Burnout (comics)
Encyclopedia
Robert "Bobby" Lane is the fictional superhero
Burnout from Wildstorm Comics. He is best known as a member of the controversial superhero team Gen¹³
.
, a superpowered special ops member of Team 7. For decades the corrupt I.O.
organisation had been carrying out genetic experiments designed to create supersoldier
s for the government. Team 7 were among the 12th generation of this experiment (Gen 12
), and among the first successes - previous attempts had ended in death for the subjects. When many of the members of Gen 12 became fathers, I.O. became interested in their children: Gen¹³
. According to the Gen 12 series, Lynch's wife left John Lynch when their son, Robert, was very small.
The exact circumstances of his mother's death are unknown, but Bobby was put up for adoption under a fake name. (It was later revealed that several Team 7 members who had gone into hiding themselves knew about this and arranged this to protect Robert from I.O.) During his childhood Bobby often changed foster families, because he was unable to fit in with them, though he became good friends with his foster sister Han Tsung during his stay with her family.
, Caitlin
, and Roxy
. And it was there that he first had his latent powers unlocked. But when he and his friends discovered what the end goal of the project was, and that the plan was to control any successes by numbing their wills using drugs, they planned an escape. The four of them were joined on their escape by two others: Sarah Rainmaker
and Threshold. Unknown to the rest of them Threshold was loyal to I.O., and only went along because it was his mission to try to awaken the latent powers of Freefall and Grunge (who hadn't manifested any yet) and create a killer instinct in the group that the government desired in its superpowered operatives. He succeeded, and then betrayed the group. All of them except Fairchild were recaptured. She came back for them, and having made a second, successful escape they allied with John Lynch, who had become a high-ranking member of I.O.
. Sarah didn't return those feelings though, as she considered herself a lesbian. The two did become good friends though. One of the first villains Bobby helps defeat is Helmut, an old adversary of John Lynch. He would also confront returning I.O. troops, a giant ape rampaging across a college campus and in one case, a trickster spirit who personally manipulates his feelings concerning Sarah. In another instance, the entire team is transformed into animal hybrids. Again and again, Gen13 would confront DV8
, who also came from Project: Genesis but were much more violent and amoral.
Some time later Lynch and Bobby figure out they are father and son. After some initial awkwardness the two have come to accept this new dynamic in their relationship.
During his time with Gen¹³, Bobby began to develop powerful psionic
abilities, allowing him to read and control the minds of others. He lost these powers when another Gen-Active, a powerful telepath damaged the telepathic part of Bobby's brain. Bobby defeated the telepath and his brothers and became romantically involved with their sister, Leslie, a Gen-Active codenamed Trauma Queen. Their romance was short-lived as Robert and the rest of Gen¹³ apparently died in an explosion.
In fact, Gen¹³ had been displaced to an alternate universe
and they returned to their own Earth months later.
and with art by Talent Caldwell
has been announced for mid-2006 after the Wildstorm 'reboot'. A rebooted Burnout is here described as the aftereffect of a bald-faced attempt at clonation and gene splicing by Tabula Rasa, an off-shot of I.O. Burnout is a former juvenile hall resident turned pacifist, created with fire-manipulation ability and given to a foster family to control his growth. When the first part of the experiment ends, and he's abducted and brought back to tabula rasa with the current Gens, now boys and girls experimented upon as he was, he escapes with them.
He later participates in the activities of the group, namely escaping from I.O., facing a group of teenagers from an alternative universe based on the Authority and another batch of I.O. clones sent to apprehend his teammates.
During his adventures, Burnout he's revealed to be, as his Gen¹³ teammates, the recipient of the soul of his original namesake, collected by the Doctor and restored in the new body. However, in this life all the Gens exhibit different tendencies, becoming progressively their own persons: Burnout becomes with the time trustier and eager to help. According to a Wildstorm sourcebook, Bobby was called Burnout even before he went to Project: Genesis. It was a nickname given to him by his classmates due to his sullen attitude towards school.
During the World's End events, attempting to protect his teammates by a flare brought by a clone of The High he's blinded, and relies on Caitlin's advices to cope with his condition in the postatomic ruins that the world had since become.
Due to Caitlin spending more time with him to guide and help him during his lasting blindess, Rainmaker thinks they may be developing a stronger attraction, due to the Florence Nightingale Effect
: Grunge dismisses the idea, and asks him, to distract the team from their miseries, to tell them about his vision of a postatomic future.
Burnout tells of a world in which he, still blind, roams the world with a modified car, devised to bring music to everyone still alive, hoping for someone still alive to hear him and be lifted from his/her worries at least for a while.
Eventually the gang takes refuge in a mall. There they encounter killer rats and a group of people who have survived armageddon. Bobby is still unable to see normally but gains the ability to see heat signatures. Within all the survivors he sees green blotches, which would turn out to be the Warhol Virus. All the people turn into monsters and the gang barely escapes with their lives. After cleaning up and getting new clothes, the team decides to hitchike to the town of Tranquility. Along the way they stop at a post-apocalyptic skate park run by renagde youths. While Bobby begins to rest in a tent, Caitlin grabs him and the two kiss.
that bursts into flame when exposed to oxygen. He can direct his flames into searing thermal energy blasts, or surround himself with an aura of protective flames to deflect physical attacks. He can superheat the air around him to create powerful thermal updrafts that lift him into the air (allowing him to fly).
