Dan the Dynamite
Personal information
Real Name: Daniel Dunbar
Residence: New York City, New York
Occupation: Student, Adventurer
First Appearance (Golden Age):Star-Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942)
Character History
Little is known of the early life of Daniel Dunbar before he was a high school athlete and chemistry student in 1942. As a student, he worked with his teacher Thomas N. Thompso to extract energy from radioactive salt. One night the two inadvertantly bumped hands and both felt a surge of energy. Thomas realized that he been absorbing positive energy while Dunbar had absorbed negative energy through their studies and the brief contact had embued them both with brief periods of enormous strength, speed and stamina. The found that using rings - which they called Dyna-Rings - acted as restraints that permitted control of their powers. At Dunbar's suggestion, they resolve to use their powers to battle crime (Star-Spangled Comics #8).
Adopting costumed identities as TNT and Dan the Dynamite, the two began targeting local crime in south-side neighborhoods of New York City, The encountered bizarre criminals like the Dwarf (Star-Spangled Comics #7), the Parrot (Star-Spangled Comics #8). Mother Goose (Star-Spangled Comics #9) and the Crime Clown (World's Finest #5). While much of their case work was routine, they also began to encounter Axis agents as the World War began to unfold (Star-Spangled Comics #16, 19 and 23). Early in their careers, they are also contacted by the All-Star Squadron, attending it's first large scale meeting (All-Star Squadron #31) and being present as the Crisis on Infinite Earths began to unfold (All-Star Squadron #59-60).
The last recorded case for Dan was in the summer of 1943. His activities on Earth-Two beyond this point are unrecorded.
Powers and Abilities
Dan the Dynamite , after making contact with his partner T.N.T., was energized
with a high level of physical strength, speed and resilience. Dunbar could also project a form of electrical energy that was sometimes referred to as
"atomic" energy due to its origins in radioactive salts, tho the exact
nature of the energy has not been defined. Dunbar was an exception
athlete for his age and above average hand to hand combatant.
Weaknesses and Limitations
The limitations on Dan Dunbar's powers are incompletely defined. It is known that after activation they waned over some period of time and had to be reactivated by contact with T. N. T.'s positive energy. The exact nature and limits of this exchange are not clear.
Multiversity
Earth-One
In the 1970's, a version of T.N.T. and Dan the Dyna-Mite lived on
Earth-One. They are stated as having been active during World War II,
tho no costumed heroes were thought to be active then. It is possible
that the Earth-One version was in fact the Thompson and Dunbar from
Earth-Two across the dimensional gulf. If this is the case, this has
never been verified.
In this case, both T.N.T. and Dyna-Mite had
lost control of the powers becomes so dangerous that near contact might
cause widespread destruction. Their plight eventually rose to the
attention of the Justice League who, after near disastrous loss of
containemtn, resolved the situation be placing Dan in a special
environment in Atlantis and Thompson in the bottled city of Kandor.
(Super Friends #12). Whatever became of Dunbar in this timeline has not been revealed.
Earth-0
In this timeline, the origins of T.N.T. are thought to be largely
similar to other versions but he is killed by Nazi agents. Dan
eventually learned he can tap into Thompson's residual energy and
activate his powers by pressing both Dyna=Rings together and has a solo
career as Dyna-Mite (Young All-Star #1-6). He is known to have remained active with the junior super-team until the summer of 1942, when they were dissolved to be admitted as full members of the All-Star Squadron (Young All-Stars #31).
At some point, Dunbar retired his costumed identity and returned to civilian life. Near the end of the 20th century, a group of heroes who were active during the 1940's became concerned that modern generation of heroes was undisciplined and insufficiently trained to handle the complex threats that had emerged over the decades sense they were active. In response to the group Young Justice, they formed a group called Old Justice and Dunbar was included. The attempted to lobby Congress to provide more oversight (Young Justice #16-20). When Klarion the Witch-Boy reversed the ages of Earth's heroes making Young Justice into adults, see the heroes they would become softened Old Justice's perspective and the abandoned the effort (Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1-2).
Dunbar's fate in this timeline is unknown.
Earth-22
In this timeline, the history of Dunbar are thought to be similar to
Earth-0 up until the end of World War II. At some point in this time frame, Dunbar is struggling in college and life in general. He is approached by Americommando Tex Thompson (who has been murdered by the Ultra-Humanite as a vessels for himself. At some point, Dunabr is murdered and his brain replaced with that of Adolph Hitler. Dunbar becomes the new Dyna-Man and is subject to a series of experiments the further amplified his powers to include high levels of super-strength and the power of flight. Their ruse was eventually discovered when Joan Dale. Thompson's lover, read his diary and then takes the entire plot public at an event where The Ultra-Humanite is attempting to coerce Earth-22's hero community to form his elite agency. The truth revealed, Dyna-Man takes on the entire assembled heroes, killing or injuring several of them before he himself is killed by Liberty Belle, impaled with a version of Starman's cosmic rod (The Golden Age LS).