Gas Gang

The Gas Gang were a group of short-lived fictional robots created in the Metal Men universe, from the Metal Men story "The Day Doc Turned Robot!" ("Metal Men" #6, DC Comics, February–March 1964).

Fictional history

The story begins where the previous story "Menace of the Mammoth Robots!" left off. After dislodging a meteor from his ship's hull and rescuing the lone female robot Platinum, Dr. William "Will" Magnus had his spacesuit perforated by cosmic rays. The effect was that during their return trip to Earth, "Doc" Magnus became a robot himself, displaying none of the actual human and humane feelings toward his Metal Men or anything, even to the point of denying the Metal Men the opportunity to rescue another rocketship in distress. After they disobeyed orders and rescued the ship, Doc Magnus threatened to melt down his creations. For his own protection, after landing the Metal Men locked him in his lab and began experimenting on ways to make him human again.

However, while they were busy with one failed experiment after another, the lab door burst open and Doc Magnus introduced his new robots, the Gas Gang. Unlike the Metal Men (each of whom was based on a different metal), these were based on (and named for) the gases Oxygen, Helium, Chloroform, Carbon Monoxide, and Carbon Dioxide.

Whereas the Metal Men were approximately the same size as Doctor Magnus, the Gas Gang were anywhere from one-third to twice his size.

On Chloroform's initial attack, it caused the Metal Men to break out in fits of hysteria ala Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas) which Doc Magnus said was chloroform's initial effect. Before Lead could wall them off, Mercury literally "broke up laughing", opening Oxygen to attack and causing the Metal Men to begin to rust. During the chase Carbon Monoxide (called "CM" by Carbon Dioxide) attempted to poison them with fumes, while Carbon Dioxide (called "CD" by Carbon Monoxide) attempted to freeze them. The chase ended in one of the labs where Gold was attempting heat conduction on the others as a possible cure for their creator. As Helium expanded and cornered the Metal Men, Platinum got Gold to repeat the experiment, stretching and transforming himself into a large cage and trapping the Gas Gang. When he connected himself to the high-voltage conductors he melted the Gas Gang and converted them all to steam. That was when they discovered Doctor Magnus had been trapped in there with them, and as it turned out is what cured him and made him human again.

The Gas Gang was rebuilt in #10 when the Metal Men had returned from a space mission amalgamated, enlarged to colossal size and mentally unbalanced. Carrying out Doc Magnus' instructions to defeat the Metal Men Collective and then bring them (it) to Doc, they then turn against Doc and try to kill him. Once again they are defeated and eradicated.

They act offstage as some of the rebuilt enemies of the Metal Men, brought back by Platinum Man (created and app. destroyed in #32)in a revenge scheme against Doc Magnus who seemingly had abandoned him and the Metal Women, in Brave & the Bold #187). They run off and do not reappear in that story.

Members

• Oxygen - A Gas Gang member in the form of a walking oxygen tank.
• Helium - A Gas Gang member in the form of a rubberized container that could expand.
• Carbon Monoxide - A Gas Gang member in the form of a walking lit Bunsen Burner.His face and head were made of fire.
• Chloroform - A Gas Gang member in the form of a walking cylindrical tank perforated with holes from which it emitted its gas.
• Carbon Dioxide - A Gas Gang member that resembles an anthropomorphic dry ice crystal.

In other media

Television

• The Gas Gang appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Clash of the Metal Men" with Oxygen voiced by Brian Bloom, Carbon Dioxide voiced by Hynden Walch, Hydrogen voiced by Lex Lang, Helium voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, and Chloroform and Nitrogen having no dialogue. This version of the team is altered somewhat from the original: Hydrogen (an explosive gas) is added, Carbon Dioxide has the body of Carbon Monoxide (leaving Carbon Monoxide out of the team altogether), and Carbon Dioxide's body from the comics is used by a new character, Nitrogen. This version of the Gas Gang are Dr. Magnus' fellow scientists who were turned into gaseous forms following a lab accident trying to use the experiment for themselves and then develop the right gas to cause volcanoes to erupt causing mass destruction. They kidnap Dr. Will Magnus in order to form robotic bodies to store their fading bodies. They fought Batman and the Metal Men and ended up defeating them. Dr. Magnus reluctantly made them robotic bodies to store their gaseous forms when they tricked him into believing that he was responsible for their condition. They then strapped a chemical container to Dr. Magnus and slowly lowered him into a volcano so that the heat can trigger the chemical container and set off the volcano. When their powers were too much for the Metal Men, they formed around Batman to form an armor. After taking a beating, the Gas Gang also combined and turned the tide against Batman and the Metal Men. Batman threw a torch at the combined Gas Gang exploding their robotic bodies and combined their gas forms into a deadly gas cloud. While Batman went after the Gas Gang, the Metal Men saved Dr. Magnus. Batman set his Batplane to self-destruct destroying the Gas Gang.

External links

• Gas Gang at Comic Vine

References