| Radioactive Man | |
|---|---|
 The Chen Lu incarnation of Radioactive Man as depicted inThunderbolts: International Incident (April 2008). Art byMarko Djurdjević. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | (Chen) Journey into Mystery #93[1] (June 1963) (Stancheck) Black Panther vol. 4 #3. Marvel Comics. (April 2005) |
| Created by | Chen Lu: Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) Igor Stancheck: Reginald Hudlin (writer) John Romita Jr. (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Chen Lu Igor Stancheck |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | People's Defense Force Masters of Evil Thunderbolts Titanic Three |
| Notable aliases | The Radioactive Man R-Man |
| Abilities |
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Radioactive Man is the name of severalsupervillains appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The first incarnation of Radioactive Man,Chen Lu,first appeared inJourney into Mystery #93 (June 1963). He was best known as a founding member of theAvengers opponents theMasters of Evil. The second incarnation,Igor Stancheck,[2] debuted inBlack Panther vol. 4 #3 (June 2005).
Chen Lu / Radioactive Man first appeared inJourney into Mystery #93 (June 1963), and was created byStan Lee andJack Kirby.[3]
Igor Stancheck / Radioactive Man first appeared inBlack Panther vol. 4 #3 (June 2005) and was created byReginald Hudlin andJohn Romita Jr.[citation needed]
Radioactive Man's debut story begins withThor's alter ego Donald Blake providing medical care for Indian soldiers injured in clashes with Chinese soldiers in the Himalayas.[4] Thor then defeats a Chinese armored column.[4] Later in Beijing, Zhou Enlai suggests toMao Zedong that Thor must be destroyed and Mao orders Chinese scientist Chen Lu to devise a way to defeat Thor or die trying.[4] Chen exposes himself to small doses of radiation until he is able to endure a massive barrage, becoming a living "Radioactive Man". He plans to take over the world.[5]
Chen travels toNew York City on a submarine. There, he battles Thor whom he hypnotizes in Times Square.[4] Eventually, Thor is able to recover and uses a tornado to send Chen to western China, where Chen detonates.[4]
Radioactive Man becomes a recurring foe of theAvengers, being coerced byBaron Zemo to join the originalMasters of Evil in a bid to destroy the Avengers.[6] He is the first to confront the Avengers, and sticksCaptain America and Giant-Man to the pavement with an adhesive, which Thor dodges. He is defeated by Giant-Man andIron Man when they imprison him inlead coils. He is then deported back to China.[7] The character reappears with the new Masters of Evil, organized byUltron. The villains, however, are betrayed by theBlack Knight.[8] Radioactive Man and his teammates appear once again during a Halloween parade and are defeated by a coalition of superheroines called theLady Liberators.[9]
Chen escapes and travels toVietnam, where he joinsSoviet villainsTitanium Man andCrimson Dynamo as part of a team called theTitanic Three. Acting as crime fighters in Vietnam, the trio is duped by a con man and petty thief called the Slasher and end up battling the Avengers until the deception is uncovered.[10] After an encounter with Iron Man,[11] the characters go their separate ways. After a humiliating defeat byKang the Conqueror inGiant-Size Avengers,[12] Chen joins another incarnation of the Masters of Evil - led byEgghead - but is defeated byAnt-Man anddeported back to China.[13]
Radioactive Man continued to feature inIron Man, and is employed by Iron Man's arch-enemyMandarin.[14] Chen is employed in his civilian capacity as a physicist byStane International (taken over byObadiah Stane).[15] Radioactive Man appears in the graphic novelDeathtrap: The Vault, among other supervillains attempting to escape from theVault. Chen, however, aids the heroes in preventing anuclear meltdown.[16]
Radioactive Man also features in an issue ofThe Sensational She-Hulk[17] and once again inThe Avengers.[18]
After appearing in the second volume ofAvengers which takes place in analternate universe,[19] and briefly inThunderbolts,[20] the one-shotHeroes Reborn: Masters of Evil,[21] the third volume of theAvengers,[22] and alternate universe titleExiles,[23] Radioactive Man features in the limited seriesAvengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.[24]
Chen attempts to reform and joins theThunderbolts, a team composed almost entirely of reformed supervillains.[25] During the "Civil War" storyline, the character aids heroesReed Richards andYellowjacket imposter in building a holding prison for dissenting superpowered beings, and also battles the anti-registration heroes.[26] A major development occurs in the titleThunderbolts when the group encounters theElders of the Universe memberGrandmaster; the Radioactive Man absorbs an excessive amount of radiation and is forced to wear a radiation suit at all times.[27] The radiation eventually subsides, butNorman Osborn convinces him to retain the suit to distract the American public from his clearly Asian features and quell any lingering fears about his radioactivity.[28] The Radioactive Man is featured in the one shotThunderbolts: International Incident,[29] the limited seriesAvengers/Invaders,[30] one shotKing-Size Hulk,[31] andThunderbolts: Reason In Madness[32] before appearing briefly in theSecret Invasion storyline.[33]
As part of the Thunderbolts, Radioactive Man foughtSpider-Man andAnti-Venom during theNew Ways to Die storyline; during the fight, Radioactive Man had a portion of his radiation powers drained by Anti-Venom.[34] He continued with the team however, going afterMoon Knight.[35] Radioactive Man was one ofSongbird's strongest allies within the team, often supporting her when she fought against Osborn.
