Heat Wave (character)

Heat Wave
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
Abilities	Criminal mastermind Pyrotechnics and explosives expert Utilizes handheld flamethrower and asbestos suit New 52: Pyrokinesis Expert burglar

Heat Wave (Mick Rory) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is commonly as an enemy of The Flash and a member of the Rogues along with Captain Cold, among others.

Actor Dominic Purcell has portrayed Heat Wave in The CW's Arrowverse television series The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

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

Mick Rory, in his debut as Heat Wave, as he appeared on the cover of The Flash #140 (November 1963 DC Comics). Art by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.

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. Years later without explanation, Rory returned as Heat Wave.

During the Underworld Unleashed storyline, Heat Wave and four other members of the Rogues were tricked by Abra Kadabra into sacrificing themselves, 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 joins the Secret Society of Super Villains.

One Year Later

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 Lex 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 $5,000.00, 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 possesses innate fire abilities and is a rival of Captain Cold, blaming him for the breakup of the Rogues. Both villains are defeated by the Flash, but meet with Cold's sister Golden Glider, who recruits him for an unknown plot.^[10]

DC Rebirth

In Doomsday Clock, Heat Wave and his fellow Rogues are among the villains that attend the underground meeting held by Riddler to discuss the Superman Theory.^[11]

Powers and abilities

In the Pre-52 continuity, Heat Wave had no meta-human abilities. He created 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 that allow Flash to run at light speed. Heat Wave carries in-depth knowledge of fire and pyrotechnics.

In "The New 52" continuity, Heat Wave did an unknown method to merge his DNA with his flamethrower, thus granting him the ability to project and manipulate fire from his own body.

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

• Heat Wave appears in JLA/Avengers as a thrall of Krona.
• An alternate timeline variant of Heat Wave appears in the Flashpoint tie-in Flashpoint: Legion of Doom. After killing Jason Rusch in an attempt to steal his connection to the Firestorm matrix, he is defeated by Cyborg, incarcerated in Doom prison, and put on death row. Amidst a prison break organized by Eel O'Brian,^[12] Heat Wave betrays and seemingly kills O'Brian before hijacking the prison in the hopes of using it to destroy Detroit,^[13] only to be thwarted by Cyborg and transferred to Belle Reve, unaware that O'Brian is inhabiting his cellmate's body.^[14]
• A heroic, 25th century incarnation of Heat Wave called Heatstroke appears in The Flash (vol. 3) as a police officer and member of the Renegades.^[9]
• A heroic alternate universe variant of Mick Rory from Earth-3 appears in "Forever Evil".^[15] This version is a police officer partnered with Leonard Snart.

In other media

Television

Animation

• Heat Wave was originally going to appear in Challenge of the Superfriends as a member of the League of Evil before the group was changed to the Legion of Doom and Heat Wave, among others, was cut from the series.
• Heat Wave appears in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Lex Lang. This version is a member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society. Prior to and during the events of the episodes "Alive!" and "Destroyer", Lex Luthor takes over the Society, but Grodd launches a mutiny to retake command. Heat Wave sides with the former before Darkseid attacks and kills most of the Society. Luthor, Heat Wave, and the other survivors subsequently join forces with the Justice League to repel Darkseid's invasion of Earth.
• Heat Wave appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!", voiced by Steve Blum.^[16] This version is a member of the Rogues.
• A genderbent incarnation of Heat Wave appears in My Adventures with Superman, voiced by Laila Berzins.^[16] This version is a gang leader who wields Kryptonian armor and flamethrowers that she received from Livewire, who she later enters a relationship with.^[17]

Live-action

Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave on the television series The Flash

Mick Rory / Heat Wave appears in media set in The CW's Arrowverse, portrayed by Dominic Purcell.^[18] This version is a pyromaniac with burns covering half of his body.

