Lobo has become a popular topic lately due to DC announcing an all new Lobo for the New 52 and that the Lobo many fans enjoy, is a fake. Who is Lobo? What is he? What does he do and why does he do it? Some of these will be easy to answer and others will be best left barely discussed. One thing is simple, Lobo is not a good person, mostly evil with apathy coming close to being a “good” guy. So who is this Main Man with a soft spot for space dolphins? Let’s find out.
Born on the planet Czarnia, Lobo was known to be off, the nurse who helped deliver him went mad just being near him. The planet of Czarnia and its people were pacifistic and kind, not so with Lobo he was pretty much the worst. By the time he was in high school, Lobo had quite the idea for a science project, come up with a way to kill every other Czarnian. If you were wondering how that went, Lobo graded himself with an A/A-, he was now the last Czarnian because he thought this was cool. It was either a virus or flying scorpion plague, I think the best way to describe Lobo is as if you are at a bar and need to explain something, it’s better with less information.
Alone and free to do as he wished, Lobo realized that the best thing to do is become the best bounty hunter, naturally. Spending most of his time dealing with strange space bounties until he’d get a call to take down the Justice League, he realized that the best way to do this was to trick them into thinking he was a good guy. After it was revealed he was most certainly not a good guy, Lobo became a thorn in many heroes’ sides. Lobo has fought Superman to a stand still but seems to maybe have some sort of ability that makes him an even match to his opponent so he can readily destroy just anyone if he can beat up Superman.
Usually I don’t talk powers but as just stated, Lobo’s powers are pretty interesting, besides the theorized changing strength levels. Lobo technically cannot die, mainly because once when he did, he went to Hell then proceeded to beat up everyone and attempting to take control of Hell so he was banished to Heaven. While in Heaven, he proceeded to beat up everyone and they were so disgusted with him they just sent him back to the land of the living so he is now banned from the realms of the afterlife, thus immortal.
Even if Lobo wasn’t immortal in that sense, his blood is wild. You see, when a Czarnian bleeds, that stuff creates a bunch of clones of that Czarnian, so you have a clone for each drop of blood. No wonder the Czarnians were pacifists, they’d risk overpopulation from shattered glass let alone war. Thankfully the guy also heals fast so the blood isn’t spreading for very long.
Lobo also has a tendency to get into weird situations like killing the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus cause they are targets he is paid to take down. He also has been turned into a woman for a time, been morbidly obese in the future, a statue, and for a while he was a kid again due to magic. This was when he was referred to as Li’l Lobo and worked with the teen superhero team, Young Justice. Upon fighting alongside the team on Apokalips, Lobo was torn apart and his blood sent out a bunch of clones that then fought each other for supremacy. The survivor was able to finally shake off the magic spell and grow to adulthood forgetting all about his time as a teen working with Young Justice.
There was another surviving Lobo, but it was defective with yellow eyes instead of red and far weaker than his fellow clones. He called himself Slobo and hung out with Young Justice having many adventures, including dating his fellow teammate Anita Fite. Being the runt of the litter meant he began deteriorating eventually, he was hardly able to stand and had gone blind, he died fighting Darkseid.
During the events of 52 Lobo had found religion and become a pacifist and an archbishop. He’d work with Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange and aide them for help in tending to his church needs. When Lobo finally met his god, the creature let Lobo free of his vow of non-violence, which then lead to Lobo promptly killing him. That’s Lobo for you.
Lobo would somehow end up imprisoned in Hell, powering the demon Necron’s entire region with his suffering. By accident, Blue Devil and Etrigan the demon freed Lobo and he caused a lot of chaos before ripping off the head of John Zatara, infuriating his daughter Zatanna to toss Lobo into the Abyss.
Lobo would return during the Lantern Wars hunting for Atrocitus, head of the Red Lanterns. The whole thing was a set up for Lobo to look like a potential ally to the Guardians and was rewarded by Atrocitus with a Red Lantern ring. I mean, Lobo was going to throw up from something anyway, might as well make it as deadly as possible.
During the events of the New 52 Lobo is a slaver instead of a bounty hunter and crossed paths with Deathstroke. This seems to be a lie though, as a man has arrived claiming this Lobo is a fake. He is the real Lobo and wants to take out the current one that is just a pretender and this newer, darker, more serious guy, is the real deal. Good luck with that, DC.
So there you go, Lobo is a strange guy since he’s usually supposed to be a parody or satirical take on the 90’s overly macho muscle man. Some times he just gets written as the very thing he is without a hint of humor; other times he’s clearly meant to be a smirk and knowing nod from the creative team that he is not to be taken seriously. Either way, Lobo is bad news when he comes to town for all involved. What will this new Lobo be like? We’ll have to wait and see.
Recommended Reading
Omega Men #3
L.E.G.I.O.N.
R.E.B.E.L.S.
Lobo (there are many crossovers and specials to look for with Lobo, besides his solo series)
Young Justice
52
Alexander Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
