Jimmy Tilton was the bass player for Scare Tactics and gained the name Slither based on his reptilian appearance.
History
As a child, Jimmy's father, Erazmus Tilton, was obsessed with medical research. He was so obsessed that he purposely gave Jimmy cancer in order to test his hypothesis that bonding reptilian and human DNA would create a new species immune to cancer. The process was effective in curing the cancer but it mutated Jimmy to look like a lizard-boy. Shortly after that, Dr. Tilton lost custody of Jimmy to the research company Nugenix. They ruled that Jimmy was no longer a human but the intellectual property of the company. Nugenix subjected Jimmy to numerous tests. After years at Nugenix, Jimmy managed to escape but was captured shortly after and displayed at a freak show. That didn't last long however; R-Complex arrived and abducted Jimmy.[1]
Jimmy was help captive and experimented on by R-Complex for some time. Eventually, he was rescued by Arnold Burnsteel and Fate. The pair also liberated Scream Queen, Fang, and Gross-Out.[2] Together, they joined together as a unit. Burnsteel suggested they form a band to serve as cover and they hit the road to stay one step ahead of R-Complex.[3]
At one point, Slither was able to sneak into Project Cadmus. There, with the help of Superboy, he was able to convince them to help him with his continuing mutations. Unfortunately, Dr. Tilton was on staff and Slither attacked him immediately. It took Superboy talking Slither down to prevent him from killing his father. Tilton was fired but Cadmus realized later that he may be the only one that could figure out how to stop Slither's mutations.[4]
Over time, Jimmy continued to mutate and his reptilian side started taking more and more control of him. He ended up going on a killing rampage through Gotham City. Scare Tactics tried to stop him but he attacked them. In a moment of clarity, Slither made Gross-Out promise he would never hurt anyone again. Gross-Out broke Slither's neck before he could break his promise.[5] Burnsteel and Scare Tactics took Jimmy's ashes to his father and threw them in his face.[6]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
Weaknesses
Related
- 18 Appearances of James Tilton (New Earth)
- 6 Images featuring James Tilton (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about James Tilton (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: James Tilton (New Earth)
Footnotes