| Rocket Red Brigade | |
|---|---|
 Rocket Red Brigade, artistIvan Reis. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Green Lantern Corps #208 (January 1987) |
| Created by | Steve Englehart (writer) Joe Staton (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Russian Federation |
| Member(s) | Assorted Rocket Reds Rocket Red #1 Rocket Red #4 Rocket Red #7 |
TheRocket Red Brigade (Russian:Ракетная Красная Бригада,romanized: Raketnaya Krasnaya Brigada) is aDC Comicssuperhero team. They first appeared inGreen Lantern Corps #208 (January 1987), and were created bySteve Englehart andJoe Staton.[1]
Originally created for theSoviet Union byGreen LanternKilowog, the Rocket Red Brigade — normal human beings enhanced using "forcedevolution" and armoured battle-suits — proudly defended the USSR.
Their abilities included super strength, invulnerability, flight (through rocket packs/boots), the ability to project powerful energy blasts and "mecha-empathy" — the ability to sense and control computers and machines (though to what extent is not clear).
Their name is likely a play on the phrase "rocket's red glare" fromThe Star-Spangled Banner, andRed Brigade.
Decorated Russian soldierJosef Denisovich was a close friend of the alien Green LanternKilowog. He was also the first member of the Rocket Red Brigade. Josef was turned against Kilowog by the Soviet government, and died fighting Kilowog.
InCheckmate v.2 #22, it is revealed that Checkmate has since recruited the current Rocket Red # 1, CaptainMaks Chazov, as its White Queen's Knight, with the apparent consent of Chazov's Russian government superiors.
The man known asVladimir Mikoyan turned out to be a Manhunter. Vladimir was the first Rocket Red admitted intoJustice League International. During theMillennium event, he was exposed as aManhunter android and destroyed by Booster Gold (with the assistance of the Justice League and a force of other, human, Rocket Reds).
After the Manhunter was discovered, Dimitri Pushkin was admitted into theJustice League.
While serving as a member of theRed Shadows, Mikhail Denisovitch Arkadin, the Russian hero also known as Pozhar, wore a modified suit of Rocket Red armor.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, the other Rocket Reds fell on hard times. Several were brainwashed to serve as agents of the super-criminalSonar.[2] Many of the suits ended up on the black market. As seen in the pages ofChase #3 (April 1998),[3] some of the more unscrupulous Rocket Reds began working for the Russian Organizatsiya Mafiya in order to feed their families.
Later four of the suits came into the possession ofVandal Savage. He imprisoned four of theTitans,Jesse Quick,Arsenal,Tempest, and temporary memberSupergirl, in them and used them as missiles. He managed to destroy theSouth American city ofMontevideo,Uruguay though Tempest managed to save himself. The other Titans were saved as well before their respective suits could detonate.
Surviving members of the Rocket Red Brigade took their armor back from theRussian Army to fight the world prison break during the events ofVillains United. They also appeared protecting Russia's border in52, wearing new, more advanced suits of armor. They were seen again inOne Year Later protectingRussia while hindering Green LanternHal Jordan's attempt to apprehend an interstellar criminal inGreen Lantern #10. After the ensuing situation was resolved, the current Rocket Red #1 is even promoted as a possible Justice League member in the future, should the League plan to expand.Ice was hidden in a suit of Rocket Red armor during her regeneration.
InBlackest Night #3, the Rocket Reds were briefly seen in battle with Dimitri Pushkin, whose body had been reanimated as aBlack Lantern.
InJustice League of America #45, the League meets the GermanRakete-Auslese, or "Rocket Elite", who Batman notes are the German equivalent of the Rocket Reds, and use some of the same technology in their flying battlesuits.
DuringMon-El's tour of the earth, he visits Moscow and helps the Rocket Reds during a battle with Georgian terrorists. Afterwards, a female Rocket Red pilot named Ivana takes Mon on a tour ofSt. Basil's Cathedral and gives him the first kiss he's ever received from a human.[4]
The Rocket Red Brigade appears inJustice League: Generation Lost #4. One of their former number who had served under the USSR,Gavril Ivanovich, joins the members of the former Justice League International in tracking downMaxwell Lord.[5] InThe New 52 rebooted DC's continuity, Gavril is admitted into the new,United Nations-sanctioned Justice League as the official representative of Russia.[6]
The Rocket Red Brigade appears inSmallville Season 11.