TNT (comics)

Superherobox


caption =
character_name = TNT
publisher = DC Comics
debut = "Star-Spangled Comics" #7 (April 1942)
creators = Mort Weisinger
alter_ego = Thomas N. "Tex" Thomas
full_name =
species =
homeworld =
alliances = All-Star Squadron
aliases =
supports=
powers = Increased strength, speed and resistance to injury (after coming in contact with Dan the Dyna-Mite)

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)

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

Character history

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. While working together with some "radioactive salts", they discover they are charged with atomic energy. 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 strength, speed, and the ability to generate different forms of energy. Thomas generates heat, while Dan can generate short bursts of electricity.

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. ["The Young All-Stars" #1] 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.

Current version

The latest version of the character is featured in Grant Morrison's "Seven Soldiers" project. Calling himself Dyno-Mite Dan, Harris D. Bedletter 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. Sadly, he is killed with the rest of his team. It should be noted that his rings are actually working fakes made by Cassandra Craft.

Other appearances

Despite some confusion, TNT does not appear in the 1993 four issue mini-series "The Golden Age", written by Jame Robinson and drawn by Paul Smith. Set during the period of McCarthyism, 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 Thompson's mind has been replaced with that of the Ultra-Humanite's, and he has transplanted the brain of Adolf Hitler into the now-superstrong body of Dan the Dyna-Mite. "Tex" Thomas, TNT, does not appear.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=tnt TNT at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe]