Red Tornado Fact Finding

[Eyeswithoutaface]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/assets/images/preview/3556/prv3556_pg1.jpg

Red Tornado seems to be getting more exposure lately, and there were a few seemingly basic things that I couldn't seem to find the answer to. Maybe...they can't be answered? Well, for starters:

1. I understand that Ronnie Raymond whipped up a new body shell for him post-crisis during the, 'Elemental War'. What is his android casing made of? Anything special? Is this the same body he has currently?

2. Amazo recently uploaded his programming and absorption cell technology to a Red Tornado body shell. Is this casing different than the one you might expect Red Tornado to have under 'normal circumstances'? If yes, then how is it different? If no, then what's the deal?

3. Red Tornado, Amazo, Kid Amazo, Tomorrow Woman, and now Red Torpedo is on the horizon. These things seem to have a history of getting trashed. Has there ever been some mentioning over the years of versioning up as guys like T.O. Morrow, and Ivo build these things? Do they never learn and keep building their robots out of the same materials without improving their construction?

thanks.

[Gavin G.]

I'm no Red Tornado expert, but I'll try to answer your questions as best I can from memory.

1.) No idea what it's supposedly made of. I'm pretty sure the body he currently resides in was created by John Henry Irons (Steel) in Justice League of America a few months back. It has a number of upgrades, both hardware and software wise, but I can't recall any specifics.

2.) It was an advanced casing, I know that much. Again, though, not sure on the specifics.

3.) Robotic characters have a bad habit of being the first to get trashed in comics, unfortunately. Cyborg suffers from the same syndrome. It's likely due to the fact that if a technologically based hero gets destroyed, it's easier to just have them "rebuilt," as opposed to coming up with a way to "resurrect" a more mortal character.

That said, no matter how invincible the material is said to be that's used in the construction of Red Tornado, don't expect him to survive the first punch he gets from the next global threat.

[Eyeswithoutaface]

John Henry Irons built him a casing? I suppose by association there's a good chance he's made of some kind of high strength steel alloy.

You mentioned Cyborg. By comparison, Victor Stone's cyborg components are made of depleted promethium; a near-invulnerable metal when alloyed with titanium and vanadium. Yeah, he seems to get trashed a lot. Deathstroke and Red Arrow also incorporate depleted promethium in their gear.