| Radioactive Man | |
|---|---|
The Radioactive Man features on the cover of Thunderbolts: International Incident (Apr. 2008). Art by Marko Djurdjević. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Journey into Mystery #93 (Jun. 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Chen Lu |
| Team affiliations | People's Defense Force Thunderbolts Masters of Evil Titanic Three |
| Abilities | Radiation manipulation |
Radioactive Man is the name of two characters from Marvel Comics.
Contents |
A nuclear physicist and Communist agent in the People's Republic of China, Chen Lu first appears in Journey into Mystery #93 (June 1963). Ordered to find a way to defeat Thor - who thwarts the Red Army's invasion of India - the character exposes himself to small doses of radiation until he is able to endure a massive barrage, becoming a living "Radioactive Man."
Traveling to New York City, Chen finds and battles Thor, who is first defeated when Chen hypnotizes him into throwing his hammer away, and turns back. But Thor is able to recover his hammer from a river, and defeats the villain by creating a vortex, sending Chen back to China, where he apparently explodes.[1]
Radioactive Man becomes a recurring foe of the Avengers, being found and coerced by Baron Heinrich Zemo to join the original Masters of Evil in a failed bid to destroy the Avengers. He is the first member to be met by the Avengers, and sticks Captain America and Giant-Man to the pavement with an adhesive, which Thor dodges. He is defeated by Giant-Man and Iron Man using a device that imprisons him in lead coils. He is then deported back to China.[2] The character reappears as part of the second incarnation of the Masters of Evil, with this version formed by the robot Ultron. The villains, however, are betrayed by the Black Knight.[3] The Radioactive Man and his teammates appear once again during a Halloween parade and are defeated by a loose coalition of superheroines called the Lady Liberators.[4]
Chen escapes confinement and travels to Vietnam, where he joins Soviet villains the Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo as part of a team called the Titanic Three. Acting as free-agent crime fighters in Vietnam, the trio is duped by a con man and petty thief called the Slasher and battle the Avengers until the deception is revealed.[5] After an encounter with the hero Iron Man,[6] the characters go their separate ways after a humiliating defeat by time-traveling villain Kang the Conqueror in Giant-Size Avengers.[7] Reappearing in Avengers, Chen joins another incarnation of the Masters of Evil - led by Egghead - but is defeated by Henry Pym and deported back to China.[8]
Radioactive Man continued to feature in Iron Man, and is employed by the hero's arch-enemy the Mandarin, but is ultimately defeated.[9] Chen is employed in his civilian capacity as a physicist by Stane International (formerly Stark International, taken over by Obadiah Stane) and eventually battles Iron Man and Spider-Man.[10] The Radioactive Man appears in the graphic novel Deathtrap: The Vault, among other supervillains attempting to escape from the holding facility the Vault. Chen, however, aids the heroes in preventing a reactor meltdown.[11] The Radioactive Man also features in an issue of the humor title Sensational She-Hulk[12] and once again in Avengers.[13]
After appearing in the second volume of Avengers that takes place in an alternate universe[14] and briefly in Thunderbolts,[15] the one-shot Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil,[16] the third volume of the Avengers,[17] and alternate universe title Exiles,[18] Radioactive Man features in the limited series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.[19]
Chen attempts to reform and in New Thunderbolts joins the Thunderbolts, a team composed almost entirely of reformed supervillains.[20] During the Civil War storyline the character aids heroes Mister Fantastic and Yellowjacket in building a holding prison for dissenting superpowered beings, and also battles the anti-registration heroes.[21] A major development occurs in the title Thunderbolts when the group encounter the Elders of the Universe member the Grandmaster; the Radioactive Man absorbs an excessive amount of radiation and is forced to wear a radiation suit at all times.[22] The radiation eventually subsides, but industrialist Norman Osborn convinces the character to retain the suit to distract the American public from his clearly Asian features and quell any lingering fears about his radioactivity.[23] The Radioactive Man features in the one shot Thunderbolts: International Incident,[24] the limited series Avengers/Invaders,[25] one shot King-Size Hulk,[26] and Thunderbolts: Reason In Madness[27] before featuring briefly in the Secret Invasion storyline.[28]
As part of the Thunderbolts, Radioactive Man fought Spider-Man and Anti-Venom during the New Ways to Die storyline; during the fight, Radioactive Man had a portion of his radiation powers drained by Anti-Venom.[29] He continued with the team however, going after the super-hero Moon Knight,[30] with the group. Radioactive Man was one of Songbird's strongest allies within the team, often supporting her when she fought against Osborn.
Ultimately, following the events of the Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn and Moonstone began the process of neutralizing the members of the Thunderbolts who would oppose Osborn in his plan to exploit the invasion for his own personal agenda, in order to gain more power. Osborn arranged for Chen to be deported back to China, leading to a bittersweet departure involving himself and Songbird.[31]
The Radioactive Man reappears in The Mighty Avengers as part of The People's Defense Force, China's indigenous group of metahumans. The Radioactive Man demonstrates that at close proximity he can safely absorb the radiation of Inhuman Xerogen crystals and also, presumably, safely absorb Terrigen Mist. However, the People's Defense Force is largely defeated by an invading entity known as The Unspoken, a deposed former king of the Inhumans. The Unspoken is defeated in China by the Mighty Avengers.[32]
During the Heroic Age storyline, a young man named Warhead appeared as a member of the Bastards of Evil, claiming to be the son of Radioactive Man.[33] He has been shown to have similar powers, but killed himself in a mass explosion that killed hundreds of people.[34]
A second Radioactive Man features in the fourth volume of Black Panther. The character is a Russian mutant named Igor Stancheck and is one of several mercenaries invading the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda. The group makes an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the huge mound of the metal vibranium located at the heart of the kingdom.[35] He was killed in battle by Black Panther's sister Shuri.[36]
Chen Lu was a normal human until exposed to excessive amounts of radiation, which changed his skin coloring to an iridescent green, and allows him to manipulate radiation across the microwave spectrum. Abilities include radiation emission as heat, "hard" radiation (inflicting opponents with nausea, dizziness, and radiation poisoning), and hypnotic light. He can also absorb nuclear radiation without harm and convert it to energy for personal use such as strength enhancement or to cauterize wounds, create force fields, and emit electromagnetic radiation to deactivate machinery. As the character constantly emits radiation, he has limited human contact and wears a full radiation suit when in the presence of unshielded persons. As a member of the Thunderbolts, Chen comments multiple times how he is not radioactive and the suit serves no purpose. Norman Osborn requires Chen to wear the suit to reassure the public that he is safe and to disguise the fact that he is a foreigner. Chen Lu holds a Ph. D. in nuclear physics.
Igor Stancheck has the same powers as Chen Lu.
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