DC Character Stats form

George Harkness's debut as Captain Boomerang on the cover of Flash #117 (Dec. 1960).

When he began committing crimes, he threw suspicion off of himself by briefly pretending another man was impersonating him, showing his 'parents', (really other crooks) to the Flash after the Flash caught him next to a crime scene. He nearly succeeded in killing the Flash after knocking him out with a boomerang, then tying him to a giant boomerang that he fired, which then got sent into space and then fell into the ocean. However, the Flash was able to escape from his friction-proof bonds by quickly vibrating his molecules. He also increased the boomerang's velocity so much he was able to use it to defeat and jail Harkness and the two crooks.

He became a recurring enemy of the Flash, typically by devising altered boomerangs which could produce astonishing effects (some would explode, others had razor-sharp edges, etc.), and using them ruthlessly. He became a staple member of the Rogues, a group of villains dedicated to opposing Flash, and who were first organized after Gorilla Grodd broke them out of jail. Though captured when Flash made their weapons hit each other, they continued to act together.^[1]

Later on, Harkness became a less-than-effective member of the Suicide Squad in exchange for being pardoned for his crimes.^[1] However, Captain Boomerang's grating personality and blatant racism (among other things, he constantly referred to black team member Bronze Tiger as an "Abo") caused considerable friction among his teammates, and he was considered to be a dangerous, vicious, cowardly and undependable member of the team—dysfunctional even by the Squad's standards and the equivalent of a class clown.

Amanda Waller, the Squad's commanding officer, characterized Captain Boomerang as "a jerk and a screw-up." This was not an undeserved reputation, as, among other things, Harkness simply watched as his teammate Mindboggler was shot in the back, even while he could have easily saved her. (Mindboggler had earlier used her mind-manipulating abilities on Harkness to shut him up when he was verbally abusing another team member.) He also manipulated another team member, Slipknot, into running away from the action just to see if the explosive bracelets the Squad members wore really did activate if the wearer attempted to escape (unfortunately for Slipknot, they did). He was scared to learn Ifrit, an artificial intelligence used by the rival team the Jihad, had been created based upon Mindboggler's thought patterns, and revealed what had happened.

While in the Squad, Harkness also briefly took up the mantle of Mirror Master to commit robberies.^[1] However, this career was cut short when he was caught and brought to Waller, who put an end to it by tricking him into a fake assault scene where he was forced to change constantly between Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang. She rescinded the benefits Harkness had been given such as his apartment in New Orleans and his status as a voluntary member of the Squad.

Many times Digger would have to be tricked into battle, but when faced with enemies he proved more than competent in upholding his end of the fight. Harkness also would play a few undercover roles for the Squad, convincingly managing to be other slimy, criminal types. Later, Digger would try a simple series of pranks for amusement, hitting various members of the Squad with pies. For a time, suspicion had been diverted from him because had used his skills to pie himself, seemingly being hit by the 'assailant' from behind a wall. When the Squad confronted Digger as the culprit, he lost his temper and shouted that they could not really punish him since he was already in prison and in the Suicide Squad. He asked Waller, "What are you going to do about it, Fat Lady?!" Waller dropped him from a helicopter onto a deserted island.

Due to various events, mainly Waller breaking many rules by having a criminal gang ruthlessly gunned down, the Squad broke up for a year. When Waller was approached again because she was needed, she reformed the team and had Digger picked up. He was, at the time, trying to construct a massive boomerang to take him back to the mainland.

Harkness revealed a deep patriotism for his home country of Australia, though his countrymen do not care at all for him, and a tremendous fear of being laughed at. Teammate Deadshot commented he often wished he had killed Harkness, most notably after his drinking led them to miss a plane and to Deadshot losing his uniform and entering a depressive phase because of it. Ironically, when Boomerang pulled strings to have the suit restored to Deadshot, Lawton's psyche had passed into a phase that led him to loathe it. Harkness remained with the Squad until it was disbanded after a successful mission in Diabloverde.

