Origin
Derek Power was the co-owner of Wayne/Powers Industries, the company Bruces father had built. He eventually started dealing in weapons
manufacturing, especially bio-warfare. When one of his employees was exposed he sought out help to reveal what had happen. He turn immediately to Warren McGinnis, the father of Terry McGinnis, he gave him a disc explaining everything and when things got above his head Powers had his employee Mr. Fix kill him. This gave drive to Terry to get revenge after he found the disc. When Powers was shipping out the weapons for a war in another country he was greeted by the new Batman who accidentally expose the nerve gas to Powers during a fight. The only treatment was radiation which turned him into the villainous Blight.
After his treatment, Derek was only able to go out in public in a secondary skin that looked exactly like his own. This was only a temporary fix to his problem because the time the suits took to peel away from the radioactive body lessened with each use. When he learned this, he tried to
find a cure to his radioactivity. One of his attempts was to create a clone of his body from before the virus. He used Mr. Freeze as a guinea pig for the procedure since Mr. Freeze was a frozen version of himself. The test proved successful at first, until Freeze’s new body began to revert back to it’s frozen condition. He then had to fight Mr. Freeze after Freeze froze him. Derek’s radioactive body heat broke him out of the block of ice, but his disguise was destroyed and he wanted revenge. He proved too hot for Freeze’s super-cold suit to handle.
It was when Terry (as Batman) tried to stop him when he directed his attentions to the one who caused his troubles in the first place. It was also when he introduced himself to the new Batman as Blight. Since then, Batman has only had to deal with Blight when Derek needed more synthetic skin for his disguises. When Derek gives control of Wayne/Powers to his son Paxton so that he could spend more time finding a cure, his suit peel away revealing to the world that he was the criminal Blight. Terry tries to capture Blight by following him into the nuclear submarine Blight tried to hide in. They fight and the sub sinks with Blight still inside.
Prey or Hunter
Stalker came back to Gotham and tracked down Terry in order to inject a tranq dart into Terry’s neck. Bruce later discovers that the dart had geno-steroids that enhanced Terry’s stamina but the steroids was also laced with a low grade radioactive signature. Stalker later meets up with Terry to explain why he shot the dart. As it turns out, Blight had survived the sinking of the sub. The island that Stalker lived on to hunt genetically altered animals, also became the home of Blight. The strong currents in Gotham Bay washed up Blight onto Stalker’s island. Blight had amnesia but the only things he could recall was his identity and his hatred for Batman.
Stalker observed Blight’s movements until Blight made his way back to Gotham City after he had touched radioactive material from a sunken vessel that laid beneath the shores of Stalker’s island. Stalker figured that the radioactive material must have awakened certain memories inside Blight after he had touched it. Stalker decides to hunt Blight because he knows that Blight will want revenge on Batman. Stalker can’t allow Blight to succeed since Stalker has made the honor of killing Batman his own. Terry soon realizes that Stalker has made him bait since the raidoactive signature in Terry’s body will draw out Blight. Blight arrives at a steel mill where Terry and Stalker were waiting for him.
As Terry and Blight combat each other, Blight begins to remember more about his past life. Blight defeats Terry and just as he is about to deliver the final blow, Stalker releases a vat of molten lead on Blight. Terry regains consciousness for a moment to see that Blight is encased in lead. Stalker applauds Terry for his cooperation in this hunt and rewards him with a shock from his spear. Terry is knocked out for half an hour until Bruce’s bellowing voice wakes him up. Bruce comforts Terry in the fact that Blight will remain inert in the lead and Stalker has allowed Terry to survive for the time being. Meanwhile, Stalker has taken his trophy back to a cave on his island. Blight has now become Stalker’s latest prize in the thrill of the hunt.
Industrial Revolution
Eventually, Blight breaks free from his lead casket after Stalker’s supposed death which was brought on by Hush Beyond (Dick Grayson’s clone). Blight anonymously paid a random attorney to defend Paxton and the parole board was convinced by the attorney’s presentation that they granted Paxton an early parole. Blight’s next move was exercise his remaining connections in Wayne Enterprises in order to have Glen Godfrey (a possible connection to Glorious Godfrey) appointed as Wayne Enterprises’ new union representative/ negociator. Godfrey orchestrated the termination of the renewed union contract for Wayne Enterprises’ employees. Godfrey’s interference in the negociations caused Wayne Enterprises employees to go on strike and start a riot outside Wayne Tower.
Terry managed to stem the riot and after hearing about Paxton’s release from Iron Heights, he decided to tail Paxton in the likely event, Paxton is the person responsible for the chaos at Wayne Enterprises. Terry also interrogated Paxton’s lawyer and learned that Paxton’s anonymous benefactor gave Paxton a significant sum of money as well as a penthouse on the northside of Gotham which is referred to as Gentrified Industrial Area. Terry follows Paxton to a warehouse within the area and Paxton informs Terry that his benefactor wanted to meet Paxton at the warehouse. Bruce smelled a set up and told Terry to get himself as well as Paxton out of there. Suddenly, the warehouse explodes and from afar Blight watches with satisfaction in an insulated suit which prevents his irradiated body from emitting radiation on the outside.
Blight’s plan is to wait for the stock market to open and after this explosion coupled with the constant rioting, the consumer confidence in Wayne Enterprises will continue drop and the money that Derek Powers has in offshore accounts from dummy corporations will eventually rise. However, Blight might not achieve his goals because of his irradiated illness. Blight had gotten in contact with Dr. Melwyn French, one of the original radiologists that treated him while he maintained his facade as Derek Powers. According to Dr. French’s readings, Derek’s cellular structure is breaking down because of the radioactivity his body is emitting. Dr. French created an insulated suit to stem Derek’s cellular breakdown but it won’t sustain Powers forever.
When Godfrey reports to Blight on Batman’s latest interference, Powers goes insane with rage. Terry had saved Paxton from the warehouse explosion. Blight knows the tide can turn either way for Wayne Enterprises even though they are on the brink of financial collapse. Both Godfrey and Blight can see that the stockholders in Wayne Enterprises are selling their shares before the company goes bankrupt. Blight is also aware that Bruce has a controlling interest in the company but he does not possess a majority of the shares.
Bruce decides if he is going to stop whoever is buying his stock through shell companies then he must draw them out into the open by announcing to the stock market’s opening bell that he is buying out all shareholders thus taking Wayne Enterprises off the market. The next morning, Terry positions himself on the roof of the Gotham Stock Exchange to observe any peculiar activity. Unfortunately, Blight had anticipated Bruce’s strategy to lure him out into the open. Derek was also aware of Bruce’s financial involvement in Batman Inc. so he knew Batman would show up at the stock exchange. Blight makes his return known to Terry by attacking him on the roof.
Terry puts an end to Blight by using his batarangs to pierce the control module on his stasis suit . This caused the pressure in the suit to rupture which enhanced Blight’s fatal condition. When the metahuman examiners arrived, they couldn’t tell if Blight was dead or alive since Blight’s cellular structure was oozing out of the suit and the suit was releasing a noxious vapor into the air. As for Dr. French, he was arrested for aiding a known criminal but the district attorney was willing to reduce his sentence if he agrees to help other metahumans that are suffering from peculiar conditions.
New 52
Derek Powers is the nephew of Geri Powers.
Powers & Abilities
Blight is a living nuclear hazard. He can manipulate radiation into the form of blasts. At first he could only fire beams but as his powers grew in strength so did his ability to manipulate the radiation and he was able to emit a very wide range of blasts.