He formerly possessed telepathic
powers that allowed him to read minds, communicate mentally with others, and control minds. He lost these psychic powers after a fight with another telepath.
The Worldstorm version of the character lost his sight after his eyes were singed by one of The High clones exploding in front of him. However, he gained some sort of thermal vision, allowing him to perceive living, or warm things, with some sort of accuracy.
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Burnout from Wildstorm Comics. He is best known as a member of the controversial superhero team Gen¹³
Gen¹³
Gen¹³ is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was originally published by Image Comics under the banner Wildstorm, which went on to become an imprint for DC Comics, who continued publishing the Gen¹³...
.
History
Bobby Lane is the son of John LynchJohn Lynch (comics)
John Lynch is a fictional comic book character, published by Wildstorm. He is the head of Internal Operations. He has starred in Gen¹³, Team 7, Sleeper, and Wildcats.John Lynch is an homage to Nick Fury, the one-eyed head of Marvel Comics' S.H.I.E.L.D....
, a superpowered special ops member of Team 7. For decades the corrupt I.O.
International Operations
International Operations is a fictional American Intelligence Agency in Wildstorm comics. I.O. first appeared in WildC.A.T.S. volume 1 #1 and was created by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee.-International Operations:...
organisation had been carrying out genetic experiments designed to create supersoldier
Supersoldier
Supersoldier is a term often used to describe a soldier that operates beyond normal human limits or abilities. Supersoldiers are common in science fiction literature, films, TV programs, computer, conspiracy theories, and video games, but have also made appearances in other related genres, such as...
s for the government. Team 7 were among the 12th generation of this experiment (Gen 12
Gen 12
Gen12 is a comic book series from Wildstorm by Brandon Choi with art by Michael Ryan. It was a 5-issue mini-series published in 1998. It featured characters from the series Team 7...
), and among the first successes - previous attempts had ended in death for the subjects. When many of the members of Gen 12 became fathers, I.O. became interested in their children: Gen¹³
Gen¹³
Gen¹³ is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was originally published by Image Comics under the banner Wildstorm, which went on to become an imprint for DC Comics, who continued publishing the Gen¹³...
. According to the Gen 12 series, Lynch's wife left John Lynch when their son, Robert, was very small.
The exact circumstances of his mother's death are unknown, but Bobby was put up for adoption under a fake name. (It was later revealed that several Team 7 members who had gone into hiding themselves knew about this and arranged this to protect Robert from I.O.) During his childhood Bobby often changed foster families, because he was unable to fit in with them, though he became good friends with his foster sister Han Tsung during his stay with her family.
Project: Genesis
When Bobby became a teenager, I.O. decided to restart Project: Genesis which had done the Gen 12 experiments. They performed genetic screenings across the country and recruited all children and teenagers who were gen-positive, usually indicating that they were the children of a Gen 12-member. Bobby was recruited to be part of the Gen¹³ project, unaware of this history. There he began to connect with others such as GrungeGrunge (comics)
Grunge is the codename of Percival Edmund Chang, a fictional comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm, and is a member of the superhero team Gen¹³.-Character history:Philip Chang sent his son into hiding while he was still an infant...
, Caitlin
Caitlin Fairchild
Caitlin Fairchild is a fictional comic book superhero, who appears in the Wildstorm series Gen¹³. She was created by writers Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, and artist J. Scott Campbell.-Early life:Fairchild is the daughter of Alex Fairchild of Team 7...
, and Roxy
Freefall (comics)
Freefall is the code name of a fictional comic book character Roxanne "Roxy" Spaulding from Wildstorm Comics. She is a member of the superhero team Gen¹³.-Early life:...
. And it was there that he first had his latent powers unlocked. But when he and his friends discovered what the end goal of the project was, and that the plan was to control any successes by numbing their wills using drugs, they planned an escape. The four of them were joined on their escape by two others: Sarah Rainmaker
Sarah Rainmaker
Sarah Rainmaker is a fictional superhero from the comic book series Gen¹³ created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell.-Character biography:...
and Threshold. Unknown to the rest of them Threshold was loyal to I.O., and only went along because it was his mission to try to awaken the latent powers of Freefall and Grunge (who hadn't manifested any yet) and create a killer instinct in the group that the government desired in its superpowered operatives. He succeeded, and then betrayed the group. All of them except Fairchild were recaptured. She came back for them, and having made a second, successful escape they allied with John Lynch, who had become a high-ranking member of I.O.
Team
Lynch took the team to San Diego to hide from I.O. and Bobby began to develop romantic feelings for his team-mate Sarah RainmakerSarah Rainmaker
Sarah Rainmaker is a fictional superhero from the comic book series Gen¹³ created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell.-Character biography:...
