Vibe (comics)

Vibe
225x450px Vibe (Francisco Ramon) in Who's Who: Update '87 #5 (December 1987)
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Justice League of America Annual #2 (October 1984)
Created by	Gerry Conway (writer), Chuck Patton (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Paco Ramone or Francisco "Cisco" Ramon
Species	Metahuman
Place of origin	Earth
Team affiliations	Justice League Los Lobos
Abilities	Above average agility Skilled hand to hand combatant Sonic vibration manipulation Seismic powers (New 52) Molecular vibration Induced image distortion
Justice League of America's Vibe
Series publication information
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	February 2013 – December 2013
Number of issues	10 (as of February 2014 cover date)
Creative team
Writer(s)	Andrew Kreisberg, Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates
Artist(s)	Pete Woods, Sean Parsons

Vibe (real name Paco Ramone or Francisco "Cisco" Ramon) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

Carlos Valdes portrays Cisco Ramon / Vibe in The CW’s Arrowverse shows, especially The Flash, in which he is one of the Flash's team-mates.

Publication history

Vibe's first appearance was in Justice League of America Annual #2 (October 1984), and he was created by Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton.

Fictional character biography

Paco Ramone began his career as Vibe shortly after Aquaman disbanded the original Justice League. When young Cisco heard that a new Justice League was forming in his own hometown Detroit, he decided to give up his position as the leader of a local street gang, Los Lobos, to join. What made Ramon a candidate was his metahuman ability to emit powerful vibratory shock waves.

Vibe's presence on the team caused Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter to harbor some strong doubts about the new JLA, particularly after he got the League involved in a rumble with a rival gang. Vibe soon proved his mettle during the League's battles against Cadre, Anton Allegro and Amazo. He stayed with the League through the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, when his powers played a vital role in defeating Despero.

During Darkseid's assault on Earth during the Legends mini-series, the Justice League of America was disbanded and Paco left his JLA comrades to seek the familiar solace of the streets. Vibe was attacked by one of Professor Ivo's androids, and became the first Justice League member to be killed in the line of duty. The Martian Manhunter brought Vibe's body back to the League's mountain sanctuary, where Vibe was laid to rest in a cryogenic chamber. Paco's dead form has twice been resurrected by evil-doers.

One of Vibe's brothers, Armando Ramon, developed a similar set of vibratory powers.

In the Trinity maxi-series, reality is altered, and a living Cisco is shown as a member of The League, an underground version of the Justice League. Soon after Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman return, his head is disintegrated by an energy blast, killing him again.

In a Justice League of America tie-in to the "Blackest Night" storyline, Vibe was reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, rising from his coffin in the Hall of Justice. Alongside the Black Lantern Steel, Vibe attacked his former teammates, Gypsy and Vixen, until Doctor Light destroyed him.

The New 52

In DC's Free Comic Book Day 2012 sample during The New 52, a gatefold revealed various characters who would make an appearance in Justice League over the coming year, one of which was Vibe. Geoff Johns revealed that Vibe's return would be explored in greater detail in the third story arc of Justice League. On August 26, 2012, DC announced a new Justice League of America title which would feature Vibe. On November 5, 2012, DC announced that Vibe would star in his own ongoing monthly title. It was written by Andrew Kreisberg and drawn by Pete Woods and debuted in February 2013. In new continuity, Vibe's powers derive from being "caught in the event horizon of a Boom Tube", in which "interdimensional forces rewrote his DNA". Justice League of America's Vibe lasted for ten issues, with the final issue released on December 18, 2013.

Another of Vibe's brothers, Dante Ramon, is seen in The New 52.

Powers and abilities

Vibe's powers revolve around vibration, frequency and resonance; Vibe's powers enabled him to create shock waves of considerable strength that could shatter concrete or steel. His powers can affect the physical world as seismic vibration (and even Terrakinesis), or the fabric of spacetime (interdimensional, transdimensional and extradimensional portals).

Vibe's reintroduction in 2013 redefined his powers as having to do with inter-dimensional physics. Vibe's waves have the power to disrupt the Speed Force, making him one of the few characters who poses a serious threat to the Flash. For this reason, Steve Trevor recruits him into the JLA, which exists to guard against the threat of the main Justice League going rogue.

Amanda Waller says that "Cisco Ramon might be one of the most powerful super-humans on the planet. He wields vibrational powers that could in theory shake the Earth apart. And he's the only person we know of who can find and track inter-dimensional breaches." He is also undetectable by security cameras.

