Real Name: Garfield Lynns
Powers / Skills: Firefly wears a belt with a variety of multicolored light bulbs on it that project rainbows, as well as other forms of light. As well as making rainbows, Firefly can use his lights to bleach away color, simulate fire and lightning, or to help him pretend to be a lighthouse. Mostly he just shines his bright lights in people's eyes.
Weird Obsession: Firefly is obsessed with color and light, and all of his crimes involve things like light bulbs, rainbows, light reflecting gems, colorful paintings, etc...
First Appearance: "The Human Firefly" in Detective Comics #184
History:
In "The Human Firefly," we are introduced to Garfield Lynns, who describes himself as "The World's Foremost Lightning-Effects Genius." One thing we find out right away is that the dude loves the sound of his own voice, and he constantly talks to himself in long, self-aggrandizing monologues. Fed up with living on a "meager salary," Lynns hires a group of thugs and decides to rob all the wealthy patrons of the latest Broadway-by-way-of-Gotham-City musical he is working on, the snappily titled "Aqua-Melodies of 1952." Unfortunately for The World's Foremost Lightning-Effects Genius, those wealthy patrons include young Dick Grayson, and his handsome male mentor Bruce Wayne. The duo quickly change into their crime fighting gear as Batman and Robin, and coral all of Garfield's henchmen.
"The Aqua-Melodies of 1952" is one of Shakespeare's lesser known masterpieces. |
Like most lighting-effects technicians, Lynns keeps a hidden cave under a barn, where he conducts secret lighting experiments. Nothing unusual about that. After he escapes from Batman and Robin, Lynns goes to his mystery cave, where he designs a purple and green bug-man costume , as well as his rainbow-projecting light bulb belt. Then he's off to commit crimes as The Firefly!
"Ha-ha-ha! Taste the rainbow, motherf---ers!" |
Batman uses The Firefly's light tactics against him, however. First, he uses the light from the lighthouse to send a message to the coast guard in Morse code. Then he shines a rainbow light right back at The Firefly and his henchmen, blinding them and allowing them to be captured. To add insult to injury, as Firefly is arrested, both Batman and Robin inflict the cruelest punishment of all on him: insulting puns.
"The only rainbows you'll be tasting are in your prison cell, Firefly... if you know what I mean!" |
Final Analysis:
With his constant, open-mouthed grin, his purple and green costume, bug antennae, "double-F" logo, and light bulb belt, the original version of The Firefly was one of the goofiest looking Batman villains ever. Add to that his main power being "rainbows," and The Firefly easily joins the wacky ranks of "Batman's Weirdest Villains."
BONUS! MUSIC VIDEOS:
Dio - Rainbow in the Dark
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