Radioactive Man (comics)

Radioactive Man
File:NTBOLT009.jpg Cover to New Thunderbolts #9. Art by Tom Grummett.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Journey into Mystery Vol. 1 #93
Created by	Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Chen Lu
Team affiliations	Thunderbolts, Masters of Evil I,II, and III, Titanic Three
Abilities	Radiokinesis, allowing him to manipulate radiation along the electromagnetic spectrum

Not to be confused with the meta-fictional character from The Simpsons, Radioactive Man (The Simpsons character)

Radioactive Man is a fictional supervillain turned superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. He was created by writer Stan Lee and penciller Jack Kirby, debuting in Journey into Mystery vol. 1 #93 (June 1963).

Character history

Before his life as a superpowered being, Radioactive Man was Doctor Chen Lu, a nuclear physicist in the People's Republic of China. He and many other Chinese scientists and military strategists were called upon to devise a way for the PRC government to avenge itself against Thor, who thwarted their invasion of India.

Lu proposed to induce superpowers into a normal human through radiation. His motives were more than just towards aiding his government. Lu harbored secret desires of world conquest. With this in mind, he volunteered to undergo the radiation process (which he had spent several months building an immunity to the harmful side effects) and being the PRC's weapon against Thor. Lu bombarded his body with massive doses of a specific-particle radiation, which had a mutating effect on his body. After displaying his new found powers and impressing his superiors, Chen Lu, now calling himself Radioactive Man, travelled to New York City to do battle with Thor.

Unfortunately for Chen, the battle ended in his defeat. With everyone believing him dead, he went into hiding, where he remained until being located by Baron Zemo, who convinced him to join the original Masters of Evil, working with others against the Avengers. Many years later, he joined a reincarnation of the group formed by the villainous android Ultron. Defeated at the hands of the Avengers, Chen was imprisoned in a cell designed specifically to contain his powers.

This cell failed to contain Radioactive Man and he escaped to Vietnam. Afterwards, he formed a shortlived team with Soviet armored villains Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo called the Titanic Three, and acted as free agent crimefighters in Vietnam. For unknown reasons, the three parted ways and Chen joined yet another incarnation of the Masters of Evil at the behest of Egghead, once against tasting defeat at the hands of Henry Pym. This time, Lu was deported back to China. During his time in China, he was reported to have worked for the Iron Man villain, Mandarin.

Eventually, he would attempt to reform and joined the Thunderbolts, a team of reformed supervillains, after defeating a group called the Fathom Five.

Powers and Abilities

The Radioactive Man can absorb and manipulate radiation to physical strength, and he is capable of holding his own against such powerful enemies as Thor and Namor the Sub-Mariner when fully energized. He can form force-fields that are powerful enough to deflect Thor's hammer, and can project withering radioactive energy blasts.

Trivia

• Radioactive Man keeps count of all the people that have died from his radioactive powers.
• While Chen Lu is working with the Thunderbolts, a second Radioactive Man, Russian in origin, was revealed to have been involved in a failed invasion of Wakanda.
• Radioactive Man is the only founding member of the Masters of Evil who is still alive
• Radioactive Man is overtly identified as a Buddhist in the Thunderbolts comic book series. His teammates sometimes call him "Buddha" and joke about rubbing his belly for good luck, apparently in reference to his appearance as well as his religious affiliation.

Appearances in other media

Television

Radioactive Man appeared with the Masters of Evil in the Captain America portion of The Marvel Superheroes Show.

Videogames

Radioactive Man will appear in the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, where he will be one of the bosses of the game.

External link

• Marvel Database entry