Firebug is the name of three supervillains appearing in media published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, primarily as enemies of

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. All three are insect-themed arsonists, similar to

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

. Firebug has made limited appearances in media outside comics, with

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

voicing the Joe Rigger incarnation of the character in '' Batman: Caped Crusader''.

Publication history

The Joe Rigger incarnation of Firebug debuted in ''

'' #318 and was created by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

and

Irv Novick Irving Novick (; April 11, 1916 – October 15, 2004) was an American comics artist who worked almost continuously from 1939 until the 1990s. Career A graduate of the National Academy of Design, Irv Novick got his start in the workshop of Harr ...

. The Harlan Combs incarnation of Firebug debuted in '' Gotham Central'' #3 and was created by

Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series '' Lowlife'' and a number of serials i ...

and Michael Lark. The unnamed Firebug debuted in ''Deadshot'' (vol. 2) #1 and was created by

Christos Gage Christos N. Gage is an American screenwriter and comic book writer. He is known for his work on the TV series ''Daredevil (TV series), Daredevil'', ''Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), Hawaii Five-0'', ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''Numbers ...

and Steven Cummings.

Fictional character biographies

Joe Rigger

Joe Rigger is a soldier and demolitions expert who returns to

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

when several family members are killed in building-related accidents. Using his military training and a costume containing tanks of napalm, he becomes Firebug and attempts to destroy the buildings to prevent further accidents. He is defeated by Batman atop the Gotham State Building and believed dead after his tank explodes. Firebug later resurfaces and becomes a rival of Firefly before being scarred in an explosion and retiring. He returns to villainy in ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' continuity reboot.

Harlan Combs

The second Firebug, Harlan Combs, is a civilian and thrill-seeker who succeeds Joe Rigger following his retirement. He is later implicated for the murder of his family babysitter Bonnie Lewis and arrested.

Unnamed

An unnamed character using the name Firebug debuted in ''

Deadshot Deadshot is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer David Vern Reed and artist Lew Sayre Schwartz based on a concept from Bob Kane, the character first appeared in ''Batman (comic book), Batman ...

- Urban Renewal'' #1 (February 2005). He had won the name and costume from an Internet auction. After taking on the Firebug name, he enters the costume business. Firebug later appeared in a flashback revealing that he teamed up with

Mr. Freeze Mr. Freeze is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Dave Wood and artists Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, the character initially debuted in ''Batman'' #121 (February 1959) as Mr. ...

, but was defeated by Batman and

Harvey Dent Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Kane, and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). He has become one of the superhero Batman's most enduring e ...

prior to Batman leaving Gotham City for a year.

In other media

* Firebug appears as a boss in '' Batman: The Video Game''. This version is the Joker's bodyguard who seeks revenge on Batman for defeating his brother and possesses super-speed and pyrokinesis. * The Joe Rigger incarnation of Firebug appears in the '' Batman: Caped Crusader'' episode "The Night of the Hunters", voiced by

. 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.

References

External links

* Firebug (Joseph Rigger) at DC Comics Wiki * Firebug (Harlan Combs) at DC Comics Wiki * Firebug III at DC Comics Wiki
Firebug
at Comic Vine {{Batman characters Characters created by Christos Gage Characters created by Ed Brubaker Characters created by Irv Novick Characters created by Len Wein Comics characters introduced in 1979 Comics characters introduced in 2003 Comics characters introduced in 2005 DC Comics supervillains Fictional soldiers