Hugh Dawkins was born a stooped-over were-beast on the Australian island of Tasmania and became Tasmanian Devil when his meta-gene kicked in. However, rumor has it that his mother, a “were” Tasmanian Devil, raised him in a Tasmanian Devil cult. This cult gave him a Tasmanian Devil amulet after selling his soul to a Tasmanian Devil and injecting him with a radioactive Tasmanian musk from a race of alien Tasmanian Devils who gave him his powers. OK – that’s the silly and hokey origin that his Who’s Who entry gives him… but who knows for sure what his real origin may be. He might just be some ordinary guy who got funky powers and decided to call himself Tasmanian Devil.
The character has two dichotomous sides to his personality. Where Hugh is a pacifist and a vegetarian, Tas is very aggressive and a carnivore. He’s been a member of the international superhero group the Global Guardians as well as Justice League Europe. Readers learned of the Tasmanian Devil’s sexual orientation when he made a passing comment to his fellow Global Guardian colleague Seraph.
Publisher DK’s DC Comics Encyclopedia (2006 edition) states on page 304 Hugh fell in love with JLA liason Joshua Barbizon during his time with the group. After leaving the group, he and Joshua moved to Sydney and Hugh taught drama at a local university. It also says Hugh and his father were working to better their relationship.
Tasmanian Devil reappered with other Global Guardians in Green Lantern #15 written by Geoff Johns in which the Guardians are used as pawns in a plot against Green Lantern. While Johns doesn’t give Tasmanian Devil and dialog, the writer reveals that Power Girl told Hal that Tas had a crush during Hal’s tenure as team leader and that he was teased by Flash (Wally West) and Elongated Man. Tas’ most recent appearance via a brief flashback scene was in Justice League: Cry For Justice #3. Writer James Robinson had Prometheus murder Tas in a fight. In an attempt to elevate the villain’s ruthlessness in the readers’ minds, Robinson had Prometheus use Tas’s flayed skin and intact head as a decorative rug.
In times of emergency, Hugh’s muscles expand proportionately all over his body, thereby increasing his strength, speed and agility. As Tas, also augmented are his hearing, his night sight, and his sense of smell. Strongest though are his hands with which he can burrow very quickly through soil but break through a solid brick wall. In addition, during his metamorphosis, his body grows dark red hair from head to toe and a stylized “T” appears on his chest. Tasmanian Devil first appeared in Super Friends #7 and his sexuality was revealed in Justice League Quarterly #8. He was a member of the Global Guardians, Justice League International, and Ultramarine Corps.
A more detailed account of Tasmanian Devil’s history can be read at Wikipedia. Thanks to Jay who brought Joshua to my attention in a comment he left here!
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and now Prometheus made him into a throw rug.
Joe,
Back during the JLI days, Joshua Barbazon was in charge of the Australian embassy, and Taz was on the staff there. In the 1989 annual (the one where Max Lord takes the team around to the various embassies), they included “who’s who” style entries on the embassy personnel. Josh’s entry listed a spouse named “Arthur”, who was never referenced again. Josh himself only appeared in three or four issues.
When the DC Encyclopedia came out (in the 2000s), it revealed that Taz and Josh had become romantically involved at some point and were still together as of the 2008 printing of the encyclopedia.
I doubt we’ll ever get to see Josh’s reaction to current events (the last time he appeared in a book seems to have been 1992), but I thought it was worth mentioning that Taz did have a boyfriend at the time of his death.
Jay, thanks again for more info! Through previous word of mouth I’d learned that the DC Encyclopedia had outed Chemical King from one of the Legion reboots. I overlooked the entry for Taz when I borrowed it from my library and I just requested to borrow it again once it’s returned. Now to gp dig out that JLI annual.
Yes, absolutely worth mentioning that Taz was in a relationship!
Joe
Jay, thanks again for mentioning Joshua. I’ve updated Taz’s entry and have put Joshua on my list of characters to research.