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Terrific Trio

The Terrific Trio: Magma, Freon, and the 2-D Man.

The Terrific Trio was a group of metahuman heroes endorsed by the government.

History[]

After being exposed to high levels of radiation during a particle fusion experiment, Dr. Mike Morgan, Dr. Mary Michaels, and Dr. Stuart Lowe underwent dramatic genetic changes. The accident altered their DNA and bestowed them superpowers, so the three decided to use their abilities for good.

The government financed and established their base of operation — the Trio Tower. The Terrific Trio vowed to fight the crime in Gotham City, although General Norman of the United States Army did not trust them at all, preferring to kill them outright rather than support them.

Six months later, the Trio was ready to clean up the city, and their first heroic exploit was thwarting the robbery of the T7 Chip from M Technologies. Afterward, they were introduced to the public and became tremendously popular. Thereafter, the Trio would be summoned to intervene in various situations, such as a robbery or a hostage takeover.

The Terrific Trio were not only popular among the crime-fighting community, but the general public adored them and couldn't get enough Terrific Trio merchandise such as T-shirts, toys, and posters. Despite the Trio's popularity, there were several people in Gotham who were suspicious of the team, including General Norman and Bruce Wayne. Even with the Trio on the job, Wayne continued to send his protégé, Terry McGinnis, to patrol Gotham every night. The Trio experienced a rude awakening when a little girl expressed extreme fright at the mere sight of Magma, despite Magma having saved her from kidnappers. To make matters worse, the police rudely snubbed him afterwards.

The Trio's future started to unravel when their best friend, Dr. Hodges, ascertained that their genetic condition was unstable. Hodges informed General Norman of this, who relished the opportunity to assault Trio Tower in an attempt to eliminate the Trio. Magma had become impatient with his condition and was anxious to find a cure, but Dr. Hodges wouldn't accept his help. So Magma broke into Hodges' laboratory and stole the Trio's latest DNA scan. Moments after learning about their condition, the Trio was attacked by the military. The Trio fought their way out of the Tower, evading death.

The Trio went on to review the data on the particle fusion experiment and discovered that Dr. Hodges knew about its danger. Confronted, Hodges didn't admit his guilt, but the Trio remained unconvinced. So they decided to duplicate the accident to finish what Hodges had started. At that point, Hodges finally confessed to orchestrating the accident in a foolish attempt to kill Michael and seduce Mary for himself, and begged them to shut down the device, claiming that the radiation would devastate the entire city. However, at that point, the Trio were emotionally destroyed from Hodges' betrayal and the military, law enforcement and public turning against them. As a result, the Trio no longer cared about public safety or the consequences of their actions. Batman stepped in and activated the emergency ventilation system, trapping Freon and 2-D Man inside it. He then turned a fire hose on Magma, solidifying him.[1]

Apparently, after this, the Terrific Trio fell from grace, seeing as Ratboy, a self-proclaimed "Pack Rat", had a Magma action figure among his collection of unwanted items.[2]

Members[]

  • Magma: had super-strength and a molten body.
  • Freon: developed the power of flight and the ability to shoot ice blasts.
  • 2-D Man: had a rubber-like body and could stretch to amazing lengths.

Background information[]

  • The Terrific Trio is an obvious pastiche of Marvel Comic' Fantastic Four, with Magma being a partial counterpart of both The Thing and Human Torch, 2-D Man a counterpart of Mister Fantastic, and Freon sharing similarities with Invisible Woman and Human Torch.
  • The team was originally meant to return in the Batman Beyond #3 tie-in comic. The planned story for the issue was to reveal that both Magma and 2-D Man survived their fates and that they would capture Batman in order to use him as energy source to reassemble the deceased Freon. However, Marvel Comics objected due to the group's similarity with the Fantastic Four, and the issue went unpublished and replaced with another one.[3][4]
  • The team eventually made its way to comics based on Batman Beyond in Justice League Beyond #23, though with a new line-up consisting of Zeta, Earth Mover, and Plastic Man.

Appearance[]

Batman Beyond

References[]

  1. Fogel, Rich (writer) & Lukic, Butch (director) (February 21, 1999). "Heroes". Batman Beyond. Season 1. Episode 6 (airdate). Episode 8 (production). Kids WB!.
  2. Fogel, Rich (writer) & Geda, Curt (director) (November 20, 1999). "Rats". Batman Beyond. Season 2. Episode 9 (airdate). Episode 22 (production). Kids WB!.
  3. Batman Beyond #3 Solicitation at dccomics.com (Archived May 01, 2001)
  4. The World's Finest Presents: Batman Beyond Comic Guides
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