A
villain published by
DC Comics.
Captain Boomerang first
appeared in
The Flash #117 in 1960.
George Harkness was Australian by birth and was called by
most of his friends Digger. Harkness grew up believing that he
was the son of Ian and Betty Harkness. He grew up being mistreated
by his father, and that led him to get into trouble, eventually
leading him to scrapes with the law. Harkness did not realize that
Ian Harkness was not his father. Years earlier, Betty Harkness had
an affair with an American toy manufacturer named W.W. Wiggins. His
father was aware of his wife's infidelity and resented Harkness for
it.
When Harkness was caught by the law, his mother made arrangements
with her "friend" Wiggins in the U.S. to have Harkness go to the
states and work for him. Wiggins had begun to promote a line of
boomerangs as toys, and employed Harkness as his spokesman: Captain
Boomerang. Dressed in a cheesy costume, Harkness used his skill with
boomerangs to promote Wiggins toys.
The new toy line was not met with rousing success and Harkness began
to turn to crime to help pad his pocket. While in Central City,
Harkness attempted to steal someone's wallet and the Silver Age
Flash, Barry Allen, attempted to stop him. Harkness
threw one of his boomerangs, which nailed Allen. Seeing his success,
Harkness began a series of crimes using boomerangs, until he was
eventually captured by the Flash.
Harkness eventually became one of the Flash's Rogues Gallery, clashing
with the Scarlet Speedster time and again. He began to use trick
boomerangs that exploded, spread gas, or other special abilities.
Captain Boomerang used giant boomerangs as traps and even for a time
could throw himself like a giant boomerang.
After the Flash disappeared, Harkness became a part of the government
team known as the Suicide Squad lead by Amanda Waller. Harkness
was the worst of the criminals used by the Squad and always looked
out for his own interest even if it meant others were hurt. For a
time, Harkness used the outfit of his old partner in the Rogues
Gallery Mirror Master to commit crimes while part of the Suicide
Squad.
Harkness was approached by Abra Kadabra and offered great power as
a member of the original Rogues Gallery. He accepted and fell
afoul of a plot by the demon Neron to entrap the Flash. The original
five members of the Rogues Gallery were killed and brought back to
life as soulless killers with enhanced powers. The Flash eventually
defeated the Rogues Gallery and got Neron to return them to normal.