Kobra (comics)
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| Kobra | |
 Kobra in artwork from JSA #12 (Jul, 2000). Art by Buzz. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Kobra # 1 (Feb-Mar 1976) |
| Created by | Jack Kirby |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Jeffrey Franklin Burr |
| Team affiliations | Strike Force Kobra Blackadders Underground Society |
| Notable aliases | Lord Naga |
| Abilities | Incredible hand-to-hand combatant, Genius intelligence, Excellent planner and tactician |
Kobra is a DC Comics supervillain. Created by Jack Kirby, he first appeared in his own title, Kobra #1 (March 1976). He is noteworthy as one of the few comic book villains to star in his own series.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Kobra is an international terrorist and mad scientist who has crossed paths with the majority of Earth's costumed heroes during his attempts to usher in the Kali Yuga (an age of chaos). His real name is Jeffrey Franklin Burr, and he was born part of a set of siamese twins, but was stolen at birth by the Cult of the Kobra god, since a prophecy claimed he would lead them to rule the world. Under their teaching, he became a dangerous warrior and a sadistic criminal mastermind. He led the cult into using advanced technology to menace the world. Followers of Kobra would frequently address their master as "Naja-Naja", "naja naja" being the binomial name for the Indian Cobra. This later became "Naga-Naga", a meaningless title which translates from the Sanskrit as "snake-snake". Whether this change was intentional or an error is not known.
However, unknown to the cult, he had a psychic link to his twin brother, Jason, who knew nothing of Kobra. As a result, one felt what the other felt, including pain. Because of this, his brother was recruited by an international agency to help them combat Kobra. At first, Kobra was unable to even hurt or kill his brother; eventually, however, he used a device that "shut off" the psychic link, and gave him the chance to kill Jason. However, Kobra was subsequently haunted by visions of his brother. Whether it really was his ghost or just Kobra's imagination was never revealed.
In subsequent years, Kobra would clash with assorted superheroes, including Batman whom he first met over a Lazarus Pit of his own creation, Kobra had learned to build modified Lazarus Pits which allowed him to control the minds of those he killed and resurrected. Kobra is the only person in the DC universe to ever decipher the formula for the Lazarus Pits. Kobra had special concerns about Wonder Woman and sought to ensure her death, first by hiring the Cartel led secretly by UN Crisis Bureau head Morgan Tracy (also Diana Prince's boss), then by creating a new Cheetah. Later his various Strike Force Kobra teams would fight two different incarnations of Batman's Outsiders. Kobra also fought the third Flash, the Suicide Squad led by Amanda Waller, the original incarnation of Checkmate, Captain Atom, and others. Kobra is one of a very small number of individuals that has the capability of defeating Batman in hand-to-hand combat, and actually did so on one occasion.
The only organization ever to rival Kobra in the old DC Universe (Pre-Crisis I) was SKULL, there were frequent recorded clashes between the two groups, the last occurring in Outsiders Annual #1 story "The Skull...The Serpent...and The Outsiders".
After the betrayal of his lover Eve during the Strike Force Kobra fiasco, she split Kobra in two and established her own splinter group. In the Power Company: Sapphire #1 the Justice League rushes to San Diego to prevent disaster as two rival factions of the Kobra Cult prepared to go to war. One faction was led by Eve the other was led by Kobra himself.
He recently kidnapped the former hero Air Wave and used him to seize control of the world's media and satellite resources, intending to destroy a number of major world cities. However, in a demonstration of his power, he incidentally killed Terri Rothstein, Atom Smasher's mother, ensuring the Justice Society of America's involvement.
He appeared again in JSA #45, which featured his trial. He shrugged off claims of terrorism, claiming to be an enlightened soul (a bodhisattva) trying to free souls from their karmic debt by random acts of violence. Following this, his followers threatened to kill the media outside the courthouse with bioengineered suicide bomb implants. Holding everyone hostage with this tactic, the JSA allowed him to escape, leading to an outraged Black Adam and Atom Smasher, that both subsequently choose to leave the team. In JSA #51, Atom Smasher, Black Adam, Northwind and Brainwave tracked Kobra down to his headquarters in the Himalaya Mountains, where they killed his guards, and Black Adam ripped his heart out.
[edit] Legacy
- However, the organization Kobra survived this, and has been gaining converts. In Identity Crisis, it was revealed that DCU prisoners (such as Slipknot) sometimes convert to the cult of Kobra, to the general disgust of the DC's superheroes.
- Like Ra's al Ghul, Kobra owned a hidden network of very specialized Lazarus Pits.
- Kobra apparently entertains many specialized sub-sections. One such section was the Blackadders, a group of ninja-like fanatics. In the past Kobra operated an aggressive metahuman research and recruitment program, this program that gave birth to both known versions of Strike Force Kobra.
- Kobra is currently active in the DCU as a terrorist organization with a religious bent. Upon the death of Burr, it underwent a power-struggle, but this has apparently settled: a new leader has emerged (possibly Eve who had split off with half of the old school Kobra). Under her, the organization now seeks to fulfill 'the prophecies of Kali Yuga'. It is actively being fought by the super-spy agency known as Checkmate.
