Heat Wave (comics)
Heat Wave | |
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![]() Heat Wave on the cover to The Flash (vol. 2) #218. Art by Howard Porter, Inked by Livesay | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | The Flash #140 (November 1963) |
Created by | John Broome (Writer) Carmine Infantino (artist) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Mick Rory |
Species | Human |
Place of origin | New Earth |
Team affiliations | Rogues Secret Society of Super Villains Legion of Doom Freedom Fighters Legends Suicide Squad |
Notable aliases | Rory Calhoun, Chronos |
Abilities | Possesses a handgun sized flamethrower and knowledge of pyrotechnics and combustibles Wears an asbestos suit that protects him from fire and heat Pipe attached to his left arm that allows him to put out fires New 52: Chest based pyrokinesis/ Expert Burglar |
Heat Wave (Mick Rory) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an enemy of The Flash and a member of The Rogues along with Captain Cold.
Actor Dominic Purcell has portrayed the character in The CW's Arrowverse television series The Flash and was in Legends of Tomorrow till the sixth season.
Publication history[]
Heat Wave was first introduced in The Flash #140, written by John Broome.[1] He was first made to be a rival for Captain Cold. However, in recent comics by Geoff Johns, Rory looks to Captain Cold to help him keep his obsession at bay, though Cold thinks he'll eventually become beyond help.
Fictional character biography[]
Born on a farm outside Central City, Mick Rory became fascinated with fire as a child. This fascination turned into an obsession and one night, he set his family's home ablaze. His obsession was so great, that he simply watched the flames engulf his house, instead of running to get help.
After this event, Rory went to live with his uncle. His pyromania continued and he was forced to run away after locking a schoolmate in his house and setting it on fire, after the boy locked Rory in a meat locker during a field trip. He took a job as a fire eater with a traveling circus. This did not last long either, as he ended up setting the circus on fire. He has an intense fear of cold, called cryophobia. This was due to a school field trip (noted above) to a slaughterhouse, during which one of his friends locked him in a freezer.
It was these events that made him desperate to fight his fire obsession and after seeing the Rogues in action in Central City, he decided to use his mania to become a villain. He created a protective costume made of asbestos (this was back before the dangers of asbestos were known), built a gun-sized flamethrower (nicknamed the "Hot Rod"), and became Heat Wave.[2] As he was committing crimes in Central City, it was inevitable that he would run into the Flash, which he did quite regularly. Subsequently, he also ended up in jail quite regularly. He also became an adversary of Captain Cold, due to his aversion to cold temperatures. It was Captain Cold who introduced Heat Wave to the Rogues, and in his first appearance they teamed up to get rid of the Flash as they competed over a newscaster they had both fallen in love with and fought each other as they each tried to complete a larger crime spree, but the Flash jailed them both.
Eventually, Mick went straight, due largely to the manipulations of the Top. He took a job as a firefighting consultant, using his vast knowledge on fires and heat. He also became good friends with Barry Allen, whose secret identity as Flash was discovered by Rory years before. Rory later succumbed to an offer by Abra Kadabra of gaining respect and infamy in the world. He and four other members of the Rogues sacrificed themselves, quite unwittingly, to unleash the demon Neron.[3]
Neron returned the soulless bodies of the five to Earth, in a plan to force Flash into a deal.[4] The five Rogues each possessed incredible powers and wreaked havoc, death, and destruction before Neron was forced by Flash to halt their actions and return their souls to their bodies.[5]
Heat Wave would only briefly return to his criminal ways before abandoning them to study with Zhutanian monks.[6] Afterwards, he worked for Project Cadmus as a backup agent, but eventually quit that too and moved to the Quad Cities, Illinois area. He eventually got a job at the FBI, along with other reformed members of the Rogues. This was a spectacular failure and Rory became a villain once again after the Top arrived and undid the mental program that had kept him reformed.
In Infinite Crisis, Heat Wave became a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains.
One Year Later[]
In One Year Later, Heat Wave is next seen being recruited by Inertia to team up against Bart Allen. He is one of the rogues who deliver the killing blow to Bart. He freaks out about what he and the Rogues have done and flees only to be captured by Captain Boomerang alongside Weather Wizard. He is sent to "hell planet" Salvation with the other Rogues. When the conflict starts, he sides with Luthor. When they beat J'onn, he's worried about killing another hero, claiming that they will kill them with rusty razors. He returns to Earth with the villains who are still alive.
Salvation Run[]
Heat Wave is one of the exiled villains featured in Salvation Run along with his fellow Rogues: Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, and Abra Kadabra.
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge[]
He was seen as the member of Rogues who joined Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains. In Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1, however, Heat Wave and the rest of the Rogues reject Libra's offer, wanting to stay out of the game. Before they can retire, they hear of Inertia escaping and decide to stick around long enough to get revenge for being used, particularly after they find that Paul Gambi, the Rogues' tailor, has been badly beaten by the 'New Rogues' organised by Libra. During the hunt for Inertia, Heat Wave also kills Burn- his own counterpart in the 'New Rogues'- when the two shoot their weapons at each other, Heat Wave noting that Burn's costume was of poorer quality than his own, allowing him to burn Burn to death while he is barely sweating while subjected to Burn's own weapons. Captain Cold later has him kill Cold's father, abducted by Libra as a hostage against Cold. While Libra tries to hypnotize the Rogues, Captain Cold tells Rory to watch a nearby fire to retain his focus. When they are fighting Inertia, Rory melts his boots, making him unable to move. He then helps the other Rogues kill Inertia.
Once the crisis is over, the unarmed Human Flame seeks out Heat Wave, hoping to purchase one of his signature flamethrower guns after his own equipment was lost in a confrontation with the Mafia. After learning that the Human Flame can only offer him $5 000, Heat Wave refuses, denouncing Human Flame as "pathetic". Noting that Captain Cold advised against this meeting and he only agreed to see what the other man had to offer, Heat Wave gives Human Flame a harsh beating, the fight concluding with Heat Wave blowing up the fireworks factory they were meeting in, noting that he had always wanted to do something like that.[7]
The Flash (vol. 3)[]
Heat Wave and the Rogues visit Sam Scudder's old hideout and unveil a giant mirror with the words In Case of Flash: Break Glass written on it.[8] Rory is still on the run with The Rogues.[9]
The New 52[]
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this timeline, Heat Wave is now able to shoot fire from his chest, and has issues with Captain Cold, blaming him for the breakup of the Rogues. Both villains end up being defeated by the Flash, but upon being incarcerated they meet with Cold's sister Golden Glider who recruits him for an unknown plot.[10]
DC Rebirth[]
In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, Heat Wave and his fellow Rogues are among the villains that attend the underground meeting held by Riddler to talk about the Superman Theory.[11]
Powers and abilities[]
Pre-52[]
In the Pre-52 continuity Heat Wave had no meta-human abilities; however, he was able to create a flamethrower that allowed him to project intense streams of flame that reach temperatures well over 900 degrees Fahrenheit. The flame that his weaponry projects is so hot that it has been able to melt Flash's friction proof boots, the same boots that allow Flash to run at light speed. He also has an in-depth knowledge of fire and pyrotechnics.
New 52[]
In the New 52 continuity, Heat Wave merged his DNA with his flamethrower, thus granting him the ability to project and manipulate fire from his own body.
Weapons & Equipment[]
Heat Wave carries a hand held flamethrower that allows him to project a concentrated stream of fire at opponents. He wears an asbestos suit with a breathing mask that affords him protection against fire and heat. His suit was once shown to be able to project heat as well, capable of staving off an attack from Captain Cold's cold gun, neutralizing solid projectiles, or melting his way through walls. Heat Wave has a pipe attached to his left arm that can project a fire retardant which allows him to put out fires.
Other versions[]
Justice League Unlimited[]
Heat Wave has appeared in the Justice League Unlimited spin-off comic book, in issue #21.
Tangent Comics[]
In Tangent Comics (now Earth-9 of the DC Multiverse) Heat Wave is mentioned as New York's weather-manipulating villain that was defeated by Superman.
JLA/Avengers[]
In JLA/Avengers Heat Wave is among the villains enthralled by Krona to defend his base in #4. He is shown blasting Jocasta.
New Rogues[]
The New Rogues version of Heat Wave is Burn, a unknown man who possesses a heat gun. This one was actually Nightwing's "Freddy Dinardo" alias in disguise.
