Who's This? A short inventor.
The facts: A member of the Fearsome Five, created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez along with the rest of the team in New Teen Titans #3 (January 1981), Gizmo is an inventor who has a gadget for every occasion. He reformed for a while, and reappeared sans beard nor hair nor scruples later. Most of his appearances have been as a member of the Fearsome Five, but he has had solo outings too, and faced the Outsiders and the Birds of Prey, as well as various iterations of the Titans. He appeared to die in Outsiders Vol 3 #14 (2004), something confirmed by his being raised as an undead creature by Brother Blood in 2006. But that Birds of Prey storyline had him reanimated by technology. He's alive in both the New52 and Rebirth timelines, even if other villains have taken the Gizmo identity from time to time.
How you could have heard of him: No, not from Gremlins. The character was portrayed by Dov Tiefenbach in live action in the third season of the HBO Max series Titans, and by Lauren Tom and Tara Strong on the Titans animated shows.
Example story: The Adventures of Superman #430 (July 1987) "Homeward Bound" by Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway
Marv Wolfman was initially the writer on Adventures, and so it seemed pretty natural for him to 'port over some villains from his New Teen Titans, including the Fearsome Five and their human bat-belt. Let's see what Gizmo was packing going into a fight with Superman. Punching above your weight class much? To be fair, the Five did, at one point, recruit a Superman villain - Neutron - but he's not part of the team's make-up here. Instead, there's a guy called Charger I've never heard of and a girl called Deuce (very unfortunate) that's just as mysterious to me. Maybe they're Metropolis talent they roped into replacing Psimon and Dr. Light. Together, maybe they have what it takes to beat Superman and rob the diamond expo.
Gizmo's contribution: Grabbing a fire extinguisher and tinkering it into an explosive torpedo on the fly! That's actually pretty cool. And though it's Supervillain Ego 101 for him to think-trash Shimmer about her decision to come to Metropolis, I tend to think he's right. Why isn't he leader by now? Charger and Deuce then use their powers on the Man of Steel (making me wonder why this isn't Neutron and Jinx) and Mammoth delivers the fatal blow (Superman's faking). In any case, why ARE the F-Five wasting their time on superhuman battles? Gizmo raises the issue.
I guess they recruited a pair of killers with grudges (or things that must have happened between Man of Steel #6 and the present day). Shimmer is driving this team into the GROUND, I tell ya! Back at their HQ, which is on the New Jersey Palisades, Gizmo shows that he's a bit of a prankster by fiddling with Mammoth's weights.
Though there's strife between the newbies and the veterans, the team stays together to stage a charity cruise heist, which again Superman interferes with. And again, it's Gizmo to the rescue.
He's never the finisher, but he's definitely the guy who draws first blood. He's also always the first to call for a retreat, usually making out with the goods. But Superman eventually gets tipped off about the secret HQ and crashes through the wall, ready for their various tactics (crucially, he doesn't have to look after any innocent bystanders). In fact, Superman pulls a complete reversal on Gizmo, forcing him to save Shimmer, and while he's distracted MacGyvering a slingshot to shoot a hole in his jet pack.
The new members escape, but the veterans are taken into custody. The end (for now). Now, if I've treated Gizmo as the "hero" of this story, it's because in the Fearsome Five context, he kind of is. And it's amply obvious why he, of all the members, would go on to have more of a solo career. He's more versatile, for one thing, and you could imagine him building devices that best fit a variety of opponents, whereas people like Shimmer and Mammoth seem built to be part of a team (the transmuter, the brick). And though he lets someone else hold the reins of leadership, he's the one with a head on his shoulders, and not just in the sense that he's a world-class inventor (or at least tinkerer). I don't necessarily like what was done with him later (or that look borrowed from Brain Wave), but he's easily my favorite of the Fearsome Five (at least on days where Neutron isn't present).
Who's Next? A truly international team.
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