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The Shade is quite distinct from Shade, the Changing Man, who was a separate character entirely.

The Shade
The Shade as painted by Tony Harris on the cover of Starman #6 (1995)
Publisher DC Comics First appearance Flash Comics #33 Created by E E Hibbard/James Robinson
Characteristics Alter ego Richard Swift Team affiliations Injustice Society Notable aliases Dicky, Mr. Black, Louie Abilities Shadow manipulation(ability to control darkness) - ability to travel great distances in short amounts of time, and create constructs out of shadows; does not age; virtually immortal.

The Shade is a DC Comics character, a villain created in the 1940s who would fight against two generations of superheroes, most notably the Golden Age and Silver Age Flashes. He would serve as a member of several ad hoc super-villain teams and played a role in the first meeting of the Golden Age and Silver Age Flashes before becoming a reluctant mentor for Jack Knight, the son of the Golden Age Starman.

Initially a common super-villain who can manipulate the shadows via a magical cane, the character was reinvented in 1994 as a morally ambiguous immortal who could control and manipulate the shadows (without his trademark cane) to the extent of being able to create fully developed constructs with them.

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Pre-Crisis 1.2 Post-Crisis 1.3 Post Zero-Hour 2 Other Versions 3 Other media 4 See also

The Shade was introduced in Flash Comics #33, as a villain for the original Golden Age Flash. A common thief who could manipulate the shadows with his cane, he fought both the Golden Age Flash and his Silver Age counterpart Barry Allen, appropriately being the villain for the first meeting of the two heroes in the famous "Flash of Two Worlds" story, that reintroduced the Golden Age Flash to the Silver Age.

Shade returned in print in 1986, as a member of the Wizard's new incarnation of the Injustice Society – now being called Injustice Unlimited. They overcame the security at the International Trade Conference in Calgary, Canada — Infinity, Inc. and a contingent of the Global Guardians — and forced the heroes to help them. The Shade took Fury (Lyta Trevor) to Athens and, with her help, stole a piece of the Altar of Erebus from within the Hill of Ares (the Areopagus). After a brief brush with the Olympian, Shade and Fury returned to Calgary to share in the stolen wealth being gathered by the Wizard. The plan eventually failed and the Shade was arrested.

The Shade's next appearance would be a flashback story in Secret Origins #50 (published in 1989), which told the story of the post-Crisis first meeting of Jay Garrick and Barry Allen. The storyline controversially had the Shade literally kidnap the city of Keystone City (including the Golden Age Flash and the city's entire population) into a parallel dimension where he kept his prisoners in suspended animation for nearly thirty years, before the Silver Age Flash rescued his namesake and the city from the Shade's clutches. This was done to explain the difference in ages between the Flashes. Due to the absurd nature of the story and its premise, the story was quietly ignored by many writers and ultimately retconned out of canon due to the events of Zero Hour.

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After Zero Hour, The Shade's origin was changed drastically. No longer a generic villain with a magical cane, The Shade was now a morally ambiguous English gentleman named Richard Swift, who under unknown circumstances was turned immortal and granted power to control shadow. Shade's powers were retconned as not based from his cane but by tapping into an alternate dimension of shadows, which he could manipulate and shape into whatever form he wanted. He could use them to attack, and also to teleport himself himself and others. It would later be shown that Infinity Inc. member Obsidian gains his abilities from the same dimension.

A man of learning, Shade traveled within the literary circles of the Victorian England, befriending authors Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. As time passed, Swift began using aliases for himself such as "Mr. Black". He would allow to those he was friendly with to call him "Shade". He also developed enemies, such as the mysterious dwarf Culp and the murderously corrupt Ludlow family, who Shade had all but wiped out. Their offspring promised vengeance against him, and Shade would deal with them many times, including Shade's miniseries.

Shade eventually fell in love with United States east-coast city of Opal City, which had a distinct European flair which he enjoyed according to Starman Secret Files and Origins. Setting up residence in Opal City, Shade befriended Opal City's sheriff, Brian Savage, once DC's Western hero Scalphunter. He slowly amassed a small personal fortune, while also moonlighting as a hired killer.

The Shade fled back to England during the early days of World War II, to aide the Allies in fighting the Nazis. While on patrol with the British hero Captain X, Shade was ambushed by Culp when a bomb fell from a German fighter plane onto the two men. To survive, Culp was forced to seek shelter by merging with Shade.