Flashpoint[]
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Heat Wave kills Jason Rusch in an attempt to take his place in the Firestorm Matrix, but is defeated by Cyborg. He is then sent to death row in the military Doom prison. During this time, Eel O'Brian arrives to break him out, having been hiding in the body of his cellmate Cluemaster.[12] During the prison break, Heat Wave forces an inmate to join him, after taking out another inmate Victor Zsasz and the corrections officer Atom, who controls the actions of Amazo. While retrieving his weapons, Heat Wave then attacks the guards' control room and attempts to ram Cyborg's home city of Detroit with the Doom prison.[13] Heat Wave then betrays O'Brian and apparently kills him with his flamethrower. Cyborg arrives and moves the Doom prison away from the city with his sonic weapon. When the Doom prison crashes, Heat Wave attempts to escape, but Cyborg challenges him to a fight. During the fight, Cyborg manages to defeat Heat Wave and the inmates are willing to surrender. Later, Heat Wave is imprisoned in Belle Reve with his new cellmate, when O'Brian is revealed to be alive in his new cellmate's body and gets revenge on him at the end of the page.[14]
25th Century Heat Wave[]
A futuristic version Heatstroke is a heroic Heat Wave as part of the 25th Century cops known as The Renegades from Professor Zoom's future.[9]
Earth-3[]
At the time when the "Forever Evil" storyline was happening, Grid access the files of Rhonda Pineda where the Earth-3 version of Mick Rory was a police officer alongside Leonard Snart where they have been pursuing Jonathan Allen and Rhonda. When Jonathan and Rhonda wanted the two of them to fight to the death upon being captured, Mick won the fight only for him to be killed by Jonathan anyway.[15]
Injustice: Gods Among Us[]
In Injustice: Gods Among Us comic, Heat Wave appears in the villains exclusive bar World's End throwing darts at a board with a picture of the Joker on it before Wonder Woman, the Flash and the rest of the League crash the bar looking for Mirror Master. He and the Rogues are recruited into Batman's Insurgency in Year Five to help take down Superman, as Bruce values their "no killing" rule. He and Weather Wizard end up getting incinerated by Bizarro's heat breath.
In other media[]
Television[]
Animation[]
- Heat Wave was originally going to be a villain for the third Super Friends series, in a group called the League of Evil. They were eventually changed to the Legion of Doom and most of the planned members did not appear.
- Heat Wave (spelled Heatwave in the show's billing) was shown in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Lex Lang. He appears as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society. In "To Another Shore", he was seen helping Giganta, Killer Frost, and Devil Ray retrieve a frozen Viking ship containing the Viking Prince's corpse. In "Alive", he was seen burning Blockbuster and being struck by Silver Banshee. In "Destroyer", he was with Lex Luthor and the other remaining Secret Society members when it came to Darkseid's invasion upon Earth. In Justice League Unlimited #21, he shared a relationship with Killer Frost.
- Heat Wave appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!", voiced by Steven Blum. He assists Captain Cold and Weather Wizard in a crime spree.
Arrowverse[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b0/Heatwave%28Dominic_Purcell%29.png/200px-Heatwave%28Dominic_Purcell%29.png)
- Mick Rory/Heat Wave appears on The CW's television series The Flash, portrayed by Dominic Purcell. This version is depicted as a pyromaniac with burns covering half of his body, including his upper arms. He debuts in the episode "Going Rogue", where his ex-partner Leonard Snart (played by Purcell's Prison Break co-star Wentworth Miller) recruits him into his criminal gang. Snart offers Rory an experimental 'heat gun' that he stole earlier and proposes that they work together to kill the Flash so that no one could interfere with their crimes in Central City. However, in "Revenge of the Rogues", the Flash tricks Snart and Rory into firing their guns at each other, destroying both weapons. After being apprehended, they are rescued by Snart's sister, Lisa, and are able to coerce the Flash's ally Cisco Ramon into recreating their weapons.
