Metallo Explained

For other uses see Metallo (disambiguation).

Character Name:Metallo
Converted:y
Real Name:John Corben
Publisher:DC Comics
Debut:Action Comics #252 (May 1959)
Creators:Robert Bernstein (writer)
Al Plastino (artist)
Species:Human Cyborg
Aliases:Metal Zero (Metal-0)
Powers:Current: Bionic Surgery
  • Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability
  • Kryptonite power source
  • Imperviousness to pain
  • Hologram projection
  • Immortality

Former: Cyborg Physiology

  • Interchangeable Kryptonite
  • Computer interaction
  • Energy signature manipulation
  • Technomorphing
  • Computer brain
  • Immovability
  • Invulnerability
  • Laser vision
  • Radiation blasts
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Technological regeneration

Metallo is the name of different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of Superman.

The George Grant version of Metallo was a man in a powered suit of armor made from "the most powerful metal on Earth" as well as a "strength serum".

The John Corben version of Metallo is usually depicted as a cyborg with a Kryptonite power source in his heart which he uses as a weapon against Superman.

The Roger Corben version of Metallo was the brother of John Corben who was turned into a cyborg by the organization SKULL at the time when John was apparently killed.

In 2009, Metallo was ranked as IGN's 52nd-greatest comic book villain of all time.[1]

Publication history

There was an earlier "Metalo" who appeared in World's Finest #6 (Summer 1942). This version was a man named George Grant who discovered the most powerful metal on Earth and invented a strength serum.[2]

John Corben and Metallo first appeared in the Superman comic strip storyline "The Menace of Metallo", which ran from 15 December 1958 to 4 April 1959. The character debuted in comic books in Action Comics #252 (May 1959), in a story by Robert Bernstein and Al Plastino.[3]

The Roger Corben version of Metallo debuted in Superman #310 and was created by Curt Swan and Martin Pasko.

Fictional character biography

George Grant

Metalo (alternate spelling) is the identity of an inventor/scientist named George Grant who had built a powered suit of armor made from "the most powerful metal on Earth" as well as a "strength serum" that made him a near-match for Superman. To draw him out, Metalo captured Lois Lane. At the end of their battle, Metalo fell into a crevice to what Superman assumed would be his death. Metalo was revealed to the reader to have "narrowly escaped destruction" and vowed to take revenge.[4]

Nearly 40 years would pass before the character reappeared in print to challenge Superman again. Metalo had improved his armor and serum and also exposed Superman to a ray that reduced his power significantly, giving Metalo superior strength in their first battle. Superman engaged in a lengthy regimen of exercise and training to restore his powers and returned to easily defeat Metalo.[5] [6]

Jor-El's Robot

A different Metallo appeared as Jor-El's robot to battle Superboy.[7]

John Corben

John Corben was originally a journalist (and secretly a thief and murderer) who had just committed what he thought was the perfect murder. While fleeing from the scene of the crime, he suffered a near-fatal accident that mangled his body beyond repair.[8] An elderly scientist, Professor Vale, happened to come upon him and used his scientific skill to transfer Corben's brain into a robotic body covered by a flesh-like artificial skin.[9] Corben discovered that his power source, a capsule of uranium, would only last one day, but was told by Vale that kryptonite would provide him an indefinite power supply.[10]

After obtaining a job with the Daily Planet, Corben briefly tried to romance Lois Lane, while deciding that he would use his powers to eliminate Superman, the one person who might expose his criminal deeds. After setting a kryptonite death-trap for Superman, Corben stole what he thought was another sample of kryptonite from a museum as a new power supply, not knowing it was a fake prop; this mistake caused him to die just as he was about to kill Lois Lane for discovering that he was not Superman (as he had pretended to be, being super-strong and invulnerable as a cyborg). Superman eventually escaped from the kryptonite trap and arrived just after Metallo (John Corben) had died.[11] [12]

After John Byrne rewrote Superman's origins in the 1986 miniseries The Man of Steel, Metallo was also given an altered backstory. In this version, John Wayne Corben was a small-time con man who was fatally injured in a car crash, but thanks to luck, Professor Emmet Vale happened to pass by. Vale was a pioneer in robotics and erroneously believed that Superman was the first in a wave of superpowered Kryptonian invaders after recovering Superman's ship and mistranslating Jor-El's message to his son. Vale transplanted Corben's brain into a robotic kryptonite-powered robot body and instructed him to kill Superman. Metallo, now Corben's new moniker, thanked Vale by snapping his neck and killing him.[13]

