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Copperhead is the name of three differentsupervillains appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The first Copperhead was Lawrence Chesney, who made his debut inDaredevil #124 (Aug 1975) and was created by writersLen Wein andMarv Wolfman, and artistGene Colan. The second Copperhead, Arthur Reynolds, was a coworker of Chesney and stole his costume after Chesney was killed. Reynolds first appeared inHuman Fly #8 (Apr 1978) by writerBill Mantlo and artistFrank Robbins. The third person to use the name Copperhead is totally unrelated to the first two characters, Davis Lawfers, who took the name from the snake of the same name. Lawfers first appeared inCaptain America #337 (1988) created by writersMark Gruenwald andRalph Macchio and artistTom Morgan.
Chesney's mental illness caused him to think he was Copperhead, a pulp fiction hero he grew up reading. Chesney would leave copper pennies on the eyes of his murder victims. When he began to target the writer and publisher of the original Copperhead stories he was stopped by Daredevil. During the fight Chesney was struck by lightning and killed. Reynolds worked with Chesney as a museum guard and later discovered Chesney's secret identity. Using the costume he planned to rob the museum where he worked as a guard, but was stopped byWhite Tiger and theHuman Fly.
The third Copperhead, was originally a henchman ofViper, given a suit with built in powers based on the Copperhead. Teamed up withFer-de-lance,Black Racer, andPuff Adder they formed theSerpent Squad, a ploy to get them accepted into theSerpent Society. The group is accepted bySidewinder and the Serpent Society, enabling them to help push Sidewider out of power, allowing Viper to take control of the group. When Viper is deposed later on Copperhead leaves the Serpent Society. He later returned to the Serpent Society and became part of Serpent Solutions when the group was reorganized in 2015.
The Lawrence Chesney version of Copperhead first appeared inDaredevil #124-125 (August–September 1975), and was created byLen Wein,Marv Wolfman, andGene Colan. The character subsequently appears inHuman Fly #9 (May 1978),Daredevil #1/2 (1998), andDaredevil/Spider-Man #1-4 (January–April 2001). Copperhead received an entry in theAll-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 (2006).
The second Copperhead appeared inHuman Fly #8-9 (Apr-May 1978), and was created byBill Mantlo andFrank Robbins.
The third Copperhead appeared inCaptain America #337 (1988), and was created byMark Gruenwald,Ralph Macchio andTom Morgan
| Copperhead | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Daredevil #124 (Aug 1975) |
| Created by | Len Wein Marv Wolfman Gene Colan |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Lawrence Chesney |
| Team affiliations | Gang of Four |
| Partnerships | Agent of unnamed demon |
| Abilities | Wears a suit of copper armor Use of a gun that shoots paralyzing or lethal darts |
Lawrence Chesney grew up hearing the tales of a pulp fiction hero namedCopperhead from his father, who was the model for the covers of the Copperhead pulps and came to believe he himselfwas Copperhead. Chesney, warped by his father's madness, assumes the Copperhead guise, and leaves his calling card of copper pennies on the eyes of his victims. His murders of the writer and the publisher of the Copperhead pulps brings him the attention ofDaredevil. As he fights Daredevil, Copperhead is struck by lightning and killed by electrocution.[1]
After death, Copperhead becomes the agent of a demon. He is sent back to Earth to retrieveSpider-Man's soul, but fails after battling Spider-Man and Daredevil.[2]
During the "Dark Reign" storyline,Quasimodo researches Copperhead forNorman Osborn, but is unable to further assess him without finding the identity of the demon he serves. Copperhead is stated to be a potential good ally ifHood oversteps his bounds.[3]
| Copperhead | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Human Fly #8 (Apr 1978) |
| Created by | Bill Mantlo Frank Robbins |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Arthur Reynolds |
| Abilities | Wears a suit of copper armor Use of a gun that shoots paralyzing or lethal darts |
Arthur Reynolds discovered that his former co-worker at the museum, Lawrence Chesney, had been Copperhead, and had been killed. Reynolds broke into Chesney's apartment and stole a spare Copperhead costume, assuming the identity. His plan to rob the museum were defeated byWhite Tiger and theHuman Fly.[4]
| Copperhead | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Captain America #337 (1988) |
| Created by | Mark Gruenwald Ralph Macchio Tom Morgan |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | David Lawfers |
| Team affiliations | Serpent Society |
| Abilities | Wears copper suit Possesses arsenal of gadgets Gauntlets that shoot poisonous energy blasts |
Davis Lawfers was born inRochester, New York. He was a civil servant before becoming an agent of theViper and a professional criminal. Copperhead was the leader of the fourthSerpent Squad, consisting also ofFer-de-lance,Black Racer, andPuff Adder. The quartet robbed a Las Vegas casino and battledCaptain America,Falcon,Nomad, andD-Man in order to attract the attention ofSidewinder, then the leader of the Serpent Society.[5] The Serpent Squad was freed from jail by the Sidewinder,[6] and were inducted into the Serpent Society. In truth, they were sent by the Viper so she could infiltrate the organization and take over as its new leader.[7] After the coup was staged, Copperhead was assigned by the Viper, along with theCobra andBoomslang to put a mutagenic agent into the water supply of Washington D.C. During that mission, he and Cobra had personality conflicts and did not get along, and battled Captain America andDiamondback.[8] After the Viper's plot was foiled, the Society re-organized with Cobra as the new leader. Copperhead did not stay long and quietly disappeared from the ranks of the Society.
During theSecret Invasion storyline, Lawfers rejoined the Society. The Society held a number of civilians hostage in a compound in theAmerican Midwest claiming they were protecting themselves from theSkrulls. However, they were easily defeated byNova and his new Nova Corps.[9]
As part of theAll-New, All-Different Marvel event, Copperhead appears as a member ofViper's Serpent Society under its new name of Serpent Solutions. He assisted Black Racer and Cottonmouth into attackingCaptain America and Diamondback where Captain America learned too late that Diamondback is in league with the Serpent Solutions where she knocks him out and they bring him to Serpent Solutions' headquarters. They were later defeated by Captain America and his friends.[10]
Copperhead has no superhuman powers. He has moderate experience in hand-to-hand combat and street fighting techniques, but mainly relies on his weaponry.
He wears finger-shooters on his gauntlets which project electrical discharges ("poison-blasts"); a spring-loaded, telescoping, rapid-retracting, wrist-mounted, titanium steel alloy grappling hook ("shooting fang"), with 30-foot (9.1 m) cable line; exploding magnesium flare-bombs stored in his snake-head helmet compartment ("copper-bursts"); micro-suction cups in gloves and boots, enabling adhesion to walls and ceilings. His equipment was designed by technicians hired by theViper. His gauntlets need to be recharged regularly using the spare poison-blast cartridges in his belt.
For protection, Copperhead wears a copper suit of scale mail, which functions as light body armor made of micro-mesh chain-mail covered with reinforced synthetic chain-mail tunic.
The Davis Lawfers incarnation of Copperhead appears inCaptain America: Brave New World, portrayed byJóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson.[11]