. Sarah didn't return those feelings though, as she considered herself a lesbian. The two did become good friends though. One of the first villains Bobby helps defeat is Helmut, an old adversary of John Lynch. He would also confront returning I.O. troops, a giant ape rampaging across a college campus and in one case, a trickster spirit who personally manipulates his feelings concerning Sarah. In another instance, the entire team is transformed into animal hybrids. Again and again, Gen13 would confront DV8
DV8
DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. The series revolves around the lives of a group of Gen-Active people , initially living in New York under the supervision of Ivana Baiul, who sends them on life-threatening black ops assignments.-Publication history:The series lasted 32 issues, and was a...
, who also came from Project: Genesis but were much more violent and amoral.
Some time later Lynch and Bobby figure out they are father and son. After some initial awkwardness the two have come to accept this new dynamic in their relationship.
During his time with Gen¹³, Bobby began to develop powerful psionic
Psionics
Psionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...
abilities, allowing him to read and control the minds of others. He lost these powers when another Gen-Active, a powerful telepath damaged the telepathic part of Bobby's brain. Bobby defeated the telepath and his brothers and became romantically involved with their sister, Leslie, a Gen-Active codenamed Trauma Queen. Their romance was short-lived as Robert and the rest of Gen¹³ apparently died in an explosion.
In fact, Gen¹³ had been displaced to an alternate universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
and they returned to their own Earth months later.
Worldstorm
A new Gen¹³-series, written by Gail SimoneGail Simone
Gail Simone is an American writer of comic books. Best known for penning DC's Birds of Prey, her other notable works include Secret Six, Welcome to Tranquility, The All-New Atom, and Deadpool. In 2007, she took over Wonder Woman...
and with art by Talent Caldwell
Talent Caldwell
Talent Caldwell is a comic book artist best known for his work on the Top Cow Productions character Fathom. He has also drawn for DC Comics' Superman and Marvel Comics' Spider-Man characters.-Biography:...
has been announced for mid-2006 after the Wildstorm 'reboot'. A rebooted Burnout is here described as the aftereffect of a bald-faced attempt at clonation and gene splicing by Tabula Rasa, an off-shot of I.O. Burnout is a former juvenile hall resident turned pacifist, created with fire-manipulation ability and given to a foster family to control his growth. When the first part of the experiment ends, and he's abducted and brought back to tabula rasa with the current Gens, now boys and girls experimented upon as he was, he escapes with them.
He later participates in the activities of the group, namely escaping from I.O., facing a group of teenagers from an alternative universe based on the Authority and another batch of I.O. clones sent to apprehend his teammates.
During his adventures, Burnout he's revealed to be, as his Gen¹³ teammates, the recipient of the soul of his original namesake, collected by the Doctor and restored in the new body. However, in this life all the Gens exhibit different tendencies, becoming progressively their own persons: Burnout becomes with the time trustier and eager to help. According to a Wildstorm sourcebook, Bobby was called Burnout even before he went to Project: Genesis. It was a nickname given to him by his classmates due to his sullen attitude towards school.
During the World's End events, attempting to protect his teammates by a flare brought by a clone of The High he's blinded, and relies on Caitlin's advices to cope with his condition in the postatomic ruins that the world had since become.
Due to Caitlin spending more time with him to guide and help him during his lasting blindess, Rainmaker thinks they may be developing a stronger attraction, due to the Florence Nightingale Effect
Florence Nightingale effect
The Florence Nightingale effect is a term used to describe a doctor's, nurse's or other caregiver's development of feelings for his/her patient. This effect causes a feeling much like infatuation, love or sexual attraction to come over the caregiver regarding a patient, even if very little...
: Grunge dismisses the idea, and asks him, to distract the team from their miseries, to tell them about his vision of a postatomic future.
Burnout tells of a world in which he, still blind, roams the world with a modified car, devised to bring music to everyone still alive, hoping for someone still alive to hear him and be lifted from his/her worries at least for a while.
Eventually the gang takes refuge in a mall. There they encounter killer rats and a group of people who have survived armageddon. Bobby is still unable to see normally but gains the ability to see heat signatures. Within all the survivors he sees green blotches, which would turn out to be the Warhol Virus. All the people turn into monsters and the gang barely escapes with their lives. After cleaning up and getting new clothes, the team decides to hitchike to the town of Tranquility. Along the way they stop at a post-apocalyptic skate park run by renagde youths. While Bobby begins to rest in a tent, Caitlin grabs him and the two kiss.
Powers
Burnout generates high-energy plasmaPlasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
that bursts into flame when exposed to oxygen. He can direct his flames into searing thermal energy blasts, or surround himself with an aura of protective flames to deflect physical attacks. He can superheat the air around him to create powerful thermal updrafts that lift him into the air (allowing him to fly).
He formerly possessed telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
powers that allowed him to read minds, communicate mentally with others, and control minds. He lost these psychic powers after a fight with another telepath.
The Worldstorm version of the character lost his sight after his eyes were singed by one of The High clones exploding in front of him. However, he gained some sort of thermal vision, allowing him to perceive living, or warm things, with some sort of accuracy.
Other versions
- In the alternate future of 2015, Burnout has become the chief interrogator for Spawn's demonic rule. Assisting him is Grunge. His female team members are now unwilling participants in Spawn's harem.