Arak (character)
Arak is a fictional comic book character and a superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in a special insert in The Warlord #48 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas and Ernie Colón.
| Arak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arak as depicted in Arak, Son of Thunder #21 (May 1983). Art by Adrian Gonzales and Alfredo Alcala. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher | DC Comics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | The Warlord #48 (August 1981) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Roy Thomas (writer) Ernie Colón (artist) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In-story information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Bright-Sky-After-Storm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team affiliations | Quontauka Tribe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable aliases | Son of Thunder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilities | Expert swordsman, archer, and tracker, weather manipulation, earth manipulation, illusion casting, longevity, magic, marksmanship, wind bursts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arak (Bright-Sky-After-Storm) is depicted very much as a Conan knock-off in early appearances. Later, after encountering the Moirai, who explain his destiny to him, he takes on a more Native American appearance, including leather-fringed pants and a Mohawk hairstyle. Unlike Conan (a character Roy Thomas also wrote during his tenure at Marvel Comics), who usually fought against H. P. Lovecraftian monsters and entities, Arak encounters figures and creatures from myth and legends, including Greek, Norse, Judeo-Christian, Muslim, Oriental and others.
Arak was relatively culturally sensitive for the time when it debuted. Unlike other Native American heroes, like Apache Chief, who took a cartoonish view of Native Americans similar to the old western movie Natives, Arak did not have broken speech or other stereotypical Native traits. Also, the Vikings looked more like real Vikings and were not illustrated wearing the stereotypical horned helmets and fur clothing.
Arak returns in the crossover event Convergence, being turned by Brainiac into an almost cybernetic entity with no memory of his previous life, and being renamed as Telos, becoming the main villain for most of the event until the finale, when Arak/Telos remembers his identity.