Negative Man: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Larry Trainor

First Appearance: My Greatest Adventure #80 (June, 1963)

Powers: Flight, intangibility, minor explosion generation, and astral projection

Affiliation: Doom Patrol

Did You Know? Negative Man has appeared on both the Titans and Doom Patrol television shows.

A Little History

A founding member of the Doom Patrol, Negative Man first appeared in the pages of My Greatest Adventure #80 back in 1963. He was created by the same three that brought the world most other members of the Doom Patrol, Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, and Bruno Premiani. 

While test piloting a plane, Larry Trainor is inadvertently exposed to radiation. As a consequence, Larry is left with transparent skin and has become highly radioactive. While recovering in the hospital, Larry meets Dr. Niles Caulder. Caulder gave him special bandages that when applied, would prevent Larry’s radioactivity from affecting those around him. 

If that was all that happened, Larry probably would’ve been ok with it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. In addition to him becoming radioactive, Larry is also given an abnormal superpower. His power, the ability to release a negatively charged being from his body, is able to fly at accelerated speeds, pass through material, and cause objects to explode. 

At first, it appeared as though Larry had control of the negative being. This, however, turned out to be false. As Larry learned, while the being was outside of his body, he was weak and unable to control him. This meant that Larry was only able to have the being outside his body for sixty seconds at a time. If the time went over a minute, Larry risked terrible things happening. Basically, if the Negative Man did not return, Larry would die. Shortly after this realization Larry joins the Doom Patrol and solidifies himself as an important member of the team.