by Ryan Callahan



KARBONE THE CARBONIC MAN was born of scientific inquiry, the bizarre product of an experimental project by one Nicholas Conté. Conté's research, and thus, Karbone's very existence, stands in defiance of the laws of traditional chemistry and physics. This raised the ire of Amadeo Avogadro -- quite a feat, considering this man, hailed by many as the father of modern chemical and molecular study, had been dead for almost 200 years. Raised from the dead, Amadeo Avogadro -- or Zombie Avagadro, as he became known (Avagadro for short), murdered Conté and razed his laboratory to ensure that HIS work, flawed as it may be, lived on in the eyes of the scientific community. However, Karbone survived unattended. Though not fully developed, his remarkable composition somehow transmuted Conté's corpse, animating it for his use. At that moment, when full consciousness was finally attained, Karbone vowed to avenge his creator's death.
Trying to make sense of a remarkable reality, Karbone wandered aimlessly throughout the world. After a chance run-in with fate, Karbone became the leader of a small group of mercenaries he dubbed "The Hierophants". His senses and combat abilities became well-honed during his time as a Hierophant, and he learned to manufacture his own weapons with which he hoped to one day attain revenge.
But Karbone realized this life wasn't for him. An inner sense of duty compelled him on, and again he wandered. He stumbled by pure luck upon an abandoned scientific headquarters: DiaCorp. Realizing that, were he ever to destroy Avagadro, he would need to be well-prepared, he renovated the entire building by hand, transforming it into his own personal headquarters. On the final day of clearing the building, Karbone discovered a sealed room, and within, an animate atom, not unlike himself, with the power of speech and thought. He introduced himself as Irridium. The bizarre isotope was fascinated by Karbone's determined attitude and joined him on his quest for revenge. Soon after, Avagadro sprung one of his most dangerous plans into action. Karbone acted quickly, plowing furiously through the small circles of bodyguards and henchmen Avagadro had amassed until he finally confronted the zombie himself, just in time to stop the full-scale chaotic upheavel he had planned. With the use of a high-explosive grenade he'd manufactured years ago, Karbone set off a chain reaction of explosions in the ammo-stocked warehouse where he faced off against Avagadro, and the zombie was incinerated without a trace. Since then, things have been pretty quiet, but just recently, something has begun to happen -- a crime wave that bears all the marks of Avagadro and his demented crew.

Irridium, the Irritated Isotope is Karbone's dedicated sidekick, born of a similar technique. He is incredibly radioactive and his only weapon is his own remarkably tiny body. He would gladly take a bullet for Karbone, mostly because bullets don't hurt him.
Not much else is known, but there are a few guidelines around this guy. Don't TOUCH him, don't INHALE him, don't EAT him, and for god's sake, don't piss him off!

The Injury Squad is Avagadro's personal army, stocked with faceless, disenfranchised soldiers and a small group of powerful officers. They're incredibly dangerous, and the officers are usually on-hand during any given operation both as supervisors and as a final line of protection from do-gooders like Karbone.
If you have to ask why they're called The Injury Squad, maybe you should sit this comic out.

From left to right (only those illuminated):
Avagadro: An undead scientist brought back through unholy forces as part of a dark pact he made in life to ensure the continuation of his own flawed ideas. Wrapped tightly in cloth and clad in giant goggles, very little of Avagadro himself has ever been seen beyond his razor-sharp claws (no one's quite sure how he got THOSE, though most bets are on that whole "dark pact" thing). He's incredibly persuasive and remarkably dangerous despite his somewhat zoftig appearance.
It's unsure yet as to whether the officers of The Injury Squad simply decided to finish what they'd started, or if Avagadro himself has indeed come back a second time, as he has not been spotted... yet.

Dr. Eaten-By-A-Snake: Though his true name is unknown, it is known that he was once a leading man of science, studying gene therapy. His area of interest widened rapidly, and he began to illicitly exploit grants and even extort colleagues to fund his increasingly-bizarre fields of study. He broke off from the public fields and continued study with only a few close trusted lab hands. His knowledge expanded to cover everything from military tactics and advanced weaponry to dangerous physical experiments of questionable ethics. He was on the verge of a breakthrough on the physical structure of the human brain in relation to higher areas of consciousness, when a giant python (or boa?), recently escaped from a nearby zoo, promptly broke into the lab and devoured the mad scientist whole. In order to save his life, his lab hands quickly subdued the snake and subjected it to the experimental techniques the Doctor was in the process of perfecting. Over the course of several weeks, the Doctor's brain, still intact in the half-digested body, fused with the snake's host brain, creating a combined consciousness from the two beings. The Doctor now had shared control over the snake's body as well as his own, but unfortunately, it took some getting used to in order to gain mobile control. Not knowing this, his lab hands released the snake from its restraints, and it promptly killed them. Avagadro himself quickly picked Dr. EBAS up as his pupil, with great respect to his mind and his new, incredibly powerful form. The Doctor, lured by promises of riches and power, joined the Injury Squad as a lead researcher and developer for the technology they would later use to terrorize the city.

NailFace: An anarchistic thug who joined the Injury Squad for hatred of society (and the people in it), NailFace suffered a disfiguring accident in his parents' garage at age 14. His entire head became studded with iron nails and a single gold railroad spike impaled his face, spearing part-way into the front of his brain. He was never quite the same. Whether it was his already-vicious demeanor or his shredded mind that caused it, NailFace became deeply bitter and violent, wreaking havoc on the city of Los Angeles in the form of a crime spree involving assault, robbery, and even murder. He quickly caught the attention of the Injury Squad, who hired him for petty crimes and extra muscle.

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