Origin

Paul Gibney was an average high school football player. After wining a recent football game, the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor was broadcast on the radio. He enlisted himself to serve in the military and eventually he was part of a commando team in France. There they met up with a resistance unit, but both teams ended up getting captured by Nazis. Paul escaped and followed the Nazis back to a farmhouse where they were holding the survivors prisoner. Paul stayed out of sight until all of the POW's were interrogated then killed. After the last prisoner was shot, Paul completely lost it and burst into the farmhouse like a mad man. When he came back to his senses he found that all of the Nazis were dead. The last prisoner who got shot died in Paul's arms after telling Paul that his eyes were blazing in the battle like the torch of Lady Liberty. After the incident, Paul went AWOL believing his old life was dead. He created a new alias as the Torch of Liberty. As a super hero, he helped the war effort by fighting the Axis Powers, & freeing POW's.

Major Story Arcs

Hellboy

Seed of Destruction

In December 1944, The Torch of Liberty received word that the Nazis were in the final stages of Project Ragnarok. He accompanied the U.S. Army, being lead by First Sergeant George Whitman, who was under orders to lead the team to the village of East Bromwich in the English Midlands. The village was believed to be the place where the Nazis conducted their project. Along with the U.S. Army, the Torch was also accompanied by three paranormal officials, Professor Malcolm Frost, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, & Lady Cynthia Eden-Jones. Lady Cynthia was the group psychic and sensed that something terrible would occur at a ruined church located in the village. Upon arriving at the church, a large beam of light headed straight towards Lady Cynthia. The Torch immediately pushed her out of the way. After the beam of light struck the the center of the church, a small demon appeared. Professor Frost believed the demon was there to kill them all and demanded that someone shoot it. The Torch, however, didn't believe the demon to be dangerous, while Lady Cynthia commented that the creature looked like a boy. Upon hearing her comment, Professor Bruttenholm dubbed the creature Hellboy and befriended it. Soon after the encounter, a group photo was taken where the Torch could be seen in the back row. Sometime later, when Hellboy got older, the Torch taught him some marksmanship. During the training sessions, the Torch remarked that Hellboy was the worst shooter he ever trained.