Julian "Jules" Jourdain

Jules as Circuit Breaker

**Julian "Jules" Jourdain** is DC Comics' "first transmasculine hero".

## Character History

Jules is a transgender man from a Basque rancher family who lives in northern Nevada, off US Highway 50. He is an environmental activist, which has put him at odds with his otherwise supportive parents, as they work for a company that survey's desert land for storage and disposal of radioactive and thermonuclear waste. He is also an employee at Molly Maverick's Historical Reenactment Tours where he regularly took on the roll of The Flash in a play recounting the town's claim to fame, when the Turtle brought the entire town to a standstill with his stillforce powers. After one play, Jules' friend Mica attempted to give him a costume for a new production, but their conversation was interrupted due to the Lazarus Rain storm. Having absorbed Lazarus Resin, Jules has been granted access to the stillforce, the very power he's had a hand in mythologizing as solely evil.

By the year 2040, Jules befriends The Flash and Andy Curry.

## Development and Design

A. L. Kaplan was approached by DC Comics, and more specifically - Flash editor Chris Rosa, who pitched the idea of a stillforce hero to incorporate in the Lazarus Planet event. Having never read The Flash, Kaplan was hesitant and attempted to pitch some ideas in other corners of the DC Universe he was more comfortable with, but ultimately felt that he could bring an additive nature to the concept given how limited the lore around the stillforce was.

Kaplan began developing the character while in a transitional period, having moved from northern Nevada to Seattle Washington and has stated that basing Jules in the same general area gave time to process leaving that place.

Circuit Breaker's cropped vest features lightning bolt imagery as a way to visually link the character to the Flash family while also emulating scars from top surgery and relating back to his life as a rodeo performer. Simultaneously, the vest also serves as a nod to himbo fashion, fellow stillforce user Steadfast, and vaguely replicates the look of a chest binder.

## Trivia

A. L. Kaplan has created a character playlist for Circuit Breaker.

1. ↑ @DCOfficial. “Pic.Twitter.Com/snsunke9HN.” Twitter, 14 Feb. 2023, twitter.com/DCOfficial/status/1625540418615099397.
2. ↑ WBD Life. (2023, June 27). *Employee Spotlight: DC Pride Edition: Andrea Shea*. Warner Bros. Discovery. https://careers.wbd.com/global/en/blogarticle/creating-the-annual-dc-pride-comic
3. ↑ Axelrod, J. (2023). *The DC Book of Pride: A Celebration of DC’s LGBTQIA+ Characters*. DK.
4. ↑ Seeley, T., Culver, D., Kaplan, A., & Wong, A. (2023). *Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate (2023) #1*. DC Comics.
5. ↑ Kaplan, A. (2023). *DC Pride 2023 (2023) #1: Subspace Transmission*. DC Comics.
6. ↑ The Code-X Comic Station. (2023, May 12). *Interview with A. L. Kaplan From DC Comics and BOOM Studios!* [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsPVgYtb8lw
7. ↑ McGuire, L. (2023). The Story Of How AL Kaplan Designed Circuit Breaker, DC’s New Transmasculine Hero - Exclusive Interview. *Looper*. https://www.looper.com/1301089/story-how-al-kaplan-designed-circuit-breaker-dcs-transmasculine-hero/
8. ↑ Kaplan, A. L. (2023). *Circuit Breaker*. Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3y4qwhueWdGn0yN6SIQYnT?si=QovS00YySDihjlqkWE7Owg