Wildfire was originally Drake Burroughs, an astro-engineer. While he was working on a new propulsion system, the unit's safety valve snapped and discharged a blast of anti-matter energy. Burroughs was engulfed instantly but somehow his consciousness survived and Burroughs found himself transformed into a being of pure anti-energy.
Fortunately, his colleagues had on hand a containment suit that could be used to keep Drake's anti-energy from dispersing. Once confined to a specific area, Drake's energy form stabilized and became self-regenerating. He again possessed a semblance of humanoid form; however, he had no mouth, eyes, nose, or ears, but rather a blank metallic faceplate, and lacked the senses of taste and smell. Drake also had vast super-powers, comparable in scale, though not specific expression, to those of a Kryptonian or Daxamite. Some of his powers included super-strength, near-invulnerability, flight at faster-than-light speeds, and various enhanced vision powers including x-ray, Most potent of his abilities was the power to fire energy blasts. Calling himself ERG-1 (Energy Release Generator 1), Drake decided to petition for membership in the Legion, thinking his litany of powers would guarantee his admittance. To his surprise, he was turned down because all the abilities he demonstrated were duplicates of those of Mon-El, Colossal Boy, Chemical King, Phantom Girl, and Shrinking Violet; he had not demonstrated his energy blasting or manipulation abilities because he was afraid he could not control them safely at this time. Anxious to prove his abilities, he followed several Legionnaires on a mission to a planet called Manna-5. On this mission, Colossal Boy was knocked unconscious by an enemy machine and none of the other Legionnaires present (Phantom Girl and Chemical King) had the power to save him. ERG-1 destroyed the machine, but expelled his entire energy form from his containment suit.
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For more information on WILDFIRE DC DATABASE
Pencils Mike Grell
Coloring Jim Passmore
Jim Passmore