George Harkness (New Earth)

From DC Database

Captain Boomerang

Gallery

Real Name

George "Digger" Harkness

Current Alias

Captain Boomerang

Aliases

Mirror Master

Identity

Secret

Affiliation

Rogues Gallery, Secret Society of Super Villains, Suicide Squad

Relatives

Owen Mercer (son) - see Allen Family for complete family tree

Universe

Earth-One, New Earth

Base Of Operations

Central City, Missouri

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Brown

Status

Citizenship

Australian

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Professional Criminal, Performer & Boomerang Promoter

Origin

Origin

Developed skill in making boomerang and using them as weapons

Place of Birth

Australia

Creators

John Broome, Carmine Infantino

First appearance

Last appearance

Flash #117
(December, 1960)

Identity Crisis

History

Early life

Secretly the illegitimate son of an American soldier and an Australian woman, Harkness was raised in poverty, during which time he developed great skill in making boomerangs, and in using them as weapons. As a young adult, he was hired as a performer and boomerang promoter by a toy company which was, unbeknownst to him, owned by his biological father. Audiences ridiculed him, and a resentful Harkness turned to using his boomerangs for crime.

George Harkness as Captain Boomerang on the cover of Flash #117

Although he lacked any actual superhuman abilities, he became a recurring enemy of the Flash, typically by devising altered boomerangs which could produce astonishing effects, and using them ruthlessly. He became a staple member of the Rogues Gallery, a group of villains dedicated to opposing Flash.

Once, he planted special getaway boomerangs in every jail within one hundred miles of Central City, where they would remain invisible until he concentrated his brain waves to materialize them. One year later, he had the chance to use one of them. He was being transported to the state pen, but an anonymous phone call, which had actually been made by Boomerang's father, Aussie Green, said that there was a bomb in the patrol wagon that he was being transported in. The police evacuated the wagon and put Captain Boomerang into temporary custody at the police station. However, he used one of his getaway boomerangs to escape. As he escaped, he hurled a boomerang at Barry Allen for rubbing him the wrong way (a little earlier, the scientist had told one of the police officers not to take off the villain's straightjacket). Barry quickly changed into the Flash, and tried to apprehend Boomerang by creating air gusts, pushing the villain in front of him. However, the Captain contorted his body into the shape of a boomerang, which caused him to hurtle back towards the Flash, knocking him down. All of this had been recorded by Boomerang's father and put into a scrapbook entitled Flash -- This is your Death! Boomerang set Flash up in a machine, that sent the hero hurtling like a boomerang into another dimension, filled with terrible monsters. However, Flash stayed in the shape of a boomerang, knowing that he would be returned to his sender. Foiled, Boomerang and his father tried to get away with a special flying boomerang, but Flash created a waterspout as they flew over a lake, bringing them back down, where Flash could take them to the police headquarters.

Suicide Squad

Later on, Harkness became a less-than-effective member of the Suicide Squad in exchange for being pardoned for his crimes. However, Captain Boomerang's grating personality and blatant racism (among other things, he constantly referred to another team member, the Bronze Tiger, as an "abo") caused considerable friction among his teammates, and he was considered to be a dangerous, vicious, cowardly and undependable member of the team; dysfunctional even by the Squad's standards. Amanda Waller, the Squad's commanding officer, characterized Captain Boomerang as "a jerk and a screw-up."

This was not an undeserved reputation, as, among other things, Harkness simply watched by as his teammate, Mindboggler, was shot in the back. (Mindboggler had earlier used her mind-altering abilities on Harkness to shut him up when he was verbally abusing another team member.) He also manipulated another team member, Slipknot, into running away from the action just to see if the explosive bracelets the Squad members wore really did activate if the wearer attempted to escape. (Unfortunately for Slipknot, they did.)

While in the Squad, Harkness also briefly took up the mantle of Mirror Master to commit robberies. However, this career was cut short when he was caught and brought to Waller, who put an end to it, and rescinded the benefits Harkness had been given, such as his apartment in New Orleans and his status as a voluntary member of the Squad. Harkness remained with the Squad until it was disbanded.

Identity Crisis

Harkness found himself an obsolete villain in the modern world of supervillains. Regularly going up to the supervillain satellite looking for jobs, asking favors from the Calculator, he was at the end of his rope looking for a job to put him on the map again.

During this time, Harkness finally reached out to the son he abandoned, Owen Mercer. The two began to bond when Harkness was killed by Jack Drake, father of Tim Drake. Digger had been sent by the real killer to attack Jack Drake, only the killer double crossed Digger and sent Drake a warning and a pistol to defend himself. Digger managed to kill Drake but not before he was shot himself. The sudden loss of Harkness caused Mercer to take up his father's mantle, and become the second Captain Boomerang.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

None known.

Abilities

None known.

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

• Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
  

Trivia

• No trivia.
  
  

Appearances in Other Media

Captain Boomerang in Justice League Unlimited

Harkness has made an appearance in the animated series Justice League Unlimited as a member of Task Force X led by Rick Flag. He also appeared later in the episode Flash and Substance. In that episode, he appears in a streamlined, trench-coated version of his traditional costume. Harkness also made an appearance in the episode "Eclipsed", though that character is played by an actor in a commercial the Flash was starring in. He is voiced by Donal Gibson.

See Also

• Discuss George Harkness (New Earth) on the forums
• Appearances of George Harkness (New Earth) (Chronological)
• Appearances of George Harkness (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: George Harkness (New Earth)
• Fan-Art Gallery: George Harkness (New Earth)
  
• Images featuring George Harkness (New Earth)

Recommended Reading

• None.

Links and References

• Captain Boomerang at Wikipedia.org
  
• Alan Kistler's Profile On: THE FLASH - A detailed analysis of the history of the Flash by comic book historian Alan Kistler. Covers information all the way from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to today, as well as discussions on the various villains and Rogues who fought the Flash. Various art scans.
• George Harkness (New Earth) at Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning

• Crimson Lightning, an online index to the comic book adventures of the Modern Age Flash.
  

Footnotes