Real Name: John Michael Ramsay
Alignment: Villain
Faction: Shadow Axis
It isn’t easy being a hulking mass of living magma, but John Ramsay hasn’t let it stop him taking what he wants, when he wants it.
John grew up in the Projects, Empire City’s lowest rent housing. His role models were guys who made their money from crime, and John quickly followed suit when he hit his teens. John saw crime as easy money and he wanted his share. Stints in juvie didn’t deter him, and as an adult he became an enforcer for a local boss. He learned to listen to his gut when things went sour, and that earned his boss’ respect.
When a supervillain set up shop in a disused factory in the Projects, the boss decreed that a lesson must be taught. John was part of a well-armed crew sent to confront the supervillain and make sure he paid his dues.
When they raided the place, John’s crew found a freaky-looking dwarfish man with a grotesquely enlarged bald head. John had heard of this cat who went by the name Big Brain!
Big Brain smiled and then went to work. The crew turned on itself, members shooting at each other while some were thrown through the air by unseen force. John’s survival instinct kicked in and he went to ground to avoid getting hit by the crossfire among his own men.
Soon, John could hear only the ragged sound of his own breathing as the firing stopped. He heard Big Brain’s footsteps coming closer. The supervillain had taken out ten men in a mater of minutes.
Desperately John sprang into action, breaking from his cover and aiming his automatic at Big Brain’s head. But he couldn’t pull the trigger, no matter how much he willed himself to do so. Instead he brought the gun up to how own temple. He closed his eyes, sure of what would come next, before feeling a heavy blow to the back of his head. Darkness followed.
***
John awoke. how much later he didn’t know. He flicked his eyes open. He was alive but felt different. His mouth felt drier than he could ever recall. He looked around a large room. There were refrigeration units all around yet near to him steam rose. He looked down at his own hands and screamed, seeing blackened stone and rivulets of fiery lava.
The door opened and Big Brain entered.
“Welcome back, John,” the diminutive super-criminal began, “Or should I call you Magman now? Your old life is gone, and you have a new one ahead of you. I have let you live and have given you great power, and I can just as easily take it away.”
John couldn’t tell if Big Brain was bluffing or not.
“You can rage at what you have become, or you can embrace it. Listen to your instincts as you always have and accept what you have become, take what you want, when you want to. You have the power to do exactly that now. You are part of the future.”
“Yes,” John responded, his voice like gravel turned underfoot as he saw a chance few were ever granted, “I want this, I want it all!”
John’s days were behind him, while Magman would be a force to be reckoned with. Old loyalties were discarded as the hulking brute joined the ranks of the Shadow Axis.
“Time to feel the heat!”
Magman – Ace Adventures #29.