Despite ignoring Vale's commands, Metallo came into conflict with Superman on various occasions, largely due to his continued activities as a petty thug. Metallo later lost his kryptonite heart to Lex Luthor, though back-up life support systems allowed him to reactivate himself and escape. He remained a thorn in Superman's side and was powerful enough to cripple the Doom Patrol. Still, the Indian-born hero who called herself Celsius did blow him apart with her thermal powers. Metallo later received a major upgrade via an unholy bargain with the demon Neron. As a result, Metallo could morph his body into any mechanical shape he could imagine (such as turning his hands into guns or "growing" a jet pack from his back) and project his consciousness into any technological or metallic device. He could also grow to monstrous size. During one battle, his gigantic fists were separated and later turned into housing by other superheroes. In another incident, Metallo was rendered more insane by the Joker and used his height to destroy an elevated train of commuters.

As Superman and others learned on various occasions, the most effective way to neutralize Metallo was to remove his (largely invulnerable) head and isolate it from other metallic items.

In Superman/Batman #2 (November 2003), Lex Luthor fabricated evidence implicating John Corben as the criminal who shot and killed Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne instead of Joe Chill.[14]

Superman: Secret Origin

In the 2009–10 miniseries , which retells the origins of Superman and his supporting cast, Metallo is Sgt. John Corben and serves under Lois Lane's father, General Sam Lane. General Lane is trying to push his daughter, Lois into a relationship with Corben. Though they had one date, she does not return his feelings for her. Corben is next seen signing up for a military option to neutralize Superman (ostensibly with the help of a powersuit built by LexCorp). However, in his first encounter with Superman, a stray bullet hit the Kryptonite rock inside the suit, leading to a disastrous energy cascade within the battlesuit which almost killed Corben. Through the efforts of Lex Luthor and a crack team of scientists, Corben survived, part-man, part-machine, with the Kryptonite rock functioning as his new heart. Driven by a hatred for this alien invader, he became the villain known as Metallo. Metallo, now wearing a green, orange and red armor, subsequently attacked Superman again in a rampage which endangered not only the citizens of Metropolis, but his own fellow soldiers. He was defeated by Superman once more.

The New 52

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, John Corben is under the command of General Sam Lane.[15] General Lane tells him to talk to Lois Lane, when she keeps questioning where Superman is. It is implied that Corben and Lois once had a relationship. When Superman escapes from the military's custody, Corben is seen enlisting in what appears to be a military project co-opted by Lex Luthor, General Lane, and young scientist Dr. John Henry Irons—"Project Steel Soldier"—to go against Superman.[16] Corben is seen in the experimental Metal-Zero/"Metal 0" suit with scientists, mostly Irons, trying to help him. He continues believing that he did it for the affection of Lois and when the robotic needles are in his head, Coined "Metallo", he takes control and his heart bursts, then screams "Where is Superman?"[17] Although the attack on Superman succeeds, Metallo is revealed to have been subverted by Brainiac as part of his own plans, and his rampage is defeated when Doctor Irons uses an armored suit of his own to fight Corben and upload a computer virus that he designed in the event of such a situation.[18] After escaping, and still under Brainiac's control, Corben continued to fight Superman until he was able to reason with Metallo and to fight Brainiac's influence because of his feelings for Lois Lane. In doing so, Corben attacked Brainiac until Superman could defeat the villain, but he subsequently fell into a coma and was taken back by the army.[19]

It was revealed during the "Forever Evil" storyline that the armor was keeping him alive thanks to alien technology, but without a heart he would soon die. General Lane told his scientists to find a way to save him since he helped to save Metropolis. He was later given a kryptonite heart to keep him alive since it was the only energy compatible with his cybernetics.[20] After 31 months in a vegetative state, Corben was brought back with a shard of kryptonite to active duty in the U.S. Army. Since his actions caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians, General Lane tried to kill him by exploding the plane he was being carried in. He survived and sought vengeance against Lane at his base, only to be confronted by an upgraded soldier like himself "Metal-2.0". When Corben proves too much, Metal-2.0 activates his self-destruct mechanism, hoping to destroy Corben along with himself. However, he is saved by the Scarecrow and offered a place in the Secret Society of Super Villains, now calling himself Metallo. Ultraman later rips off his kryptonite heart, because of his addiction to the mineral.[21]

