Albert Gaines (Earth-31916)

Nuke
Name	Albert Gaines
Current Alias	Nuke
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Squadron Supreme
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Hair	Blond
Origin and Living Status
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-31916
Creators and Appearances
Creators	J. Michael Straczynski,
First	Supreme Power #18 (August, 2005)
First	Supreme Power #18 (August, 2005)
Death	New Avengers (Vol. 3) #24 (September, 2014)
Death	New Avengers (Vol. 3) #24 (September, 2014)

History

Albert Gaines was a severely depressed young man living alone in an underground fallout shelter because his body emitted high levels of radiation he could not control. General Alexander offered him a suit that could control his radiation output in return for fighting Hyperion, whom General Alexander blamed for his condition.

In a fight with Hyperion, the combination of Hyperion's eye-beams, Nuke's radiation blast, and Arcanna's quantum alterations created a brief and unexplainable skip in reality that sent Gaines, Arcanna Jones, Dr. Emil Burbank, and Raleigh Lund two years into the future. An off-hand remark noted that Doctor Spectrum would kill Nuke at some point.

Gaines later joined the government's superhero team, Squadron Supreme and took the codename, Nuke.

Time Runs Out

The Squadron Supreme confronted Earth-616's Cabal during an Incursion and perished in combat right before their Earth was destroyed by the Cabal, so theirs could live.

Attributes

Powers

• Radiation Production: Nuke constantly emits deadly radiation.

• Energy Projection: Nuke can focus his radiation into beams, and can also generate pressure and shockwaves that duplicate an atomic explosion in a very contained area. Emil Burbank compared his explosions as being caught in the heart of a star at the moment of its birth.
• Enhanced Senses: Nuke has the power to sense residual radiation in his environment.
• Flight: Nuke has also been shown capable to fly.
• Superhuman Strength: Nuke appears to possess some degree of superhuman strength. While flying Nuke was able to carry a metal platform with three people on it.
• Invulnerability: Nuke was described as "just about invulnerable". He has tried to commit suicide five times before understanding that he couldn't kill himself.

Weaknesses

Although Nuke can increase the amount of radiation he emits, he does not have the ability to shut it off completely. Nuke's body glows with a green light and contaminates everything and everyone around him. Only the integrity of his specially-designed suit allows Nuke to journey outside his protected cell.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Whenever Nuke interacts with other living beings he must wear his radiation containment suit. This suit has openings in the palms and visor so that he can project beams of radiation at his opponents. It is not clear whether the suit can also function as armor, but it can be presumed to be extremely resilient to withstand the incredible forces Nuke unleashes.

Notes

• During a session in which all the Squadron members were asked to fill out information about themselves, Nuke's parents were revealed deceased.

Trivia

• Like all members of the Squadron Supreme, Nuke is a pastiche of a DC Universe hero. In his case, though initially based on Firestorm, he appears to have more in common with Captain Atom, another hero who is trapped within a containment suit.

See Also

• 20 appearance(s) of Albert Gaines (Earth-31916)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Albert Gaines (Earth-31916)
• 14 image(s) of Albert Gaines (Earth-31916)