DYNA-MITE (Daniel Dunbar)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Mort Weisinger and Hal Sharp

Dyna-Mite (Daniel Dunbar)

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Daniel Dunbar
Aliases: Dan, the Dyna-Mite
Known Relatives: Charles and Judith Dunbar (father and mother)
Base of Operation: Washington D.C., later New York City
Group Affiliation(s): Seven Soldiers of Victory; All-Star Squadron; Young All-Stars; later Old Justice
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6 1/2" (later 5'11")
Weight: 140 lbs. (later 165 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red (later gray)
First Appearance: World's Finest Comics #5 (Spring 1942)
Creators: Mort Weisinger and Hal Sharp

OVERVIEW

Daniel Dunbar and his chemistry teacher Thomas N. Thomas somehow absorbed chemical reactions which meant that they gained super-powers when two rings they wore made contact. Using these powers they became the heroes T.N.T. and Dyna-Mite, joining the All-Star Squadron. When T.N.T. was killed, Dan was devastated, but discovering that he could activate his powers alone, he joined the Young All-Stars once he had begun to recover from his friend's death. He survives to the present day.

HISTORY

The only child of Charles and Judith Dunbar, young Danny was a lonely boy who found friendship in his track coach and chemistry teacher, Tex Thomas. While Thomas was working on a secret chemical compound, he and Danny found that they were absorbing certain properties from the chemicals, and when treated with a slight electrical contact, found that the duo had acquired super-powers.

Thomas and Dunbar decided to use the abilities to fight crime and a short time before the US entry into World War II adventured as TNT and Dyna-Mite. They were invited to join the wartime conglomerate of mystery-men known as The All-Star Squadron and on one of those missions for the group, while investigating suspected spy activities near Boulder, Colorado, TNT was killed by Nazi spies.

Fearing that his short career as a mystery-man was over, Dyna-Mite first joined up with several other young heroes that banded together during that case and formed the All-Star Squadron sub-group known as The Young All-Stars. Dyna-Mite found that he could now activate the concussive electrical blasts on his own, and continued on with his career. His parents found out about his secret identity in mid-1942, but it is unknown what happened after that revelation.

Several ago, however, along with other former "sidekicks" of World War II heroes, he formed the advocacy group known as "Old Justice", hoping to control and restrict younger meta-humans under governmental controls.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

At first, T.N.T. and Dyna-Mite were "positively" and "negatively" charged, so that when each touched the rings that each wore together, it activated their powers, which included increased strength, speed and resistance to injury. They have been shown to be able to transfer these charges to other objects. They could also project electrical charges from their hands. After T.N.T.'s death, Dyna-Mite could affect the change by himself using both rings. The electrical blasts became more concussive explosion, so there may be a possible link to QRX-27, The Human Bomb's origination of his powers. Their costumes may have been made of a form of "fibro-wax", which withstood The Human Bomb's blasts. Both were very good athletes, and good hand-to-hand combatants.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Dyna-Mite in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #24 (February 1987)

Who's Who: Update '87 #2 (September 1987)