However, despite being a somewhat trusted employee, Harkness still was quite amoral and greedy, selling out Adam Cray, the Atom, for half a million dollars.

Digger later showed up in Superboy with another Squad. While on a mission to destroy an underwater criminal hideout, he was shot through the hands by Deadshot and apparently fell to his death.

He later appeared in the pages of Flash with cybernetic hands. Alongside four other Rogues, given a chance by fellow Rogue Abra Kadabra to become much more than they ever were. Unfortunately for Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, and Heat Wave, Kadabra's promise of glory was actually a ruse to free Neron and empower himself. Neron then resurrects the five Rogues, superpowering them and sending them on a bloody rampage that destroys much of Flash's hometown and kills thousands. Eventually, the Flash and Linda Park free the Rogues; the dead are restored to life.

After being restored to life, Boomerang and the Rogues, along with the Trickster, sought out an artifact that would protect them from Neron should he ever take an interest in them again. The Trickster accompanied them to help an old ex-girlfriend recover her kidnapped son. In the end, the Trickster found the boy, who turned out to not only be the prophesied agent of a god, but also the Trickster's son. He was also able to convince Neron to leave the Rogues alone, with the Rogues either coming away darker from their experiences, or seeking enlightenment, like Heat Wave, who retired with the monks.

Captain Boomerang is also involved with the Joker: Last Laugh event. After having suffered a mishap with one of his exploding boomerangs, Digger is transferred by ambulance to Keystone City. En route, the ambulance is attacked by a Jokerized Deadshot, who decides to lend his old pal a hand by injecting him with Joker's serum. The serum's healing factor revives Digger, who is cured of his massive full-body burns and ready to attack the Flash at Iron Heights prison. However, once there, he is choked unconscious by a Jokerized Pied Piper.

Captain Boomerang was killed in the Identity Crisis miniseries by Jack Drake, father of Tim Drake. Digger had been sent by the real killer to attack Jack Drake, only the killer double-crossed Digger and sent Drake a warning and a pistol to defend himself. The killer later defended the action by saying that Boomerang was hired because he was such an incompetent that Jack would only need to pull the trigger and he would be safe. Digger managed to kill Drake but not before he was shot himself.^[2]

Digger was later temporarily revived by Agent James Jesse, the former Trickster, during the Rogue War storyline, when Jesse used unspecified technology to temporarily revive Boomerang in an attempt to find out information about the Rogues' current hideout. However, Jesse was called away due to the latest attack by the Rogues before Harkness's revival, meaning that the only person present when Harkness was briefly reanimated was Ashley Zolomon, the estranged wife of Hunter Zolomon (a former Reverse-Flash), who had been brought in based on her expertise in dealing with Rogues. During his brief return to life, Harkness asked Ashley to tell his son that he loved him and warn him never to reveal his mother's real name out of fear that the Rogues would kill him.

In the Blackest Night crossover, his remains are reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, and he joins the reanimated Jack and Janet Drake, John and Mary Grayson, Tony Zucco, and the original Batman's deceased rogues gallery members in an attempt to take the life of the current Batman and Red Robin. They are met with interference from Deadman, who had possessed the body of the demon Etrigan. Their attack is ultimately called off when Batman and Red Robin cryogenically freeze themselves, leaving no emotions for the Black Lanterns to target.^[3] Harkness later joins other reanimated members of the Rogues to target their still-living members.^[4] However, the battle results a draw on both side. Harkness' son, Owen, arrives and takes him away from the battle, believing he can bring his father back.^[5] Digger convinces his son that he needs to feed upon the living in order to live so Owen lures people (such as newcomer villain Sandblast) to a pit at a construction site where Digger is waiting. The Rogues track Owen down, Captain Cold berating him on how foolish he is to believe Digger's lies. When they discover the remains of a family nearby, Captain Cold reminds Owen that "the Rogues don't kill women or children." He shoves Owen into the pit where Digger rips out his son's heart. A black ring then flies down to make Owen a Black Lantern. The Black Lantern Harkness and his son are then encased in ice by Captain Cold.^[6] Digger manages to escape and join in the mass battle against the heroes where he is brought back to life and rejuvenated. He appears confused as to what is going on before being knocked out by the Flash.^[7]

