"[citation needed] Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dick Dillin, the sentient android Red Tornado first appeared in Justice League of America #64 (August 1968).
It was retconned in 1981, briefly programmed with Ma Hunkel's memory (rather than being sentient) until an older alien supervillain (the Tornado Champion) inhabits the android body.
[4] Ulthoon is aware of Strange's adventure with the Justice League of America (JLA), and in a 1963 story decides to move to an uninhabited replica of Earth.
Two weeks earlier, Doctor Fate protected the JSA and Black Canary's husband (police detective Larry Lance) in a magic bubble.
[17] When the last of the Seven Soldiers is retrieved, the JSA and JLA learn that Wing (the Crimson Avenger's sidekick) died saving the SSV from Nebula Man with a secret weapon.
[30] Red Tornado reappears at the end of Justice League of America #145, apparently brought back to life with Hawkman and Superman by the death of Count Crystal.
[32] Construct becomes Red Tornado's nemesis,[33] playing a major role in a 2005 story by helping the Justice League rout the Weaponers of Qward, the Earth-devouring Void Hound and the Crime Syndicate of America.
[37] Red Tornado meets his future adopted daughter, Traya, in Justice League of America #152 (March 1978) after she finds a powerful alien orb and gains super-powers.
The Qwardians capture Superman and take him to Qward, where they intend to use his Kryptonian body as a lens to concentrate Q-rays and immobilize Earth's inhabitants before invading the planet.
Longtime JLA foe Doctor Destiny escapes from prison and wreaks havoc by materializing people's nightmares; Red Tornado defeats his own dream-demon and stops the villain.
[4] Later, Firestorm reveals his secret identity to the Justice League and works with Red Tornado to stop Killer Frost after she freezes New York City.
Air pollution has an adverse effect on the Red Tornado-Tornado Champion, driving him half-mad and into conflict with Naiad against Firestorm and the Swamp Thing in "The Elemental War".
[citation needed] Red Tornado spends time, silent and still, in the empty JLA headquarters in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, feeling isolated from humanity.
[citation needed] After DC's Crisis of Conscience miniseries, Red Tornado is attacked by the surviving members of the original Secret Society of Super Villains and his body is destroyed before the JLA arrives.
During the fifth week of the 52 event, after the other heroes are beamed back down to Earth at Uluru, the Tornado's speaker (embedded in Mal Duncan's chest) plays a warning message for his comrades: "It's coming!
They track the signal to a remote mountain base and confront Professor Ivo, who has regained his human appearance and releases a swarm of activated Tornado androids against them.
Grundy has Red Tornado android body infused with super-powered objects and one of Ivo's Amazo chips, creating an invincible shell to house his soul so he can never die again.
The Amazo form is slowed down by Apokoliptian technology given to Kathy Sutton by Big Barda (after recent tragedies, the JLA had armed their loved ones), and the heroes neutralize him.
After the team's battle with the Injustice League,[62] Red Tornado's body is badly damaged[63] and his consciousness is placed in the Hall of Justice's computer system.
Amazo, still present in Red Tornado's previous body of as a dormant program, seizes the self-repairing processes, fights Irons, steals the Magnus shell and battles the league.
[71] With his new body under construction, Red Tornado's severed (but sentient) head is left behind by Cyborg when the team leaves the Watchtower to face down a group of villains on Blackhawk Island.
Unknown to Cyborg or Red Tornado, his insanity is the result of Alan Scott's Starheart power which can give metahumans magical or elemental abilities.
[78] In DC Rebirth, Red Tornado returned to the main continuity in the 2017 event Dark Nights: Metal being held captive by the Blackhawks.
His senses are similarly computerized, allowing him to hear and see events far exceeding human perception; in an extreme example he used his vision to observe Justice League teammates attempting a low orbit rescue of Challenger astronauts inside a damaged space shuttle from sea level, though the images were out of focus and at the limit of his range.
Red Tornado also frequently monitors wireless communication frequencies for signs of distress, though he has likened this to listening to background chatter in a crowd, remaining indistinct until someone or something draws his attention to it.
As a gestalt entity born of the Tornado Tyrant merging with Morrow's programming, he possesses attributes of both natural and artificial intelligence; he is both self-aware and growing intellectually, with feelings and emotions analogous to human consciousness.
In comparison to the Metal Men, another group of AI heroes, Kathy Sutton notes that Red Tornado's emotional depth and personality were much more sophisticated than theirs since he possessed a sense of humor and ability to appreciate puns.
With the Justice League, Red Tornado has used his computing power on occasion, though this requires diverting internal resources away from physical and interactive participation, giving the impression of intense 'concentration'.
While his raw computing power exceeds any known supercomputer available to the league, the majority of his internal resources are devoted to autonomic physical functions and his depth of personality.
Within his field of control, these gusts take on a light crimson hue, making them perceivable to the naked eye; this effect is inherent with his signature ability and became the iconic basis for his name.