Firefly (DC Comics)

Firefly
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Lynns Detective Comics #184 (June 1952) Carson Batman #126 (1959)
Created by	Lynns France Herron Dick Sprang Carson Bill Finger Sheldon Moldoff
In-story information
Alter ego	Garfield Lynns Ted Carson
Team affiliations	Secret Society of Super Villains
Abilities	(Pre-Crisis) Use of tricks with colored lights (Post-Crisis) Expert in pyrotechnics and explosives Insulated battlesuit equipped with a flamethrower, grenade launchers, incendiary devices, jetpack and wings that allow flight

Firefly is the name of two fictional supervillains that appear in American comic books published by DC Comics, both being enemies of Batman.

Publication history

The first Firefly (Garfield Lynns) appeared in Detective Comics #184 (June 1952) created by France Herron and Dick Sprang.^[1]

The second Firefly (Ted Carson) appeared in Batman #126 and was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Garfield Lynns

The first iteration of Firefly is introduced as Garfield Lynns, a down-and-out film special effects expert who attempts to rob a theatre by faking a fire, but was stopped by Batman and Robin. He escapes, and in the darkness Batman sees a distant firefly, which he mistakes for Lynns' lit cigarette and chases in the wrong direction. Inspired, Lynns becomes the Firefly, using various lighting effects and optical illusions in his crimes.^[1] As a costumed criminal, Firefly has fought not only Batman and Robin, but also the Creeper and the Outsiders.

Ted Carson

The second iteration of Firefly is Ted Carson, an ostentatiously wealthy gold mine heir who gambles away the family fortune and turns to crime to maintain his lifestyle. He is also Bruce Wayne's rival for the affections of Kathy Kane (aka Batwoman). His first time as Firefly occurred when he crashes the party at the Carson Mansion where Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were attending. Batman and Robin attempt to interfere with Firefly's theft of gold nuggets from the Carson Family's first gold strike, but Firefly blinds them momentarily with a powerful light beam from his helmet and ensures his gang's getaway. Later, Wayne finds Kathy spurning him for Carson causing him to exclaim that he now has both the Firefly and Carson to worry about. Soon, Batman, Robin, and Batwoman are summoned to combat the Firefly at the Gotham Glassworks, but they discover that the Firefly possesses a sonic weapon that can shatter glass and are forced to take cover while the criminals flee, though one of the criminals is caught. Later, Bruce calls upon Kathy, only to find Carson already there. After a few minutes, Ted gets up to leave and asks Bruce to see Kathy to dinner. She pleads a headache and gets Bruce's raincoat still leaving him in the dark as to whether or not she suspects him of being Batman. After Bruce leaves, a fallen paper reveals to Kathy the Firefly's plans to rob the Gotham Museum of Natural History. She becomes Batwoman and travels to Carson's house. Batwoman tells Ted to become Batman and accompany her to foil the Firefly's plans as she reveals that she saw him change from a uniform into civilian clothes at the party. Carson leaves, and emerges in his uniform which happens to be Firefly's costume. He proceeds to tie Batwoman up and joins his gang at the museum attempting to steal silver relics. But Batman and Robin have deduced his next crime-site and Batwoman has freed herself, and the crime-fighters bring the criminals down.^[2]

Post-Crisis

How much of Firefly's pre-Crisis history that is still intact is unclear, but post-Crisis shows he works primarily with fire instead of lighting effects, and he also displays pyromaniac tendencies.^[1]

Garfield Lynns is originally a pyrotechnic expert for motion pictures, but falls victim to Gotham City's severe poverty and turns to crime, displaying signs of pyromania. Lynns is captured by Batman and Robin after his first robbery. He takes up arson as a hobby, but it soon turns to an obsession; he believes he can see visions in the flames. Inspired by actual fireflies, he builds a suit and becomes a professional arsonist. Early in his criminal career Firefly becomes the protégé of Killer Moth, looking to duplicate the success of crimefighting duo Batman and Robin. The alliance falls apart when Killer Moth realizes the full extent of Firefly's madness and fears for his own well-being.

