Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Human Bomb







One character that I have liked since DC brought him back in the 1970's is the Human Bomb. Yes I said the Human Bomb. A character who was received so poorly that I once heard that DC said they would never publish him again. So far they seem to have kept that promise. Too bad because he has a lot going for him as a character.

His name is Roy Lincoln. He is a scientist who discovered a very powerful explosive formula. In a hurry so that it would not fall into the wrong hands Roy drank the formula and his whole body became a human bomb. Most of the formula settled in his hands so that anything he touched would explode. Still the same could happen if anyone touched any part of him. So he had to wear a protective suit in order to not accidentally kill anyone. When the time came that he had to get into some place where he normally could not off came the gloves. Usually he punched the door and it would esplode but the same could have happened at a mere touch.

Just as Ben Grimm became a sentimental character because he would never be human again the same could have happened for Roy Lincoln. True he was still human but he was trapped inside this suit and could never know the touch of another human being.

If you look at the cover of Freedom Fighters #1 Roy is up front and seems to be the star of the book. I think DC had there hopes high for him and were bitterly dissapointed. Perhaps a few changes in the costume would have helped. First is that the costume has only one color. White. As you look at the fan based custom figure above it doesn't look finished. Perhaps if it was a red suit or any other color it would jump out more. Second is we can only see his eyes. If he had a clear hard plastic opening that showed his face more then the readers would feel more connected. They could see the range of emotions on his face as he always seems close to curing his self-inflicted curse and then to see it all taken away as he has to run off to save the world. Part of me hopes that one day DC will use him again. Another part of me hopes they don't as they may change what I like about him. At least for now I have some happy memory of the Human Bomb and his Freedom Fighters.
You can see more custom action figures if you go to this site.

4 comments:

Luke said...

I always thought that the two biggest drawbacks to the character were his name and costume. "Human Bomb" makes a great nickname -- like the Marvel character Nova, nicknamed "The Human Rocket" -- but it's not much of a heroic codename. And you are right about the costume -- all white, not much visually dynamic or interesting. It's just kinda... there. I think that is why he has been passed over for the sorta-similar Damage, who now broods his way though the pages of Justice Society.

Rick L. Phillips said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rick L. Phillips said...

I hadn't thought that way about the name before. You may be right but remember this character was created around the 1940's. Human Bomb was a far out term to use back then.
I haven't read JSA so I don't know much about Damage.

Rick L. Phillips said...

The above comment that was deleted was mine. I wanted to show the profile photo that I recently uploaded of 3D-Man. So I deleated it and reposted my comment.