From fighting a ‘90s comedy icon to gaining the powers of a duck,
DC's Main Man Lobo knows how to have a fraggin' good time.
Before investigating Lobo's illustrious comic book career and the character's conflicted origins,
it's essential to look at his value and impact. Although Marvel and DC Comics have long stood
as the pillars of superhero comics, they are two different sides of the same coin. DC's lineup of
mascots is commonly displayed as godlike humans capable of feats beyond mortal comprehension.
Meanwhile, the roster filling Marvel's bullpen are traditionally more monster-like, hidden behind
masks and mutations that make them seem inhuman. While DC's boy scouts were icons of the genre for
decades, by the 1990s, audiences had begun to lean towards the grimmer comics from Marvel.
While Spider-Man and Batman duked it out as the top-sellers of 1990, Marvel was winning
fan affection thanks to grittier and more hardened characters like Punisher and the
newly-arrived Cable. Above all else, X-Men's Wolverine was slicing his way to the top of
the comic book food chain with his cynical snarl and rogue spirit. To combat the changing tides,
DC opted to revive a certain near-forgotten but an alluringly tepid villain from "Omega Men" #3.
"Name's Lobo… Please, stop, you're making me blush."
Lobo received a self-titled miniseries by the
end of 1990. Originally serving as a parody of Marvel's darker characters,
"Lobo" quickly found a sincere fanbase as its titular antihero developed into one of
DC's most popular personalities. Speaking to Newsarama, Lobo co-creator Keith Giffen said:
"I have no idea why Lobo took off. I came up with him as an indictment of the Punisher,
Wolverine — somehow, he caught on as the high violence poster boy. Go figure."
Unlike most ultra-popular comic characters that have been around for decades, Lobo could
be considered a newcomer to the genre. Still, that has not stopped DC Comics from making his origins
and backstory as complicated as possible. When the Main Man first appeared in "Omega Men" #3,
he was the visual opposite of the scruffy-looking leather-clad biker portrayed today. Instead, he
wore a shiny orange and purple skin-tight bodysuit with David Bowie-inspired makeup. Introduced
as a bounty hunter, this original Lobo was the last survivor of his extraterrestrial species,
the Velorpians, who were wiped out by another alien race because of their inherently violent
behavior. However, in "Lobo" Vol. 2 #0, it was revealed that he was responsible for the demise
of his people, the Czarnians, after releasing a plague of flying scorpion-like insects.
In 2011, as part of DC's company-wide "New 52" retcon, the recognizably bulky Lobo was revealed
to be an imposter and was replaced by a skinnier Czarnian with similar abilities. Short-lived,
this updated version of Lobo defeated his former self and starred in his own self-titled series.
Thankfully, after yet-another relaunch of its characters with "DC Rebirth,"
DC returned Lobo to his grubbier identity. As is evident, Lobo's origins are as complicated
as they come — and that's without getting into the character's history with cloning.
Regardless of his many variations and inconsistent origins, Lobo is almost always portrayed as a
ruthless and powerful intergalactic bounty hunter. He's a formidable foe to DC's heaviest hitters and
nearly impossible to kill. Truthfully, the Last Czarnian is best described as overpowered. Off
the top, Lobo has the strength, speed, and durability to match DC's greatest heroes,
including Superman. Although the potency of his abilities can be inconsistent, the
space biker has even more tricks up his sleeves… not that he often wears anything with sleeves.
Like his Marvel inspiration, Wolverine, Lobo has a keen sense of smell and can regenerate
his body. However, the DC character's power goes beyond fixing wounds efficiently,
as he can regenerate an entirely new body from a single drop of blood, essentially cloning himself.
And while you couldn't tell by looking at him, the gruff bounty hunter has a genius-level intellect.
