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Gunfire! Because the comic book crash
of the 90s wasn't happening fast enough
for DC. |
In the history of comic books, the 1990s was a decade defined by volatility, controversy, and a level of consumer gluttony that created a market bubble that almost killed the entire industry. During the run up to the comics crash, market speculators had mistakenly identified comic books as a cheap investment that would payoff in a big way like many of the golden age books did. These speculators either completely ignored, or more likely were oblivious to the facts that the golden age books appreciated in value not only because they featured the first appearances of iconic characters, but that they were extremely scarce due to paper rationing of the WWII years and the SHORT-SIGHTED IDIOCY OF PARENTS WHO MADE THEIR KIDS THROW THEM AWAY FOR COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS REASONS LIKE CLUTTERED BEDROOMS OR POTENTIALLY ARRESTED SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT... AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! (I'm Ok, really.) In response to the speculator-driven consumer glut on comic books, publishers (mistaking the building market bubble for a real and sustainable increase in demand) introduced features designed to further boost comic book sales by encouraging consumers to purchase multiple copies of the same issue including multiple/variant covers and gimmick covers (i.e. die-cut, chromium, hologram covers, and so on). Furthermore, publishers also vastly increased the total number of titles they offered, which unfortunately featured many characters and teams that ultimately had little or no staying power, essentially diluting the quality of the overall product. DC Comics was front and center in the coming comics quagmire as exemplified by its 1993 Summer comics event, Bloodlines.
Bloodlines was a Summer event that ran through 23 DC Comics annuals and concluded with a two issue mini-series. The plot was simple; seven shape-shifting alien parasites came to Earth and fed on the spinal fluids of random humans, killing them in the process. However, 23 of their victims possessed the metagene, which was triggered by the attacks, giving rise to 23 new metahumans, known as "New Bloods" into the DC Universe. More importantly to DC, it created 23 potential new solo titles and maybe even one new team book. Unfortunately for DC only seven new titles were launched out of the Bloodlines event and six of them were short-lived. Only Hitman, from The Demon (1990) Annual #2, enjoyed any real success with a solo title running from 1996-2001 by Garth Ennis and John McCrea.
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| Deathstroke explains Gunfire's powers, |
The sales juggernaut that was introduced in Deathstroke: The Terminator (1991) Annual #2, was Gunfire, whose own solo series lasted a whopping fourteen issues. Created by comics legend Len Wein and Steve Erwin, Gunfire was Andrew Van Horn, the son of Gunther Van Horn, owner of the Paris-based weapons manufacturer, Van Horn Industries. The alien parasite, Venev, found herself in Paris and was drawn to Slade Wilson, who came to Paris to acquire new armor and weapons from his old friend Gunther. Following Slade to Van Horn Industries, Venev went on a feeding rampage slaughtering numerous people including Gunther and seemingly Andrew. Andrew, however, had the metagene which was activated as a result of Venev's bite. Andrew had gained the ability to "agitate" the molecules of objects that he touches with his hands and then to project those molecules into gunfire-like blasts (Think the X-Men's Gambit only he doesn't have to throw anything). Long story short; he teamed up with Deathstroke to defeat Venev, had a short-lived solo title, joined other New Bloods in the short-lived Blood Pack team, survived both the Infinite and Final Crises, had his hands cut off by Prometheus, and after Flashpoint he somehow became an African-American police detective named Blake (Dr. Manhattan?!?) That's about it.
