Origin
Simon Choe was a tech sergeant for the US Air Force when the volcano on Lazarus Island erupted, spreading metagene activating lazarus rain around the world. His metagene was activated turning him into human fungus with super-psychotropics that bring people’s greatest fears to life. The former superior officer of Negative Man, General Blanche, brought the Doom Patrol in to deal with it, given their experience. He wanted Simon eliminated, but the Doom Patrol had a new mission to rescue misunderstood metahumans and train them to control their abilities.
Creation
Simon first appeared in the short story, “Storm Damaged,” by Dennis Culver and Chris Burnham, as part of the Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate one-shot. It was a tease for an upcoming limited series, Unstoppable Doom Patrol, which Simon also appears in.
Major Story Arcs
Flex Force
After being taken in by the Doom Patrol, Simon was put on a team coached by Flex Mentallo, called The Flex Force. He would teach Simon physical fitness, general superheroics, and how to control his powers. During a demonstration of their progress, they played capture the flag against the Doom Patrol, only to have their training session interrupted by the new Brotherhood of Evil. The Flex Force was thrown into the deep end against the regular Doom Patrol rivals. While the two teams join forces to defeat the Brotherhood, Willoughby Kipling gives Robotman an important message. The Brotherhood was a distraction so that General Immortus could dig up Dorothy Spinner‘s grave and use her power to channel The Candlemaker.
Kipling tried to ward Robotman against Immortus’ new magic, but Robotman was in desperate need of backup. Crazy Jane was unwilling to leave The Shelter vulnerable to the Brotherhood, so Jane managed to convince The Quiz, who Immortus had rescued and enslaved from the Painting That Ate Paris, to switch sides. Combining their powers allowed them to defeat this new Candlemaker, who Quiz than threw into The Bleed.
Powers & Abilities
Human Fungus: Simon appears to be made of purple fungus matter with assorted mushrooms on his body. He is able to spread fungus through spores.
- Psychotropic: Simon’s fungus has a superhuman psychotropic effect that makes people’s greatest fears come to life.