Lobo Wants Them Dead, Not Alive
Lobo: “The name’s Lobo. That’s L as in Lacerate, O as in Obliterate, B as in disemBowel, and O as in… uh, oh, I guess I can use Obliterate twice? What do you think?”
Superman the Animated Series “The Main Man” (Season 1, Episode 9)
Superman: “I think you’re a certifiable madman.”
Lobo: “Thanks!”
An arms dealer examines his newest prototype, a machine gun that fires miniature rockets. His factory shakes as something kicks the doors off the hinges. A hulking, chalk white figure stands in the doorway. The guards draw their guns and order the intruder to leave, but he simply pulls out a hooked chain. A hail of gunfire fails to stop him as he slaughters the guards.
The arms dealer loads his prototype and fires at the intruder. He sighs with relief as the rockets hit their target, but the remains undulate, quickly reforming into the figure. He impales the arms dealer with the hook and uses the chain to drag him outside to a motorcycle. Latching the chain to his bike, Lobo smiles and takes off to turn in the bounty as the arms dealer tumbles in his wake.
Lobo is one of DC’s most famous bounty hunters. He’s loud, crude, and makes Deadpool look like a consummate professional. Maybe that’s why Stan Lee claimed that Lobo was his favorite DC character. So who is he? Where did he come from? Can anyone stop him? Let’s find out.
Scene Select
The Last Czarnian: Lobo’s Backstory
The Preserver: “There is one more creature I would like to add to my collection: The last Czarnian.”
Superman the Animated Series “The Main Man” (Season 1, Episode 9)
Lobo: “Ha! That’s rich! I’m the last Czarnian! [to Superman] I fragged the whole planet for my high school science project. Gave myself an A.”
Lobo debuted in Omega Men #3 in 1983. He was created by Roger Slifer and Keith Griffen. He was meant to be a parody of gritty characters like Wolverine and The Punisher, but ironically became one of the most popular characters of that type.
The world of Czarnia was a utopia comparable to Krypton. It was home to some of the most peaceful and scientifically advanced beings in the universe. Then Lobo was born and f***ed it up. He was violent and homicidal from the moment he was born. In fact, the name Lobo is Czarnian for “He Who Devours Your Entrails and Thoroughly Enjoys It.”
Lobo spent his years on Czarnia fighting, committing crimes, and single-handedly lowering the standard of living. He grew tired of his people and whipped up a virulent plague to kill everyone, right before he escaped on his rocket powered spacehog.
Now the Last Czarnian, Lobo travels the universe as a bounty hunter for booze money. He gained a reputation for leaving scores of victims and unfathomable property damage in his wake. Despite the devastation, Lobo was always successful in bringing in his targets. That changed when a client pointed him at Earth and hired him to bring in the Last Son of Krypton, Superman.
Heroes, Heaven, and Hijinks: Lobo’s History
Superman: “You’re not Justice League material, Lobo. Go chase a bail-jumper. I don’t care what you do, just clear out.”
Justice League, “Hereafter” (Season 2, Episode 20)
Lobo: “This is the thanks I get? What a stinkin’ rip. [flying away] Next time you lollipops need help, don’t bother asking the Main Man!”
Martian Manhunter: “…We didn’t ask you this time!”
Lobo tracked down Superman in Metropolis, but could not defeat him. He eventually backed out of the contract after learning that his employer was planning to betray him. He left Earth, but has frequently returned in pursuit of bounties.
While Lobo and the heroes rarely get along, he shares common ground with a few. Guy Gardner, the third Green Lantern, is his best human friend due to their similar personalities and shared love of motorcycles and dive bars. Lobo occasionally fights poachers alongside Aquaman because they both love dolphins.
Lobo was eventually killed, but that turned out to be a boon for him. Hell couldn’t contain him, Heaven couldn’t calm or control him, and both sides eventually gave up. They resurrected him and made him immortal so that they would never have to deal with him again.
Lobo’s life changed for the worse during DC’s New 52 reboot. The over the top, fun-loving parody was revealed to be an impostor and a new Lobo took over. New 52 Lobo was a broody, melodramatic, and one billion percent less likable character. Original Lobo returned in the DC Rebirth reboot as New 52 Lobo was sealed away, never to be seen again outside of cheap but accurate jokes about how unlikable he was.
Bounty Biker: Lobo’s Powers and Personality
Lobo: [regenerating on the floor] “Down low, dips***. Boo. Told you I was coming for you.”
Krypton “Will to Power” (Season 2, Episode 3)
Adam Strange: “No freakin’ way.”
Lobo: “Yes, freakin’ way. You see, if a mother fragger won’t come to the Main Man, then the Main Man will come to the mother fragger.”
Lobo has super strength, speed, senses, and durability on par with Superman. He’s able to regenerate any damage that he takes, even when reduced to drops of blood. At one point he could even grow cloned armies from his remains, but gave up that power because the clones inevitably fought each other to determine who was the top dog.
Lobo doesn’t look like it, but he is a genius. He has built a spacehog that lets him ride from one end of the universe to the other. He uses a variety of weapons, ranging from laser cannons to his trusty hooked chain. During his parody days, he seemed to run off of cartoon logic. He could do just about anything for the sake of a joke, even crushing a whole city into the size of a gumball and eating it whole.
Lobo is crass, crude, and doesn’t give one mother-hoot what anyone thinks about him. Despite a list of personality problems, he does have some virtues. Lobo will always fulfill any deal or bounty to the letter, kills dolphin poachers on sight, and doesn’t care for bigotry. He even invented an all-inclusive curse word: bastich.
The Actors Who Play Lobo
Brad Garrett- Superman: the Animated Series
Greg Michaels and Kevin Michael Richardson – Lobo (Webseries)
David Sobolov – Young Justice
John DiMaggio – Justice League Action
Emmett J. Scanlan – Krypton
Ryan Hurst – Superman: Man of Tomorrow
Didya get all that?
The baddest bastich this side of Krypton’s ashes
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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