Captain Boomerang
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George "Digger" Harkness and his son Owen Mercer, both known as Captain Boomerang, are fictional supervillains in the DC Universe.
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[edit] Digger Harkness
[edit] 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.
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 (some would explode, others had razor-sharp edges, etc.), and using them ruthlessly. He became a staple member of the Rogues Gallery, a group of villains dedicated to opposing Flash.
[edit] 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. She rescinded the benefits Harkness had been given, such as his apartment in New Orleans and his status as a voluntary member of the Squad. Due to various events, Digger once spent year stranded on a deserted island. It was during the series that Harkness revealed a deep patriotism for his home country of Australia. Harkness remained with the Squad until it was disbanded.
[edit] Other Appereances
Digger later showed up in Superboy with another Squad. He was shot through the hands and presumably fell to his death.
In the pages of Flash, he was shown to be dead for sure, with his soul in Hell. A super-powered version of him, along with several other members of Flash's Rogue's Gallery, went on a bloody rampage. Mystical powers eventually restored Digger to life.
[edit] Identity Crisis
Captain Boomerang was killed in the Identity Crisis miniseries 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.
[edit] Owen Mercer
During the beginning of 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. The sudden loss of Harkness caused Mercer to take up his father's mantle, and become the second Captain Boomerang. Captain Cold took Mercer in as one of the Flash's enemies, the Rogues Gallery because Cold believed his sister, Golden Glider, was Mercer's mother. It was revealed in the Flash's title that Mercer's mother is actually Meloni Thawne which makes Bart Allen, the current Flash, his half brother. He's since then reformed and joined the Outsiders.
[edit] Other media
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.
[edit] External links
- 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.
- Hyperborea entry for Captain Boomerang
- Crimson Lightning, an online index to the comic book adventures of the Modern Age Flash.
