User:BoomboxTestarossa/Tri-Man

Tri-Man is a British Silver Age comic book superhero who debuted in issue #189 of IPC Magazines' Smash! comic, dated 13th September 1969.

Publication History
Tri-Man was devised for Smash! in an attempt to recapture the title's previous success as one of the publisher's Power Comics line, where it had reprinted licenced Marvel material with some success. However, Tri-Man was not a hit and disappeared from Smash! after 20 episodes following the 30 January 1970 edition as new owners Reed International reformatted the comic. In addition to weekly appearances, Tri-Man also featured in the 1971 ''Smash! Annual'' in a full-colour strip drawn by Ron Turner that recapped the character's origin. While the interior pages of the annual story depicted Tri-Man's costume as dark blue and white the cover portrayed it as red and yellow.

In 1989 the character made a guest appearance in Grant Morrison's 2000AD strip Zenith as one of a large number of multiversal superheroes battling the Lloigor. While Tri-Man was largely relegated to background appearances in the storyline the character was one of the handful of survivors and was shown returning to his own alternative Earth at the close of the storyline. A version of Tri-Man also made a cameo in the 1992 2000AD Action Special, portrayed as a homeless ex-mental patient who has sewn his costume to his skin to prevent discovery of his secret identity.

The character is mentioned in the 2005-2006 WildStorm limited series Albion, which features a large number of IPC-devised characters imprisoned in Scotland. However Tri-Man was killed at some stage ahead of the main storyline during an unsuccessful escape attempt undertaken in partnership with Rubber Man - another superhero who originated in the pages of Smash!.

Fictional Character Biography
Teenager Johnny Small falls through the skylight of Professor Meek's laboratory while investigating a strange noise, falling into a vat of molecular simulator at the precise moment the professor's Energy-Concentrator ray was focused on it, giving him superhuman powers. The professor swears Johnny to secrecy, worried about the potential danger such technology would pose in the wrong hands. Feeling he must use his powers to tackle a rise in crime, the teenager repurposes an anti-radiation suit he was designing and adopts the identity of Tri-Man. He foils a jewel heist and an attempt to kidnap Meek by the masked criminal Multi-Face, later battling a villain named the Pirate, who had a flying galleon. The character also had to deal with neighbourhood bully Tod Blacker by day. Blacker also discovers Tri-Man's secret identity and makes various attempts to expose Small, only for circumstances to prevent him from proving it to anyone else - though in the final instalment of the strip doing so seemingly costs him the Tri-Man costume.

Powers and abilities
The accident leaves Johnny with enhanced agility, eyesight and strength, though the powers fade after two hours (initially three) - following which he needs a fresh dose of the ray. Tri-Man's agility is frequently compared to that of a cougar, his eyesight with that of a hawk and his strength with that of a gorilla. Meek provides him with a portable version of the ray, allowing him to recharge at his convenience. While Tri-Man cannot fly his leaping ability allows him to gain considerable altitude and distance.