This is mostly when it comes to matters of violence and destruction, but he does have a
working knowledge of numerous cultures around the galaxy and he can speak in over 17,000
unique languages. Adding to the special skills section on Lobo's resume are an inherent ability
to sense weakness in his opponents and expertise in multiple forms of combat. However, what makes
the character so over-the-top compared to his comic book peers is the fact that he was banished
from the afterlife during the "Lobo's Back" miniseries, essentially granting him immortality.
When you are indestructible, the last of your kind, and have your own space-traveling motorbike,
you don't need to play by everyone else's rules. Still, Lobo maintains a strict code
of ethics — as perverse as they may be. Like his name suggests, the Main Man is a lone wolf,
selfish and arrogant on his solo journey through time. However, as a bounty hunter,
Lobo is a man of his word — once he signs a contract, there is no going back.
While there are many examples of Lobo satisfying his obligations in comic books, the best instance
occurred in "Superman: The Animated Series." The biker appears in two consecutive episodes
of the cartoon, where he first completes his obligation of capturing the Man of Steel,
and then, upon being captured himself, joins forces with Superman and pledges a new oath
to leave Earth alone. Subsequently, while Lobo proudly fulfills his oaths, he has made a habit
of never going above and beyond, as if giving any more than promised would equally break his
word. It may be the Main Man's trustworthy codes and surprising honesty that made Stan
Lee choose him as his favorite DC character, as he once revealed in a YouTube interview.
"I don't know if you can call him a hero."
For many years, Lobo was accompanied by a bulldog named Dawg — spelled with a W. The
grizzled bounty hunter took offense to anybody who referred to the canine as his pet. The
animal first appeared in the 1992 one-shot "Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special," and would remain
a loyal companion to the space biker despite the latter showing zero emotional attachment to the
creature. Although Dawg visually appears to be a standard Earth canine, he has alien origins,
as made evident by his ability to survive in the vacuum of space while he travels along with Lobo
through the cosmos. Additionally, the animal has been known to smoke Lobo's cigars at times.
Lobo's detachment from the mutt serves the bounty hunter, as he often uses him as a meat shield.
Still, the Main Man has been known to go out of his way to save Dawg from danger. Unfortunately,
it's Lobo who is responsible for the animal's death by aggressively stomping on him while
thinking he's possessed by an alien virus in "Lobo" Vol. 2 issue #58. There's some
uncertainty about whether the animal survived the traumatic event, as Dawg later reappears
in "Green Lantern" Vol. 4 issue #54 — but in this iteration, Lobo acknowledges him as a pet and his
appearance has changed. Additionally, Dawg was canonically revived after DC's Flashpoint event,
taking part in a mission with Lobo and Harley Quinn in "Harley's Little Black Book" #6.
Although the Main Man has mostly shown indifference towards the dog that follows
him around, Lobo does have a favorite animal: the space dolphin. Affectionately referring to
them as "fishies," the hardened space biker has a soft spot for the floating cosmic aquatic mammals.
In the events of the one-shot "Lobo/Demon: Hellowe'en," Lobo is required to think about
one nice thing in order to defeat a terrible monster, which proves a difficult task for the
angry biker. So he thinks of the "fishes," cracks a rare smile, and saves the galaxy.
Lobo's connection to space dolphins was first explored in "Lobo" Vol. 2 issue #34,
in which he spends an afternoon with the animals to relax after a hard night. Running into trouble,
the Main Man becomes a champion of the space creatures after saving them from
poachers. He's even been known to ride one after developing a
bond with a specific dolphin named Lundgren. Later, another space dolphin becomes Lobo's
personal assistant when the bounty hunter is serving as the archbishop of a new religion.
Swearing, liquor, women, and violence top Lobo's list of all-time favorite things, which made it
all the more jarring when the bounty hunter swore all of them off. During the events of DC's "52,"
a team of heroes discover the Main Man operating a refugee camp in a ravaged sector of space. As the
appointed Archbishop of the First Celestial Church of the Triple Fish-God, the reborn Lobo is the
caretaker of the mystical Emerald Eye of Ekron and leader to the displaced monsters of sector 3500.
