Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Characters Case File #319: Speed

I wrote up last week’s entry before I got to see the finale for WandaVision, and while the fate of the twins in that series didn’t exactly surprise me (it was still well done), I am writing this one up after the fact.

I covered Wiccan before.  Time to cover his sort-of twin brother Speed.

Thomas “Speed” Shepherd wasn’t one of the initial members of the Young Avengers team, but he was asked to join under unusual circumstances.  Founding members–and love interest to Wiccan–Hulkling was kidnapped by Kree Warriors for reasons that I will probably get into for my next column, so in order to beef up their ranks before taking on all kinds of alien soldiers, the Young Avengers use a program created by a teenage Vision and Iron Lad to find young people with connections to various Avengers.  That leads to Tommy who was being held in some kind of high tech juvenile hall.  He had superspeed powers, readily agreed to help the young heroes, and Wiccan thought he looked kinda familiar.

That was actually a major clue to who and what WIccan and Speed were.  Regardless, with Speed’s help, the Young Avengers go out and rescue Hulkling, though not until after Tommy gives the people at the juvenile hall a good beating because he’s kinda angry and cynical.

A Marvel speedster who is kind of a jerk?  Even if it’s for good reason?  Can’t say I’ve ever seen that before…

Tommy would eventually take the name “Speed” but only after he and Kate Bishop went on a couple dates because a love triangle is clearly what any team needs, and God knows Patriot was taking his old sweet time.

Now, I covered the whole “Wiccan and Speed are probably the Vision and Scarlet Witch’s kids magically reincarnated” with the Wiccan entry, but Wiccan, due to both his magical powers and connection to Hulkling–who I swear I am covering next time–gets more attention than his quasi-brother who clearly got his powers from Wanda’s brother Quicksilver.  Speed since then pops up only sporadically and often in the company of the Young Avengers while Wiccan has joined a whole host of other teams.  About all I found noteworthy during my (admittedly brief) research into the character is that, sometime after he and Kate Bishop were no longer a couple, Tommy started a relationship with a male X-Man named Prodigy.

I guess when your brother is a potential Sorcerer Supreme and all you can do is run fast, you might get a lot less attention.