Nitro (comics)

Nitro

Nitro
Cover to Captain Marvel #34, by Jim Starlin.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974)
Created by Jim Starlin
Steve Englehart
In-story information
Alter ego Robert Hunter
Species Human Mutate
Team affiliations Defenders
Hardcore's Untouchables[1]
Abilities Immense self-detonation, after which he exists as a diffused gaseous form
Ability to reform at will

Nitro is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Nitro is known by comic fans for playing a part in the death of the Kree superhero Mar-Vell. He is also best known for being part of the tragedy that started off Marvel's Civil War crossover.

Publication history

Nitro first appeared in Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974) and was created by Jim Starlin.

Fictional character biography

Robert Hunter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was an electrical engineer. Due to genetic alteration carried out on him by the Kree Lunatic Legion, Robert gained the ability to explode and reform himself at will and became a professional criminal. Some time later, he exposed Captain Marvel to a carcinogenic nerve gas;[2] this encounter ultimately caused Marvel's fatal cancer. Since then he has clashed with Earth's superhumans, who have found creative ways to defeat him, including using the "fractioning (separation) of his exploded mass" against him (essentially, if he can't reform himself after an explosion, he can't explode again).

Nitro later battled and was defeated by Omega the Unknown.[3] He later escaped from Project: Pegasus, and then battled and was defeated by Spider-Man.[4] He was later freed from his containment canister by the Vulture in Albany, New York. He battled Skids of the New Mutants, and was unable to re-form his body within Skids' force field.[5]

Much later, when the Kingpin was plotting his return to the New York underworld, he hired Nitro as one of many assassins to launch a carefully planned simultaneous attack on several New York crime bosses, including Don Fortunato, Hammerhead, Caesar Cicero, Silvermane, and many others; Nitro's target was Norman Osborn, who emerged relatively unscathed.[6]

One such appearance where a foe took advantage of his limitations was in Iron Man vol. 3 #15, where he was hired to kill Tony Stark. A fight occurred between Nitro and Iron Man. Iron Man, whose sensors and telecommunications gear had been recently upgraded, noticed that every time he exploded, a high-frequency pulse was emitted by his body. Experimenting, Iron Man duplicated the pulse, causing Nitro to explode. After he exploded several times in a minute, he passed out from exhaustion (presumably, it takes energy to explode, and he could only spare so much before he passed out). Iron Man handed him over to S.H.I.E.L.D., along with a recommendation on constructing a null-harness. He was sent to prison.

On another occasion, when Nitro's lawyer had him released from captivity, the villain immediately escaped, attempting to rob a bank for money to travel to San Francisco to kill Captain Marvel. He was opposed by Spider-Man, who defeated Nitro by webbing a barrel of tear gas to his body right before he exploded. As Nitro reformed, the suddenly evaporated tear gas mixed with his own molecules, leaving him violently ill and unable to fight back. Again, Nitro was arrested and sent to jail.

Later, Nitro is hired as a hit-man to kill Matt Murdock. He almost succeeds, killing several innocent people. Daredevil and the police work together to capture him.[7]

Stamford catastrophe and beyond

The New Warriors performed a videotaped raid of a house containing the Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, Coldheart and Nitro, who had recently escaped from prison during the Ryker's Island Incident. The New Warriors attacked each member, with Namorita (the Sub-Mariner's cousin) going after Nitro. Slamming him into a school bus, Namorita taunted Nitro until he caused a massive explosion. This explosion killed Namorita, Night Thrasher, Microbe, and the supervillains he was with during the raid, along with sixty children at the nearby elementary school and some 600 people in the surrounding neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut, where the fight took place.[8]

Nitro escaped in the back of a pickup truck, and Wolverine soon began hunting him.[9] Eventually Wolverine and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents caught up with Nitro. The agents perished in the battle.[10] Atlantean agents show up and capture Nitro for Namor and Wolverine follows them to New Pangea in an Iron Man armor to find Nitro has killed his interrogators in an attempt to escape.[11] Wolverine captures Nitro and slices off his arm, leaving Nitro a prisoner of Atlantis.[12]

Namor used Nitro in the destruction of New Pangea after moving his civilization to Latveria, a nation ruled by Doctor Doom.[13] Nitro was held prisoner in Latveria[14] until Penance brought him back to America after forcing him to suffer for the Stamford explosion, leaving him in critical condition and close to death.[15]

Nitro later popped up as a member of Hood's crime syndicate when stole a treasure from an Arabic diplomat and then had a celebratory party were the Hood shows them how he's the leader and the ways he delegates the job.[16]

Nitro later appeared at a party in Madripoor that was held by Sabretooth.[17]

Nitro was among the villains that fought Spider-Man on a submarine.[18]

During the Avengers: Standoff! storyline, Nitro is among the inmates of the gated community of Pleasant Hill which serves as the most unlikely of prisons.[19]

Powers and abilities

As a result of genetic re-engineering by the Kree, Nitro can transform his body into a gaseous state and explode with a maximum force equivalent to 350 lb (160 kg) of TNT - which can however be multiplied under influence of MGH - and reconstitute himself. He can also explode discrete portions of his body; for instance, he can channel his explosive power to his hands in the act of punching, thereby delivering a great impact force equal to 10 lb (4.5 kg) of TNT. He can use his superhuman power to explode in a particular direction, reassembling himself when his particles lose forward momentum, and repeating the process as necessary. While in his gaseous state, he cannot reform if any fraction of his body is separated from the rest, and he must completely reform his body from a gaseous state before he can detonate a second time. He does not possess any enhanced self-healing capabilities outside of reassembling after an explosion, as shown when Wolverine cut off his hand.[20]

Other versions

House of M: Masters of Evil

Nitro appears as a member of Hood's Masters of Evil in the House of M reality.[21] He is killed in battle by the Red Guard.[22]

In other media

Television

Video games

References

  1. ↑ Cage #3
  2. ↑ Captain Marvel #34
  3. ↑ Omega the Unknown #8
  4. ↑ Spectacular Spider-Man #55
  5. ↑ New Mutants #86
  6. ↑ Peter Parker: Spider-Man #95
  7. ↑ Daredevil vol. 2 #26
  8. ↑ Civil War #1
  9. ↑ Wolverine vol. 3 #42
  10. ↑ Wolverine vol. 3 #43
  11. ↑ Wolverine vol. 3 #44
  12. ↑ Wolverine vol. 3 #45
  13. ↑ Sub-Mariner #6
  14. ↑ Penance - Relentless #2
  15. ↑ Penance: Relentless #5
  16. ↑ Dark Reign: The Hood #1
  17. ↑ Wolverine Vol. 2 #304
  18. ↑ Marvel Knights: Spider-Man Vol. 2 #3-4
  19. ↑ Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Alpha #1
  20. ↑ Wolverine Volume 3 #45
  21. ↑ House of M: Masters of Evil #1
  22. ↑ House of M: Masters of Evil #4
  23. ↑ Wolverine e os X-Men (Wolverine and the X-Men) Ep. 8

External links

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