Joe Rigger Joe Rigger is a soldier and demolitions expert who returns to
Gotham City after several of his family members are killed in separate building-related accidents. His sanity slipping, Rigger vows that the buildings will not kill again. Using his military training and a costume containing tanks of napalm, Rigger becomes Firebug and sets out to burn all three buildings to the ground. He is defeated by
Batman atop the Gotham State Building and presumed dead after his tank explodes. Firebug escapes from
Blackgate Penitentiary and applies for membership in
Black Mask's gang, but is beaten by rival arsonist
Firefly. He subsequently attempts to prove he is a better arsonist, but appears to die in a fire he started. Firebug is later revealed to have survived. His close brush with death along with the scarring it caused prompts him to sell his Firebug costume and gear and retire. In
The New 52 reboot, Firebug is reintroduced when he is hired by an unknown party to blow up several Gotham buildings to lure and kill
Batgirl. She survives the attempt and tracks down Firebug. Upon his arrest, Firebug claims his employers will not allow him to be incarcerated.
Harlan Combs A new Firebug debuts in
Gotham Central #3. At first, his identity is unknown and he is wanted in the murder of a teenage girl who was killed after a babysitting job. Eventually, the Gotham police deduce that the culprit was Harlan Combs, the father of the child she was sitting. Combs was originally a civilian who purchased the Firebug costume from Joe Rigger. Combs is injured fleeing the police and is quickly arrested. He had won the name and costume from an Internet auction. After taking on the Firebug name, he enters the costume business. Firebug later appears in a flashback revealing that he teamed up with
Mr. Freeze, but was defeated by Batman and
Harvey Dent prior to Batman leaving Gotham City for a year. ==In other media==