FLASHPOINT

Real Name: Lt. Travis Slaine

Identity/Class: Human, mutate

Occupation: Navy S.E.A.L.

Group Membership: Navy S.E.A.L.S.

Affiliations: Operation: Flashpoint

Enemies: Nightwatch

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York area

First Appearance: Nightwatch#2 (May, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: Flashpoint possessed the ability to absorb all forms of energy into himself, including radiation, sonic, light, radio, electrical, and kinetic energy. He could release this energy from his body as destructive blasts, heat rays, and flashes of light. His radioactive body was virtually immune to injury, and his radioactive aura could kill living matter, such as Nightwatch's cape. He could also see in all wavelengths of the spectrum, and could fly by "surfing" on random energy wakes. He was in constant danger of exploding due to the uncontrollable amount of radiation in his body.

History: (Nightwatch#2 (fb) - BTS) - Lt. Travis Slaine was a Navy S.E.A.L. whose career included charting part of the Atlantic Ocean near New York City. His career eventually fell into disgrace when he was court-martialed for insubordination.

(Nightwatch#2) - After five "star-shard" fragments fell to Earth, the Navy's Operation: Flashpoint began to assemble a team to obtain the fragment which had fallen into the Atlantic Ocean. They decided that Lt. Slaine was the best man to lead the salvage operation, and offered to bring his cooperation into consideration at his trial. He agreed, and led a team of divers in radiation suits to the impact site.

As the team began to dig into the shard, radioactive energy began to erupt, and Slaine was ordered to abandon the mission. However, he was determined to obtain his pardon, and continued the operation. The energy began to interfere with the power cables attached to the sea-sled Slaine was piloting, and he saw his team get dragged into the center of the energy. Determined to save himself, Slaine cut the lines that attached him to his men and tried to clear the area before the star-shard exploded, but was caught in the explosion. The star-shard was embedded into Slaine's body.

Now calling himself "Flashpoint," Slaine attacked his superiors in Operation: Flashpoint as his body began to absorb all forms of energy. His superiors finally broke down and told him where the other four star-shards were being kept, and he set out to find them, hoping that he could bring the star-shards energies under control.

At the first site, Flashpoint encountered the vigilante Nightwatch, and was content to ignore him, until Nightwatch stole the two star-shards which had been kept there. Flashpoint gave chase, but Nightwatch hurled the two star-shards at him as weapons, and they punctured his suit. Nightwatch hoped that this would release enough of Flashpoint's energy to stop him, but it didn't, and Flashpoint declared that now the last two shards were his only hope to prevent himself from reaching critical mass.

(Nightwatch#3) - Nightwatch pretended to assist Flashpoint in breaking into the government facility on Plum Island where the last two shards were kept, hoping to keep Flashpoint from killing anyone. Flashpoint smashed his way through the facility, desperate to find the star-shards, but Nightwatch found them first. When Flashpoint unknowingly entered a vacuum chamber (artificial gravity well), Nightwatch hurled the last two shards at him as weapons, then sealed the chamber to contain the explosion. When the explosion cleared, there was nothing left of Flashpoint; his energies were compressed to a sub-molecular level.

Comments: Created by Terry Kavanagh, Ron Lim and Al Milgrom.

Does Flashpoint's star-shard have any connection to the Lifestone Tree, I wonder?

Flashpoint is defined as "the minimum temperature at which a liquid gives off a vapor in sufficient concentration to ignite when tested."

Flashpoint may still exist within the Microverse, considering his fate.
Nightwatch actually observes that the release of Flashpoint's energy "compressed him to a sub-molecular reality".--Graham Weaver

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Flashpoint should not be confused with:

• Flashback, Gardner Monroe, of Omega Flight, @ Alpha Flight I#1
• Flashburn, criminal blackmailed into retiring by Night Thrasher, @ Night Thrasher II#16
• Flashfire, Grannz, Tempest of the Imperial Guard, @ Imperial Guard#1

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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