In the Knightfall storyline, Firefly's plan after his escape from Arkham Asylum is to burn all the places he didn't go to as a child. He successfully destroys his first two targets, but Batman captures him at the site of his third, the Gotham Zoo. He is one of the main villains in part 1, but is captured. He has been locked up so long he has been mostly forgotten about. Knightfall marks one of the few moments where Lynns face is revealed; he has black hair with white highlights.

In his attempt to burn Gotham to the ground, Firefly is horribly burned when the chemical factory he targeted explodes. He suffers burns over 90 percent of his body, and is ultimately sentenced to Blackgate Prison.^[1] He was one of the inmates of Blackgate when it was under the control of Lock-Up during the No Man's Land story arc. When Nightwing was captured trying to re-take Blackgate from Lock-Up, Firefly (wearing a mask over his face) wanted to kill him and wear his skin over his burned body.^[3]

During the DC One Million crisis, Firefly nearly burned down Gotham while infected with the Hourman virus, requiring Nightwing and Robin to work with the future Batman to stop him.

Firefly makes a short appearance in the Justice League of America story arc "Crisis Of Conscience"^[4] fighting Catwoman in Gotham City over a diamond before Batman arrives. Although an epic battle between the Secret Society and the Justice League ensues, Firefly is knocked unconscious and remains that way during the entire battle. He makes another short appearance in the 2005 mini series Villains United, when the Secret Six attempts to escape the Society's grasp.

Firefly is among the numerous heroes and villains apparently murdered by the OMACs in the pages of DC's The OMAC Project, although he later appears alive in Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special and Gotham Underground.

Firefly appears with Mr. Freeze facing Batman (though Firefly is wearing the same uniform as the Firefly design of The Batman).^[5] He and Mr. Freeze are again shown as having worked together a month after the events of the Crisis, Batman working with the currently-redeemed Harvey Dent to take them down before he takes his year of absence while leaving Dent to guard Gotham.

Following the Final Crisis, Firefly was with Cheetah's Secret Society of Super Villains at the time when Genocide was created. He was defeated by Wonder Woman alongside Shrapnel, Phobia, and T.O. Morrow.

Firefly is recruited by a new Black Mask to a part of a group of villains that are aiming to take over Gotham, but he follows his own agenda. Inspired by the chemicals that Black Mask used on him, Firefly inserts chips into Gothamites in order to make them burn.^[6] Not long after the identity of the new Black Mask was revealed to be Jeremiah Arkham, Firefly was arrested and put into Arkham Asylum. A short time later Firefly is broken out of Arkham Asylum by Dick Grayson, who has assumed the mantle of Batman, to assist him in gaining access to Sebastian Blackspell's closest friends. Batman (Dick) desires to know what Blackspells true intentions are in regards to killing the Riddler.

The New 52

In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), a new version of Firefly appears in Nightwing Annual #1. The Firefly seen is Ted Carson, a former high school teacher who tries to incinerate everything that will separate him from his ex-girlfriend Cindy Cooke. He seemingly murders Garfield Lynns along the way and attempts to use Lynns (a known pyromaniac) as a scapegoat for his crimes. Carson was defeated by Nightwing and Batgirl.^[7]

DC Rebirth

Firefly and Killer Moth team up to hunt and kill Batman in All-Star Batman after Two-Face offers millions of dollars to anyone to kill Batman for him. Like most of the people who try, Firefly and Killer Moth fail.

Powers and abilities

Pre-Crisis

In his Pre-Crisis appearances, Firefly uses tricks with colored lights and other such optical illusions in his crimes.

Post-Crisis

In his Post-Crisis appearances, Firefly is an expert in pyrotechnics and explosives, with a thorough knowledge of inflammable agents. After being horribly burnt all over his body after an out-of-control blaze he started at a chemical factory, he designed and built an insulated, fire-retardant battlesuit to not only protect himself, but outfit it with a number of different features, most of which relate to incendiary weaponry.

