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TNT (character)

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TNT
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceStar-Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942)
Created byMort Weisinger
In-story information
Alter egoThomas N. "Tex" Thomas
Team affiliationsAll-Star Squadron
Seven Soldiers of Victory
PartnershipsDan the Dyna-Mite
AbilitiesAfter coming in contact with Dan the Dyna-Mite:
Enhanced strength, speed and resistance to injury
Heat generation

TNT is a DC Comics superhero from the 1940s. TNT and his side-kick Dan the Dyna-Mite were created by Mort Weisinger for DC Comics, and made their debut in Star Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942).[1]

The "human hand grenades" had a short lived career during the Golden Age of Comic Books, reappearing occasionally in reprint form during the 1970s, returning in Super Friends # 12, and appearing from time to time in All-Star Squadron and its Post-Crisis sequel, Young All-Stars.

Fictional character biography

Pre Crisis

TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite are the secret identities of chemistry teacher and track coach Thomas N. "Tex" Thomas and his student Daniel Dunbar.[2] While working together with some "radioactive salts", they discover they are charged with atomic energy.[3] Thomas is charged with positive energy, while Dunbar is charged with negative energy. Thomas makes a pair of rings which keeps the energy dormant until they are touched together, at which point the pair gains enhanced strength, speed, and resistance to injury, and the ability to generate different forms of energy. Thomas generates heat, while Dan can generate short bursts of electricity. One of their villains is the evil Crime Clown.[4] The series ran through Star-Spangled Comics #23 (August 1943).

Post-Crisis

TNT was revived as part of Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron, and its spin-off, The Young All-Stars. After TNT and Dyna-Mite had been active for a few months, they are summoned by the All-Star Squadron to participate in their first general meeting. Their participation seems to have been limited to attending meetings and little else until April 1942, when Liberty Belle, as chairperson of the All-Stars, asks TNT and Dyna-Mite to look into Axis espionage activity in Colorado. Here, they meet future All-Star member Iron Munro, but TNT is killed by Gudra the Valkyrie, a supernatural agent of Adolf Hitler.[5] TNT is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, leaving Dyna-Mite to work with Munro and other members of the Young All-Stars. Keeping Thomas' ring, Dan finds he can activate his powers by slamming both rings together.

In 2010's DCU: Legacies #2, TNT and Dyna-Mite are revealed to have been founding members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.[6][7][8] How this retcon affects their histories, such as the previously established death of TNT and Dyna-Mite's Young All-Stars stint, has not yet been revealed.

Current version

The latest version of the character is featured in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers project. Calling himself Dyno-Mite Dan, Harris D. Ledbetter makes an online purchase of what he believes are TNT and Dan The Dyna-Mite's rings, and joins five other heroes in Seven Soldiers # 0. Later, he is killed with the rest of his team. His rings are actually working fakes made by Cassandra Craft.

DC Universe

During the "Dark Nights: Death Metal" storyline, TNT is among the superheroes that were revived by Batman using a Black Lantern ring.[9]

Reception

American Comic Book Chronicles says that the TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite series "had potential, but consistently fell flat, limited space and unimaginative writing its chief problems."[3]

Other appearances

TNT does not appear in the 1993 four issue mini-series The Golden Age, written by James Robinson and drawn by Paul Smith. This series is set during the period of McCarthyism and, much as he did in The Young All-Stars, TNT is said to have died during World War II. The similarly named Tex Thompson (formerly Mr. America and the Americommando) has retired from superheroics and gone into politics. Thompson's former superhero allies eventually discover that his brain has been replaced with that of the Ultra-Humanite, and he has transplanted the brain of Adolf Hitler into the now-superstrong body of Dan the Dyna-Mite.

References

  1. ^ Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 184. ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  2. ^ Markstein, Don. "TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 150. ISBN 978-1605490892.
  4. ^ Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  5. ^ The Young All-Stars #1
  6. ^ "Continue to explore the history of the DCU with LEGACIES #2". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2011-01-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Newest Seven Soldiers in DC Legacies #2 (Spoilers) - The Comic Bloc Forums". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  9. ^ Dark Nights: Death Metal #5. DC Comics.
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