We are back with another fantastic DC villain, this time an interstellar bounty hunter whose name literally means “one who enjoys devouring your entrails.” Did you have shivers down your spine when you read that? It should be because he is a merciless villain who frequently appears in DC comics. Lobo is the name of this mercenary, and he was created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen.
He originally debuted in Omega Men #3, which was published in June 1983. His distinctive swear language and 80s biker/rockstar style made him famous. Lobo is an extraterrestrial who was born on the utopian planet of Czarina, which is ironic, to say the least. How did Lobo, a frightening and bloodthirsty creature, emerge from a utopian planet? Since then, Lobo has annihilated his own species and hunted down aliens of all kinds.
As we examine the origins and existence of this interplanetary mercenary in today’s movie, we will find all the answers and much more. Relax and enjoy yourself because you are in for a wild journey with this one!
Lobo’s First appearance In Comic Book
Lobo’s first appearance was not long but it was still very impactful. He appears in the third issue of The Omega Men (1993) in the midst of an all-out intergalactic invasion of a planet called Planet Euphoric of the Vega System. Keith Giffen and Mike DeCarlo created the cover, which depicts an unknown character, later revealed to be Lobo himself, soaring through space and having taken hostage Omega Man, Kalista, a foreshadowing of what is to come in the issue.
It turns out that Planet Euphorix is the only planet not under the control of The Citadel which is the big bad in this story and has gained control of all the other planets in the system, establishing social order. The major thing protecting the planet against invasion from the Citadel was a force field that covered and protected the entire planet and the aliens hadn’t been able to figure out how to dismantle it, yet. However, this time the Citadel was hell-bent on breaching Euphorix’s defenses and taking control of the planet.
As the invasion begins, we see the princess of Euphorix steps up to the helm and battle the invaders. She is no dainty flower or damsel in distress, mind you and we watch as she defeats foe after foe, fighting for the freedom of her home planet. The invasion seems to be working and Kalista and her allies fight back with all they have but things look bleak. However, the war is interrupted by three characters that no one seems to know.
These three unnamed men walk onto the spaceship that is manned by Kalista and her men and start attacking them one by one. We see the true force of Lobo’s power as he kills one of her men simply by flicking his nose with his fingers which causes it to go inward into his brain, pushing out his brains from the back of his head.
Before the people of the Citadel can reach her, she is taken hostage by Lobo and the other mercenary and it turns out that someone had put a bounty on her head. The way he defeats Kalista says a lot about him. He is methodical, cunning, and exceptionally intelligent which makes him so much scarier because he doesn’t simply rely on brute force.
However, she ends up being held captive by none other than the Citadel because unfortunately, Lobo and his friend were picked by Harry Hokum, the human agent of the Citadel itself to capture Kalista. He wanted to know the secret of the force field that surrounded Plant Euphorix and had protected it against their invasion for so long. The comic ends with an imprisoned Kalista being questioned.
Thus, Lobo’s first appearance happens quickly in the midst of a lot of action but he still manages to stand out as a ruthless bounty hunter.
Lobo Origin Story
Lobo’s origin is rife with instances of violence and it all started when he was born. Lobo belonged to the Velorpian race before the Crisis. Velorpians were hard to kill because they could create a copy of themselves after suffering any kind of injury that was short of total vaporization.
This resulted in overpopulation and a greedy legacy. The Velorpians were eventually poisoned by the Psions, which led to their demise. Lobo was the only one who made it out alive. He then made a living carrying out bounties all across galaxies. However, this is just one origin story. It is not uncommon for comic book characters to have a couple of different origin stories and the next one will probably make you squirm.
Lobo In DCAU
In this version of his origin story, Lobo was from the planet Czarnia, a virtual paradise where there the concept of war and violence did not exist and the Czarnians were nearly immortal. Lobo’s evil was so obvious when he was born that the nurse who gave birth to him ended up going insane and became the planet’s first psychiatric patient in ten millennia after the newborn chomped off four of her fingers.
Lobo was well aware that he was unique, but he desired even more carnage. As he was growing up, he constantly inflicted pain and suffering upon his people, killing, mutilating, and maiming whenever he got the opportunity to do so. However, even acts like these did not sate his thirst for blood and violence and finally, at the age of seventeen, Lobo created a swarm of deadly scorpion-like creatures and set them on his people, obliterating his entire species except himself. He was clearly influenced by the idea of genocide and took great pride in his actions. He gave himself an ‘A’ grade for the project, claiming it was a science experiment. Ever since then, he’s been collecting bounties across the galaxy.
