Wildfire

Continuity-Related Comic Book Character
Wildfire
Information
Real name:	Drake Burroughs
AKA:	ERG-1
Species:	Metahuman United Planets (citizen)
Homeworld:	Earth
Universe:	Earth-One Earth-1A
Relatives:	Unnamed father (deceased) Unnamed mother
Occupation:	Legionnaire
Base:	Legion Clubhouse 30th century Metropolis
Affiliations:	Legion of Super-Heroes Metropolis Multiversity (as a student).

Drake Burroughs. From Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #3 (March, 1981).

ERG-1. From Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #3 (March, 1981).

Legion of Super-Heroes Team Member

Drake Burroughs is a 30th century super-hero who exists as sentient anti-matter energy in a containment suit. This grants him incredible powers, although he can never be truly human again. He is a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He has an abrasive, sarcastic personality that can be harshly blunt at times. His words rarely indicate what he truly feels. He was like this before and after the accident. He also has a strong will and an effective, dominating personality.

Background Information

In the parallel-universe of Earth-One, in the 30th century, Before Wildfire’s accident, he was a human named Drake Burroughs, who was born on earth. His parent’s died when he was young. They were in Government Service. He subsequently spent time in an orphanage. It was there that he began to study astro-engineering. This pursuit allowed him to get a job at such a young age with ‘Galactic Propulsions, Inc.’ When he graduated High School, he went to college at Metropolis Multiversity on a scholarship he received because of his parents’ Government Service. While at the university, he was more interested in girls and his extra-curricular activities than he was on his studies. His partner in crime was often a young girl named Kerri Wong.

While working in the school lab with others on a new propulsion system, the Multiversity was developing he started to clown around and got careless as he often would and that’s when it happened, the safety valve blew. The rocket exhaust released a lethal blast of anti-matter energy. He was completely engulfed. Miraculously, Drake was still alive – metahuman, but somehow his body had been transformed into pulsating anti-matter which violently repulsed any ‘positive’ matter it came into contact with. Fortunately they were able to contain him an enclosed test tube. It was Professor Vultan who stepped up and offered the use of his experimental ERG-Suit (aka Energy Release Generator-Suit).

The professor and his daughter Zera, (a fellow student at the Multiversity) decided to allow everyone to think Drake had disintegrated, including his girlfriend Kerri. They then went to work on the experimental ERG-Suit with Drake as their guinea pig. They initiated the bio-transfer and the bio-energy which used to be known as Drake Burroughs suddenly filled up the ERG-Suit like a balloon. It had worked! The professor then dubbed him ERG-1 (or Energy Release Generator-1). Drake was given human form once again.

Zera soon took on the role as trainer in an effort to find out just what ERG-1 could do. Drake learned how to control his new form, and how to use it to perform superhuman feats, mimicking the abilities of many members of the Legion of Super-Heroes. What he did not learn was why the Professor had such a suit in the first place. Over time, Drake appreciated the fact that Zera did not treat him like a big ball of energy, but as a man. However, as attracted as he was to Zera, his heart belonged to another.

As soon as his training was done, he set out to look for her, to look for Kerri. He soon found her, but she was too frightened to talk and fled. She jumped in her car to make an escape. Unfortunately, this resulted in an accident, which left Kerri in a coma. In his grief, he set out to join the Legionnaire. Unfortunately, the Legion maintained a policy which forbade inclusion of members whose powers duplicated those of other members. As such, his application for membership was rejected. During this meeting, the Legionnaires received an S.O.S. from the Planetary Federation. A ruthless gang had sent a giant eating machine to devouring crops on the agricultural planet of Manna-5 (that provides food for billions) and was asking for a ransom. Mon-El (the Legion leader at the time), ordered waves of 3 team members to planet. The first wave consisted of Chemical King, Phantom Girl, and Colossal Boy. ERG-1 snuck aboard the Legion Cruiser, then in an effort to prove his worthiness he apparently gave his life in a grand explosion to protect the Legionnaires. All that was left was his uniform. The 3 present Legionnaires mourned his death, saying he acted in accordance with Legion behavior and vowed to resurrect a memorial in his honor. Little did they know, he was just disembodied energy and that the awesome surge of energy ERG-1 had released was actually his very life-essence. The three Legionaries take ERG-1’s empty uniform back with them with plans to display as an homage to his memory. Once Drake realizes how to control his disembodiment (a wraith), he begins his journey back to the Legion headquarters. This journey takes nearly a year. Upon his arrival, he finds the Legion entertaining the membership of young hopefuls. One makes it through the preliminary trial: Molecular Master. ERG-1 inadvertently discovers that Molecular Master is actually a robot created to steal a machine from the Legion's headquarters and he finds a way to get into his containment suit that is on display, save the Legionnaires and stop Molecular Master from accomplishing his goal. After the Legion gets over their initial shock, of seeing this fallen hero, they swear him an as an official member of the Legion adding ERG-1 to their ranks. After all these months, he finally achieves his goal. He quickly informs them that he’d like to change his name and asks to be called ‘Wildfire’. Ironically, rather than celebrate his new status, he tells them that he must leave for a short time. He heads back to Metropolis Multiuniversity to see Professor Vultan and Zera and explain the reason for his absence. He arrives to find that the professor had died from cancer and left Zera in charge of the lab. The containment suit the professor had given Drake was actually for himself, who had a degenerative disease, and for whom anti-energy was the only cure. But Drake's months-long absence deprived the Professor of both his energy and the suit, and he died. Zera tried, half-heartedly, to kill him by draining his energy, but he was able to convince her that her father wouldn't have wanted her to do that. She agreed, but demanded that he never see her again. He then seeks out Kerri once more. He finds her in the park once again. This time she is with her new man. He realizes that she has moved on and decides to move on himself.

