DCU

Detroit gang leader Paco Ramone was born with the metahuman ability to emit shockwaves. When the JLA operated in his hometown, Ramone tried his hand at superheroics joining the team under the code name Vibe. Though at times immature and arrogant, Vibe was faithfully dedicated to the League. Unfortunately, Vibe became the first Leaguer to be killed in the line of duty, a victim of the murderous Professor Ivo.   Vibe's brother Reverb, now known as Hardline, possesses the same powers and briefly joined the Conglomerate.

Paco Ramone was born in the city of Detroit to a large family. Paco was also born with the power to generate shock waves, though he did not learn the ability to channel them until his teens. At this time, Paco joined a Detroit street gang, named Los Lobos, and soon rose to become head of the gang. As leader of the gang, Paco took the street name "Vibe" and had a protective stance on his "turf," Cameron Street. Vibe was protective of the people of Cameron Street, but hated its rival gang, the Skulls.

During this time, Aquaman disbanded the original Justice League of America, and reformed it with members willing to give it a full-time commitment. The roster of this "new" Justice League of America consisted of Aquaman, Zatanna, Elongated Man, Martian Manhunter, and new members Vixen and Steel. Steel's grandfather, the Golden Age hero Commander Steel, donated his Detroit Bunker to the League. This Bunker was situated in a warehouse on Cameron Street.

After the League moved in to the Bunker, members Steel and Vixen were returning from a shopping trip when they first met Vibe, who was performing a breakdancing routine. When the Devil Dogs, another gang, attacked, Vibe used his powers and his acrobatic skills to repel the other gang with no violence. Seeing this display, both Vixen and Steel decided to approach League leader Aquaman and ask him to invite Vibe to join the League.

While Aquaman was telling Steel and Vixen that Vibe would not make a good member, Vibe had heard about the League's new headquarters and infiltrated it to check them out. After sparring with Aquaman, the Sea King decided that Vibe had potential and invited him to join the team.

Vibe's career with the Justice League was tumultuous. He was often at odds with most of the other Leaguers, mainly because he felt that he was a "second rate" hero. Paco's closest friend on the team was Steel, and Paco introduced Steel to his sister Rosita, who started seeing Steel shortly thereafter. Vibe proved himself in battle, fighting with the League against such threats as the Overmaster and the Cadre, Anton Allegro and the Mad Maestro, and old League villain Amazo. Vibe fought alongside the heroes of Earth during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and was a member when the League was evicted from the Bunker.

From there, the League set up shop in its original headquarters, the Secret Sanctuary. When Batman took over leadership of the League, he began to train Vibe to better use his powers and helped to hone his hand-to-hand combat skills. Though Vibe held his own against a revamped Despero, there was still tension between Vibe and his fellow Leaguers, especially elder Leaguers Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, and Zatanna.

The tension came to a boil during Darkseid's plan to destroy Earth's legends. Darkseid succeeded in turning Earth's populace against its heroes. During this time, US President Ronald Reagan issued a Presidential Order forbidding Earth's heroes to operate. Whilst this was going on, Darkseid sent the monstrous Brimstone to Earth to attack Earth's heroes. Defeating a time-traveling Cosmic Boy, Brimstone was still on the rampage when Firestorm appeared on the scene with the Justice League of America. All the heroes were badly defeated, and the League returned to the Sanctuary heartbroken and bitter. Keeping in line with the Presidential Order, Martian Manhunter, then League leader, disbanded the Justice League of America. The younger heroes objected, Vibe being the most strongly offended. Vibe felt that this League was the "Joke League of America" and paled to Manhunter's friends Superman and Green Lantern. Vibe had had enough with the hero business and left for home and the life he knew.

Once there, Paco realized how wrong it was to blow up at the other Leaguers. However, this realization came too late. Professor Ivo, old League villain, decided to strike at his old enemies through this younger team. Ivo sent an android to kill each of the four new Leaguers. The first android attacked Vibe on the street, and Vibe held him off for a while. However, thinking the android defeated, Vibe let his guard down. The android attacked again, and strangled the young super-hero.

Martian Manhunter, Steel, and Vixen found the body and sought revenge. Steel was eventually destroyed by another android, but Vixen and Martian Manhunter tracked down Professor Ivo and forced him to face the consequences of his actions.

Vibe had the ability to emit shock waves of incredible strength along the length of his arms. These shock waves had the power to shatter concrete or steel.

Vibe was an excellent athlete and showed considerable dexterity (from the years of being a break-dancer on the streets). Under the tutelage of the Batman, Vibe increased his hand-to-hand combat skills, as well as control over his powers. (JH)

Vibe's brother developed a similar set of vibratory powers and joined Booster Gold's team of heroes, the Conglomerate, using the code name Reverb (which he later changed to Hardline) (JLIQ-01). (RW)

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