Owen Mercer (New Earth)

Owen Mercer is the child of the original Captain Boomerang and Meloni Thawne. He finally met his father when Boomerang contacted the Calculator to track him down. Captain Boomerang at first was nervous about meeting his son but Owen spoke to him first. Owen expressed admiration for his famous father and the two hit it off. While praticing throwing boomerangs, Owen saved his father from a razorang by running at superspeed. It was then that Boomerang revealed that Golden Glider was not Owen's mother despite what a tabloid story said.

Captain Boomerang swore to make the two of them famous so he took a job to kill Jack Drake, the father of the current Robin. The job went sour and both Drake and Boomerang were killed. Owen swore to avenge his father and to that end took over the Captain Boomerang name.

After a brief association with the Flash's Rogues Gallery, Owen became a member of the Suicide Squad. His first mission with the Squad involved an unsuccessful bid to capture the Black Marvel Family.

He later joined Nightwing's Outsiders where he has since developed a friendship with neophyte hero Supergirl. After Supergirl returned from her time away with Power Girl, Kara began looking to start a normal life on Earth and went out a 'date' with Owen, during which they spoke of their past problems. Kara has nicknamed Owen 'Boomer.' Although the pair often flirts with one another, they have never progressed to a romantic relationship. This comes primarily from the fact that Kara continues to show interest in Nightwing, and jokingly says that what she and Owen has is more of a brother-sister relationship, in which he has an unhealthy fixation on his 'little sis'. Still, Mercer has referred to Kara as "his girl".

Feeling rejected after Kara's relationship with Power Boy, Owen goes to a bar where he meets Cassandra Cain (Batgirl), who has been hired to kill Supergirl. Cassandra kidnaps and tortures Owen to lure Supergirl. Unfortunately, this proves unnecessary, as Kara had tracked down Cassandra on her own, without any knowledge of Owen's kidnapping. Batgirl nearly manages to defeat Supergirl, but is defeated when Kara grows Krypton Sunstones which impale her foe. Kara then rushes Owen to the hospital where he is treated. While still in medical care, it is discovered that Power Boy has been stalking Kara.

Following Kara's rather violent break-up with Power Boy, the earth was overtaken by spirits from the Phantom Zone, which began to emerge from within Superman. Kara managed to defeat the Phantoms and return the Earth to normal. Afterwards, Kara begins to make amends with all the people who she has hurt since arriving on earth. Amongst them, Boomer, who she apologies for letting him get hurt and leading him on. During this conversation, the matter of Owen's relationship with Kara is finally clarified. When asked by Kara how he feels about her leading him on, Owen replies, "Well, if I may ... for me to have been 'led on' would presume I thought I had a shot with you ... For me to think I had a shot with a sixteen-year-old girl -- crystal-powered hypersleep whatever junk aside ... that would mean I am a dirtbag with a thing for jailbait. Which I am not."

Checkmate abducts all members of the Outsiders except Nightwing, allowing him to infiltrate their headquarters offer them a deal: The Outsiders won't be shut down over their actions in Africa in exchange for infiltrating Oolong Island on behalf of Checkmate. After Batman rescues the Outsiders over North Korean territory, and Nightwing hands over the team to him, Owen and Nightwing are pitted against each other in "auditions" for the new line up. Pushed too far, feeling he doesn't need to prove himself anymore, Owen returns to the Suicide Squad although Batman feels he could make a good double agent.

Suicide Squad

Owen as part of the new Suicide Squad captures two of the Rogues that responsible of Bart Allen's murder, Heat Wave and Weather Wizard, on Louisiana. Later he and the rest of the squad chase after Piper and Trickster in Gotham City after they'd escaped capture from Squad member Deadshot. The Squad however is just as unsuccessful as Deadshot, and the two Rogues escape capture.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Speed Bursts: short burst of limited super speed over short distances, most notably when throwing boomerangs. These were even possible during the time period that Bart Allen fully contained the Speed Force, possibly implying that Owen's speed is not derived from the Speed Force but rather his meta-gene, somewhat akin the Jay Garrick's speed. However, during Chang Tzu's experiments he claimed he believed Mercer could access the Speed Force, and Mercer denied having super speed at all anymore, but Chang Tzu was able to activate Owen's speed involuntarily, causing him great pain. The exact source of this power remains unrevealed. Regardless, as of Justice Society of America #8, the Speed Force appears to have returned and is accessible to all former speedsters once more.

Abilities

Master of the Boomerang: Seems to have inherited his father's skill at throwing boomerangs. Trained with Harkness before his death.

Strength level

Strength level unknown, likely equivalent to a healthy adult male who engages in regular exercise.

Paraphernalia

Equipment: None known.
Weapons:

Boomerangs: Uses trick boomerangs identical to those used by the first Captain Boomerang. Owen carries several boomerangs hidden on his costume, each with special properties. Unless otherwise noted, they are of Excellent material strength. Owen can throw these so they will return to him with no risk of damaging himself.

Electro-boomerang: Emit spark trails carrying a deadly 5,000 volts, which circle around the target.
Exploso-boomerang: Detonates on contact, damage to all in one area.
Gas boomerang: Monstrous intensity tear gas, affects one area.
Razor boomerang
Bladed boomerang
Acid-spewing boomerang
Sonic boomerang: Excellent intensity sonic attack.
Gravity boomerang: Creates local gravity field of Incredible intensity.
Weighted boomerangs: Solid-weighted boomerang.
Preprogrammed boomerangs: These boomerangs are rocket propelled and are preprogrammed to fly to a target, pick up whatever item and returned to a predesignated spot with amazing flight speed and range.

Notes

No special notes.

Trivia

Captain Boomerang received an action figure as part of DC Direct's Identity Crisis toyline.

Links and References

Footnotes

Owen Mercer (New Earth)

From DC Database

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