- The new Kobra seems to be ranked by serpent type, low level members are Lanceheads, and high level members are called Nagas. (Checkmate #4)
[edit] Other media
[edit] Batman Beyond
- A future version of Kobra (or, at least, his organization) appeared in four episodes of Batman Beyond. It appeared not to be warriors but scientifics who are so mad on their idea of worshipping reptiles. They also made virus tests on people who were kidnapped. They in turn became reptilian creatures.
Little is known about the origins of Kobra, but they had long admired the power of the dinosaurs. They envisioned them as the only life form capable of ruling the world once again. So, for years Kobra sought a way to splice human genes with dinosaurs' DNA. Until they could achieve their main goal, Kobra used cutting edge technology for robberies, extortion and terrorism, which led them to clash with Batman (Terry McGinnis) on a few occasions.
Kobra was ruthless and unforgiving. Every member of Kobra was expected complete allegiance and devotion to the organization, and any protocol breach was punished with a gruesome death in a pit of vipers.
Among their interrogation techniques, Kobra used a sensor that turned one's thoughts into pictures. This way they could weed out traitors among their ranks. (Though, this instrument was proved to be fallible, as a young kid deceived it by sheer force of will. "Unmasked")
There were several Kobra branches around the world, and each cell seemed to have its own Main Operator. The hierarchy of Kobra was depicted by color and garments. The ones on the bottom were foot soldiers, identified by their green spandex uniforms. They responded to members who donned an orange variation of the same spandex uniform, with golden bracelets on their forearms and forelegs, and a green exomis or hooded cloak. There were also scientists, technicians, or assistants who wore these garments. However, Main Operators usually had a chin beard.
Within the infantry there were assassins that ranked above the rest. They were trained in specific fighting techniques, or armed with special weaponry, such as electrical flail or edge weapons. Altogether, these combatants were more dangerous and deadlier than the average foot soldier.
In "Plague", Kobra continued executing fiendish schemes to gain an edge and thrive. At one point, they developed a deadly super virus capable of complete biological devastation. They hired a crimal named Falseface to smuggle the virus from Saint Denis to Gotham City, and then broke into Gotham Plastics, where they planned to coat millions of cred-cards with the virus, thus transmitting it by hand-to-hand contact. In case that plan failed or the government resisted their demands, Kobra secretly turned Falseface into a virus carrier. Kobra planned to demand a ransom of 10 billion credits. Their actions were eventually intercepted by the NSA that had enlisted Stalker to track down and retrieve the virus. Kobra's plans were foiled by an unlikely alliance between Stalker and Batman.
In the "Curse of the Kobra," it's revealed that despite having a resolute goal, Kobra lacked cohesive leadership. Therefore, they decided to genetically engineer the perfect Kobra leader. In the long run, they created Zander. They carefully monitored and controlled his gestation, striving to create a healthy and resilient makeup. Right from early infancy, Kobra started to groom Zander to become the perfect leader. They brainwashed and trained him in military strategies and tactics. When Zander finally reached adolescence and was ready to assume his leadership, Kobra could finally move on with their plan. They stole a vial from Dr. Padu Banjahri, a paleontologist who had been recovering dinosaur DNA, and spliced their lackeys into dinosaurs. However, there was still the problem of adaptability. Dinosaurs were cold-blooded, so they could only survive in a tropical environment. In order to raise the planet's temperature, Kobra had stolen the R12 thermal bomb from the Nova Research Center. They planned to plunge it into a dormant volcano standing on a riff that went down to the Earth's core. This would start a chain reaction that would raise the temperature of the whole planet. However, thanks to the combined efforts of Batman and Kairi Tanaga, Zander's guru, Kobra's supreme goal was brought to a naught, and in the process they lost their perfect leader.
[edit] Static Shock
KOBRA appears in an episode of Static Shock. In Future Shock, Kobra carried on with their tactics, and eventually acquired another leader. They also secretly moved in to Platform 247, and used it as their new headquarters. In an undocumented occurrence, the police arrested Kobra Leader. Thus, Kobra designed a plan to imprison Static and then negotiate a trade. They forged a holographic message from Gear so as to lure Static into Platform 247, where he was ambushed, subdued and imprisoned in a stasis field. The negotiation, however, was never in Kobra's plans, as they never truly intended to give up the captive hero. It was but a ruse to provide their leader with an escape opportunity, while he was being transported to the exchange. After breaking out, Kobra Leader headed off to Kobra's headquarters to kill Static. However, Batman and Static's younger self broke in and took on Kobra's Leader and his soldiers. Static released his older self from the stasis field, and saw him single-handedly defeat a battalion of Kobra worshipers with a single jolt. Kobra's fate afterward remains unknown.
[edit] Justice League Unlimited
In Justice League Unlimited, Kobra is among the villains seen as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Legion of Doom
[edit] Other DCU Criminal Organizations
- See also: List of criminal organizations in comics