- Rory next appears in the spin-off DC's Legends of Tomorrow (with Dominic Purcell reprising his role), where he and Snart join the time-traveling Legends team.[16] Here, Snart reveals that when he was first sent to juvenile prison, fellow inmate Rory protected the much-smaller Snart from the other inmates. Snart since looked out for Rory, tempering his more violent tendencies. Eventually Rory and Snart begin having problems with each other, which leads to Rory betraying the team. As a result, he is abandoned in an unspecified place, where he is later captured by the Time Masters and turned into the bounty hunter Chronos. He hunts his former teammates until he is defeated by them and imprisoned on the Waverider, with the team electing to try to rehabilitate him. Later, Rory rejects the Time Masters' attempt to turn him back into Chronos and rejoins the Legends. When Snart sacrifices himself to destroy the Time Masters, Rory is left without his partner onboard the Waverider. In season two, Rory begins seeing visions of Snart and eventually meets a version of him that the Legion of Doom had picked up from earlier in the timeline and recruited into their ranks. After the Legends reprimand Rory for accidentally giving information to Snart, he abandons them and joins the Legion of Doom, helping them obtain the Spear of Destiny and rewrite reality. Rory quickly comes to regret his decision and eventually rejoins the Legends, helping them defeat the Legion of Doom. In season three, Rory and the Legends start fixing anachronisms caused by their actions in season two. During the season, Rory encounters his father in 1967 Vietnam, forcing him to face his feelings about his father's abusive history. He later becomes the wielder of the Fire totem for the final battle against the demon Mallus. In the fourth season, Rory shows he has a talent in writing, and becomes a semi-popular romance novelist under the name "Rebecca Silver". During the fifth season, a trip back to Mick's high school reunion as part of a mission results in him conceiving a daughter with an old girlfriend, prompting him to try and form a relationship with the teenager.
- Mitchell Kummen portrays a younger Mick Rory in the episode "Last Refuge",[17] when the team rescue him from the fire that killed his parents when he was a child. A conversation with his future self reveals that Mick started the fire- albeit by accident- but the conversation helps Rory accept that his younger self was just a foolish child who did not know any better rather than causing the fire out of genuine malice, advising his younger self to be better than him.
- Purcell also portrayed an Earth-74 Rory in the crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths" as a former member of the Legends after some of the team retire and one member died.
Film[]
- Heat Wave appears in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox in a non-speaking role. At the start of film, Heat Wave and the Rogues attacked the Flash, but Professor Zoom betrayed them and attached irremovable bombs to them. The Justice League arrived to dispose of the bombs, Superman removed Heat Wave's by gripping the bomb in his hands to muffle the explosion and save Heat Wave's life.
Video games[]
- Heat Wave appears in the NES video game Batman on the first and fifth levels and shoots a Fire Gun.
- Heat Wave appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame as one of the villains, with Steven Blum reprising his role.
- Heat Wave appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by as a Tech arms dealer in the Hall of Doom.
- Heat Wave appears as a playable character in .
- Heat Wave is mentioned in a clash between Wonder Woman and Captain Cold in Injustice 2. It is implied that he was killed by the Regime.
Lego[]
- Heat Wave appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.[18]
- Heat Wave appears as a main character in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Lex Lang.[19]
References[]
- ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 155. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- ^ Underworld Unleashed #1 (November 1995)
- ^ The Flash (vol. 2) #126 (June 1997)
- ^ The Flash (vol. 2) #129 (September 1997)
- ^ New Year's Evil – The Rogues #1 (February 1998)
- ^ Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #2 (June 2009)
- ^ Flash Secret Files and Origins (2010)
- ^ a b The Flash (vol. 3) #1 (April 2010)
- ^ The Flash (vol. 4) #11 (July 2012)
- ^ Doomsday Clock #6 (July 2018). DC Comics.
- ^ Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #1 (June 2011)
- ^ Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #2 (July 2011)
- ^ Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3 (August 2011)
- ^ Justice League (vol. 2) #26
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 16, 2015). "Dominic Purcell Joins Arrow/Flash Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
- ^ Sage, Alyssa (March 29, 2016). "TV News Roundup: 'Legends of Tomorrow' Casts Young Heat Wave, Shark Week Sets Premiere Date". Variety.
- ^ "Instagram". Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
- ^ [1]
External links[]
- Alan Kistler's Profile On: THE FLASH Part 1 and Part 2 – A detailed analysis of the history of the Flash by comic book historian Alan Kistler. Covers information all the way from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to today, as well as discussions on the various villains and Rogues who fought the Flash. Various art scans.
- DC Comics supervillains
- Comics characters introduced in 1963
- Characters created by John Broome
- Fictional murderers
- DC Comics television characters
- DC Comics superheroes
- Characters created by Carmine Infantino