Kobra (DC Comics)

Kobra
KOBRA symbols
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Kobra #1 (February 1976)
Created by	Jack Kirby Steve Sherman
In-story information
Alter ego	Jeffrey Franklin Burr Jason Burr
Species	Homo magi (current) Human (originally)
Team affiliations	Kobra organization Strike Force Kobra Blackadders Underground Society
Notable aliases	Lord Naga
Abilities	Skilled hand-to-hand combatant Genius-level intelligence Excellent planner and tactician Longevity through the use of Lazarus Pits

Kobra is the name used by two supervillains published by DC Comics. The Jeffrey Burr incarnation of Kobra and his brother Jason first appeared in Kobra #1 (February 1976), and were created by Jack Kirby.^[1] Jason Burr debuted as Kobra in Faces of Evil: Kobra #1 (March 2009) by Ivan Brandon and Julian Lopez. The Kobra identity is later established as an international terrorist organization that frequently clashes with superheroes associated with the Justice League.

Both Jeffrey and Jason Burr were created by Jack Kirby for a proposed DC Comics series called King Kobra, the first issue of which was both written and drawn by Kirby. This first issue then sat in DC inventory for over a year, during which time Kirby left the publisher to return to Marvel Comics.^[2]

Co-creator Steve Sherman commented on the character's creation. He stated that Kobra was originally created for a one-shot comic and was inspired by Dr. Phibes, a character who used different means of killing his opponents. Sherman created Kobra's name and aesthetic by combining Phibes with the idea of thugees - Indian robber gangs. Sherman met with Jack Kirby, who created the idea of the Burr siblings. He was inspired by The Corsican Brothers, a novella about conjoined twins who were separated at birth, but continue to share pain. By the time the meeting was over, Sherman and Kirby had written outlines for several stories beyond the initial one-shot.^[3]

Eventually the concept was handed over to writer Martin Pasko with orders to make a series out of it. Pasko was unimpressed with King Kobra, feeling it to be a throwaway idea churned out by Kirby as he was preparing to leave DC, and tried to make the best out of the assignment by whiting out all of Kirby's original dialogue, rescripting the issue, and having Pablo Marcos redraw some of the art.^[2] Now titled simply Kobra, the first issue of the series appeared in late 1975 (cover-dated February 1976). It was cancelled after seven issues, though the contents of the unpublished Kobra #8 saw print in DC Special Series #1. Pasko later reflected: "I wrote all of Kobra with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek—it was a preposterous exercise dumped in my lap, and it helped pay the rent on a very nice place in the Village".^[2]

Kobra is also featured in a January 2009 Faces of Evil one-shot, written by Ivan Brandon.^[4]

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 Burr, and he was born part of a set of conjoined 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.^[5] 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 frequently address their master as "Naja-Naja", the binomial name of the Indian cobra. This later became "Nāga-Naga", a meaningless title which translates from Sanskrit as "snake-snake". Whether this change was intentional or an error is unknown.^[6]

Unbeknownst to the cult, Jeffrey possesses a psychic link to his twin brother Jason, causing the two to share pain.^[7] At first, Kobra is unable to kill or even hurt his brother; eventually, however, he uses a device that "shut off" their psychic link, allowing him to kill Jason.^[8] 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 ever to decipher the formula for the Lazarus Pits. Kobra had special concerns about Wonder Woman and sought to ensure her death, first by hiring a cartel of international assassins who were led secretly by corrupted UN Crisis Bureau chief Morgan Tracy (also Diana Prince's boss), then by kidnapping and irretrievably damaging environmental activist Deborah Demaine, forcibly transforming her into a new Cheetah, and ultimately, facing Wonder Woman in combat in Egypt, faking his own demise after being defeated by the Amazon Princess. A short while 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, a Superman whose personality had been swapped with Ambush Bug's by exposure to red Kryptonite, and others.

After the betrayal of his lover Lady 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 kidnaps the former hero Air Wave and uses 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 kills Terri Rothstein, Atom Smasher's mother, ensuring the Justice Society of America's involvement. Atom Smasher later saves Terri via time travel, replacing her with the villain Extant and allowing him to die instead.

He appeared again in JSA #45, which featured his trial. He shrugs off claims of terrorism, claiming to be an enlightened soul (a bodhisattva) trying to free souls from their karmic debt through random acts of violence. Following this, his followers threatened to kill the media outside the courthouse with bio-engineered suicide bomb implants. Holding everyone hostage with this tactic, he was allowed by the JSA to escape, leading to an outraged Black Adam and Atom Smasher, who both subsequently choose to leave the team. In JSA #51, Atom Smasher, Adam, Northwind, and Brainwave track Kobra to his headquarters in the Himalayas, where Adam kills him.^[9]

Jeffrey's twin brother Jason is re-animated by the Kobra Cult, possibly through the use of Kobra's Lazarus Pits. This involves the death of an entire facility of Checkmate agents, including several of Burr's friends. Jason reveals that he is re-structuring the organization and killing all the old members. Before revealing himself as the new Kobra, Jason spends time undercover as a Checkmate agent.^[10]

In Convergence, Jason Burr leads the Kobra Cult under the alias of "King Kobra" and faces off against Red Hood and Arsenal.^[11]

In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". King Kobra plans to raze a town in Markovia if they do not obey his commands.^[12][13] When the Suicide Squad rescues Katana from Lady Eve, they find King Kobra outside Castle Markov.^[14] Kobra and Helga Jace later work together to fuse Violet Harper with the Aurakles energy being, transforming her into Halo.^[15][16][17]

The Kobra organization survived Jeffrey Burr's death, 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 supervillains.