Weapons & Equipment

His armament primarily includes a military-grade flamethrower, napalm, grenade launchers, and a self-designed rig that projects a sword-like blade of superheated plasma for close combat purposes. The other main feature of the suit are the fixed wings mounted on his back, which allow him to glide on the updrafts of the fires he creates. Sometimes the wings are depicted as being part of a jetpack instead, granting Firefly proper high-speed flight over short to medium distances.

Other versions

Smallville Season Eleven

Firefly appears in Smallville Season Eleven comic in Gotham City as the yellow rings of Parallax head to Arkham Asylum. There, Batman and Nightwing are doing their best to contain the newly powered inmates of Arkham, including Firefly, who have already been transformed into Yellow Lanterns. Luckily, Superman arrives just in time to offer assistance to Batman and Nightwing. Superman tries to control the situation but his inexperience with his power ring doesn't help at all, so Bane and Firefly attack him, while he is protecting the doctors.

After this, the Yellow Lanterns stand still and kneel before him. Parallax suddenly appears behind Superman, having John Stewart under his control. Batman steals Firefly's ring. In Gotham, Batman fights with Firefly, when suddenly he gets a call from Tess Mercer and Chloe Sullivan in Watchtower, who ask him to secure a single yellow ring for them. Batman fights with Firefly and during the battle he tricks Firefly into colliding to a building. There Batman finds the chance and takes the yellow ring (which tempts him to become its new bearer) from Firefly and then puts it on his analyzer on the Batplane and sends the data to Watchtower and S.T.A.R. Labs.

After their rings get rebooted and they lose their powers, the inmates of Arkham fall from the sky unable to do anything to save themselves, but fortunately Superman manages to save them all. After Parallax's defeat, all the now depowered criminals return to Arkham Asylum.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Firefly is a member of the Ambush Bugs led by Canterbury Cricket. He is killed in battle against the Amazons.^[8]

Batman: the Brave and the Bold

Firefly appears as one of the Batman and Wonder Woman rogues attacking the two heroes wedding. Firefly is seen battling the Martian Manhunter. Clayface watched footage of the attack on the wedding causing him to realize fire weakened the Martian Manhunter.

Batman v Superman

The Garfield Lynns version of Firefly was introduced to the DC Extended Universe in the tie-in prequel comic to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, available at Dr. Pepper.^[9]

In other media

Television

Live-action

• Firefly appears in the Arrow episode "Burned" portrayed by Andrew Dunbar. This version is a former firefighter who was disfigured in a fire, and goes after the members of his company who left him for dead.^[10] He is never shown in his traditional costume, instead wearing a firefighter's uniform, and he uses the moniker "Firefly" because he has a firefly tattoo on his hand. He goes to his old fire house and sets it ablaze, intent on killing his former fire chief. After Oliver Queen stops him, he commits suicide by walking into the flames.
• Firefly appears in the Fox Network series Gotham, portrayed by Michelle Veintimilla.^[11] This version of the character is a young woman named Bridgit Pike. Her brothers abuse her and force her to help them burn down buildings owned by Wayne Enterprises, at the behest of Oswald Cobblepot. She makes her own fireproof costume to commit the arsons, and uses a flamethrower. During one of the arsons, she accidentally kills a police officer by setting him on fire.^[12] She goes to her old friend Selina Kyle for help, and the two of them rob a brothel to get the money for Bridgit to leave town. Before Bridgit can escape, her brothers kidnap her. Rather than go back into their service, she burns her brothers to death. She then becomes a vigilante, going after Gotham's pimps. Jim Gordon confronts her during one of her arsons and tries to reason with her, but she turns on him with her flamethrower; a gas leak results in Bridgit setting herself on fire. She is taken to a Wayne Enterprises-owned laboratory called Indian Hill that exists in secret in the bowels of Arkham Asylum.^[13] There, Hugo Strange turns her into one of his personal assassins.^[14] However, she turns on him when he and Mr. Freeze attack Selina. She and Freeze do battle, Firefly with her flamethrower and Freeze with his freeze ray, and incapacitate Strange when he gets in the crossfire.^[15]

Animation

Garfield Lynns as Firefly in The New Batman Adventures.

