Air Wave is the name of three superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first two were active in the Golden Age of Comic Books (albeit the second Air Wave had only one appearance). The third appears in comics in the 21st century.
Publication history
The original Air Wave (Larry Jordan) debuted during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. His first appearance was in Detective Comics #60 (December 1942) by artist Harris Levey, who signed his work under the pen name "Lee Harris", and a writer tentatively identified as either Mort Weisinger or Murray Boltinoff. Harris Levey (aka Lee Harris) drew the character's seven- to eight-page adventures from Detective Comics #60 (February 1942) to at least #74 (April 1943), and then following World War II in Detective Comics #114-137 (August 1946 - July 1948). In September 1942, Levey (aka Lee Harris) left the series to join the US Army Airforce (UAAF) as a Photographer for the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Photo Unit, turning the artwork over to his friend George Roussos for the 1943-46 issues. Levey returned to DC and resumed illustrating the Air Wave (July 1946, #113) and left DC and his Air Wave drawing duties in 1948 to pursue a career in advertising.
Fictional character biographies
Larry Jordan
Law clerk Lawrence "Larry" Jordan had recently graduated from law school and was an intern at the Brooklyn District Attorney office. Noticing the rise of crime, Jordan decided to become a costumed crimefighter using technology, and used his interests in radio and electronics to create his equipment, including a cowl radio system that allowed him to listen in on police reports and special skates that enabled him to travel along telephone lines. He was accompanied by an outspoken parrot named Static the Proverb Parrot, who occasionally aided him in battle (and, for narrative purposes, gave him someone with whom he could converse in order to provide exposition to the reader). His superhero activities were noticeable enough for a fictionalized President Franklin Roosevelt to request his participation in the All-Star Squadron.
Larry Jordan retired from his career as Air Wave in 1948 and married Helen soon afterward. Their son, Harold (Hal), was born as Jordan continued his research into radio wave conversion.
In DC Comics Presents #40 (December 1981), it was revealed that Larry was killed by a man he had once prosecuted as a district attorney. Joe Parsons was an escaped convict who took revenge by breaking into Jordan's home. Larry's costume malfunctioned as he tried to protect his family and he died from a shotgun wound to the chest.
During the "Dark Nights: Death Metal" storyline, Air Wave is among the superheroes that were revived by Batman using a Black Lantern ring.
Helen Jordan
Helen Jordan was the wife of Larry Jordan, the original Air Wave. After Larry's death, Helen donned the Air Wave costume and brought the killer Joe Parsons to justice, but never wore the suit again.
When her son Harold entered high school, Helen sent the boy to live with his cousins in Dallas as she slowly succumbed to mental illness.
Harold Jordan
At a young age, Harold was found to exhibit the power to transmute into energy. Just as his father had modified his helmet and was preparing to train him to use his powers, Larry was killed. Eventually, Harold decided to follow in the footsteps of his father's career and took up the mantle of Air Wave. When his character was introduced, it was also revealed that he was a cousin of the Green Lantern Hal Jordan, with whom he shares the name. Air Wave continued as a supporting character, though not in every issue, of Green Lantern and his co-stars of the time, Green Arrow and Black Canary, showing young Harold how to be a superhero. Starting in Action Comics #488, Hal was featured in adventures of his own. For the next couple of years, he appeared in the secondary stories of Action Comics (the cover story almost always starred Superman), often alternating with the Atom. At some point, he became able to control his transmutation to energy without relying upon his father's equipment.