After the events ofSecret Invasion, Osborn andMoonstone began the process of neutralizing the members of the Thunderbolts who oppose Osborn in his plan to exploit the invasion for his own personal agenda to gain more power. Osborn arranged for Chen to be deported back to China, leading to a bittersweet departure involving himself and Songbird.[36]
Radioactive Man reappears inThe Mighty Avengers as part ofPeople's Defense Force, China'sindigenous group of superhumans. The Radioactive Man demonstrates that at close proximity he can safely absorb the radiation of Inhuman Xerogen crystals and presumably safely absorbTerrigen Mist. However, the People's Defense Force is largely defeated by an invading entity known asThe Unspoken, a deposed former king of theInhumans. The Unspoken is defeated in China by the Mighty Avengers.[37]
During theHeroic Age storyline, a young man named Warhead appeared as a member of theBastards of Evil, claiming to be the son of Radioactive Man.[38] He has been shown to have similar powers, but killed himself in a mass explosion that killed hundreds of people.[39]
Radioactive Man later released a Chinese dragon made of magic in the Federal Bank Reserve. WhileCaptain America, Iron Man, thefemale Thor, and Vision fought the dragon,Spider-Man,Ms. Marvel, andNova encounter Radioactive Man. The senior Avengers managed to destroy the dragon, but upon reuniting with their wards, they learn they let Radioactive Man escape. The young heroes explain they were forced to leave Radioactive Man alone as there was a man that needed to be rescued. The senior Avengers are proud of what the young heroes did as heroes are meant to protect people first and foremost and welcomes them to the team.[40]
InImmortal Thor, Radioactive Man allies withGrey Gargoyle,King Cobra, andMister Hyde to attack Thor onDario Agger's behalf while maintaining his Thunderbolts status. With help fromEnchantress,Sif, andMagni, Thor defeats the villains who are taken to the Roxxon subsidiary Daedalus LLC.[41]
Featured in the fourth volume ofBlack Panther, Igor Stancheck is a Russian mutate and is one of several mercenaries (includingRhino,Batroc,Cannibal, and the VaticanBlack Knight) who invadeWakanda. The group makes an unsuccessful attempt to destroy thevibranium mound located at the heart ofBlack Panther's kingdom.[42] During this,Shuri kills Stancheck using Black Knight's Ebony Blade.[43]
Chen Lu has the ability to manipulate various forms of radiation. His powers include heat, "hard" radiation (inflicting opponents with nausea, dizziness, and extreme disorientation),EMP emissions to deactivate all machinery, and a hypnotic light.[44][45] He can absorb nuclear energies without harming his body and store those energies for personal use, such as physical amplification,wound healing,[46][47] creating energy constructs (like force fields or golems with greater strength and resilience than his own),[48] and nuclear transduction alongside the electromagnetic spectrum.[49] Radioactive Man is capable of rendering ghosts solid in mere seconds,[50] as well as breathing underwater. He can create "radiation pills" which infuse an individual with enough radioactivity to give them severe radiation sickness while spreading the contamination to a large population.[51] Radioactive Man is also an expert innuclear physics.[52] In later appearances, he must wear a containment suit to prevent his radiation from harming others.[volume & issue needed]
Green Death, a character inspired by Radioactive Man from the pocket dimension Eurth, appears inAvataars: Covenant of the Shield.[53]
An alternate universe variant of Chen Lu / Radioactive Man from a pocket dimension created byFranklin Richards appears in "Heroes Reborn" as a member ofLoki'sMasters of Evil.[54]
An alternate universe variant of Chen Lu / Radioactive Man from Earth-58163 appears inHouse of M.[55]
An unidentified alternate universe variant of Radioactive Man from Earth-2099 appears in "Marvel 2099".[56]
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