Kirt Niedrigh

Kirt Niedrigh is a male comic character who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Kirt Niedrigh was a male human from Earth who was native to the 30th century. He first discovered that he possessed the extraordinary ability to absorb residual energies left behind by metahumans and thereby replicate their powers. Driven by admiration for the Legion of Super-Heroes, Kirt adopted the codename Absorbancy Boy and applied for Legion membership, attending the standard tryouts alongside dozens of other hopefuls. He was rejected when it was determined that his power was too inconsistent—its effectiveness waned without nearby super-powered individuals—and that his mind harbored unsettling ambition. (Legion of Super-Heroes v1 #218)

After being stung by the Legion’s rejection due to the limitations of his powers, he adopted the guise of Absorbancy Boy with the stolen costume of Zoraz. Under that mask, he launched a calculated assault on the Legion, aiming to prove his worth. He caught Superboy off guard by tapping into the Kryptonian’s solar-derived strength and leveraged red sun radiation emission from the suit to weaken him. His gambit nearly succeeded—he had Superboy on the defensive—until the newly recruited Tyroc intervened. Using his ultrasonic scream, Tyroc disrupted Kirt’s heightened senses, neutralizing him and ending his brief but impactful offensive. (Legion of Super-Heroes v1 #218)

Earth-Man

Years later, an archaeological expedition to the Artic on Earth came to uncover a crystal tablet that seemingly contained information on Superman. According to it, Superman was not from the planet Krypton but rather from Earth who protected the world from aliens. This information was used by a pro-Earth movement on the planet and promoted anti-alien sentiment. Kirt by this time took he identity of Earth-Man where he spread this 'true origin' to the people which eventually led to Earth seceding from the United Planets along with a ban on all aliens on the planet. The government then looked to establish a team of superpowered beings to enforce their views with Earth-Man heading the Justice League of Earth where they hunted down aliens and placed them in camps. (Action Comics v1 #859)

With Vera discovered, he quickly beat her up and placed the Durlan in the stasis cells so that he could absorb her powers later on. Afterwards, the Legion attacked the satellite with the goal of freeing their friends leading to Niedrigh deciding to use Vera's powers to shapeshift into her form. In this guise, he came before Colossal Boy allowing him to ambush him before fighting Superman. With Superman depowered, Kirt had the advantage with his large powerset leading to Superman forcing him through the window into space. (Action Comics v1 #862) As the sun was red, Earth-Man decided to destroy the Flight Ring of Superman so that he would die in the vacuum of space. However, at that point, Sun Boy was freed from captivity where he used his powers to change the sun back to yellow. This restored Superman to power where he took the fight with Niedrigh to Earth's surface where Kirt began to use his stolen powers against the Man of Steel. However, Superman was assisted by the freed Legion of Super-Heroes who helped him finally defeat Earth-Man thus ending the reign of xenophobia that had come to the planet and stopping the conflict with the United Planets. (Action Comics v1 #863)

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Thomas “Kirt” Niedrigh was a young human from Earth in the 30th century, of average height with a lean but well-toned build that spoke of determination rather than raw superpower. He had blond hair cut neatly close to the head and piercing blue eyes that reflected both ambition and the sting of rejection. His features were sharp and confident, betraying his belief that he belonged among heroes even as the Legion of Super‑Heroes denied him entry. In his first attempt, he took the name Absorbancy Boy during his try out to join the Legion. (Legion of Super-Heroes v1 #218) He later came to take the name of Earth-Man. (Action Comics v1 #858)

Though he had met the young Superboy, he came to believe that Kal-El was inept and had only be chosen to join the Legion based on who he would become rather than based on who he was at the time. As such, he felt that Superman should have been rejected from the Legion rather than himself. (Action Comics v1 #862) He told Superman that he never knew what it was like to be rejected and being an outsider. (Action Comics v1 #863)

Powers and abilities

For a time, he came to head the Justice League of Earth that were a team of superpowered humans that enforced anti-alien sentiment on the planet for a time. (Action Comics v1 #859)

Notes

• Absorbency Boy was created by Cary Bates and Mike Grell where he made his first appearance in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes v1 #218 (July, 1976).
• The character was later re-invented as Earth-Man by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank where he made his first appearance in Action Comics v1 #858 (December, 2007).

Appearances

• Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes v1: (1976)
• Action Comics v1:
• Legion of Super-Heroes:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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