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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
The Positive Man (real name Larry Trainor) is a chipper and friendly superhero and member of the Doom Patrol, able to project positive energy into the universe and alter reality with it. He is the former host of the negative spirit Keeg Bovo, who he would release from his body and guide as the Negative Man.
History
Origin
Larry Trainor was formerly a test pilot for the United States Air Force, serving under the command of General Blanche.[2] While piloting his plane, he flew through a highly radioactive energy field that crashed his plane and connected him to the negative spirit Keeg Bovo. The doctors managed to stabilize him, but one of the doctors involved died of cancer due to the radiation that emanated from his body. Larry was truly saved by Niles Caulder. Larry was grateful for this and stated that he owed his life to Niles his, joining the Doom Patrol in return.
Larry operated with the Doom Patrol, at one point taking on the new superhero name Rebis, and battled surreal threats like the Scissormen and Brotherhood of Dada alongside his teammates Robotman and Crazy Jane.[3]
Finding Power Ring
Having assembled another iteration of the Doom Patrol after some variation had died during the Earth 3 invasion, Niles Caulder had Negative Man and the new team go on a mission to capture the Ring of Volthoom which had attached itself onto a woman named Jessica Cruz. Their mission put them in opposition of the Justice League. However it was revealed by Lex Luthor that Niles caused Larry and every one else on the team's respective accidents, forcing them to lose morale and give up.
New Doom Patrol
Some time later, Larry was mysteriously beamed to what was known as "the Negative Space" and separated from his negative spirit Keeg Bovo. After being sent back to Earth, Larry was reunited with his fellow former Doom Patrol member Robotman and contacted by Keeg Bovo, who invited Larry to return to the Negative Space for trial.
Both Negative Man and Robotman went to the Negative Space and, despite Larry being sentenced to continue being connected to Keeg, Robotman talked the council out of their decision, stating it was only fair for Larry to decide if he wanted to continue having powers or be normal. Larry agreed to continue being Negative Man and accepted Keeg, hoping that his powers could be used to continue helping people.[4]
On their adventures, Larry helped free Danny from Vectra, stopped the Brotherhood of Nada, and solved the crisis of the Milk Wars.
Doomsday Clock
Main article: Doomsday Clock Vol 1
After Superman is framed and rendered comatose, Larry Trainor joined the group of heroes heading towards Mars to confront their mysterious enemy. The heroes meet and engage Doctor Manhattan, but they are easily defeated.[5]
Weight of the Worlds
Having become comfortable with the newest iteration of the Doom Patrol, Larry allowed his negative spirit Keeg to operate more independently of him, spending more time living entire lifetimes in his sleep while Keeg was away. With so many lives he'd lived, Larry became so enlightened that his dreams began to become too dark and got an emotional support dog named Hank for some positive energy.
However, the positive energy that Hank brought Larry was too effective, and his positive energy overwhelmed him and escaped. After the energy was supercharged again by Lotion the Cat and forced back upon Larry, Keeg was permanently expelled from Larry's body - who then became the new Positive Man.[6] Without Keeg Bovo, Trainor found that he had become toxically positive, and sought to find balance in himself rather than deny his own darkness.[7] He returned to the Negative Man identity,[2] and participated in the defense of the Earth against the invading alien Voidsong.[8]
Unstoppable
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Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Negative Spirit Connection: Larry Trainor was 'accidentally' sent into a field of cosmic radiation while testing an experimental jet in the stratosphere. The radiation caused him to gain a connection to his negative spirit Keeg Bovo.
- Energy Absorption: Negative Man can absorb thermal energy and convert it into an explosive discharge tied to his other thermal abilities.
- Enhanced Intellect: Larry lives an entire lifetime in his sleep whenever his spirit leaves him. This caused him to become enlightened in his own words[6]
- Flight: Negative Man can fly at speeds equal to or greater than jets and other airplanes.
- Phasing: Negative Man can alter his density to pass through solid objects. Phasing through biological material causes pain to the affected target. Lead is the only substance that he cannot phase through.
- Radiation Production: Negative Man has the ability to summon and control what is known as a negative spirit, a black, electrical energy humanoid, from his body. Larry's mind and consciousness resides in the being while his body is left behind as a husk. Originally, he could only leave his body for a total of sixty seconds. By now he has trained himself to last much longer before returning to his body at will.
Abilities
- Military Protocol
- Aviation: Due to him previously being a test pilot he was skilled in piloting.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)
Weaknesses
- Monstrous Appearance: Larry's incident left his entire body burned and scarred beyond recognition.[10]
Notes
- Negative Man was created by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, and Bruno Premiani, first appearing in My Greatest Adventure #80. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Negative Man first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Justice League (Volume 2) #30 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis.
Trivia
- Larry had a secret affair with a male USAF colleague.[1]
Recommended Reading
- Justice League (Volume 2) #30-33
- Doom Patrol (Volume 6)
- Milk Wars
- Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds (Volume 1)
Related
- 60 Appearances of Lawrence Trainor (Prime Earth)
- 58 Images featuring Lawrence Trainor (Prime Earth)
- 2 Quotations by or about Lawrence Trainor (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Lawrence Trainor (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Unstoppable Doom Patrol #4
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1
- ↑ Doom Patrol (Volume 6) #9, Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds #5
- ↑ Doom Patrol (Volume 6) #4
- ↑ Doomsday Clock #9
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds #2
- ↑ Unstoppable Doom Patrol #4
- ↑ Aquaman & The Flash: Voidsong #3
- ↑ Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds #7
- ↑ Unstoppable Doom Patrol #2
- ↑ Doom Patrol (Volume 6) #7
Doom Patrol member |