Origin
Rio Blast used to be a lawman and is now a partial conversion cyborg, most of his internal organs and muscles have been removed and replaced with energy blasters and cybernetic muscles. His left eye is a targeting display, his right hand is completely gone and replaced with a large energy cannon. Other blasters inside his body are concealed by armor plates on his thighs, chest, and left forearm as well as two more blasters on his backpack.
He often teams up with Snout Spout and counters Snout’s idealism with the wish for money and fame. He is also scared of snakes but can overcome this fear when he has an audience.
Creation
Rio Blast first appeared in the Mini Comic, The Fastest Draw in the Universe by Steven Grant.
Major Story Arcs
Master of the Universe (Mini Comics)
The Fastest Draw in the Universe
When Adam and Orko take a vacation to the Flat Lands of Eternia, Adam falls into a pit trap and changes into He-Man to get out, and he is soon greeted by Rio Blast, who dug the trap to catch cattle rustlers. He then excepts He-Man and Orko’s help to catch the rustlers.
That night the group is awoken by a stampede coming right at them, and Rio Blast changes into his battle form in an attempt to redirect the stampede to the canyon. This plan works and reveals the cause of the stampede, Beast-Man and Kobra Khan. The Evil Warriors were sent by Skeletor to steal all the cattle and disrupt Eternia’s food supply. Rio Blast and He-Man soon make short work of the Evil Warriors, sending them back to Skeletor unsuccessful.
The Ultimate Battleground
When earthquakes rip through Eternia, Rio Blast is one of the heroes that aids He-Man to save the residents of the towns.
Masters of the Universe (Star Comics)
Snakes Alive
Rio Blast and his partner Snout Spout are teamed upped to test Prince Adam and Orko’s skills on the battlefield, but their bickering gives the prince and wizard the upper hand. Then when Cringer gets kidnapped Rio and Snout split up, Rio using his high tech to track the kidnappers, but he comes up short, missing his partners high tech nose. Then the pair is attacked by King Hiss and his snake men. Rio being scared of snakes faulters but gets his courage and fights back against the now 5 snake King Hiss. Rio and Snout then regroup and capture Skeletor, but the evil lord is able to escape Snout’s grasp, causing Rio and Snout to bicker once again over who is the better fighter.
Other media
Toys
In 1986 Rio Blaster was released in the Wave 5 of He-man Action Figures. He came with the mini comic “The Fastest draw in the Universe”.