During the Brightest Day prologue, Digger is seen locked in his Iron Heights cell.^[8] Digger is visited by Tim Drake whose father Harkness murdered.^[9] Tim tells him if he tries to escape, he will hunt him down personally.^[10] He is later given a message from Captain Cold saying that if he wants to be one of the Rogues again, he has to prove it by escaping from prison on his own.^[11] After being beaten by guards, Digger is being seen to in the medical bay when he suddenly finds himself able to create boomerangs out of energy that explode on contact. While not understanding where this new power came from, Digger uses it to escape Iron Heights and attacks the Renegades while they are trying to apprehend the Flash for murdering Mirror Monarch. Shortly after, he finds himself confronting a wounded Flash.^[12]

Digger Harkness as Captain Boomerang on the cover of The Flash vol. 3, #7 (Jan. 2011). Art by Francis Manapul.

Captain Boomerang is at one point contacted by the Entity, who instructs him to throw a boomerang at Dawn Granger.^[13] After seeing the vision his powers go out of control, causing him to attack everyone, including his fellow Rogues.^[14] Afterwards Captain Boomerang sneaks into Iron Heights, where Professor Zoom is locked up. Boomerang released him, in hopes that he might help him better understand his version of the Entity's message. However, Professor Zoom refused to answer and escaped as Digger was confronted by the Rogues.^[15] Captain Cold beats up Digger for freeing Professor Zoom, Digger explains to him an importance from the Entity's message.^[16] Later, Captain Boomerang is contacted once again by the Entity who tells him that he must complete his task, prompting Digger to travel to Star City forest who by now is surrounded by a white barrier. While there Captain Boomerang discovers that he's the only one who can enter the forest.^[17] Within the forest, Captain Boomerang finds Dawn and throws a boomerang at her. Hawk; however, fails to catch the boomerang and instead the boomerang is caught by Deadman, who ended up dying in the process and Hawk is left to knock Captain Boomerang unconscious. After the Entity proclaims Captain Boomerang has completed his task, and his life is restored to him, the Entity reveals to them that the boomerang was a part a plan to free Hawk from his role as an avatar of war from the Lords of Chaos: his act of saving Dawn would have broken hold the Lords of Chaos have on Hawk and allow Hank to be true to himself.^[18]

In the aftermath of Brightest Day, Captain Boomerang lost his White Lantern abilities. However, he seeks out a way to regain this lost power, he eventually steals the plausible deniability in Gotham City, but he is prevented by Red Robin, who is stalking him. During the struggle, Red Robin, who had lost his father due to Captain Boomerang, allows him to live and leaves him in police custody.^[19]

George Harkness returns as Captain Boomerang in The New 52, a reboot of the DC Comics universe.^[20] Captain Boomerang and a new character called Yo-Yo join the Suicide Squad to replace the deceased members Savant and Voltaic. He tells the team that he is the new field commander for the Suicide Squad upon being placed in that position by Amanda Waller.^[21] But this is further revealed to be a set up orchestrated to give them a bargaining chip to bypass an armed Basilisk militia led by the sister of one of his victims. Realizing the trap, Boomerang attempts to use a detonator he was given that is supposed to be connected to the microbombs in each Squad member's skin. It fails to function, and Deadshot mocks him for thinking that Waller would trust him with that kind of power before shooting his hand.^[22] It is later revealed in the series that Captain Boomerang is working for Basilisk as the Suicide Squad is captured. Captain Boomerang is seen escorting the squad to the concentration camps of the Basilisk militia. Captain Boomerang frees Deadshot and the rest of the Squad and reveals that he was Waller's undercover agent. While battling the militia, Captain Boomerang is knocked out by Black Spider who is revealed as the traitor on the team.