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The Human Bomb is a
fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, ...
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
published by
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
. He first appeared in ''
Police Comics ''Police Comics'' was a comic book anthology title published by Quality Comics (under its imprint "Comic Magazines") from 1941 until 1953. It featured short stories in the superhero, crime and humor genres. Publication history The first issue of ' ...
'' #1 (August 1941), and was created by writer and artist
Paul Gustavson Paul Gustavson (né Karl Paul Gustafson; August 16, 1916 – April 29, 1977) was a Finnish-American comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, and the An ...
.


Publication history

The Human Bomb was first published by
Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...
in the 1940s, and decades later by
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
after it acquired Quality's characters. ''Police Comics'' #1 also featured the first appearances of
Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of the first superheroes to ...
and the
Phantom Lady Phantom Lady is a Fictional character, fictional Superhero#Female superheroes and villains, superheroine, one of the first such characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was ...
, among others.


Fictional character biography


Roy Lincoln


Quality Comics

Roy Lincoln is originally a scientist working with his father on a special explosive chemical called "27-QRX". When
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
spies invade his lab and kill his father, he ingests the chemical to prevent it from falling into their hands. As a result, Lincoln gains the ability to cause explosions in any object he came into contact with, particularly through his hands; the only way to control it is to always wear special
asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
gloves (which were subsequently
retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...
ned into "Fibro-wax" gloves after the human health hazards of asbestos were discovered). Donning a containment suit to prevent any accidental explosions, Lincoln becomes the "Human Bomb", removing his gloves only to expose his explosive powers against Nazi and
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
enemies, as well as ordinary criminals. He also fights the invisible Mr. Chameleon, the pied piper of destruction Herman Stingmayer, and Yarboe, who has the Human Bomb's explosive ability. He later gains enough control over his powers to be able to remove the containment suit, though the gloves are always necessary. In 1943, the Bomb briefly has a comedy sidekick, Hustace Throckmorton, who has similar powers (thanks to a blood transfusion from Lincoln) but only on the soles of his feet. Following this, Lincoln shares his formula with three friends — Swordo the Sword Swallower, Montague T. "Curly" McGurx and Red Rogers. They become "the Bombadiers", and work behind enemy lines for a few issues targeting Japanese and German soldiers. The Human Bomb drops his new team soon after and returned to the States alone. A Human Bomb feature continued in ''Police Comics'' through issue #58, published in September 1946.


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 The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
'' #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 ''Earth X'' is a 1999 comic book limited series published by American company Marvel Comics. ''Earth X'' was written by Jim Krueger with art by John Paul Leon. Based on Alex Ross' notes, the series features a dystopian version of the Marvel Uni ...
" on which Nazi Germany won
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The team were featured in their own series for fifteen issues (1976-1978), in which the team temporarily left Earth-X for "
Earth-1 Earth-One (also Earth-1) is a name given to two fictional universes (The Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of the same universe) that have appeared in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. The first Earth-One was given its name ...
" (where most DC titles were set). The Human Bomb was then an occasional guest star of ''
All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its se ...
'', 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 "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to March ...
'', 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 Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...
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 "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, a ...
'' #1 (October 2005) at the hands of
Bizarro Bizarro () is a supervillain/anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in ''Superboy'' #68 (1958) ...
, when the Freedom Fighters fought with the
Secret Society of Super Villains Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #15 in July 1978, ...
. After the Human Bomb killed
Doctor Polaris Doctor Polaris is an alias used by two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Publication history Created by John Broome (writer), John Broome and Gil Kane, the first Doctor Polaris, Neal Emerson, made his first ap ...
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 Phantom Lady is a Fictional character, fictional Superhero#Female superheroes and villains, superheroine, one of the first such characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was ...
and Black Condor. Both had perished in battle with the Society. Roy reanimated as a
Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fiction ...
during the ''
Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in issues. ''Blackest Nig ...
'' crossover. He and his fellow Black Lantern Freedom Fighters attack the JSA. They mostly target their former teammate
Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...
, admonishing him for surviving the Society's attack where they didn't. In the pages of '' Dark Nights: Death Metal'', Roy is revealed to be entombed in the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.


