Consider this scenario: A melancholy man working alone gains superpowers as a result of exposure to extraterrestrial substances. When he is really enraged, his skin changes color and he multiplies in size, giving him superhuman strength and durability.
Did The Hulk come to mind as a result of all of this? What we have for you today is not the Hulk, but a rip-off of the Hulk developed by DC during the Dark Age of Comics to capitalize on cliches they knew was popular and would do well with viewers. This colossal superhero was given the moniker Loose Canon in honor of the incredible strength he attained, which transformed him into a superhero.
While Loose Cannon first appeared in 1993 as an emotionally unstable hero, the character was recently reintroduced into the DC comic universe as a villain, and I am here to tell you everything you need to know about him!
From a crippled detective to a superhero
While the name of this hero suggests that they are an absolute powerhouse and knocks people out left and right, things weren’t all that easy for this forgotten ’90s hero. Before gaining the powers that would turn him into Loose Cannon, Eddie Walker was a simple, regular man just like you and me.
Eddie Walker was a homicide detective for the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit, in which he had been trained and qualified to handle anything, right from metahuman crime to alien invaders. This department was headed by his friend and colleague, Maggie Sawyer. Walker earned the nickname “Loose Cannon” within the department due to his erratic behavior while on the job and who knew that a little while later, he would be embracing this new nickname quite literally. His active duty on this team was however cut short when Eddie became handicapped as a result of a terrible car accident.
Thus, disaster struck, and he was assigned to a desk job which he absolutely despised. He then considered suicide because he was depressed, but Eddie was fortunately approached by Maggie before he could carry it out. Maggie asked Eddie to look into a series of murders in a homeless neighborhood and this set him on a path that would lead him to his powers.
The killings that he had been asked to investigate were actually the work of alien parasites who had come to Earth to siphon the spinal fluids of humans, unknown to anybody at all. During his investigation, Eddie was attacked by two of these parasites, but rather than passing away due to their onslaught on him, the paralyzed detective gained the power to transform into a superhuman giant because the attack activated his latent metagene – talk about being lucky!
This meant that the formerly crippled detective now had the power to do what he did best, save people, turning him into a superhero. Eddie then teamed up with the Eradicator who was filling in for Superman during his absence at the time, and together they drove the aliens out of Metropolis using his newfound powers. Eddie then renamed himself “Loose Cannon” and joined the fight to cleanse the world of the alien parasites once and for all. Fans at the time loved this arc and it also humanized a superhero that was otherwise known to be violent and reckless.
The first comic book appearance explored
Loose Cannon first appeared in the comic Action Comics Annual 5, all the way back in 1993. The comic opens up with Superman fighting crime and apprehending criminals left and right, as he does, However, this story is not about Superman. Instead, it is about a crippled cop who is past his glory days, or so he thought. We are introduced to Eddie Walker and the comic tells us his entire backstory, right from his promotion to the S.C.U, his hot head, reckless behavior, and how it led to his accident which landed him a desk job instead of the high profile cases he used to handle as a field agent.
We then come to him investigating the infamous Suicide Slum Murders which resulted in his transformation into Loose Cannon, the hero. It is during his investigation that he comes across a woman in the slum and when this beautiful woman with red hair, wearing a bodysuit asks him to take her out, he complies (can’t really blame him here) but as soon as he does, he is ambushed by the alien creatures who were responsible for the slum murders and they kill him, or so they believe. And then, they leave his body to be found by someone else.
The woman turns out to be one of the aliens herself, confirming that they could shapeshift into human form and not surprisingly, she takes an interest in Superman and his power and decides to hunt him down. However, he manages to defeat her, much to her dismay, but it is clear, that these aliens were not about to stop with the murders any time soon, thus they had to be stopped.
On the other hand, we see a muscular, blue Eddie Walker regain consciousness in the lane they had left him in. However, it seems that he doesn’t remember much of anything at all and for the love of God cannot figure out why he was seven feet tall and blue all of a sudden. It is under these circumstances that he runs into Superman who was in the process of dealing with the pretty alien. However, they immediately get into a fight because while Superman wants to take the alien away, Walker wants her so that he can find out what happened to him because he vaguely remembers her.
Superman flings Walker across the street, and he crashes into a bus slowly throughout the course of the comic we watch as Eddie discovers his own newly acquired powers. He shatters a window with a single tap and is able to ‘fly’ using his strong leg muscles as he chases after Superman.
They quickly start fighting right in the middle of traffic which results in them being surrounded by police and special forces who start taking aim at Eddie. Eddie turns purple but stops in time because he notices and remembers his superior and friend, Maggie. Before the discussion can go any further, however, two aliens attack them, and Eddie and Superman team up to defeat them.