• The Garfield Lynns incarnation of Firefly has appeared in the DC Animated Universe.
  • Firefly appeared in The New Batman Adventures, voiced by Mark Rolston. In this version, Garfield Lynns was a pyrotechnics engineer. Introduced in "Torch Song", Lynns kidnaps his ex-girlfriend Cassidy (voiced by Karla DeVito), a singer who had fired and dumped him after he botched a pyrotechnics display at one of her concerts. He made an attempt on her life during her performance until Batman arrived. Although Batgirl rescues Cassidy, Lynns escapes and creates the armor that enables him to be Firefly. He smokes out the building Cassidy and her crew are in, enabling him to make off with Cassidy. Batman, in a fireproof metal armor, finds Firefly at an abandoned factory. After a fight, Batman defeats Firefly and rescues Cassidy (although Cassidy develops a case of pyrophobia as a result of her experience as seen at the episode's end). Firefly also appears in "Legends of the Dark Knight" in which he has been hired to burn down a building so that its owner could collect the insurance. A group of children stumble across his plans, yet Batman saves them and defeats Firefly. The producers had wanted to use the character in the earlier series Batman: The Animated Series but were forbidden by Fox to use any pyromaniac character.^[16]
  • Firefly later reappears on the Justice League animated series, with Mark Rolston reprising his role. In the episode "Only a Dream", he escapes out of prison alongside Volcana, Luminus, Copperhead, and Solomon Grundy. Volcana has also developed a liking to him due to their fire-based attacks. Eventually, Firefly and Volcana are apprehended by Green Lantern and Batman.
  • Firefly was alluded to in Batman Beyond. In the episode "Black Out", Firefly's costume can be seen on display in the Batcave which is destroyed during the new Batman's first fight with Inque.

Firefly as he appeared in The Batman

• The Garfield Lynns incarnation of Firefly appears in The Batman, voiced by Jason Marsden. A running gag in the series is people mistakenly call this version insulting insect-related names (e.g., Bugman, Bumblebee, etc.). In the series, he first appeared in "The Big Heat" as a mercenary and arsonist for hire. His weapons and paraphernalia include a heat ray, a battle suit, and a jetpack (which sounds like a fly when it is used). He was hired by GothCorp to attack its rivals, only to be defeated by Batman leaving evidence that exposed Firefly's connection to GothCorp. He returned in "Fire and Ice" to team up with Mr. Freeze. Freeze and Firefly turn on each other and Firefly is frozen. He joined Team Penguin in "Team Penguin" along with Killer Croc, Killer Moth and Ragdoll. Firefly is defeated when Batgirl electrocutes him. In "White Heat", Firefly gains his new partner and lover Dr. Jane 'Blaze' Blazedale (voiced by Rachael MacFarlane) and they both steal a phosphorus isotope to upgrade his battle suit. An accident causes the phosphorus isotope to mutate Firefly into the creature Phosphorus. He acquires greater powers, but is also driven insane soon after his transformation. He attempts to destroy Gotham with a nuclear meltdown in an insane attempt to be remembered, while his body threatens to meltdown which would also destroy Gotham. Batman manages to freeze Phosphorus with liquid nitrogen. Phosphorus is put in a cell in Arkham which contains a special gas mixture that keeps him stable.
• Firefly appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. This version is based on the Pre-Crisis version of Firefly. In "A Bat Divided!", he was seen at a bar where the bad guys hang out until Firestorm and the three Batmen show up. In "Emperor Joker!", Firefly uses his light powers to cause Batman problems and create his Rainbow Creature. Batman uses his rainbow costumes to defeat him. In the series finale "Mitefall", a CGI Firefly is on Bat-Mite's TV.

