Chemo is an enemy of Metal Men, Superman, Black Lightning, and sometimes Batman along with having been a member of the Suicide Squad.
While not predominately a member of Batman's Rogues Gallery, Chemo left a large impact on the city of Blüdhaven when it was used as a living bomb on the city. The result of the explosion caused countless civilian casualties and destruction which Batman and Nightwing were forced to deal with.
History[]
Earth One (Silver Age)[]
Chemo was the result of a scientist named Dr. Ramsey Norton's plans to solve all of humanity's problems through chemicals. As motivation, he created a giant, hollow, transparent, plastic mould of a man he nicknamed, "Chemo" to personify all of the strifes of mankind like pollution, famine and disease. Whenever Norton's experiments didn't succeed, he would dump their remains into Chemo as a symbol to motivate him to do better.
One fateful day, the mixture of unfiltered experimental chemicals resulted in the creation of life, bringing Chemo to life with the ability to generate and spew out hazardous chemicals. Chemo used these powers to mindlessly kill its creator and go on a rampage. Eventually he would be stopped by the Metal Men of whom it became the greatest enemy of.
Due to Chemo's pseudo-life, it could not be killed. Eventually, it came to Metropolis where it fought Superman and absorbed some of his Kryptonian DNA, giving Chemo the power of Superman-level regeneration. Chemo would be stopped from destroying Metropolis by the Man of Steel though.
During Crisis on Infinite Earths, Lex Luthor and Brainiac stationed Chemo on Earth-4 (home of the Charlton Comic characters like Question and Blue Beetle) to be used as a living weapon. After poisoning Aquagirl, it would be killed by Negative Woman and the Doom Patrol by using Negative Woman's energy to destroy Chemo's shell.
New Earth (Post-Crisis)[]
The destruction of Blüdhaven
Chemo's backstory in the Post-Crisis continuity seemingly is exactly the same of that of its pre-crisis origin. The only key difference found was that Chemo wore implants resembling an exo-suit, presumably used to see, speak, and better interact with its surroundings. It also stole Kryptonian DNA from Superman just like its Earth-One counterpart.
When Lex Luthor became president of the United States, Chemo was enlisted in Task Force X (The Suicide Squad) to break Doomsday out from the JLA Headquarters.
Bombing of Blüdhaven[]
During the events of Infinite Cris, the Society used Chemo as a living chemical weapon to bomb the city of Blüdhaven, home to Nightwing. The explosion cost countless lives and occurred during a ceasefire arranged by Deathstroke with Nightwing in-exchange for Dick keeping his distance from Deathstroke's daughter Ravager.
The superheroes nearby were forced to tend to the civilians as the super-villains progressed their moves and the monstrous Chemo began regenerating. Superman engaged in a fight with the monster to try and stop it from causing more damage. In the end, Superman managed to defeat Chemo by flying the monster into space and hurling it into the cold abyss of it. The effects of the tragedy would be felt for the remainder of Blüdhaven's history in New Earth.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Chemical Physiology:
- Part Kryptonian DNA:
- Giant Physiology:
- Size Manipulation:
- Toxikinesis:
- Regeneration:
Weaknesses[]
- Heat:
- Low (if present) Intelligence:
Paraphernalia[]
- Life Support Exo-Suit:
Chemo as it appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Appearances in Other Media[]
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: When attempting to steal a nuclear missile he was confronted by Batman and Aquaman. Chemo managed to infect Batman but Aquaman saved him. When Chemo attempted to steal the Nuke again. He was confronted by the Navy and Batman. Chemo eventually did get the nuke and it was revealed that Chemo had actually been working for the Brain. When destroying the Batboat, Batman ejected and went inside chemo. After he disabled the Nuke he threw three Bat Bombs and destroyed Chemo from the inside out. He later appears in the episode "Clash of the Metal Men" where he fights Batman by the docks and nearly beat him until the Metal Men came and defeated Chemo.
- DC Universe Online: The Blühaven of DC Universe Online takes place in the fallout of the Chemo bombing. Because of this, the city is flooded with acid, and filled with the violent offspring of Chemo, and mutated wildlife like dogs, alligators, and even civilians. Chemo himself appears in the Ace Chemical Processing Plant, where he is deployed to fight the players by T.O. Morrow.
- Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants: in this Batman Unlimited film, Chemo is an assistant to Penguin in his scheme to turn the supervillains of Gotham into giant kaiju.