Human Bomb

Publication history

The Human Bomb was first published by Quality Comics in the 1940s, and decades later by DC Comics after it acquired Quality's characters. Police Comics #1 also featured the first appearances of Plastic Man and the Phantom Lady, among others.

Quality comics

Roy Lincoln was originally a scientist working with his father on a special explosive chemical called "27-QRX." However, when Nazi spies invaded his lab and killed his father, he resorted to ingesting the chemical to prevent it from falling into their hands. As a result, Lincoln gained the ability to cause explosions in any object he came into contact with, particularly through his hands; the only way to control it was to always wear special asbestos gloves (which were subsequently retconned into "Fibro-wax" gloves after the human health hazards of asbestos were discovered). Donning a containment suit to prevent any accidental explosions, Lincoln became the "Human Bomb," removing his gloves only to expose his explosive powers against Nazi and Japanese enemies, as well as ordinary criminals. He later gained enough control over his powers to be able to remove the containment suit, though the gloves were always necessary.

A Human Bomb feature continued in Police Comics through issue 58, published in September, 1946. During that run, he was given a comic relief sidekick named "Hustace Throckmorton," who acquired a power like the Human Bomb's (though instead centered in his feet) after receiving an emergency blood transfusion from the superhero. Throckmorton was then briefly replaced by three youngsters who were collectively called "the Bombardiers."

DC Comics

After Quality Comics went out of business in 1956, DC Comics acquired the rights to the Human Bomb as well as the other Quality Comics properties. The Human Bomb remained unpublished until he and several other former Quality properties were re-launched in Justice League of America #107 (October, 1973) as the Freedom Fighters. As was done with many other characters DC had acquired from other publishers or that were holdovers from Golden Age titles, the Freedom Fighters were located on a parallel world, in this case called "Earth-X" on which Nazi Germany won World War II. The team were featured in their own series for fifteen issues (1976-1978), in which the team temporarily left Earth-X for "Earth-1" (where most DC titles were set). The Human Bomb was then an occasional guest star of All-Star Squadron, a superhero team title that was set on "Earth-2", the locale for DC's WWII-era superheroes, at a time prior to when he and the other Freedom Fighters were supposed to have left for Earth-X.

The character then appeared with the rest of DC's entire cast of superheroes in Crisis on Infinite Earths, a story that was intended to eliminate the similarly confusing histories that DC had attached to its characters by retroactively merging the various parallel worlds into one. This erased the Human Bomb's Earth-X days, and merged the character's All-Star Squadron and Freedom Fighter histories so that the Freedom Fighters were merely a splinter group of the Squadron.

Lincoln was shown as retired and frail in several issues of Damage in the mid-1990s, but he then subsequently appears as the Human Bomb in several issues of JSA in 2003. His death was depicted in Infinite Crisis #1 (Oct, 2005) at the hands of Bizarro, when the Freedom Fighters fought with the Secret Society of Super Villains. After the Human Bomb killed Doctor Polaris in a fit of rage, Bizarro attacked the Bomb, hammering his face to produce more colorful explosions. Lincoln's body was pulped by the brutal beating received, his explosive nature not harming the impervious Bizarro. The explosions stopped even though Bizarro continued punching, indicating that the power ended at the instant of death.

His body was strung up on the Washington Monument, next to his deceased comrades, Phantom Lady and Black Condor. Both had perished in battle with the Society.

Roy reanimated as a Black Lantern during the Blackest Night crossover. He and his fellow Black Lantern Freedom Fighters attack the JSA. They mostly target their former teammate Damage, admonishing him for surviving the Society's attack where they didn't.

Powers and abilities

Lincoln can generate a biochemical explosion with just a touch. If he increases the kinetic force by hitting the object harder, the explosive force is also increased. Lincoln is also a fine hand-to-hand combatant and a talented chemist. The changes to his body chemistry seemed to have prolonged his life. Lincoln wears from head to toe, a containment suit made of "Fibro wax", which inhibits his biochemical explosive reaction. When he wants to use his powers, he simply removes his gloves.

Andy Franklin

Crisis Aftermath: The Battle For Blüdhaven #1, introduces a character named Andy Franklin, a former scientist caught in the blast that destroyed Blüdhaven who had been held as an experiment in the secret internment camps within the shattered city. He is referred to in the story as "some kind of human bomb." With issue #2, he becomes the new Human Bomb, first displaying his powers in Blüdhaven #3 when he plucks off a piece of his fingernail, flicks it, and kills an oncoming troop of Atomic Knights in the resulting explosion. He is a lifelong fan of Green Lantern, even refusing to attack him during the Battle For Blüdhaven series. In Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters #2, Uncle Sam remarks that a drop of Franklin's sweat would be sufficient to level Manhattan. Andy is highly emotional, and is hurt deeply because his teammates refer to him as a freak because of his destructive powers. He has a higher sense of morality than his teammates, but has shown that he will use lethal force when he sees his friends hurt. Andy seems to be more powerful than his predecessors, as seen in Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters #2, when he created a concussive blast just by slamming his gloved fists together. Andy's condition requires him to take special medication developed by SHADE, otherwise he will involuntarily explode.

Michael Taylor

A 4-issue mini-series in DC's The New 52 continuity. It is helmed by Battle for Bludhaven creators Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and it introduces a new Human Bomb, named Michael Taylor, an ex-Marine and veteran who "uncovers a plot to use "human bombs" to destroy the United States".

Other versions

Television

Miscellaneous