| 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.
Decorated Russian soldierJosef Denisovich was a close friend of the alien Green LanternKilowog. He was also the first member of the Rocket Red Brigade. Denisovich was turned against Kilowog by the Soviet government and died fighting him.[2]
InCheckmate #22, it is revealed that Checkmate has since recruited the current Rocket Red #1,Maks Chazov, as its White Queen's Knight, with the apparent consent of Chazov's superiors.[3]
Vladimir Mikoyan was the first Rocket Red admitted intoJustice League International. During theMillennium event, Mikoyan was discovered to be an undercoverManhunter android and destroyed byBooster Gold and the Justice League.[4]
Mikhail Arkadin, the Russian hero also known as Pozhar, wore a modified suit of Rocket Red armor while serving as a member of theRed Shadows.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, the other Rocket Reds fell on hard times. Several were brainwashed to serve as agents of the super-criminalSonar.[5] Many of the suits ended up on the black market. Some of the Rocket Reds began working for theRussian mafia to support themselves.[6]
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 promoted as a possible Justice League member in the future, should the League plan to expand.
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 visitsMoscow and helps the Rocket Reds during a battle withGeorgian terrorists. Afterwards, a female Rocket Red pilot named Ivana takes Mon-El on a tour ofSaint Basil's Cathedral and gives him the first kiss he's ever received from a human.[7]
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.[8] InThe New 52 continuity reboot, Ivanovich joins the Justice League as a representative of Russia.[9]
The Rocket Red Brigade appears inSmallville Season 11.