Cobalt Man
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Cobalt Man (Ralph Roberts) is a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe.
Contents |
Publication history
Cobalt Man was created by writer Roy Thomas and penciller Werner Roth in X-Men #31 (April, 1967).
The character subsequently appears in X-Men #34 (July 1967), #79 (December 1973), The Incredible Hulk #173-175 (March-May 1974), The Defenders #42-43 (December 1976-January 1977), Hulk: Nightmerica #1 (August 2003), Avengers/Thunderbolts #1 (May 2004), and Civil War #1 (July 2006), in which he died. He appeared posthumously in Marvel Spotlight Civil War: Aftermath #1 (March 2007).
A Skrulls version of Cobalt Man, for the Secret Invasion storyline, appears in Captain Marvel #2-3 (February-March 2008).
Cobalt Man received an entry in the Marvel Legacy: The 1970's Handbook #1 (2006).
Character biography
Ralph Roberts was an inventor who had been studying the effects of nuclear radiation involving cobalt. He sought to use this as a weapon and built a cobalt suit of armor in imitation of Iron Man's, and called himself the Cobalt Man. He later achieved superhuman size and power due to radiation. While on a mission with Egghead's Emissaries of Evil, he appeared to have been killed in a nuclear explosion <ref>Defenders #43</ref>, but he was later revealed to have survived.
Ralph had a younger brother named Ted Roberts who used to date Jean Grey.
Iron Man imposter
During the 2004 Avengers/Thunderbolts six issue mini-series, Tony Stark infiltrated the Thunderbolts as Cobalt Man to learn their intentions and agenda. Eventually, Stark revealed his true identity and tossed the Cobalt Man armor away.
The Stamford Disaster
Apparently, the original Cobalt Man was one of the many villains that escaped from The Raft prison during New Avengers #1-3 (January - March 2005). In an appearance which was widely previewed (first in New Avengers: Illuminati #1; May 2006) but which was originally produced as part of Civil War #1 (July, 2006), the New Warriors located Cobalt Man hiding in Stamford with other escaped convicts. The New Warriors were part of a reality show and decided to take down the villains. During the ensuing conflict, Nitro used his powers to demolish the entire neighborhood, causing the death of hundreds of men, women and children, most of the New Warriors, and apparently Cobalt Man as well.
Secret Invasion
In Captain Marvel (2007-2008), the Cobalt Man unexpectedly returned, and fought against the apparently resurrected Captain Mar-vell, but mentioned that he "seemed different". After having certain recent events, including other villains seemingly being resurrected, and having learned of the Secret Invasion, Captain Marvel decides to interrogate Cobalt Man, who reveals himself to in fact be a Skrull impostor, and then accuses Mar-Vell of not being the real Captain Marvel. When it turns out that Captain Marvel was actually a Skrull named Khn'nr, he turns against the Skrulls by killing the Cobalt Man Skrull.
Powers and abilities
Initially, Roberts wore the Cobalt Man armor to gain Iron Man-like abilities, including flight, superhuman strength (Class10--it multiplied his strength 100x) and durability, recoil beams, etc. The armor (at least the second version) also had oxygen tanks and could protect its wearer from the vacuum of space.