Whirlwind
Whirlwind as he appears on the cover of Avengers #139 (Sep. 1975). Art by John Romita Sr.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales to Astonish #50 (December 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	David "Dave" Cannon
Species	Human mutant
Team affiliations	Masters of Evil Lethal Legion Thunderbolts Defenders
Notable aliases	Human Top Whirlwind
Abilities	Ability to spin at subsonic speeds granting: Superhuman speed, balance, and reflexes Force field generation Tornado generation Win jet stream Flight

Whirlwind (David Cannon) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales To Astonish #50 (December 1963).^[1] David Cannon belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities.^[2] He is a recurring antagonist of the superheroes Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne.^[3] He has also been known as Whirlwind and Human Top at various points in his history.^[4]

Publication history

David Cannon / Whirlwind debuted in Tales To Astonish #50 (December 1963), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.^[5] He appared in the 2007 Invincible Iron Man series.^[6] He appeared in the 2021 Sinister War series.^[7] He appeared in the 2022 X-Men Annual one-shot.^[8] He appeared in the 2023 Wasp series.^[9] He appeared in the 2023 Avengers Inc. series.^[10]

Fictional character biography

David Cannon was born in Kansas City, Missouri. After discovering his mutant power to move at great speeds at an early age, he turns to a life of crime. This eventually brings Cannon, using his first alias as the Human Top and pursuing his career as a jewel thief, into conflict with Giant-Man and the Wasp on several occasions.^[11] Defeated each time, Cannon then redesigns his costume and adopts the alias of "Whirlwind", and adopts the identity of Charles Matthews, chauffeur of Janet van Dyne.^[12][13] Whirlwind joined the supervillain group the second Masters of Evil, and participated in a plot to destroy the Avengers.^[14] He joined the third Masters of Evil, and participated in a Vermont battle against the Avengers.^[15] With Batroc the Leaper and Porcupine, he went on a mission for the Red Skull.^[16]

Cannon continues with the Charles Matthews identity,^[17] first with the intent of robbing van Dyne, later with the intent of hitting on van Dyne. In the role of Charles, he pines for Janet, making advances when Hank Pym is presumed to be dead during the run in Marvel Feature.^[18] Charles is later fired for trying to embezzle Janet's money,^[19] and Hank finally discovers that Charles is Whirlwind later on in the series, forcing Whirlwind to abandon the identity.^[20]

Whirlwind is then employed by master villain Count Nefaria and joined the Lethal Legion. Nefaria temporarily amplifies the abilities of Whirlwind and super-powered team-mates Power Man and the Living Laser before sending them against the Avengers. The effect, however, is temporary and their combined abilities are drained by Nefaria subsequently defeated by the Avengers.^[21] Whirlwind joined the third Masters of Evil in a plan to destroy the Avengers, but caused their defeat by attacking prematurely.^[22] Whirlwind later upgrades his costume when joining a new version of the Masters of Evil formed by Baron Zemo.^[23] Whirlwind partnered with the Trapster, obtained a new battle armor and weapons from the Tinkerer, and battled Captain America in an attempt to bolster his criminal reputation.^[24] He then partnered with the Tiger Shark, traveled to San Francisco to steal an experimental "psycho-circuit", and battled the West Coast Avengers.^[25] Whirlwind also shows signs of an obsession with the Wasp, as he forces prostitutes to dress in the Wasp's past costumes and then assaults them.^[26]

Whirlwind and the Trapster end up fighting, due to a bounty placed on the former by the up-and-coming criminal mastermind Ricadonna. Trapster glues Whirlwind to the floor just at the start of his spin. He continues twirling, breaking many of his bones, including his spine.^[27] He makes a full recovery and is forced to join Baron Zemo's team of Thunderbolts.^[28] After leaving them, he gathered a group of villains together and tried to extort money from the Thunderbolts' new director Norman Osborn, but was viciously beaten by Osborn and is now forced to work secretly.^[29] In Dark Reign: Zodiac, Cannon is shown as a mole for Zodiac, working as Norman's chauffeur.^[30]

Whirlwind later attacks Hank blaming for Janet's death during the "Secret Invasion" and outraged by Pym taking the Wasp codename. He is defeated by the Avengers Academy student Striker. In a conversation between Striker and his mother, it is revealed that she hired Whirlwind to stage the attack to gain publicity for Striker.^[31]