Corben was eventually seen again incarcerated in John Henry's isolated super-prison, eventually drafted by the U.S. government again shortly afterwards, but is only brought back into their service by compunction from Lois once more (who was secretly under Brainiac's influence).[22] Given the present danger he represents as Doomsday was taking him over, Lois convinced Metallo to run Superman down in a kryptonite bombing run and was summarily incinerated by the blast; all that was left of him being the Metal Zero exo-mantel fused to his charred remains.[23] Lois, now completely subsumed by the Brainiac consciousness inside of her, is able to recreate Corben's essential self by downloading her memory of the man he was into what's left of the old Metal-0 suit, said facsimile of the now-deceased military sergeant a loyal echo of whom he once was, obedient to Lane's every whim.[24] He would serve as her bodyguard while Dox's influence compelled her to cripple military defense systems around the world. He would immediately switched sides once Lois is freed from the Coluan's control, however, and aided her in combating the extraterrestrial threat to their world.[25] As Superman and Lois departed to stop Brainiac, Metallo was left on Earth to defend Metropolis in their stead.[26] After the crisis is resolved, Corben is later seen standing guard over Metropolis with Krypto, seemingly contented with his current position.[27]

In the wake of Superman's identity being outed to the world as the hero began losing his powers, many an investigation was undertaken into his identity, contacts and motives by collective interests. Seeing as her life was in more danger than ever before, Metallo stuck close to his love as she went and did some investigating of her own in the meantime.[28] While Vandal Savage made his play for ultimate power, Lois and Metallo were close by on the scene where Superman kept his warship from crushing a small town. While aiding Superman, as Lois refused to leave his side during the battle with Savage's empowered progeny, John's bionic shell was badly damaged. Looking to make good with all the bad in his life, he willingly offered his kryptonite heart to Superman (the depowered hero having discovered a treatment for his loss of powers that essentially involved giving himself chemotherapy with kryptonite), knowing full well that he could not survive without it.[29]

DC Rebirth

In DC Rebirth, Metallo is briefly a member of a new version of the Superman Revenge Squad, also consisting of General Zod, Mongul, the Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, and Blanque. After Superman is temporarily blinded, they are defeated when Lex Luthor, Supergirl, Superwoman, Kong Kenan, and Steel come to Superman's aid and Zod betrays the rest of the team for his own ends. [30]

Roger Corben

Roger Corben is the brother of John Corben. This Metallo was created by a secret organization named "SKULL" that transferred Roger's brain into a new robotic body so that he could get revenge on Superman for his brother's apparent death. Like the previous Metallo, this one was also powered by kryptonite, although this newer version wore orange and green armor, as well as a green helmet to conceal the "new" identity he had created using plastic surgery (which turned out to be WGBS Staffer Martin Korda).[31]

This version of Metallo returned throughout the Bronze Age. His final appearance was featured in Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" (1986).[32]

Powers and abilities

Metallo's metallic body offers him a high degree of protection from physical and energy attacks. He has enhanced abilities and no longer needs to eat, sleep, or breathe. His brain is hermetically sealed inside a shielded alloy skull that has its own power supply. When he was first created, he was powered by a kryptonite heart; losing that, he subsisted on plutonium instead. Additionally, because of his cyborg body, Metallo possesses superhuman strength and speed, enough to pose a challenge and even a threat to opponents such as Superman (in that case, he also takes advantage of the weakening power of kryptonite besides his own strength).

