Blasters (New Earth)

The Blasters were a team of superhumans who first appear in Invasion! #1 by Keith Giffen, Bill Mantlo and Todd McFarlane. Blasters Special #1 from March (1989), was produced by the creative team of Peter David and James Fry.

History
Fifty humans from around the world were abducted by the Dominators and their allies. These humans were placed in a special Blaster Field arena full of horrifying high tech weapons and land mines in order to test for the possibility of a metahuman potential. Of the fifty test subjects, only six survived the charnel. The six tested positive for superhuman abilities and a unique genetic marker that High Caste Dominator scientists would later dub the "Metagene".

This proved beyond a doubt to the Dominators that humanity was a threat, and that Earth and its people were too dangerous to remain free. Thus, the Dominators joined the Thanagarians, Psions, and others in the Alien Alliance.

Starlag
The six survivors were locked away on the prison world known as Starlag. In time, they discovered that their fellow prisoners were the legendary Omega Men from the Vega system, and the super genius Vril Dox II of Colu as well as other future members of L.E.G.I.O.N. Working together, they overthrow the Starlag guards and hijack an independent shuttle piloted by Churljenkins, a feline alien female. En route to Earth, their shuttle encounters a superhuman task force headed for the Dominator homeworld in order to find a cure for the Dominators' gene bomb. The two groups combined, and the six humans now nicknamed The Blasters help end the invasion. The Blasters were then returned to Earth by the Omega Men in Churljenkins' ship.

Blasters
Each human had trouble adjusting to their new powers. Fritz Klein (Slag) had to take tranquilizers to maintain his temper so that he would not spontaneously combust. Children taunted Moishe Levy (Dust Devil) for pretending to have super-powers. Carlotta (Jolt) was slowly going mad trying to control her Unus-like repulsion field. Snapper Carr was placed in a psychiatric ward and considered mad for believing he had powers; it seems that whenever Snapper teleported with his eyes open, the effect was mentally unhinging.

Snapper later escapes from the asylum by teleporting directly to Churljenkin's ship which had broken down on a tiny alien world, which they then "steal" from the Omega Men, leaving them stranded there. The two of them reclaim her ship intending to return Churl' to her home. They discover that her home planet had been destroyed to make a spaceway to Earth for the Alliance. Returning to Earth, Snapper and Churljenkins discover a secret Spider Guild weapons depot. Snapper re-unites the Blasters, after which the team pust an end to the Guild's operation and alerts the Justice League to its existence.

Starlag II
The team decides to stay united and travel the spaceways as goodwill ambassadors in order to repair Earth's reputation among the galactic community. After wandering for a while, the Blasters later begin to question the wisdom of their decision. Just when they are about to disband and return to Earth, they receive a distress call from Babbage, Valor's digital assistant. Valor was wrongly imprisoned in Starlag II by its warden Kanjar Ru, sister of Kanjar Ro. When the team breaks into Starlag II, they unintentionally release the being known as the "Unimaginable." The Unimaginable sets in motion forces that threaten to destroy Starlag II. The Blasters were trapped as the prison began crumbling. Their fate following this incident remains a mystery. As seen in Valor #5-8.

The Unimaginable's next appearance would be on Earth in the pages of Supermen of America #5 by Fabian Nicieza.

Lost
At some point after this, Snapper Carr was separated from his teammates. He did not know if they were dead or alive and expressed some guilt over their unknown fate. While searching for them, he was captured by some Khunds, who cut off his hands. He was rescued by operatives of L.E.G.I.O.N. but knew nothing about the fates of his fellow Blasters. Vril Dox gave Snapper new hands but he had now lost the ability to teleport. Snapper was then returned to Earth. As seen in Hourman #20-21.

Membership

 * Snapper Carr - The former Justice League of America mascot gained the power to teleport whenever he snapped his fingers.
 * Churljenkins – A catlike green furred alien and space pilot who became Snapper Carr's girlfriend.
 * Jolt - Carlotta Rivera, a fashion model from Madrid. She could generate a gravimagnetic field that repelled anything near her skin, even water and oxygen.
 * Looking Glass - A British writer of children's books, from the town of Tunbridge Wells. Could transform his torso into a flat plane of living reflective and superefractive glass.
 * Dust Devil - Moshe Levy, a young student from Tel Aviv, Israel. Could generate a funnel of fast moving air, a miniature tornado.
 * Frag - Fritz Klein, an Austrian ski instructor based in Innsbruck. Could become living metal and fire explosive blasts.
 * Crackpot - Amos Monroe, a self-professed African-American con artist from New Orleans. Given enough time, could psionically influence the minds of the weak-willed.

Supporting characters

 * Gunther - A renegade Dominator scientist.
 * Ms. Levy - Dust Devil's overprotective mother.

Trivia

 * The Blasters were supposedly a pet project of Robert Loring Fleming. Fleming brought the Blasters in as guests when he took over the Valor series. He was later forced to leave them in limbo as the Zero Hour plans for the Legion soon overshadowed the book.