Created by Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway and Mike Machlan, Northwind first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25.[1] He also appeared in the Infinity Inc. comic, although he left the team partway through the run.[2]
Creation
Thomas spoke on the creation of the character stating
"As a longtime Hawkman fan, I wanted Carter and Shiera Hall represented in the new group, even if not by a blood relative. After all, for an offspring of theirs to have real wings, we'd have had to jump through some hoops, since the Halls strapped on synthetic wings and belts of Nth Metal when they went trolling for criminals. Instead, we settled on a godchild. For years I had been enraptured by the Gardner Fox/Joe Kubert Hawkman tale "The Land of the Bird People" in Flash Comics #71 (May 1946); so Dann and I came up with Northwind, a half human, half Arctic bird-person."[3]
Northwind is the son of the Feitheran Osroro and human anthropologist Fred Cantrall, who seeks to study the species.[4] Learning that Hector Hall is the Silver Scarab who will destroy the world, Northwind's grandfather Worla infuses him with the essence of Feithera's founder Thoth to stop him.
After leaving Feithera at age 15, Northwind travels to Washington, D.C., where the Halls adopt him. He later returns to Feithera and learns that Worla intends for him to succeed him as Feithera's spiritual leader, but he refuses and becomes a founding member of Infinity, Inc.[5][6][7][8][9]
Northwind later battles Hall, who has been possessed by the Scarab. Hall is killed in the battle, but is eventually resurrected and becomes the Sandman.[10]
Kahndaq
Through yet undisclosed events, Northwind and the Feitherans evolve into a more bird-like state and New Feithera is destroyed. As a result, they move to Black Adam's home country of Kahndaq.[11][12][13]
Powers and abilities
Northwind is a bird-like humanoid who possesses superhuman physical abilities and can communicate with birds and sense weather patterns. He additionally wields Feitheran magic that enables him to generate mystical fire, a spear, and a balance-disrupting Globlass Gun.
^Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 203. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. The children of the original Justice Society of America made their smash debut in this issue by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Jerry Ordway...All-Star Squadron #25 marked the first appearances of future cult-favorite heroes Jade, Obsidian, Fury, Brainwave Jr., the Silver Scarab, Northwind, and Nuklon.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 217. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
