for the first time, effectively negating the purpose of the Linear Men.
He stayed with the group until it was effectively destroyed after the Imperiex onslaught. Hunter's purpose for being part of the group was to protect Hypertime from the group, whose purpose was contrary to the Linear Men's existence.
Rip Hunter, once again with the appearance he had in earlier stories, has reemerged into the present, taking members of the Justice Society of America back through time to the days of World War II. He hints at a background significantly different from a simple scientist.
[edit] 52
In the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis, Rip Hunter's future has changed. Now, he is the inventor of time-travel technology in the DCU.[1] However, realising the dangers of publicising himself as such, he refuses to tell anyone his real name, date of birth or childhood home, to protect himself from time-travelling villains. This strategy has paid off on at least one occasion as Rip has used his anomalous status to save the DCU from Per Degaton.
Booster Gold, suspecting damages in the very fabric of time, tries to contact him. Apparently his status as a time traveler is still current, as is the uniqueness of his Time-Sphere. Booster Gold finally discovers his whereabouts in an old concrete bunker in Arizona Desert. Unfortunately the bunker is sealed with a time lock that will only open on January 1, 52 B.C.
When Booster Gold finally manages to enter the bunker, he finds only a blackboard, a globe and some pieces of paper filled of writings about the future of the DCU - with references to facts/events like the mortality of Vandal Savage, the last Lazarus Pit of Nyssa Raatko, the appearances of the mysterious Supernova, the new Batwoman and Aquaman, his fear of being constantly monitored, the destiny of the New Gods after the disappearance of the old ones, a strange note about death by lead, multiple references to the number 52, and the sentence: "TIME IS BROKEN". A globe, marred with a red X, shows the sentence "World War III. Why? How?".
Hunter was not there, however, and his Time-Sphere, resembling a classic Legion of Super-Heroes time bubble, lies broken. Amidst the chaos of the laboratory Hunter had left a note, accusing Booster Gold of having disrupted the flow of time. It was later revealed that the one accused by the note was, in fact, not Booster but Skeets, his robot companion.[2]
It is revealed that Rip Hunter's location is still not known. Skeets managed to cripple his organization by killing many time-travelers including Waverider.[3]
Rip then shown to have been hiding in the Bottle City of Kandor. Using Supenova as help, Hunter has been hiding away in Kandor to try and put together a machine that will "fix" time before Skeets finds him. Skeets then appears hovering just outside the Bottle City.[4]
Rip then orders Supernova to reveal his identity to Skeets as a distraction while he scavenges Supernova's outfit for materials to build a Phantom Zone projector. Distracting Skeets with it, he flees, along with Booster Gold, into a mysterious somewhere, chanting a countdown starting from "52".[5]