Over the course of his criminal career, Metallo's body would be decimated constantly by various circumstances. As such he would receive numerous upgrades or whole new chassis' to replace his damaged parts, such as by the obscure supervillain organization Cerberus, which modified him with a vastly superior body, one with lead-lined skull-plating and an anatomic layer that even Superman could not demolish.[33] This gave him greatly enhanced strength and durability, coupled with moderate mechanical regeneration to repair internal damage.[34] He was later outfitted with a larger LexCorp tech body, which gave him laser vision and further augmented his physical abilities.[35] Soon after it was destroyed, Corben had received a new body from a fellow Kryptonite-powered supervillain Conduit; which gave Metallo radioactive blasts from his hands and could utilize geomagnetism to make him physically immovable, even by the Man of Steel, so long as he stood on solid ground or flooring within a building complex.[36]

Metallo would eventually sell his soul (or what was left of it) to the archdemon Neron in return for increased power,[37] gaining the abilities to mentally control and absorb any mechanical or metal object he focuses on and transforming any technology (himself included) into an extension of his exoskeleton (an ability similar to Cyborg Superman).

In experimenting with his newfound abilities, Metallo found he could alternate differing energy frequencies for harnessing and redistributing it from various power sources.[38] Brainiac 13 upgraded Metallo to tap into various light spectra to better utilize his kryptonite-charged abilities. His mechanical body was also upgraded to be able to grow towards monolithic proportions.[39] He is also occasionally portrayed as having a liquid metal-based endoskeleton, possessing the ability to morph parts of his body, specifically his limbs, into different weapons or tools, such as chainsaws, shovels, hammers, etc. While not a genius like Lex Luthor or Brainiac, Corben's time spent with machines has given him a gifted understanding of how they work, enabling him to tinker with their mechanical functions even before gaining his technomorphing capabilities.[40]

During the publishing of Salvation Run it is revealed Metallo also boasts a high-calculus cyber-mind with which to run the numbers of possible and probable outcomes as well as success ratios through. In the previous continuity, the Pre-Flashpoint Lex Luthor modified Corben to holster and utilize different forms of kryptonite; boasting mutagenic red-k, inverted blue-k and lastly, artificial depowering gold-k on top of the green he already possessed.[41] He could even power a great many anti-Kryptonian armaments developed by Luthor through it.[42]

Other versions

In other media

Television

Live-action

Arrowverse

Six different incarnations of Metallo appear in media set in the Arrowverse:

Animation

DC Animated Universe

The John Corben incarnation of Metallo appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), primarily voiced by Malcolm McDowell.[49]