This origin story was told in the 1993 comic, Lobo Issue 0 as we listen to a band of aliens, fearfully hiding from the famed bounty hunter Lobo who was like a hell hound and could sniff out his target from miles away. There was no hiding from Lobo. Post that, he has had multiple appearances and storylines.
Interestingly, he has met and battled against Superman. Lobo was commissioned to deliver the universe’s last Kryptonian so that the intergalactic Preserver could keep him out of trouble not long after Superman made his appearance on Earth. Despite defeating Lobo on Earth, Superman followed the mercenary into space, where he was caught in a trap. Lobo was also caught by the Preserver before he could collect because he was the last of his species.
He and Superman surprisingly worked together to break free while also dealing with some old foes who had a grudge against him. Finally, Superman snatched the animals from the ship and transported them to his new Fortress of Solitude, while Lobo was able to collect his bounty from Emperor Spooj.
Later, he and Sunny Jim got into a bet over who could have intimate relations with Darlene first. Sunny Jim tries to get away with it by using knockout gas on her and taking her away, but Lobo was indeed hot on his tail. At the Interstellar Managers Planet, he finally caught up with Sunny Jim and reduced him to a bloody pulp, literally. Later, while attempting to make out with his Darlene at Big Ahmet’s Hotel, she flees, and Lobo attracts a grotesque tentacled alien instead.
In exchange for Cuban cigars, Sniff employed him to break his younger brother, Slaz, out of a high-security detention center called Oblivion Intergalactic Correctional Facility. However, his operation was complicated by the miscalculated presence of Major Snake, a well-known and retired rockstar who prevented Slaz from leaving because it was his birthday. In the end, Lobo was able to return Slaz to his brother at the cost of Snake’s life.
When Superman appeared to have been killed in the Justice League, Lobo gate crashed the Watchtower and proclaimed himself to be the brand new League member. The other Leaguers reacted angrily to this intervention, and a brawl ensued. Lobo eventually gave in after being restrained by the other superheroes and said that he would join the league only if he was put in charge of everyone else.
The Leaguers received reports of escalating violence in Metropolis due to Superman’s absence before things between Lobo and the others could heat up again. The Leaguers decided to bring Lobo along, partly because of the large number of thugs on the loose and partly because they wanted to keep an eye on him rather than leaving him alone in The Watchtower. During the battle that followed, Lobo reveled in wreaking havoc and vanquished Kalibak by stacking cars on him. The other Leaguers chastised him and forced him to back down. Despite his eagerness, Lobo was fired when Superman arrived.
He has also tried to run for president once, although it is unsure where and he has also once blown up an entire planet simply because he had learned that his target had been eaten up by an alien creature.
Lobo: Beyond the Comics
Beyond the comics, Lobo has surprisingly been featured in various animated and live-action series. As far as his animated tv appearances go, here is the full list. Lobo was first seen on television in the animated series Superman: The Animated Series, where he was voiced by Brad Garrett. Lobo, like in the comics, has superhuman strength and endurance, as well as his usual arsenal of weapons.
Lobo, an adult-oriented web series, was then launched in 2000. Greg Eagles was the character’s original voice actor. Lobo made his way back to Earth in the Justice League episode “Hereafter,” with Brad Garrett reprising his role as Lobo. Lobo wants to join the Justice League because he believes Superman has died and that he is the only one who can replace him. Lobo also makes a brief cameo in the episode “Legacy” of Legion of Super-Heroes.
Lobo is voiced by David Sobolov in the Young Justice episode “Happy New Year!” He appears to attack the UN, where he has a contract to assassinate Secretary-General Tseng, only to be challenged by the Team’s Beta Squad. After Lobo rips Tseng’s disguise in half, it is revealed that he is a Krolotean. Lobo then departs with the Krolotean in order to deliver it to the individuals who had hired him to capture it.
In the Season 3 episode “Home Fires,” Lobo reappears. To assassinate Forager, he was hired. Lobo is also voiced by John DiMaggio in the animated series Justice League Action. He makes his first appearance in “Follow That Space Cab,” where he is employed by Boss Kack to deliver Mr. Mind to him.
Lobo ends up in a fight with Superman as a result of this. Lobo steals some Red Lantern rings in the episode “Rage of the Red Lanterns,” pitting Atrocitus and the Red Lantern Corps against the Justice League. Lobo is defeated by the Justice League and the Red Lantern Corps working together. Lobo also appears as a client in Roxy Rocket’s advertisement in the episode “The Fatal Fare.”
