Ezekiel Rage (Character)

General Information

Card Stats and Summary

Hair: Gray
Eyes: Green
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 178 lbs.
Appears in: 104 Future Rage, 109 Ezekiel Rage, 124 Future Rage, 221 The Edge of Yesterday

Ezekiel Rage was an agent of the United States government with the codename "Raven", his family including a wife named Abby and a daughter named Karla, whom he kept the secret of his occupation from. His real name was possibly Argus Grimm. Issue nine of the Dark Horse series states that he was recruited from Stanford University in 1974, and paired with Race Bannon on several missions. On an assignment in Panagua, he was discovered, and fled with his wife and daughter by car. The United States declined to help him escape, and he crashed the car off a cliff, surviving with serious burns all over his body; his family was not so lucky. Bent on revenge against the government and a world perceived corrupt, he took on the name Ezekiel Rage and the costume of a Dia de los Muertos celebrator, complete with skeletal arm attachment and wide-brimmed hat. He kept a family album called the Book of Rage as his only possession. He used a combination of religious faith and old intelligence contacts and information to amass power for his apocalyptic plans. He first located a nerve gas and nuclear waste storage facility in New Mexico, intending to use the nerve gas on American citizens. He abducted Dr. Hugo Smallwood after the doctor investigated his appearances, believing him to be a bat creature. The Quests arrived to visit Smallwood and uncovered the plot. Rage tied them up, delusionally believing Jessie Bannon to be his daughter, Karla. Jonny and Jessie fought with him above ground as he prepared a plane. He took off with the two on board, but they escaped with the lone parachute; the plane crashed into a canyon wall.

Rage survived, and one of his scientists discovered the Pentium molecule and its substitute, which could destroy the earth's atmosphere. Rage had his followers take over mission control at NASA and boarded a shuttle mission with Dr. Benton Quest and Hadji Singh on board. He hijacked the shuttle and, at an abandoned space station, began manufacturing the molecular substitute, hoping to drop it into the atmosphere from space. Race Bannon and Natasha Rostova arrived and stopped him; the space station crashed into the ocean, but Rage survived. He observed the test explosion of the nuclear device Big Baby One, and led a team to capture Big Baby Two, another thermonuclear device. He had several copies made and set up at a base at the north pole to go off in tandem, which would melt the polar ice caps. The Quests discovered his plan, and Jessie, using the power of the Aurora Borealis to appear as his daughter Karla, caused a distraction sufficient for a governmental strike team and Dr. Quest to disable the nukes.

Rage hid for some time before following through with his next plan. He first created a gathering place in the Himalayas, then secured a thermonuclear triple warhead; lastly, he seemingly acquired a mechanical right hand. He accosted a 2-mile deep exploration at Meteor Valley State Park, using the deep tunnel to lower the warhead into the earth. He set the timer at seven days and then evacuated to the Himalayan meeting place, announcing to the White House seven days later that the earth would soon end. Dr. Quest and Race scrambled to try and fix the problem, and Dr. Quest granted Jonny access to his time travel program, codenamed Rachel. Jonny and Jessie went seven days back to stop Rage from lowering the bomb into the earth's crust. Rage drove the bomb into the time portal and struggled with Jonny and Jessie; he then accidentally drove the bomb through a time portal leading to prehistory. It detonated, killing him and completing a causal loop.

Peter Lawrence Dialogue

The first writer's bible names Ezekiel Rage "Argus Grimm". Was he your creation?

I believe Ezekiel Rage was invented by Leopold while he was working under 'our' regime. My memory is that Buzz Potamkin wanted a series of more conventional stories and suggested I use Glenn to write them.

Peter Lawrence Writer's Bible

THE KNOWN WORLD VILLAIN:

ARGUS GRIMM

Onetime government operative. Lost his entire family as a result of betrayal by the Administration. Sworn to revenge. Each time he returns, his "revenge objective" is more terrible...more global...more encompassing. And each time he returns, his physical appearance has deteriorated (effectively becoming more awesome) as a result of his previous failures.

Quotes

Rage's Burning Wheel

Spencer - "You really did your homework, Doc. There's a lot to remember about this baby."
Dr. Quest - "I have both he fortune and misfortune of an excellent memory."
Rage - "Then perhaps you will remember me."
Dr. Quest - "Ezekiel Rage?!"
Rage - "In the flesh."

~

Rage - "And he shall speak from on high, bringing the word of extermination to the damnable. May the death of the world be on each and every one of you! Judgment day has come! The sky shall open unto the fearsome fire, burning the guilty in their own wickedness!"

~