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

Merchandise

The John Corben incarnation of Metallo received a "Collect and Connect" figure in Wave 5 of the DC Universe Classics line.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Top 100 Comic Book Villains. 2009. IGN. 2017-05-10.
  2. Book: Eury . Michael . The Krypton Companion . 2006 . TwoMorrows Publishing . 9781893905610 . 83.
  3. Book: Cowsill . Alan . Irvine . Alex . Korte . Steve . Manning . Matt . Wiacek . Win . Wilson . Sven . The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe . 2016 . DK Publishing . 978-1-4654-5357-0 . 200.
  4. World's Finest Comics #6 (Summer 1942)
  5. Superman Family #217 (April 1982)
  6. Book: Greenberger . Robert . Pasko . Martin . The Essential Superman Encyclopedia . 2010 . Del Rey . 978-0-345-50108-0 . 245.
  7. Superboy #49 (1956). DC Comics.
  8. Book: Rovin, Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Supervillains . Facts on File . 1987 . New York . 0-8160-1356-X . 217–218.
  9. Book: Fleisher . Michael L. . The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Three: Superman . 2007 . DC Comics . 978-1-4012-1389-3 . 221–223.
  10. Book: The DC Comics Encyclopedia. 2004. Dorling Kindersley Limited. 978-0-7566-0592-6. 201.
  11. Action Comics #252 (May 1959)
  12. Book: Cowsill . Alan . Irvine . Alex . Manning . Matthew K. . McAvennie . Michael . Wallace . Daniel . DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle . 2019 . DK Publishing . 978-1-4654-8578-6 . 88.
  13. Book: Greenberger . Robert . Pasko . Martin . The Essential Superman Encyclopedia . 2010 . Del Rey . 978-0-345-50108-0 . 242–244.
  14. Superman/Batman #2. DC Comics.
  15. Action Comics (vol. 2) #1 (September 2011). DC Comics.
  16. Action Comics (vol. 2) #2 (October 2011). DC Comics.
  17. Action Comics (vol. 2) #3 (November 2011). DC Comics.
  18. Action Comics (vol. 2) #4 (December 2011). DC Comics.
  19. Action Comics (vol. 2) #7 (March 2012). DC Comics.
  20. Action Comics (vol. 2) #8 (April 2012). DC Comics.
  21. Forever Evil #4. DC Comics.
  22. Action Comics (vol. 2) #31 (July 2014). DC Comics.
  23. Action Comics (vol. 2) #32 (August 2014). DC Comics.
  24. Superman/Wonder Woman #10 (September 2014), DC Comics.
  25. Action Comics Annual #3 (September 2014). DC Comics.
  26. Action Comics (vol. 2) #34 (October 2014). DC Comics.
  27. Action Comics (vol. 2) #35 (November 2014). DC Comics.
  28. Batman/Superman #23 (October 2015). DC Comics.
  29. Superman (vol. 3) #49 (April 2016). DC Comics.
  30. Action Comics #979-984. DC Comics.
  31. Superman #310 (April 1977). DC Comics.
  32. Superman #423 (1986). DC Comics.
  33. The Adventures of Superman #491 (1987). DC Comics.
  34. Action Comics #678 (1938). DC Comics.
  35. Damage #1 (1994). DC Comics.
  36. Action Comics #710 (1938). DC Comics.
  37. Steel (vol. 2) #21 (November 1995) and Underworld Unleashed #1 (November 1995). DC Comics.
  38. The Adventures of Superman #546. DC Comics.
  39. Superman: The Man of Steel #98. DC Comics.
  40. Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #10 (1987). DC Comics.
  41. Action Comics Annual #10. DC Comics.
  42. Action Comics Annual #11. DC Comics.
  43. Superman: Red Son #3. DC Comics.
  44. Justice #4. DC Comics.
  45. Superman Family Adventures #6. DC Comics.
  46. Web site: Mitovich . Matt . June 17, 2009 . Smallville Casting Exclusive: Brian Austin Green Is Metallo! - Today's News: Our Take . February 19, 2016 . TVGuide.com.
  47. Web site: Supergirl casts Superman villain Metallo — exclusive. Entertainment Weekly. Abrams. Natalie. August 30, 2016.
  48. Web site: Two Surprise Arrow-verse Characters Who Will Apparently Get Earth-X Versions In The Big Crossover. Joest. Mick. Cinema Blend. November 21, 2017. November 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171122192912/https://www.cinemablend.com/television/1728459/two-surprise-arrow-verse-characters-who-will-apparently-get-earth-x-versions-in-the-big-crossover. November 22, 2017. live.
  49. Web site: Metallo Voices (Superman) . May 23, 2024 . Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  50. Web site: Younis . Steve . June 2, 2024 . "My Adventures With Superman" Season 2, Episode 3 "Fullmetal Scientist" Review . June 2, 2024 . Superman Homepage . en-US.
  51. Web site: Harvey . James . July 28, 2009 . Menu System For "Green Lantern: First Flight - Two-Disc Special Edition" DVD Release . May 23, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090728025057/http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=502 . 2009-07-28 .
  52. Web site: Harvey . James . September 28, 2011 . Warner Home Video Announces Voice Cast For "Justice League: Doom" Animated Film . 2011-10-16. May 23, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111016033133/http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php/news.php?action=fullnews&id=1135 .
  53. Web site: Jayson . Jay . July 3, 2015 . Metallo Was Originally Planned As Villain In Man Of Steel Sequel . February 19, 2016 . Comicbook.com.
  54. Web site: Holmes . Adam . March 17, 2016 . Batman V Superman Casting Hints At Possibility Of Metallo For Future DC Comics Films . April 14, 2019 . CINEMABLEND.
  55. Web site: Harvey . James . November 22, 2023 . "Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths" Trilogy Teaser Trailer Released . November 25, 2023 . The World's Finest . en-US.
  56. Web site: Eisen . Andrew . October 4, 2013 . DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide . May 23, 2024 . IGN.
  57. Web site: Eisen . Andrew . June 9, 2014 . Characters - LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Guide . May 23, 2024 . IGN . en.
  58. Web site: Young Justice: Targets #5 - Metallic Aftertaste (Issue) . June 3, 2024 . Comic Vine . en.
  59. Web site: Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #20 - Metallo 3000 (Issue) . July 28, 2023 . Comic Vine . en.
  60. Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #1-6. DC Comics.

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