| Human Bomb | |
|---|---|
 The Human Bomb (center) on the cover ofFreedom Fighters #1 (April 1976), artistErnie Chan. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Quality Comics, laterDC 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 |
TheHuman Bomb is a fictionalsuperhero published byDC Comics. He first appeared inPolice Comics #1 (August 1941), and was created by writer and artistPaul Gustavson.[1]
The Human Bomb was first published byQuality Comics in the 1940s, and decades later byDC Comics after it acquired Quality's characters.[2]Police Comics #1 also featured the first appearances ofPlastic Man and thePhantom Lady, among others.[3]
Roy Lincoln is originally a scientist working with his father on a special explosive chemical called "27-QRX".[4] WhenNazi 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 specialasbestos gloves, which wereretconned 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 andJapanese 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 inPolice Comics through issue #58, published in September 1946.
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 inJustice League of America #107 (October 1973) as theFreedom 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 wonWorld 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 ofAll-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 inCrisis 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'sAll-Star Squadron andFreedom 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 ofDamage in the mid-1990s, but appears as the Human Bomb in several issues ofJSA in 2003. InInfinite Crisis #1 (October 2005), he is killed byBizarro.[9]
In later stories, Lincoln is temporarily resurrected as aBlack Lantern inBlackest Night and permanently resurrected inDark Nights: Death Metal.[10][11][12] "The New Golden Age" storyline reveals that he had a sidekick namedCherry Bomb, who was later kidnapped by theTime Masters.[13]
Crisis Aftermath: The Battle For Blüdhaven #1, introduces a character namedAndy Franklin, a former scientist who was caught in the blast that destroyedBlüdhaven 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]
In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. A 4-issuemini-series helmed byBattle for Bludhaven creatorsJustin Gray andJimmy Palmiotti introduces a new Human Bomb.Michael Taylor is an ex-Marine and veteran who uncovers a plot to use "human bombs" to destroy theUnited States.[18]
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.