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| Nitro | |
|---|---|
 Nitro Cover toCaptain Marvel #34, by Jim Starlin. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974)[1] |
| Created by | Jim Starlin (writer) Steve Englehart (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Robert Hunter |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | Hardcore's Untouchables[2] Army of Evil |
| Notable aliases | Exploding Man Living Bomb |
| Abilities | Self-detonation and reformation |
Nitro (Robert Hunter) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He first appeared in 1974.[3]
Nitro is known for playing a part in the death of theKree superheroMar-Vell. He is also known for being responsible for the devastation ofStamford, Connecticut, which began Marvel's "Civil War" event.
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Nitro first appeared inCaptain Marvel #34 (September 1974) and was created byJim Starlin.[4]
Robert Hunter was born inScranton, Pennsylvania. He was an electrical engineer. Due to genetic alteration performed by the Kree Lunatic Legion, Hunter gains the ability to explode and reform himself at will and becomes a professional criminal.[5][6] In his first appearance, he exposesCaptain Marvel to acarcinogenicnerve gas, which later causes him to develop cancer and die.[5][6][7][8][9] Since then, Nitro has clashed with Earth's superhumans, who have found creative ways to defeat him, such as preventing him from reforming his body after exploding.
Nitro later battles and is defeated byOmega the Unknown.[10] He escapes fromProject Pegasus, and then battlesSpider-Man.[11][12] Nitro is later freed from his containment canister by theVulture inAlbany, New York. He battledSkids of theNew Mutants, and is unable to re-form his body within Skids' force field.[13] He is recruited byThanos to serve him in a mission alongside several other supervillains,[14] includingRhino,Super-Skrull, andTitanium Man. WhileSilver Surfer captures the other villains, Nitro decides to take a space craft and explore space.[15]
At the start of theCivil War storyline, Nitro escapes fromRyker's Island along withCobalt Man,Speedfreek, andColdheart. The New Warriors attack each villain, withNamorita going after Nitro. Nitro causes a massive explosion that kills Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, Coldheart, Namorita,Night Thrasher,Microbe, sixty children at a nearby elementary school, and 600 people inStamford, Connecticut.[5][6][16] Soon afterward, Nitro is captured byWolverine, who cuts off his right arm.[17]
In later appearances, Nitro joins theHood's crime syndicate andHelmut Zemo's Army of Evil.[18][19][20]
Nitro can forcefully convert his whole body into gas, resulting in a violent explosion. This transformation can be limited to discrete portions of himself, such as his fist and aim the force in a specific direction. While in a gaseous form, he cannot reform if any fraction of his body is separated from the rest and must completely reconstitute himself before detonating again. The process does not have any healing qualities, so any wound received due to the explosion would be present when he reforms.[21]
Nitro appears in theWolverine and the X-Men episode "Time Bomb", voiced byLiam O'Brien. This version is amutant who is willingly imprisoned by theMutant Response Division due to lacking control of his powers.[22]
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