As a Legionnaire, Wildfire takes great interest in new recruits like those enrolled at the Legion Academy. He is also often the voice of dissent, challenging veteran members to defend their decisions and positions. After less than one year of such treatment, the Legionnaires voted him leader, to see if he could put his money where his voice-modulator was.

One of his first acts as leader was to bring Academy student Dawnstar to the team, partly for her valuable tracking powers, and partly because he was smitten with her ... a fact that took her several years to acknowledge. Wildfire did a reasonable job as leader, but the experience humbled him considerably, especially when the older members' advice proved pivotal in winning the Earthwar.

He retired his leadership after that year, but still remained in charge of new-member recruitment. His relationship with Dawnstar grew slowly, and in time, she returned his love despite the fact that it could never be consummated.

Powers and Abilities

Super Powers

• Unique Physiology: A being of pure anti-matter energy, Wildfire possessed a variety of superhuman abilities. Wildfire no longer has a physical human body. However his essence must be contained within a specially designed suit.
• Superhuman Strength: Wildfire possessed a strength level many times greater than that of the average human.
• Energy Projection: Wildfire could produce concentrated blasts of pure energy for offensive attack.
• Energy Absorption: As such, he could also absorb large amounts of energy, without any undue stress to his form.
• Flight: Wildfire could travel at faster than light speeds without the aid of his flight ring.
• Invulnerability: Although Wildfire's containment suit can be destroyed, his energy body is virtually invulnerable and can only be dispersed under the most extreme of conditions.
• X-Ray vision: Like his teammate, Superboy, Wildfire possessed the ability to see through varying layers of solid objects.
• Energy Construction: Another application of Wildfire's energy projection, was the ability to generate simple hard-light constructs. The properties of this ability are similar to that produced by a Green Lantern Ring, but Wildfire can only create simple geometric constructs.
• Size Alteration: Wildfire could expand his mass and volume several times greater than normal, allowing him to achieve heights similar to that of Colossal Boy. In contrast, he could compact the density of his molecular structure to assume a miniaturized form, similar to that of teammate Shrinking Violet.

Abilities

• Hand-to-Hand combat (basic): As a cadet, all potential members of the Legion undergo personal combat training.
• Mechanical Aptitude: Sun Boy possessed a small degree of understanding when it came to 30th century technology, and could often be found repairing Legion star cruisers.
• Photography: Sun Boy was an amateur photographer, but typically only engaged in the activity as a hobby in his spare time.

Weakness

• No Physical Body: Drake can only keep his body solid by use of a containment suit.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Containment Suit / ERG Suit
  • The Helmet: transfers Drakes thought-process into coherent speech.
• Legion Flight Ring: As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes he is provided a Legion Flight Ring. It allows him to fly and protects him from the vacuum of space and other dangerous environments. With his Legion flight ring (or earlier flight belt) he can use another power while flying.

Gallery

Drake and Zera Vultan

Drake and Kerrie Wong

The meaning of ERG. From Superboy, #195 (June 1973).

The meaning of ERG. From Legion of Super-Heroes, #283 (January 1982).

Appearances

• SuperFriends Comic Book:
  • Super Friends #7 and Super Friends #8 references the following cross-universe story:
    • All-Star Comics, #68 (October 1977) -- implied only
    • Justice League of America, Vol. 1 #147 (October, 1977) -- directly referenced
    • Justice League of America, Vol. 1 #148 (November, 1977) -- directly referenced
    • All-Star Comics, #69 (November 1977) -- implied only

Notes

• Wildfire was created by Cary Bates and Dave Cockrum.
• He first appeared as ERG-1 in Superboy, #195 (June 1973).
• He is introduced as Wildfire in Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes, #202 (June 1974).
• He is shown joining the Legion in Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes, #201 (June 1974).

External Links

• Wildfire at the DC Database
• Wildfire at Wikipedia