Later in the same series, after helping the super team of explorers, Archbishop Lobo delivers the
sacred Emerald Eye to his triple-headed fish god. In exchange for the magical artifact,
the god agrees to relinquish Lobo's solemn vow of non-violence. As it turns out,
he should have received the gift first. Upon learning that the emerald is the only thing
that can kill the dolphin-like god, Lobo makes the surprise move of destroying his own deity.
Based on Lobo's skewed code of ethics, you'd think he would be one of the last people to join Earth's
shining pillars of heroics. Yet, for a time, the Main Man put aside his murderous bounty-hunting
rampage and joined Batman's new lineup of the Justice League of America. Of course,
convincing the Last Czarnian to join the good guys was no simple task, and it started
with the renegade bounty hunter serving a sentence as a member of the Suicide Squad.
In the events of "Justice League vs. Suicide Squad," Amanda Waller's original Suicide
Squad team gets into a tussle with Superman's supergroup. A new team is
formed that includes Lobo alongside powerful villains such as Doctor Polaris and Rustam,
led by Maxwell Lord. Unfortunately, the latter has control of the bounty hunter by
way of brainwashing. Always the detective, Batman uses a bomb to explode Lobo's head,
forcing it to regenerate and essentially clearing out Maxwell Lord's influence. Afterwards,
in a debt of gratitude, Lobo accepts Batman's invitation to his new team, the Justice
League of America, alongside Atom, Killer Frost, and Black Canary. However, after serving a term,
Lobo considers his debt paid and returns to his space-traveling bounty hunting.
"Can I get a cucumber water or something? I'm super parched."
Lobo is not associated with one particular hero, unlike so many other villains and anti-heroes:
Deadpool is organically linked to the X-Men, Black Adam shares history with Shazam, and
Venom wouldn't exist without Spider-Man. But the Main Man is a force unto himself, traveling the
DC universe and starting fights with anyone and everyone, including Superman, Batman, and Wonder
Woman. Similarly, the character is seemingly not limited to his original publishing company's
roster, as he's also had incidents with Wolverine, Judge Dredd, and even Santa Claus. Still, one of
Lobo's most popular comic book run-ins occurred in a 1997 two-part series in which he faced The Mask.
The Mask is best known for the 1994 feature film of the same name, in which the character
was portrayed by Jim Carrey — but not many fans are aware that "The Mask" started in comic books.
The character debuted with a trilogy of limited series in the early '90s. Inspired by The Joker,
"Big Head" is a dangerous character with powers that work similarly to cartoon physics, including
shapeshifting, body manipulation, instantaneous healing, and immortality. Unsurprisingly,
when Mask and Lobo's paths crossed it proved to be catastrophic, destroying
Manhattan along with an entire solar system. Subsequently, "Lobo/Mask" has become a cult
classic among comic readers for its over-the-top nature and a thought-provoking twist ending.
One reason that comic books are so popular and earn as many adaptations in film as they do is
that creators and publishers rarely miss a creative opportunity. The limitlessness of
comic books even led the two largest competitive publishing companies to drop their rivalry long
enough to collaborate on an entirely new universe. Amalgam Comics was a two-year collection of books
that blended Marvel and DC, crossbreeding their most popular characters into all-new heroes such
as Iron Lantern and Doctor StrangeFate. Again, not to miss a golden opportunity,
the comical Lobo was melded with one of Marvel's more off-beat characters, Howard the Duck.
"Lobo the Duck" was a one-shot title that was released in the second series
of Amalgam Comics. The series follows the titular character and the shapeshifting
Impossible Dog as they investigate murders of other Amalgam characters. Along the way,
the Main Duck comes into conflict with a range of wacky villains,
including Gold Kidney-Lady and Doctor Bongface. Unfortunately, the book ends on a cliffhanger that
was left unfulfilled. Still, the humor of the single issue has shined as a highlight of the
publishing company crossover event, despite remaining outside of the main continuity.