I usedta be called "Manhunter." You may've heard of me. It was a few years back...I was cool. All claws and straps and spikes and a cape that went on for days, man! 
- — Manhunter src
Chase Lawler was Manhunter, a hero unrelated to the larger Manhunter legacy.
History
Chase Lawler was a musician in Star City. When his ex-girlfriend signed a record deal with the same shady executives that left his brother strung out and broke, Lawler was desperate for a way to save her. Through a musician friend, he learned of Dr. Malig, a reputed sorcerer. Malig helped him summon a primordial being known as the Wild Huntsman, a force that hunted and preyed upon outsiders from society. Malig sent Lawler to face the Huntsman knowing that by taking his place in the grand order, Lawler would inherit his powers. The Huntsman succeeded in killing the record executives but Lawler, now equipped as Manhunter, tried to stop the force from freely hunting humanity in the modern world. When Manhunter's brother Billy attempted to intervene, the Huntsman hunted and captured him. Manhunter was forced to kill his own brother in order to prevent an even worse death. The act of stealing the Huntsman's prey, allowed the power to fully transfer from the Huntsman into Manhunter and the Huntsman was once again made irrelevant. Dr. Malig then attempted to kill Manhunter and claim the powers for himself, as was his plan all along, but Manhunter realized Malig wasn't as powerful as he believed. He hunted Malig but stopped short of killing him. Resigned to the fact that he was now a hunter of men, Manhunter vowed to end the hunt before he taking a life.[1]
Lawler encountered an entity known as the Skinwalker that was an ancient animal life force that survived by killing people and wearing their skins. He was able to kill it by electrocution.[2] After this, he was able to find work when Goodish got him hired by Necrodyne Industries to track down a missing asset. The asset turned out to be the Incarnate who was kidnapped by Barbarian and White Lotus. Manhunter's drive to hunt made him track Barbarian all the way from Star City to Nevada. He fought Captain Atom along the way after nearly crashing an airplane in the desert. He finally caught up to Barbarian and tagged him, ending his hunt lust. Barbarian wasn't done and continued fighting. In the ensuing fight, Barbarian and White Lotus were both killed and Incarnate took his own life.[3]
When Lawler arrived back in Star City, Goodish said there was a new job for him. This turned out to be a setup, as Necrodyne decided it was time to capture Manhunter for their own uses. Necrodyne's enforcer Scarth revealed that Necrodyne had reanimated Manhunter's brother Billy as a massive zombie. Manhunter was forced to kill his brother once again and defeat Scarth. Incarnate killed Necrodyne's CEO Mr. Dunwich, ensuring that Necrodyne would pose a threat to neither of them in the future.[4]
Following this, Bloodmoney captured Lawler. He had already tortured Dr. Malig into revealing all Manhunter's secrets. Bloodmoney burned the Manhunter suit and was preparing to beat Lawler to death when he was killed instead by a temporarily insane Mark Shaw. Dumas next killed Manhunter but this death shocked Shaw out of his insanity and he rushed to perform CPR on Lawler, saving his life. Because Manhunter had been killed by Shaw, even briefly, the Huntsman's powers passed from Lawler to Shaw. With no real reason to continue, Lawler gave up the Manhunter identity completely.[5]
Only none of that was true. The government had seen Lawler as the perfect test subject and put Manhunter nanites in the needle the one time he tried drugs. A side effect of the drugs created the Wild Huntsman in Lawler's mind which drove him. He performed missions for a time for the government until Shaw reappeared as Dumas, "killed" the Hunstman, and disappeared again.[6]
Without the Huntsman, Lawler's personal life suffered. His career in music had gone nowhere and a fire at a concert with his old band left him paying most of his pension to victims of the fire. Shaw found him day drinking at a bar in Chicago and drugged his drink.[7] Lawler woke up in an abandoned warehouse, dressed in his old costume with Shaw dressed as Dumas standing over him. When Lawler asked what he wanted, Dumas responded that he wanted him dead and slit his throat.[8] Lawler's body was discovered shortly after in a drainage ditch.[9]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Stamina
- Regeneration
- Aerokinesis: He had limited control of wind, allowing him to use gusts as offensive weapons or to 'walk on air'.
- Gliding
- Tracking
Abilities
- Music Lawler was a skilled guitar player
Recommended Reading
Related
- 17 Appearances of Chase Lawler (New Earth)
- 5 Images featuring Chase Lawler (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Chase Lawler (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Chase Lawler (New Earth)
Footnotes