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 gave birth to both known versions of Strike Force Kobra.

The new Kobra has several ranks: low-level members are Lanceheads, higher-level members are called Nagas (Checkmate vol. 2 #4), and the highest level shown are the Bestowed, mystics who specialize in Blood Magic.^[18]

• In Kingdom Come, an immortal Lord Naga/Jeffrey Burr appears as a member of Lex Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front.^[19]
• King Kobra appears in the Lil Gotham series. Kobra King once stole the Jade Sword. Although they escaped Gotham City, he'd be tracked and captured by Batman and his mysterious partner, revealed to be Alfred. Years later, they would again steel the Jade Sword. While they were chased by Katana and Robin, they quickly subdued the heroes. Batman's ex-partner would come to their aid and defeat Kobra.^[20]

• A futuristic incarnation of the Kobra organization appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), with various members voiced by Corey Burton, Kerrigan Mahan, Gary Anthony Sturgis, and Keith Szarabajka.^[21] This version of the group is a global terrorist organization primarily consisting of scientists with an obsession for reptiles and dinosaurs, envisioning the latter as the only lifeform capable of ruling the world and seeking out ways to splice humanity with dinosaur DNA. To better emulate the species they admire, Kobra's members have conducted tests on kidnapped people, transformed themselves into reptilian creatures, and used cutting-edge technology for robberies, extortion and terrorism.
  • Kobra first appears in Batman Beyond. Introduced in the episode "Plague", they develop a biological virus and hire False-Face to smuggle it into Neo-Gotham, turning him into a carrier as backup. Kobra plans to demand a ransom of 10 billion credits, but are intercepted and foiled by Stalker and Batman. In the two-part episode "Curse of the Kobra", it is revealed that Kobra genetically engineered and trained the perfect leader for their organization, whom they named Zander (voiced by Alexis Denisof^[22]), due to lacking cohesive leadership. After coming of age, he leads the organization in stealing dinosaur DNA to transform their operatives into dinosaur hybrids and attempting to raise the Earth's temperature by detonating a thermal bomb inside a volcano so that they can rule in the aftermath. However, they are foiled by Batman, Max Gibson, and Kairi Tanaga and Zander is presumed dead in the ensuing battle. In flashbacks depicted in the episode "Unmasked", Batman revealed his secret identity to a young boy and inadvertently made him a target of Kobra. While the terrorists captured the latter and used a memory machine in an attempt to learn Batman's identity, the boy deceived them by replacing Batman's face with that of his favorite action figure.
  • Kobra appears in the Static Shock episode "Future Shock", with its new, unnamed leader voiced by Lance Henriksen.^[23] After their leader is arrested, Kobra captures Static to ostensibly negotiate a trade while secretly helping their leader escape. Once he is freed, the Kobra leader attempts to kill Static, only to be foiled by Batman and Static's time-traveling younger self, who frees his older counterpart so he can defeat Kobra.
• The Kobra cult appears in the teaser for the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!", with their leader voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. They attempt to sacrifice a young woman in preparation for world domination, only to be defeated by Batman and the Outsiders.
• The Jeffrey Burr incarnation of Kobra and his cult appear in the Young Justice episode "Drop Zone", voiced by Arnold Vosloo.^[24] This version is a martial artist and ally of the Light.
• Jason Burr appears in Beware the Batman, voiced by Matthew Lillard.^[25] This version is the inventor of the Ion Cortex, a device that could potentially manage the world's power. Throughout the series, Batman and Katana protect Burr from the League of Assassins after they target him and the Ion Cortex. After being attacked and possessed by League of Assassins member Cypher, Burr secretly contacts the League's leader, Lady Shiva, and finishes the Ion Cortex for her. While Batman and Katana free Burr from Cypher's control so he can disable the Ion Cortex, Shiva uses the Soultaker sword on him before he can finish.
• The Kobra cult appears in Beast Boy: Lone Wolf.^[26]

The Jeffrey Burr incarnation of Kobra appears in Batman: Soul of the Dragon, voiced by Josh Keaton.^[27][28] This version was kidnapped and brainwashed by the Kobra cult as a child to be their savior. In the present, he plans to unlock a gate at Nanda Parbat to unleash the serpent god Nāga by offering children's souls via the Soul Breaker sword. After his forces are defeated by Lady Shiva, Richard Dragon, Ben Turner, and Batman, they plead with a desperate Burr to reject Kobra. Ultimately, Burr stabs himself with Soul Breaker, killing him and unleashing Nāga.

• The Jeffrey Burr incarnation of Kobra appears in issues #16 and #17 of the Young Justice tie-in comic book.^{[citation needed]} He plots to perform a ritual on his twin brother Dr. Jason Burr, only to be interrupted by Batman, the Flash, Green Arrow, Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis. Despite this, Kobra attempts to resume the ritual by feeding Jason's blood to a snake before drinking it along with the Blockbuster formula. As he gains snake-like abilities, Jason is absorbed into his dagger. However, Kobra is pricked by the dagger, undoing his mutation and restoring Jason.
• The first King Kobra appears in Batman '66.
• An alternate universe version of Kobra appears in the Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles episode "Big", voiced by Bruce Thomas.^[24]

• Kobra at the DCU Guide
• Kobra at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. from the original on December 2, 2015.
• Strike Force Kobra at DC Comics Wiki
• Strike Force Kobra at Comic Vine
• Strike Force Kobra at Angelfire