This attack brings back all of Eddie’s memories and he changes color to purple again as he begins fighting the aliens with all his might. His color turns to red, and he manages to take down one of them, but the bridge they were fighting on goes up in flames, and taking advantage of the situation, more aliens come to help their friends escape. Eddie and Superman help secure the bridge to save the civilians, and in the end, they shake hands, and Superman of all people ends up making a friend!
Eddie goes back home, happy with himself and with a life to look forward to but he has to face the ugly truth when he realizes that he can only be in his Loose Cannon form during the nighttime and reverts back to his paralyzed human state during the day. Thus was the birth of the hero, Loose Cannon.
How the character was brought back in a new avatar
Prepare to be absolutely mind blown and question everything you know about this character because his reintroduction in the DC saw him make a 180-degree shift from hero to villain. Loose Cannon was only mildly interesting as a hero in the 1990s. His moderately distinct backstory was quickly forgotten in favor of Hulk-like behavior, such as growing stronger when enraged. Edward Walker, on the other hand, has a lot more potential as a villain or at the very least a morally ambiguous character.
In Superman #31, he made his debut as a villain. Loose Cannon is seen patrolling with the second Gangbuster, the original’s niece, in the comic. Loose Cannon notices how much more violent this new Gangbuster is than her uncle after taking down some of the Projectress’s underlings. He thinks to himself that she has raged inside her that he understands and this foreshadows what he is about to do.
Afterward, Loose Cannon and Gangbuster have a disagreement where the former believes she is using unnecessary large amounts of force, while the latter believes her behavior is justified because they are criminals, after all. He attempted to explain the difference between required and unreasonable force, perhaps having learned from his previous behavior because he believed that Gangbuster’s current approach to fighting crime was clearly going to lead to her murdering someone.
However, in a shocking twist of events, Loose Cannon then punches Gangbuster across the room almost without any provocation, and we see a man we once considered to be a hero, turn into something unrecognizable. Gangbuster slumps against a table as a result of the heavy blow. Watching this, Superman’s friend, Bibbo Bibbowski, is astounded and asks Loose Cannon to turn himself in due to his violent behavior. However, clearly, a switch has flipped here and Loose Cannon counters him with a single punch that knocks Bibbo to the ground.
The reader is given hints about some sort of third-party interference before the fight, and this third party is seen to be the Protectress, who was manipulating Loose Cannon to some extent. What isn’t stated are her objectives, as well as, perhaps more pertinently, how much power she wields over Loose Cannon. The question then arises, is she literally putting ideas into his head, or is she simply amplifying the hatred and resentment that already exists?
As a result, a once-hero appears to snap and strike a former ally…and may have to deal with Superman in the long run. Quite the change from the justice and peace-obsessed hero readers had encountered in the 90s.
How powerful is Loose Cannon?
Eddie Walker could only transform into his Loose Cannon persona at night, and once daybreak arrived, he was forcibly reverted to his crippled human state however, his powers as Loose Cannon were incredible.
Eddie Walker’s size, strength, durability, stamina, and regenerative healing abilities have all increased significantly as Loose Cannon. Eddie has been known to fight both the Eradicator and the Parasites at the same time, growing stronger as his rage grows. the true level of his strength is unknown, but the fact that he has gone through all of Superman’s rage stages suggests he is on par with him.
He is also known to have superhuman speed, and it has been shown that as his rage grows, he is able to keep up with other super fast beings, such as the Eradicator, who was caught off guard. His superhuman stamina also prevents fatigue poisons from building up in his muscles during physical activity, and he can leap great distances thanks to his highly developed leg muscles. Loose Cannon’s body has a high level of resistance to injuries, in addition to enhanced strength. Loose Cannon can also regenerate destroyed or damaged areas of his body at a much faster and more efficient rate than a normal human.
Eddie’s most distinguishing factor is the fact that his skin color changes as he becomes angrier, and each colored state makes him bigger and stronger. His various colored states range from blue to purple to red to white. Eddie’s white state is his most powerful and is only triggered by extreme rage; however, this state is extremely dangerous, as Eddie can hardly even put together a coherent thought while in it, thus making it his weakest state in some ways makes him highly unstable.
The appearance of Loose Cannon demonstrates the Infinite Frontier’s commitment to restoring DC’s vast history to its true glory. The majority of people have never heard of Loose Cannon, but he’s now at the center of a growing conspiracy in Metropolis. The shift from hero to maybe villain adds further depth to an already complex character thus making Loose Cannon more than just a Hulk rip-off. Did you know about Loose Cannon? Let us know in the comments section below!