When the age of costumed heroes began and unknowingly influenced by the malevolent Culp, Swift decided to give himself the name "The Shade" (added a 'the' to his nickname) in 1942. Downplaying his formidable shadow powers, Shade committed crimes in various cities, most notably Keystone City, where he found himself a nemesis in the form of the Flash, Jay Garrick. The Shade would privately refer to his battles as "the joust", which he engaged in for the thrill of combat with another super-powered combatants. In the future, Shade would speak fondly of his time 'jousting' with the Flash and with other early Superheroes.

Despite his turn to super-villainy, he would not perform a crime in Opal City. The Shade has been known to be protective of Opal City, to the point of using his powers to kill any criminals who attempt to commit crimes in the city. He even would engage in the occasional super-hero battle, saving Howard Hughes from the villainous Johnny Sorrow. However, Culp slowly began to fight Shade to gain dominance over his body, culminating in the Shade believing that that Culp was alive and plotting against him. Ultimately, he and Dr. Fate teamed up to find Culp, never knowing that the villain he was seeking was inside him.

In the 1994 Starman series, Jack Knight became the new Starman after the death of his brother David. He united with Shade to save Opal City from the Mist and his family's reign of terror that threatened to destroy the city. Later, Jack (and the reader) would be privy to the Shade's diaries, learning much of his life and back story. These daries were told in flashback issues called "Times Past". They often dealt with different Starmen including Jack's Father Ted, as well as other characters from the Starman mythos like Brian Savage.

Culp occasionally was able to take control of the Shade, and around the time Jack returns from space, was able to assume full control over his body. Gathering an army of villains whom Jack had battled over the course of the series, Culp (in Shade's body) cast a spell that allowed him to trap everyone in Opal City using Shadow. The story was the climax story arc of the Starman series, titled Grand Guignol, after the Paris theater where horrific plays were often performed.

The Shade has since made cameo appearances in Green Arrow, JSA, and Birds of Prey, and was listed alongside magical-based villains such as Felix Faust and Circe. He also had a brief appearance in DC's Brave New World in 2006.

Jack's trip into space in the Starman story arc Stars, My Destination showed that at some point in the future, the Shade's shadow powers overtook him due to a disease that Culp had infected him with during their final battle. The shadow began expanding into the universe and threatening areas protected by the Legion. Jack was able to find The Shade, and with help from Mikaal Tomas save him. In the final issue of Starman Jack used his Cosmic Rod to apparently stop the disease from ever taking over Shade. Starman Annual #1 shows what may or may not be Shade's ultimate fate, as the protector of a Utopian planet thousands of years into the future.

• On Earth-33, there is a magician called Shade, with all his powers. He is a member of the League of Shamans.
• The Shade. An alternate version of the heroine Nightshade, se shares with him his namesake and all his powers, and she wears a top hat and a cane. She's killed by Eve of the Shadows, another Nightshade counterpart.

The Shade has also appeared in the Justice League animated series, where he has appeared as a member of Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang and Aresia's Injustice Gang. He was later recruited into Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society, although, by this time he was skeptical of its success due to seeing such efforts fail twice in the past.

When Grodd's Secret Society was defeated by the Justice League in a football field in front of thousands of people, Shade stated "I knew this wouldn't work." before attempting to flee and being stopped by Batman.

In the Justice League Unlimited series, Shade joins a fourth anti-Justice League organization, Gorilla Grodd's new Secret Society, later taken over by Lex Luthor. The Shade is prominently shown for the last time in the series in the episode "Alive", where he sided against Luthor during the mutiny led by Grodd, who was freed by Tala. During the mutiny, Shade was frozen by Killer Frost. It can be assumed that he died, as Lex Luthor tells Frost to "Get Rid of" the frozen traitors. Even if he was not killed there, he would have died with the other frozen villains when Darkseid destroyed Luthor's space-ship. The Shade is voiced by Stephen McHattie.

In both series, his powers are a product of his staff, which he calls the "nightstick," much like that of his pre-Robinson years. When he first joined Grodd's group, he was attracted to Giganta, who seemed to return his affection. When he found out that she had once been a gorilla he is shocked, but then looks at her and shrugs with a smile on his face indicating he didn't seem to care.

• List of fictional characters who can manipulate darkness or shadow