Origin

Gary Gilbert was raised in a hostile environment which is believed to be the reason of his radicalism. When he decided to voice his opinions along with his sister Roxanne, he began to become more and more obsessed. His family banished him and his sister for their actions from their home. Since Gilbert was a skilled physicist and had taken training courses at Stark Industries, he had a certain affinity for making weapons and power suits. Using his knowledge, he created a power suit of his own and became the villain known as Firebrand.

Creation

Firebrand was created by Archie Goodwin and Don Heck in 1970 and first appeared in Iron Man # 27.

Major Story Arcs

The Death of Firebrand

Once Gilbert had retired his power suit, he began his business as a weapons dealer. He had gone to his usual meeting place, known as the Bar with No Name, to meet a client. When he arrived, there were several other weapons dealers present as well. Scourge, who was disguised as a bartender, then killed all of them with a sub-machine gun.

Resurrection

Currently the Hood has resurrected some of the victims killed by the Scourge of the Underworld including the original Firebrand. The Hood has augmented the abilities of some of these resurrected criminals which makes them much more dangerous. The Hood told his new army that the Scourge was secretly the Punisher and he has ordered them to eliminate Frank Castle. The spell that brought them back to life only lasts thirty days and only the Hood can extend their lives.

The Hood would dig up Castle's family and promised the Punisher to resurrect his family if he would kill a captured G.W. Bridge. Firebrand and Cyclone stood behind Castle after the Hood gave him the knife. Castle refused to kill Bridge and slashed Cyclone's neck. Castle went after Firebrand but Gilbert panicked and melted the dagger. During the distraction, Microchip grabbed a handgun and shot Bridge in the face. Microchip's son and Castle's family begin to rise from their coffins. Castle puts a gun to Firebrand's head and tells him to torch his family. Firebrand complies and incinerates the entire family. The Punisher thanks Firebrand by placing a bullet into the back of his skull.

Powers & Abilities

The exo-skeleton in Firebrand's costume granted him superhuman strength and enabled him to lift about 15 tons.

Weapons

Firebrand wore a battlesuit of lightweight armor which contained an exo-skeleton that granted him superhuman strength. Firebrand also wore thermal boot-jets that enabled him to fly and would leave a trail of flame behind him as he flew. He also wore steel-reinforced gloves that protected his hands and provided him a heavier impact whenever he punched an enemy. His costume was highly resistant to heat and contained a cooling system that protected him from the heat and fire he produced. Firebrand projected intensely hot, chemical flames from two wrist projectors that was capable of melting tank armor in less than a minute. His chemical flame was hot enough to burn through Spider Man's fireproof webbing and could even melt Iron Man's armor when bombarded by Firebrand's flame at full power for several minutes.