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 Knight Atomic Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC comics, and was briefly a member of the Outsiders team. He is sometimes depicted as one of a group of Atomic Knights, which first appeared in '' Strange Adventures'' #117 ...
s in the resulting explosion. He is a lifelong fan of
Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...
, even refusing to attack him during the ''Battle For
Blüdhaven This page list the locations in the DC Universe, the shared universe setting of DC Comics. Sites * the Arrowcave – The former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Speedy. * Avernus Cemetery – A burial ground located in Central City for ...
'' 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

An 4-issue
mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
helmed by ''Battle for Bludhaven'' creators
Justin Gray Justin Gray is an American comic book writer working mostly for DC Comics. Career Gray has often collaborated with fellow writer Jimmy Palmiotti on series such as '' Hawkman'', ''Jonah Hex'', ''Power Girl'', '' 21 Down'', '' Uncle Sam and the Fr ...
and
Jimmy Palmiotti James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film. Early life Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Career Palmiotti star ...
introduces a new Human Bomb in
The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...
, named Michael Taylor, an ex-
Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...
and veteran who "uncovers a plot to use "human bombs" to destroy the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
".


Powers and abilities

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


Other versions

* In
Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Dar ...
and
Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...
' '' Kingdom Come'' series, the Human Bomb is briefly seen in issue #2 in the metahuman bar where Superman was recruiting for the Justice League. This is a younger, amoral Human Bomb. The original Human Bomb is a member of the
Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
in the ''Kingdom Come'' series. * In the final issue of '' 52'', a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-10". As a result of
Mister Mind Mister Mind is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics, he made a cameo appearance in ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' #22 (March 1943) before making his full f ...
"eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-X, including the Quality characters. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, but a character visually similar to the Roy Lincoln Human Bomb appears. Based on comments by
Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, w ...
, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-X. * The Human Bomb is a central character in ''Multiversity: Mastermen'', set on Earth-10. Still a member of the Freedom Fighters, he undertakes a solo mission to sabotage and deorbit the New Reichsmen (Nazi
Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
) satellite the Eagles Eyrie, and effectively does so, killing millions in the Nazi-dominated American city of
Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...
as it impacts there. This version of the Human Bomb is also invulnerable.''Multiversity: Mastermen'' (February 2015) * ''New Super-Man'' features a character named Human Firecracker (an analog of Human Bomb).


In other media


Television

* The Roy Lincoln version of Human Bomb appears in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "Cry Freedom Fighters", as a member of the Freedom Fighters and accompanies them,
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, and
Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of the first superheroes to ...
into freeing
Qward Qward is a fictional world existing within an anti-matter universe that is part of the . It was first mentioned in ''Green Lantern'' (vol. 2) #2 (October 1960). Fictional history Krona, an Oan scientist from the planet Maltus, performed a fo ...
from the government oppression caused by the Supreme Chairman of Qward.


Miscellaneous

* In "The Education of Jaime Sommers" episode of '' Bionic Woman'', Tom Gilchrist (played by
Jordan Bridges Jordan Bridges (born November 13, 1973) is an American actor, best known as Frankie Rizzoli on ''Rizzoli & Isles'' (2010–2016). Early life Bridges was born in Los Angeles County, California, and is the son of actor Beau Bridges and Julie Brid ...
) mentions one of his favorite comic books named '' The Freedom Fighters'' and a character called Human Bomb, then pulls back his tuxedo jacket to reveal explosives strapped to his body. * Human Bomb appears in ''
Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and ...
'' tie-in comic #17.


References


External links


Human Bomb I Index



DCU Guide


at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on February 5, 2016. {{GoldenAge DC Comics metahumans DC Comics scientists DC Comics superheroes Fictional chemists Golden Age superheroes Quality Comics superheroes Comics characters introduced in 1941 Comics characters introduced in 2006