Arclight (DC Comics)

Arclight is a fictional supervillain character in DC Comics.

His first appearance was in Superman Volume 2, issue #99 (April 1995).

His name was originally Noah Pastenetti, and he did work for the Gotham Mafia as a "torch", i.e. a paid hireling who would burn buildings as a form of mob retribution. Because of his preferred technique. A single arc of electricity between electrodes would set off his bombs into an inferno.

But he fell in love with a young reporter, Alicia Parker, and eventually she turned him into a secret informer and used the information he fed her into a hot expose on the mob. Her book became an instant best seller, and Alica Parker reveled in all the attention.

Unfortunately during an interview on the Larry Prince Radio Show National Broadcast, Alicia inadvertently mentioned Noah Pastanetti's name.

The Gotham Mob, upon learning the truth, went after Pastanetti, eventually pulling him off the street, and taking him to a still unopened nuclear plant that they had intended to destroy any for insurance purposes. When the bomb went off however, Pastanetti did not die.

He was changed, his body slowly converting to energy. Lexcorp employees discovered his body amidst the debris and rushed him back to HQ, where Lex Luthor was able to "save" him, by placing his now living energy into a containment suit, but at a cost. Pastanetti no longer possessed sensory input.

Blaming Alicia Parker, and all reporters in general, he first went after them during a convention in Washington, D.C. where he was foiled by the efforts of Superman, Agent Liberty and Lois Lane.

Jimmy Olsen decided a couple of months later to try to flush Arclight out. He ran an ad announcing the contents of Alica Parker's safety deposit box would be opened on a given day. True to form, Arclight showed up to claim the box. Lucikly, Superman was nearby, and he engaged Arclight. Grabbing hold of Superman, Arclight explained how LexCorp had created his suit and harvested his condition. He also explained how his condition left him incapable of feeling any sensation at all. He burnt through his containment suit and merged his energy into Superman, who was knocked out by the exchange. Thankfully, Jimmy and the Newsboys caught Superman in the Whiz Wagon and took him to S.T.A.R. Labs where Emil Hamilton was able to siphon off Arclight's energy into a containment chamber, believing that even in that form Arclight was still alive.[2]

Hamilton was eventually able to create a new suit suitable for Arclight to be transferred into so that he could stand trial.

Bibliography

• Superman vol. 2 #99
• Superman vol. 2 #103
• DC Comics Database Project