As far as live-action tv appearances go, in the Supergirl episode “Truth, Justice, and the American Way,” Alex Danvers asks Martian Manhunter if he thinks a certain intergalactic hitman is on Earth, and thus Lobo is indirectly mentioned as a teaser. They speculated that the kidnapper was a bounty hunter who came to Earth after their primary target was abducted by an enigmatic figure the exchange, which took place after their primary target was abducted by an enigmatic figure. Lobo is also played by Emmett J. Scanlan in the second season of Krypton.
Lobo has also appeared in his fair share of animated films. An Earth-Three version of Lobo appears as Warwolf in the direct-to-DVD film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. Lobo is also voiced by Fred Tatasciore in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis. Fred Tatasciore reprises his role as Shazam in Lego DC: Shazam!: Magic and Monsters. Lobo is voiced by Ryan Hurst in Superman: Man of Tomorrow. He comes to Earth, armed with a Kryptonite ring, in search of the last Kryptonian, only to be surprised by Clark Kent at every turn.
Unfortunately, despite a Lobo live-action film being in the works for a while now, it hasn’t materialized yet but in case you want to see Lobo in action, we have a recommendation for you. As part of the American Film Institute’s director’s studies program, Scott Leberecht directed a movie adaptation of The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special in 2002. Lobo is played by Andrew Bryniarski, the Easter Bunny is played by Tom Gibis, and Santa Claus is played by Michael V. Allen. The film was made on a $2,400 budget, with many experts contributing their time and effort. In May 2002, it had its world premiere at the AFI. However, we still hold on hope for the Lobo film,
Why is Lobo so powerful?
Apart from being a badass mercenary with awesome skills, he is also quite frankly, indestructible. Czarnians are said to be able to be truly killed only by other Czarnians, but this doesn’t matter to Lobo because he can’t die in any way. Lobo has also been forbidden from stepping foot in either Heaven or Hell. Lobo is capable of surviving in space without assistance.
As a result of being barred from the afterlife and having the ability to exit his body if it was too damaged until his healing factor kicked in and restored it to working condition, he chose to resurrect his body. He loses his power to directly impact living beings when outside of his body, but he can affect other ghosts physically in the same way he would battle a being with a physical body.
Lobo’s incalculable and outrageously random power set is the result of his Omni-physical nature of existing throughout multidimensional realities while not completely situating inside any singular totality, according to The Kollective. Which varies in proportion and capacity from simply pleasant to nearly infinite, allowing him to use and develop multiple new superhuman powers in every imaginable manifestation of his publishing.
These enigmatic scholars have amassed the unique dark energy that he holds within himself, which he used to wipe out two warlike alien species in a parallel timeline, in an instant, having caused a controlled systematic genocide of billions.
Lobo possesses superhuman strength, allowing him to lift objects weighing more than 100 tonnes. He also has superhuman toughness and a healing factor that enables him to recover quickly from even the most severe injuries. Lobo is incredibly quick for his size. Lobo can withstand the rigors of space without meals or air, but he does require alcohol on a regular basis. Not for the sake of survival, but just because. Lobo has an incredible sense of smell, which allows him to detect anyone he’s met across several solar systems.
He can also smoke cigars in a vacuum because he requires them apparently and is cool like that. Vril Dox of L.E.G.I.O.N. was able to nullify his ability to create duplicates of himself from a single drop of blood. His preferred weapon is a chain and hook. He also wields a slew of lethal weapons, most of which are ridiculously large and loud guns or explosives. He has also demonstrated the ability known as “Bottomless Satchel” on occasion.
This means he can pull out guns, explosives, ammo, and other items from seemingly nowhere or from something smaller than the item itself. Lobo’s abilities were never demonstrated in the New 52 incarnation of the character, with the exception of regeneration. Lastly, His flying motorcycle, the SpazFrag 666, is his favored mode of transportation.
Lobo is thus an incredibly interesting and cool character, loved by all those who know him. Most fans know him as the undefeatable renegade who enjoys bounties and booze, but he’s much more than that! He was originally conceived as a parody of Marvel’s ultra-violent antiheroes, particularly Wolverine and The Punisher. His passion for cigars, in particular, is similar to that of Logan’s.
Keith Giffin and Roger Silver, who created him, didn’t really expect him to be as famous as he was, particularly not for the same factors that Wolverine and Punisher were. Lobo was retconned in the early 1990s to include elements of Deadpool, another Marvel antihero who had recently debuted in comics, and this new version became cemented as DC’s antihero. Lobo may have been developed as a parody of Marvel’s flamboyant excess, but it’s these characteristics that make the character so popular — from his love of space dolphins to his alcohol intake, fans adore Lobo’s outlandishness! Do you? Let us know in the comments section below!