Human Bomb

Human Bomb
The Human Bomb (center) on the cover of Freedom Fighters #1 (April 1976), artist Ernie Chan.
Publication information
Publisher	Quality Comics, later DC Comics
First appearance	(Lincoln) Police Comics #1 (August 1941) (Franklin) Crisis Aftermath: The Battle For Blüdhaven #1 (June 2006) (Taylor) Human Bomb #1 (February 2013)
Created by	(Lincoln) Paul Gustavson (creator) (Franklin) Justin Gray (writer) Jimmy Palmiotti (writer) Dan Jurgens (artist) (Taylor) Justin Gray (writer) Jimmy Palmiotti (writer) Jerry Ordway (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	- Roy Lincoln - Andy Franklin - Michael Taylor
Team affiliations	(Lincoln, Franklin) Freedom Fighters (Lincoln) All-Star Squadron Black Lantern Corps Justice League (Franklin) S.H.A.D.E. (Taylor) United States Marine Corps
Abilities	Talented chemist Fine hand to hand combatant Biochemical explosion generation Prolonged lifespan

The Human Bomb is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Police Comics #1 (August 1941), and was created by writer and artist Paul Gustavson. ^[1]

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. ^[2] Police Comics #1 also featured the first appearances of Plastic Man and the Phantom Lady, among others. ^[3]

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". ^[4] When Nazi 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 touches, particularly through his hands. He can only control his abilities using special asbestos gloves, which were retconned into "Fibro-wax" gloves after asbestos was discovered to be harmful. Donning a containment suit to prevent accidental explosions, Lincoln becomes the "Human Bomb", removing his gloves only to expose his explosive powers against Nazi and Japanese enemies, as well as ordinary criminals. ^[5] He also fights the invisible Mr. Chameleon, the pied piper of destruction Herman Stingmayer, and Yarboe, who has the Human Bomb's explosive ability. ^[6]

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 to him but only on the soles of his feet. ^[7] Following this, Lincoln shares his formula with three friends — Swordo the Sword Swallower, Montague T. "Curly" McGurx and Red Rogers. They become "the Bombardiers", 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. ^[7]

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, among 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. ^[8] 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 "Earth-X", an alternate universe where 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 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 appears as the Human Bomb in several issues of JSA in 2003. In Infinite Crisis #1 (October 2005), he is killed by Bizarro. ^[9]

In later stories, Lincoln is temporarily resurrected as a Black Lantern in Blackest Night and permanently resurrected in Dark Nights: Death Metal . ^{[10] [11] [12]} "The New Golden Age" storyline reveals that he had a sidekick named Cherry Bomb, who was later kidnapped by the Time Masters. ^[13]

Andy Franklin

Andy Franklin. Art by Daniel Acuña.

Crisis Aftermath: The Battle For Blüdhaven #1, introduces a character named Andy Franklin, a former scientist who was caught in the blast that destroyed Blüdhaven and held in secret internment camps. ^{[14] [15]} In issue #2, he becomes the new Human Bomb. Andy is highly emotional, and is hurt deeply because his teammates refer to him as a freak because of his destructive powers. ^[16] 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's condition requires him to take special medication developed by S.H.A.D.E., otherwise he will involuntarily explode. ^[17]

Michael Taylor

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. A 4-issue mini-series helmed by Battle for Bludhaven creators Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti introduces a new Human Bomb. Michael Taylor is an ex-Marine and veteran who uncovers a plot to use "human bombs" to destroy the United States. ^[18]

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

• The Human Bomb makes a minor appearance in Kingdom Come #2. ^[19]
• 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 "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. ^[20] Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-X. ^[21]
• 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) satellite the Eagles Eyrie, and effectively does so, killing millions in the Nazi-dominated American city of Metropolis as it impacts there. This version of the Human Bomb is also invulnerable. ^[22]
• New Super-Man features a character named Human Firecracker (an analog of Human Bomb).

In other media

• The Roy Lincoln incarnation of Human Bomb makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Cry Freedom Fighters!".
• The Human Bomb appears in Justice League Unlimited #17.

References

1. Koolman, Mike; Amash, Jim (2011). The Quality Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 130–133. ISBN   978-1605490373.
2. Markstein, Don. "The Human Bomb". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
3. Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History . Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. p.  177. ISBN   0-87833-808-X . Retrieved 8 April 2020.
4. Thomas, Roy (2006). The All-Star Companion: Vol 2. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 85. ISBN   978-1893905375.
5. Steranko, Jim (1972). The Steranko History of Comics, vol. 2. Supergraphics. p. 105.
6. Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 130. ISBN   978-1-61318-023-5.
7. Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 224. ISBN   978-1605490892.
8. Greenberger, Robert (2008). "Freedom Fighters". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 131. ISBN   978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC   213309017.
9. Infinite Crisis #1. DC Comics.
10. Blackest Night #4. DC Comics.
11. Dark Nights: Death Metal #2. DC Comics.
12. Dark Nights: Death Metal #5. DC Comics.
13. The New Golden Age #1. DC Comics.
14. Crisis Aftermath: The Battle of Bludhaven #1. DC Comics.
15. Crisis Aftermath: The Battle of Bludhaven #2. DC Comics.
16. Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters #2. DC Comics.
17. Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters #3. DC Comics.
18. "Exclusive: HUMAN BOMB #1 4-Page Preview".
19. Kingdom Come #2. DC Comics.
20. 52 ,no. 52,p. 12/1(May 2, 2007). DC Comics .
21. Brady, Matt (2007-05-08). "THE 52 EXIT INTERVIEWS: GRANT MORRISON". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
22. Multiversity: Mastermen (February 2015). DC Comics.