The Comic Book History Of Captain Boomerang From 'Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad comes out in less than a month, so we're diving into the comic book history of its main characters to prepare for their live-action adventure and discover some of their essential storylines. This particular edition is dedicated to the bad guy from Down Under, Captain Boomerang.

The result of an Australian mother and an American soldier/toymaker, George "Digger" Harkness was raised as an Aussie with a chip on his shoulder, which is when he developed an affinity for making and using boomerangs. As an emerging adult moving to America, he was hired by a toy company as a performer and promoter of boomerangs earning him the moniker "Captain Boomerang" which he would continue to use later as a criminal.

Starting out as a villain of the Flash in Flash Issue 117, Captain Boomerang quickly became a staple of the Rogues — the villainous group who's primary goal was to take down the Flash. Thankfully, the film seems to be using the updated version of this character as opposed to using the ridiculous original outfit.

Weapon Of Choice

You guessed it, Captain Boomerang uses boomerangs! Harkness found that by devising enhanced boomerangs, he could produce staggering weapons — exploding boomerangs, razor sharp boomerangs, and electric boomerangs, just to name a few. Being able to expertly throw these deadly weapons makes him a ruthless and surprisingly cutthroat villain, despite the comical sound of his name.

Captain Boomerang's Powers And Abilities

Aside from having the obvious agility and marksmanship needed to use his various boomerangs, Harkness is skilled in unarmed combat and a master of some other weapons as well. Despite these impressive learned abilities, he has no known superhuman powers.

Harkness is the class clown when it comes to the Squad, and generally tends to annoy nearly everyone that is required to work with him due to his loud, racist, and sexist behaviors. His psychiatrist, Dr. Simon LaGrieve, says that he is "an unprincipled sociopath with little or no moral sense of right and wrong."

Captain Boomerang Has A Son

Early in his villainous career, Harkness was sent to the future where he met a young girl named Meloni Thawne. While it's not discussed how he returned to the present or the true nature of his relationship with Thawne, he did bring back with him their son, Owen, in order to give him up for adoption. Many years later, Boomerang tracked down Owen and taught him the ways of the boomerang, eventually handing over the mantle of Captain Boomerang.

Major Storylines For Captain Boomerang

Apart from all of the time he has spent on the Suicide Squad (which is most of his comic appearances), Captain Boomerang has a convoluted involvement with the Rouges, showing up on the pages of Superboy and The Flash. Boomerang has played large parts in The Joker: Last Laugh, Identity Crisis, The Flash: Rogue War, and the Blackest Night crossover event.