Film

• In Batman: Assault on Arkham, Firefly's equipment can be seen in the storage room next to Killer Moth and Maxie Zeus's equipments when the Suicide Squad was looking for the Riddler's Cane.
• Firefly appears in Batman: Bad Blood, voiced by Steve Blum. He appears as one of Talia al Ghul's henchmen and frequently teams up with Killer Moth to attack enemies from above. Firefly is presumably killed when his jet pack is damaged and causes him to fly into an engine shaft.

Video games

Lego series

• The Garfield Lynns version of Firefly appears in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, with Robin Atkin Downes reprising his role. His costume is based on his appearance in The Batman.
• Firefly is featured as an unlockable villain through the "Villain Hunt" in the Nintendo DS version of Lego Batman: The Video Game. Firefly's costume here is similar to his look in The Batman.

Batman: Arkham

The Garfield Lynns version of Firefly appears in the Batman: Arkham series, where he is voiced by Crispin Freeman in a Texan accent.^[17]

• A biography for Firefly can be found in the 2009 game Batman: Arkham Asylum. It can be unlocked by scanning newspaper clippings of him in the Patient Observatory in the Medical Facility as the answer to one of the Riddler's riddles. Also, his flamethrowing backpack is there. According to the biography, 90% of his body was covered in burn scars after an accident.
• While not physically appearing in the game Batman: Arkham City, it was revealed that Firefly was currently operating with the Black Mask in his own newly formed gang and assisted him with his first (and successful) breakout attempt from the prison before the events of the game. However, during Black Mask's escape, he disappeared and was left behind by the gang.
• In Batman: Arkham Origins, Firefly has burns covering over 90% of his body including most of his face just like the Post-Crisis version. He appears as one of the eight assassins hired by the Joker (posing as Black Mask at the time) to kill Batman. He first appears at the assassin's meeting in the Royal Hotel, though he had no real involvement in the conference beyond simply showing up. After Batman leaves Bane's hideout, he learns that Firefly is holding an entire bridge hostage to get his attention, planting bombs on both ends and inside the central pillar. Not knowing that the Joker is now incarcerated and cannot pay the bounty, Firefly also takes a train cart hostage as well as several police officers. His bombs are shut down by the combined efforts of Batman and the GCPD, though he still manages to cause enough damage to the bridge on his own. The two battle after Batman shuts down the third bomb, and Firefly attempts to detonate the bombs during their fight, unaware that the bomb squad had already defused the fourth bomb. After realizing all of his bombs have been shut down, Firefly chases Batman around the bridge before trapping him in flames. Batman grapples onto Firefly to save himself, and manages to smash him into one of the pillars before ripping off his wings and leaving him for the police. Firefly is the second-to-last boss, and defeating him immediately leads the player into the endgame.
• In Batman: Arkham Knight, Lynns wears a different suit due to the warmer weather, which exposes his upper arms along with the top of his head; he is shown to be bald, and has hideous scars from his burns. In his side mission Gotham on Fire, Batman discovers that Firefly is burning down firehouses across Gotham. Each time after putting out one of the fires, Batman then pursues Firefly in the Batmobile while evading burning obstacles until he can get close enough to tackle Firefly to the ground and punch him. After the third instance of this, Batman controls Firefly's flight gear to take them to the Gotham City Police Department as Batman leaves him for the arriving police officers. It is also revealed through "The Line of Duty" side mission that the fire chief Raymond Underhill had been aiding Firefly by giving him access codes and addresses of abandoned buildings to prevent most of the firefighters from losing their jobs.

See also

• List of Batman Family adversaries

References

External links

• Firefly (Garfield Lynns) at DC Comics Wiki
• Firefly (Ted Carson of Earth-One) at DC Comics Wiki
• Firefly (Ted Carson of Prime-Earth) at DC Comics Wiki
• Firefly (Garfield Lynns) at Comic Vine
• Firefly (Ted Carson) at Comic Vine
• Firefly at the Comic Book DB
• Firefly at the Internet Movie Database