• First appearing in The Flash, he receives an experimental "heat gun" and reluctantly joins his ex-partner Leonard Snart and the latter's sister Lisa Snart in forming the Rogues and battling the Flash across the first and second seasons.
• Rory also appears in Legends of Tomorrow,^[19] in which Rip Hunter recruits him and Leonard, among others, to form the Legends and stop Vandal Savage from conquering the world. In the first season, Rory betrays the team and is abandoned by Leonard in an unspecified location, where the Time Masters take him in and turn him into their personal bounty hunter Chronos. Rory hunts his former teammates until they defeat and eventually rehabilitate him before he rejoins the Legends to help them kill the Time Masters. In the second season, Rory is manipulated into joining the Legion of Doom, but he regrets his decision and helps the Legends defeat the Legion. In the third through sixth seasons, Rory encounters a past version of his abusive father Dick Rory, discovers a talent for writing, becomes a semi-popular romance novelist under the pen name "Rebecca Silver", accidentally conceives a daughter with his old high school girlfriend Ali, attempts to care for his daughter Lita, hands off his authorial work to teammate Mona Wu, has 48 alien hybrid children with the Necrian Kayla, and leaves the Legends to care for them.^[20][21]
  • Additionally, Mitchell Kummen portrays a young Rory in the episodes "The Magnificent Eight" and "Last Refuge".^[22]
• An alternate universe variant of Rory appears in the crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths".^[23] This version is a former member of the Legends after most of them retired and one died.

Film

Heat Wave makes a non-speaking appearance in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox as a member of the Rogues.^[16]

Video games

• Heat Wave appears in the NES version of Batman: The Video Game.
• Heat Wave appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame, voiced again by Steve Blum.
• Heat Wave appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.^[24]
• Heat Wave appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by David Jennison.^[16] This version works as a tech-based arms dealer in the Hall of Doom.
• Heat Wave appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
• Heat Wave appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[25]
• Heat Wave appears in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Lex Lang.^[26] This version is a member of the Legion of Doom and the Rogues.

Miscellaneous

• Heat Wave appears in issue #21 of the Justice League Unlimited tie-in comic book series, in which he enters a relationship with Killer Frost.^[27]
• Heat Wave appears in the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic as a member of the Rogues, who work with Batman's Insurgency to cripple Superman's Regime, until he is killed by Bizarro.

References

1. 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.
2. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 155. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
3. Underworld Unleashed #1 (November 1995). DC Comics.
4. The Flash (vol. 2) #126 (June 1997). DC Comics.
5. The Flash (vol. 2) #129 (September 1997). DC Comics.
6. New Year's Evil – The Rogues #1 (February 1998). DC Comics.
7. Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #2 (June 2009). DC Comics.
8. Flash Secret Files and Origins (2010). DC Comics.
9. The Flash (vol. 3) #1 (April 2010). DC Comics.
10. The Flash (vol. 4) #11 (July 2012). DC Comics.
11. Doomsday Clock #6 (July 2018). DC Comics.
12. Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #1 (June 2011). DC Comics.
13. Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #2 (July 2011)/ DC Comics.
14. Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3 (August 2011). DC Comics.
15. Justice League (vol. 2) #26. DC Comics.
16. "Heat Wave Voices (Flash)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 1, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
17. Younis, Steve (June 30, 2024). ""My Adventures With Superman" – Season 2, Episode 7: "Olsen's Eleven" Review". Superman Homepage. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
18. Ng, Philiana (September 3, 2014). "'The Flash' Stages 'Prison Break' Reunion (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
19. Andreeva, Nellie (March 16, 2015). "Dominic Purcell Joins Arrow/Flash Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
20. Abughazaleh, Zeid (September 8, 2021). "Legends of Tomorrow Loses an Original Member". CBR. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
21. Abughazaleh, Zeid (July 13, 2021). "Legends of Tomorrow: Mick Rory Receives an Unexpected Surprise". CBR. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
22. Sage, Alyssa (March 29, 2016). "TV News Roundup: 'Legends of Tomorrow' Casts Young Heat Wave, Shark Week Sets Premiere Date". Variety.
23. Damore, Meagan (January 13, 2020). "Crisis on Infinite Earths Finale Photos Restore At Least One Dead Earth". CBR. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
24. "Instagram". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
25. Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
26. "LEGO DC Super-Villains | Official San Diego Comic Con Trailer". YouTube. 19 July 2018.
27. "Justice League Unlimited #21 - Stormy Weather (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 1, 2024.

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.