Bouncing Boy is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe, a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century. He is Chuck Taine of Earth, and he has the power to inflate like a ball and bounce. He received his powers when he accidentally drank a super plastic formula which he thought was soda pop. He first appeared in Action Comics #276 (May 1961).

He married fellow Legionnaire Duo Damsel in Superboy #200 and then left active service as a Legionnaire to become a Legion reservist, appearing only sporadically thereafter until Zero Hour.

In the post Zero Hour reboot continuity, he was Charles Foster Taine (Chuck for short) who was the Legion's resident architect and engineer. He has not received bouncing powers in this continuity and was only an honorary member of the Legion. As a maintenance man, he once built a specialty vehicle called the "Bouncing Boy" which acted as a bouncing juggernaut, smashing anything in its way.

The name "Charles Foster Taine" is a reference to the classic 1941 feature film, Citizen Kane and its title character, Charles Foster Kane.

He has yet to appear in the most recent reimagining, which began in 2004.

Recently a version of Bouncing Boy appeared in the Justice League/Justice Society crossover "The Lightning Saga" and the follow up story "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes". This one is supposed to be (roughly) the same as the original version.

Other media

Bouncing Boy appeared in the 2006 episode of Justice League Unlimited "Far From Home," featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes. He was voiced by Googy Gress.

Bouncing Boy is part of the core team in the Legion of Super-Heroes animated series, appearing Saturday mornings on The CW; he is voiced by Michael Cornacchia. In the series, Bouncing Boy is presented as an accepted member of the team, and the main pilot of the Legion Cruiser. In the episode "Timber Wolf," he and Brainiac Five quarrel over Bouncing Boy's piloting and engineering, but in the end, Bouncing Boy proves his abilities to his teammate.

In the episode "Lightning Storm", Bouncing Boy is seen working with potential Legion applicants, helping them prepare for the upcoming Legion auditions. In the same episode, his quick thinking helps him in the battle against the Lightspeed Vanguard. This led into the following episode, "Substitutes", in which Bouncing Boy gave encouragement to the future Legion of Substitute Heroes, where it was revealed that he himself tried out for the Legion four times before being accepted. In the end, he ends up coining the fledgeling group's name.

Ultimately, in the episode "Chain of Command", Bouncing Boy's quick thinking and observation allows him to form a plan that is crucial to the Legion's trying to save the inhabitants of the planet Winath. At the end of the episode, after Lightning Lad challenged Cosmic Boy for leadership of the Legion and prompted an election, an upset occurred - with the Legion instead electing Bouncing Boy to the position. After being elected Bouncing Boy receives a kiss from Triplicate Girl, in the end they are seen holding hands. He is seen taking an active leadership role in the 2-part episode "Sundown".

In the second season, his new position as leader is for the most part ignored, as Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy are still arguing about it. It's possible that he felt responsible for Ferro Lad's sacrifice in "Sundown", and let Cosmic Boy have his position back. No canon explanation is given.

Parody

An episode of The Fairly OddParents in which kids were turned into superheroes featured "The Bouncing Boil", obviously derived from Bouncing Boy. His many failed attempts at stopping a Wolverine based supervillain (since she would just hold out her claws and deflate him) would commonly cause his team mates to state "Man, that's a dumb power."

External links

• A Hero History Of Bouncing Boy

References