Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, a character often brought up when discussing the obscurities of comics, could have a future as the next big anti-hero, in my opinion.
DC comics never really did much with AFOB. It is commonly thought that his powers came from exposure to the anti-gravity metal, Element 152, but this isn’t confirmed. His powers, of course, being the ability to take off his limbs and use them as melee weapons. And that’s all we know about him.
We (the audience) first meet Arm-Fall-Off-Boy when the Legionnaires first meet Arm-Fall-Off-Boy. As a hopeful prospect, AFOB is very excited to show off to the members.
AFOB has full confidence in his powers. He puts on a display, thinking he is impressing the Legionnaires.
However, to his great dismay, he is denied entry to the team. Thus the beginning of the greatest anti-hero to date. Look at the face in the last panel! That is the face of a vengeful vigilante, if I’ve ever seen one. Think about this, outcast by the superhero team he had dreamt of being a part of, for as long as he could remember, Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, now a crushed spirit, loses trust and faith in all heroes. Now, with a distaste for heroes, AFOB fights crime in his own way, and isn’t afraid to take on a “good guy” once in awhile if they dare get in his way.
Forget Punisher, forget Deadpool, forget Batman, forget whoever else you may think of, Arm-Fall-Off-Boy is the new greatest hardcore vigilante. With the new imprint DC Black Label, a comic with a guy using his arm as a bat to beat someone senseless is a total possibility.
AFOB should be called Shoulder Anus Man. Did you see what was left when he “plorp”ed off his arm (Oh, we’re going to circle back around to “plorp” later)? What would happen if he ripped off all his limbs? He’d have five massive sphincters twitching in the breeze.
Maybe his secondary super-power is being able to play 5 games of peek-a-boo with a mud turtle at the same time.
And then there’s “plorp”. Ok. Can you imagine hearing “plorp” on the big screen? I have as much difficulty being impressed with that sound as the balloon-stretching sound used for Plastic-Man.
What if AFOB was fighting a criminal in a cramped space? Tearing off and swinging around his arms, multiple times, to subdue a foe. The fighting space would be overflowing with limbs. What a nightmare for a clean-up crew.
For these reasons, I would have a really difficult time taking AFOB as a serious vigilante anti-hero.
How can he contend with the cool, technologically-armed, intelligent Batman, for instance?
Please help me to see why you’re so entranced by AFOB, Jacob. Best I can picture him doing is keeping a whole third world country fed with his original recipe appendage meals.
I’d rebrand as Lizard Man (they bite off their tails when in trouble) , change the livery to browns and blacks and go over to the dark side……..