Feature by: Nicole D'Andria (Originally posted on September 29th, 2011)

In this new feature, Who’s Who, I'm going to introduce you to comic book characters you’ve never heard of. This week we have some of the weirdest characters and teams you’ve never heard of from comics you have heard of, including Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, Death Throws, Dr. Robert Doom, Elf With a Gun and Number One Fan!

Arm-Fall-Off-Boy

Possibly the oddest characters in the history of DC Comics, Arm-Fall-Off-Boy got his powers when he held an anti-gravity metal, Element 152. He can detach his limbs and use them as weapons. He first appeared in Secret Origins #46 trying out for the Legion (which he failed to join). After the Zero Hour reboot, Arm-Fall-Off-Boy was a member of the planet Lallor named Floyd Belkin. He again fails to join the Legion. Floyd finally got a full issue about himself in the comic Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century.  It showed his origins starting from birth when his arm falls off (undoubtedly leading to his creative name choice).  Growing up, he dreamed about becoming a Legionnaire and when he was old enough, went to Earth. He saved the Legion and was a promising candidate for their future tryouts. His name may ring a bell, since he was mentioned in Late Night Liars, but now you know his story.

Death Throws

The terrifying Marvel Team of evil… jugglers? The five mercenaries on the Death Throws team first appeared in Captain America #317, where they freed a super villain from jail. They hold him for ransom, but are ultimately taken down by Captain America, Hawkeye and Mockingbird (a character you may have heard of).

Dr. Robert Doom

Meet the famous Dr. Doom’s fifth cousin – Dr. Robert Doom! A dentist, Robert felt upstaged by his cousin’s success (he must have overlooked the fact that the Fantastic Four kicked Doom’s butt every other issue) and decided to become a villain. He studied mechanics and created neuro-transceivers which could control humans’ neural systems. He put these devices into his wealthier patients’ mouths so he could get their wealth, but wound up getting sued. The lawyer he went up against was Jennifer Walter, better known as the Sensational She-Hulk – and let’s just say, he made her angry.

Elf With a Gun

The winner of the most creative name choice (with a close-second being Arm-Fall-Off-Boy), Elf With a Gun first appeared in The Defenders #25 and later appeared in an issue of Savage Dragon and Marvel Knights Spider-man. The Elf would kill random people in several issues of the Defenders until he was hit by a truck and died – only to be resurrected as a time agent from an agency known as Tribunal (Lucky Charms refused to take him on as a mascot). His creator, Gerber admitted the Elf was a metaphor for chaos in everyday life. Hard to take the deep philosophical meaning when our ‘elf’ seems like he spent too much time watching the Leprechaun movies.

Number One Fan

First appearing in X-Factor #83, Number One Fan was a scientist by the name of Rick Chalker. When his cousin Dick Chalker was killed when trying to kill mutants (in a completely unrelated truck accident), Rick used his own self-created robots to cut off his arms and replace them with propellers. Unfortunately, Rick could not get out of his lab because he no longer had fingers to hit the EXIT button. He slapped his head and, in the ultimate facepalming moment, cut his head with the propeller, killing himself. He was later resurrected by Satannish and, when he tries to catch his brother Vic with his propellers, his brother becomes upset with him and cuts him in half. Another character who, like Riptide, seems to exist only to die.

I hope you enjoyed this look into the weird realm of comics. They aren't bad characters (well, not all of them) just weird ones. So come back for another Who's Who to see some of the weirdest characters you've never heard of.

Original Post on Entertainment Fuse

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