Saturday Showcase: Nitro

 

In my opinion, MARVEL has been sitting on a gold mine in a villain they need to spotlight in their movies and TV shows.  Who is this villain? The one and only Nitro.  I know that this may be the first time some of you have hard of Nitro, but he has been involved in some of the most historic events in Marvel Comics history.  If you do your research, you will see that Nitro was the cause for the Marvel Comics version of Civil War and not what you were fed in the theatres.  Here is what you need to know about Nitro.

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. During one of his exploits, he exposed Captain Marvel to a carcinogenic nerve gas that ultimately caused Captain Marvel's fatal cancer. (Historic Event #1) 

Since then he has clashed with Earth's superhumans such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Avengers, and the New Warriors to name a few.  At the start of the Civil War storyline, 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 villain, with Namorita going after Nitro. Slamming him into a school bus, Namorita taunted Nitro who then quotes "Oh, baby, don't you even know? You're playing with the big boys." Nitro then explodes causing 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. (Historic Event #2)  This event led to the hero registration act which would start a Civil War amongst those with powers.

Powers and Abilities

Nitro can forcefully convert his whole body into gases, resulting in a violent explosion. This transformation could be limited to discrete portions of himself, such as his fist and aim the force in a specific direction. While in a gaseous form, he cannot reform if any fraction of his body is separated from the rest and must completely reconstitute himself before detonating again. The process does not have any healing qualities, so any wound received due to the explosion would be present when he reforms.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974)

Created by Jim Starlin (writer) & Steve Englehart (artist)

Name: Nitro

Alter Ego:  Robert Hunter

Species: Human Mutate

Team Affiliations:

• Defenders
• Hardcore's Untouchables

Notable Aliases:

• Exploding Man
• Living Bomb

Until next time, get your READ on!