Polite Dissent

Roy Lincoln and his father, both chemists, were working on a secret new ultra-powerful explosive, QRX-27*. As they so often did during the Golden Age, foreign agents broke into the lab wanting to steal the formula**. They killed Ray’s father, but rather than let his secret explosive fall into enemry hands, Roy swallowed it.

No, you read that right. He swallowed a high-powered explosive. On purpose.

Personally I have trouble swallowing asparagus, I can’t imagine swallowing some sort of super-dynamite.

Rather than killing him or blowing him to little bits, this experimental explosive grants him super powers. Whatever he hits, explodes. Luckily, he is crafty enough to invent an asbestos suit (later a “fibro-wax suit”) that keeps him from indiscriminately exploding. In later issues, the exploding was changed from his “whole body” to just his “hands”, which is good as he acquired a girl friend about the same time.

The Human Bomb was written and drawn by Paul Gustavson. He appeared in Police Comics #1 (the same issue that also gave us Firebrand, Phantom Lady and Plastic Man). When DC Comics picked up the rights to the old Quality characters, he joined the Freedom Fighters and then the All-Star Squadron.

---

*The actual name of the secret explosive seems to change at the whim of the writer. It has been known as QRX-27, 27-QRX and X-24 (but never Illudium Q-36)

**This seems to happen in at least half the Golden Age orgin stories. I bet Nazi agents went around breaking into high school chemistry labs just for practice.
“Quick Gunter, grab the phenophthalein! Ha Ha! Silly Americans! Now all your bases will be pink!”