Theodore "Ted" Dymer, also known as the Mad Bomber, was a toy-shop clerk who emulated the bombing spree of a television villain. A toy collector obsessed with Simon Trent (aka the Gray Ghost), Ted Dymer went as far as to start destroying Gotham City by recreating events from old episodes of The Gray Ghost. He was stopped once Simon Trent and Batman joined forces to figure out the mystery behind this "mad bomber."
History[]
Ted Dymer was the innocent owner of Yester Toys, where he bought and sold classic toys and items. The business wasn't incredibly successful; at the very least, it did not adequately satiate Dymer's own toy addiction. The man was obsessed, and spent countless amounts of money on all different types of toys. Though his collection was vast, his funds were low, and he needed something to fill his pockets. As luck would have it, Simon Trent, the actor who played the Gray Ghost in the television show, had begun selling his old memorabilia to Dymer to make ends meet. Recalling an episode of The Gray Ghost, Dymer realized the other uses his toys could have. Emulating the style and tactics of The Mad Bomber, Dymer placed bombs within remote controlled cars, designed and modeled after the same cars used in The Gray Ghost. Some cars were even actual models from the show, acquired from Trent. Dymer first blew up a plastics laboratory in Gotham City. From there, he began a bombing spree, leaving threats at each site demanding $1 million or a new location would be destroyed. His tracks were mostly untraceable, leaving both bomb squads and the Gotham City Police Department stumped.
Batman, however, was a different story. Recalling the "Mad Bomber" episode of The Gray Ghost, he began to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, and tracked down Trent. Trent professed ignorance, but just before the Gotham was destroyed via arson, Trent recognized a sound - the sound that Dymer's cars made as they drove. From this, they were able to deduce Dymer's tactic, and his next bombing attempt was averted.
Though his attempt to destroy the Gotham Library had failed, Dymer wasn't through yet. He used the explosive toy cars to chase Batman into an alley, and a dead end. Things looked grim, but the Gray Ghost cast a rope down and pulled the Dark Knight to safety. When the two returned to the Batmobile, however, Dymer was ready. He had several of the cars in the area, and chased the two heroes. The cars were no match for the tools of the Batmobile, and Batman and the Gray Ghost eluded danger.
The two tracked Dymer to his toy shop, and discovered the control center Dymer operated from. Though he tried to defeat the Dark Knight with his remote-controlled toy collection, Dymer was stopped, and his toy shop and control center were destroyed as well. Dymer cried over the loss of his toy collection and was subsequently arrested.
Equipment and Abilities[]
Ted Dymer had no abilities outside those of a normal human; however, he had a lot of toys. Within his collection were the actual toy cars used in the "Mad Bomber" episode of The Gray Ghost. Emulating the show's Mad Bomber, Dymer placed explosives within some of the cars, which he used to destroy buildings. It's unknown if every car was an original or if some were replicas.