Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man | |
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![]() Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, from The Doom Patrol #89. Art by Bob Brown. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | The Doom Patrol #89 (August 1964) |
Created by | Arnold Drake (writer) Bruno Premiani (artist) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Sven Larsen |
Species | Metahuman |
Place of origin | Earth |
Team affiliations | Front Men |
Notable aliases | AVM-Man |
Abilities |
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Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man (Sven Larsen) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a foe of the original Doom Patrol whose name is derived from the antiquated concept of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms in Linnaean taxonomy. [1]
The character appears in Doom Patrol (2019), portrayed by Alec Mapa.
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man first appeared in The Doom Patrol #89 (August 1964) and was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. [2]
Sven Larsen is a Swedish scientist and a former student of Niles Caulder, with whom he had a falling out after Larsen accused Caulder of stealing his idea for the anti-decay ray. Larsen gains his superpowers after falling into a vat of amino acids. This gave him the right arm and leg of a plant, a left arm and leg made of diamonds, and a half-torso of a Tyrannosaurus , with half of his human head shown to be fused with part of the Tyrannosaurus' neck. He uses his powers to get revenge on Caulder and his Doom Patrol. [3] The Doom Patrol defeat Larsen and are able to remove his powers. He later regains them and fights the Doom Patrol again. [4]
Larsen returns to face the second incarnation of the Doom Patrol in Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #15 (December 1988) and #16 (Winter 1988), in partnership with General Immortus. He is defeated after Celsius encases him in ice.
In the twelfth issue of the series, Larsen is now a member of the Front Men, a team of super-powered guards working for Mister Somebody Enterprises. His team is working to discredit the Doom Patrol, having been coached in various ways on how to make the heroes look bad for the cameras. Unknown to the Front Men, Mister Somebody has rigged their uniforms to deliver fatal blows in ways that make it seem as if the Doom Patrol killed them intentionally. [5]
In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man is re-introduced as part of an experimental security measure that Niles Caulder unleashes on intruders when his underground complex is breached. [6]
In "Doomsday Clock", Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man is listed as a member of the Doomed, India's sanctioned superhero team. As part of the group, he gains a reputation for eating their foes. [7]
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man can change any part of his body into animal, vegetable, or mineral forms, as well as combining several more at once. [8] In most appearances, he possesses extensive knowledge of biology.