In the 2014 series The Flash, Vibe's powers first manifested as precognitive/retrocognitive visions brought-on by touch or by a strong-enough imprint, initially, before they developed further, such as focused waves of concussive, vibrational force, to inter/extradimensional breaches.

In addition, his agility is above average (and he was a super breakdancer). Under Batman's secret tutelage, Vibe became a more skilled combatant.

In other media

Television

• Vibe made several non-voiced appearances in Justice League Unlimited. This version was often seen next to the Detroit League's other members but did not get a major role in any episode. His most prominent action is in the episode "Flashpoint" helping rescue New Mexico's civilians in the aftermath of the Cadmus facility's destruction. He is also shown with fellow Detroit-era members Vixen, Steel and Gypsy in the final 'curtain call' of the series finale "Destroyer".
• Vibe made an appearance in his 2-part DC Nation cartoon short Enter Extremo, voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Arrowverse

File:Cisco Ramon (Carlo Valdes).jpg

Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon / Vibe on the CW series The Flash.

• Carlos Valdes portrays Cisco Ramon/Vibe in The CW's Arrowverse, being a series regular on The Flash. This version of the character is a mechanical engineering genius at S.T.A.R. Labs with known metahuman powers to detect anomalies within reality and sonic manipulation. He is a part of Team Flash alongside Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost and Harrison Wells who supports Barry Allen/The Flash saving lives and fighting crime. A talented engineer and creative mind, Cisco builds much of the Flash's equipment and is fond of assigning colorful nicknames to criminal metahumans. He has also had a rocky relationship with his brother Dante Ramon. In season one, he becomes good friends with Barry. Although Cisco initially appears unaffected by the particle accelerator blast which was behind the Flash's and many others' powers, he begins having visions of people in other timelines and thus is revealed to be a metahuman; Cisco's ability is what helps the team to discover that Wells is actually Eobard Thawne aka the villain speedster Reverse-Flash. In season two, Cisco takes the "Vibe" nickname after embracing his metahuman status. He eventually learns to call upon his powers to a greater degree while the team faces off against the Earth-2 speedster Zoom, and discovers from his own Earth-2 doppelganger Reverb that he has the latent power to open dimensional portals and emit powerful destructive blasts. He develops these abilities himself thanks to Harry Wells but to a limited degree. In season three, his relationship with Barry is temporarily strained after he finds out that Barry's timeline changes lead to Dante's death. But after he changes history himself during the Dominators invasion, he realizes that Barry made that exact same mistake and reconciles with him. He also grows more confident in using his powers offensively, to trigger visions, and to open up portals across Central City and to other worlds. Vibe uses his powers offensively against the Rival to help Barry and Gypsy to save H.R. Wells from execution, and finally Killer Frost due to Savitar. Cisco has also made appearances on each of the other "Arrowverse" shows (Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl).

Film

• Breakdance (Vibe's Earth-3 counterpart) is shown in the movie Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, voiced by Carlos Alazraqui. He is a member of the Crime Syndicate of America and first appears as part of Owlman's clean-up crew. Breakdance is shown with the other evil counterparts of the Detroit-era Justice League, including Fortuneteller and Vamp.

Video games

• Vibe appears as playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Web series

• Cisco Ramon appears in the animated web series Vixen, voiced by Carlos Valdes. In episode 3, Cisco has been running a modified facial recognition algorithm created by Felicity Smoak at S.T.A.R. Labs in an attempt to locate Meta-humans outside Central City. The software picks up Mari McCabe's encounter with the thugs from episode 1, and Cisco alerts the distracted Barry Allen attempting to locate a missing USB drive containing crime scene statistics. Cisco gives Mari the name Vixen, and tells Barry that Vixen's currently in Detroit before asking him to check out the situation.
• Cisco Ramon is the main character in the web series Chronicles of Cisco, reprised by Carlos Valdes, which details Cisco Ramon being alone at S.T.A.R. Labs at night, where he encounters the intruder Peek-a-Boo.
• Vibe is one of the background students in the web series DC Super Hero Girls.
• Cisco Ramon and his Earth-X doppelgänger appear in the animated web series Freedom Fighters: The Ray, where they're both voiced by Carlos Valdes.

External links

• DCU Guide: Vibe (Cisco Ramone)
• DCU Guide: Hardline (Armando Ramone),