Whirlwind was recruited by the Mandarin and Zeke Stane into joining the other villains in a plot to take down Iron Man. Whirlwind receives a new costume from Mandarin and Zeke Stane.^[32]

During the "Infinity" storyline, Whirlwind was seen with Blizzard robbing banks when they are approached by Spymaster. Spymaster enlists Whirlwind and Blizzard to help him and the villains he recruited to attack the almost-defenseless Stark Tower.^[33]

Whirlwind was hired by Power Broker's "Hench" App to kill Ant-Man as part of the App's demonstration to Darren Cross. When Cross was unwilling to give Power Broker the 1.2 billion dollars he demanded for investment in the Hench app, this caused Power Broker to cancel the demo and cancel Whirlwind's assassination on Ant-Man.^[34]

During the "Avengers: Standoff!" storyline, Whirlwind was an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D. Using Kobik, S.H.I.E.L.D. transformed Whirlwind into a teenager named Scotty. When Baron Zemo and Fixer restored everyone's memories, Whirlwind went on a rampage with Absorbing Man. When the Hood and Titania show up to retrieve Absorbing Man, Whirlwind joins Absorbing Man in siding with Hood's Illuminati.^[35]

During the "Opening Salvo" part of the "Secret Empire" storyline, Whirlwind is among the villains that joins the Army of Evil.^[36] Whirlwind, Batroc the Leaper, and Living Laser attack a haggard, bearded man in torn World War II army uniform who identifies himself as Steve Rogers. He is assisted by people that appear to be Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes with both his arms.^[37]

In a lead-up to the "Sins Rising" arc, Count Nefaria using a wheelchair later forms his latest incarnation of the Lethal Legion with Grey Gargoyle, Living Laser, and Whirlwind in a plot to target the Catalyst.^[38] At Empire State University, Dr. Curt Connors reveals the Catalyst to the crowd when the Lethal Legion attacks. While Grey Gargoyle and Whirlwind attack the people present, Living Laser helps Count Nefaria to operate the Catalyst. Spider-Man shows up and has a hard time fighting them due to the fact that his mind was focused on what a revived Sin-Eater did to Overdrive. Sin-Eater shows up and starts using the same gun he used on Overdrive on the Lethal Legion members while taking their powers. All four of them were sent to Ravencroft where they started to act like model inmates. It was mentioned that Whirlwind was attacked by the inmates that he knew.^[39]

As a side-effect of Sin-Eater's suicide upon copying Madame Web's precognition revealed that Kindred was using them, Whirlwind and the rest of the Lethal Legion regained their sins and are among the villains that went on a rampage.^[40]

During the "Sinister War" storyline, Kindred revived Sin-Eater again and one of the demonic centipedes that emerged from his body took possession of Whirlwind making him one of the members of the Sinful Six.^[41]

Whirlwind was later used by W.H.I.S.P.E.R. to attack Janet van Dyne and Nadia van Dyne. Upon his defeat by them, Whirlwind offered to name the person who hired him to Janet in exchange for protection. This didn't happen as a mysterious person shot him in his cell.^[42]

At the time when Wasp was sent by Mayor Luke Cage to investigate the murders at the Raft, some dead bodies returned to life. To her surprise, she was saved by an artificial personality named Victor Shade who is possessing Whirlwind's body which surprises Wasp. It is later revealed that the Victor Shade persona was created by an older man who claims to be Hank Pym and was the one who arranged for the deaths of those inmates.^[43]

Powers and abilities

David Cannon possesses the ability to rotate his body around its lengthwise axis at great speeds.^[44] He can use his powers without impairing his ability to see, speak, interact with his environment, and can never become dizzy. Moving his body at supersonic speeds grants him superhuman speed, balance, and reflexes. He is able to generate a windscreen to deflect matter. Cannon can to focus air currents generated by his rotation into a jet stream powerful enough to blast a hole through a brick wall. He has the ability to form tornadoes. Additionally, Cannon can fly like a helicopter.

Reception

Adam Holmes of CinemaBlend included David Cannon in their "5 Marvel Villains We'd Love To See In Ant-Man And The Wasp" list.^[45]

Other versions

In other media

References

External links

• Whirlwind at Marvel.com