Copperhead (DC Comics)

Copperhead
Copperhead's first appearance
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Brave and the Bold #78, June (1968)
Created by	Bob Haney (writer) Bob Brown (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	(I) Unknown (II) Nathan Prince
Team affiliations	(I) Secret Society of Super Villains Suicide Squad Black Lantern Corps (II) Terror Titans
Abilities	Supreme contortionist. Prehensile serpentine tail. Secretes deadly poison.

Copperhead is a DC Comics supervillain, he first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #78, June (1968) and was created by Bob Haney and Bob Brown.^[1]

Fictional character biography

"John Doe"

The criminal known as Copperhead first appeared in Gotham City in a snake costume. He committed numerous thefts before finally being apprehended by Batman and the first Batgirl. Copperhead then turned to more deadly pursuits as a super-assassin, constricting victims to a suffocating death with his costume's tail. During this time, he would become obsessive about his target and think of nothing until the target was dead, which proved to be a weakness at times as he would ignore anything he did not consider immediately relevant. Copperhead used the travel opportunities his freelance career afforded him to pursue his hobby of collecting transistor radios.

Although a master contortionist, Copperhead was largely powerless without his snakeskin costume. He later sold his soul to the demon Neron in exchange for more power, being transformed into a deadly Snake/Man hybrid.^[2][3] He was later killed by Manhunter, Kate Spencer.^[1][4]

In Blackest Night crossover, Copperhead has been identified as one of the deceased entombed below the Hall of Justice. He is listed as "John Doe", as his real name had never been discovered.^[5] He was reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps.^[6] He is destroyed by the combined efforts of seven Lanterns during the Black Lanterns attack on Coast City.^[7]

Nathan Prince

Teen Titans #56 featured a team of villains called the "Terror Titans", legacy villains whose mantles are inherited from older villains. One of the members shown is identified as Copperhead and appears visually as the character prior to the deal with Neron. The story did not reveal any information about the character or provide context with regard to previous stories.

In the subsequent Terror Titans miniseries, it is revealed that the second Copperhead's true identity is "Nathan Prince", and he is the only member of the Terror Titans who does not have a family connection to his predecessor. As a child, Nathan drowned his baby sibling out of jealousy, and even attempted to kill his parents. Unable to go through with it, he instead ran away to live on the streets, where he would solicit himself, having sex with older men, after which he would kill and rob them. It is still unknown how Prince came to work for Clock King. During The Dark Side Club's metahuman battles, the heroine TNTeena is badly injured, and Clock King tasks Copperhead with watching over her as she recuperates. Copperhead complies, and over time, falls in love with her.^[8] However, Nathan is later forced by Clock King to kill her.^[9] Nate and the rest of the Terror Titans are then sent to assist the Martyr Militia, a group of brainwashed metahumans, in destroying Los Angeles, but the tables are turned by Ravager and Miss Martian, who uses her telepathy to undo the brainwashing. The Terror Titans flee to their base, only for Clock King to kill Disruptor, and leave them to be apprehended by the metahumans. Two weeks later, Nate breaks his fellow Terror Titans out of custody, and the group swear revenge on Clock King.^[10]

Powers and abilities

Copperhead's contortionist skills allow him to fit himself into incredibly small spaces (such as chimneys). He originally wore a snake-themed costume. The suit was a weave of metallic and elastic fibers coated in vulnerable points (such as the chest) with Kevlar, making it bulletproof and impenetrable to almost any cutting edged weapon. The costume had been treated with a highly slippery water- and heat-proof silicon gel, allowing Copperhead to slide along any surface and slip out of tight spots. The tail could be stretched several feet and was strong enough to snap bone and shatter stone. The suit's helmet contained two seven-inch-long fangs which were capable of piercing human skin, and were coated in a potent neurotoxin derived from copperhead snakes. The toxin could paralyze a person almost instantly, and death would follow within 30 minutes.

Later, Copperhead sold his soul to the demon Neron and was transformed into a human-snake hybrid. His reflexes and agility were greatly increased, and he gained venomous fangs, a forked tongue, claws, and a prehensile tail.

In "Terror Titans", Clock King mentions that the second Copperhead does not have any superpowers, meaning he utilises a snake-themed suit, like the original once did.^[11]

In other media

Television

• A figure resembling Copperhead is featured in "Splicers", an episode of Batman Beyond. He has apparent snake like featues and abilities as a result of Able Cuvier's experiments with animal DNA.

• Copperhead appears in the Justice League TV series voiced by Efrain Figueroa and later voiced by Jose Yenque. He is similar to the comic version, with a poisonous bite and prehensile tail. He has been seen as a member of both Lex Luthor's and Aresia's Injustice Gang He also appears briefly in "Only a Dream" in which he fights with Hawkgirl. He is generally portrayed as an acrobatic idiot, consistently outsmarting himself in almost every appearance. He is not cowardly, however, having once mocked Superman while the latter attempted to interrogate him.

Copperhead as depicted in Justice League (TV series), and Justice League Unlimited

• Copperhead also appeared in Justice League Unlimited. He is a member of the expanded Secret Society shown on Justice League Unlimited. During the mutiny within the Secret Society, he sided against Luthor, and like the other mutineers, was subsequently both frozen solid by Killer Frost and apparently blown up by Darkseid. He appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Kids Stuff", during which Morgaine le Fey's son Mordred used an ancient amulet to transport all of the adults in the world to another dimension, so he could rule the world as king of the kids. When the spell took effect Copperhead and some other villains were fighting Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman. When they were teleported to the other dimension Copperhead believed that it was judgement day and they all went to the "bad place", though he is confused when he sees the heroes there.

• Copperhead appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Legends of the Dark Mite." He is seen robbing a museum only to be thwarted by Green Arrow.

Movies

• Copperhead appears in the animated movie Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. He is among the villains that attack Batman and Superman.

Video Games

• Copperhead appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame as one of the villains, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Toys

• Copperhead's first toy released was an action figure in the Justice League Unlimited toyline with Lex Luthor and Mirror Master. He reappeared again as a single figure with a snake as an accessory.

• Copperhead appears in Wave 12 of the DC Universe Classics line of action figures.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Beatty, Scott (2008), "Copperhead", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 87, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017 
2. ^ Underworld Unleashed #1 (November 1995)
3. ^ Damage #18 (November 1995)
4. ^ Manhunter #1 (October 2004)
5. ^ Blackest Night #1
6. ^ Blackest Night #3
7. ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #50
8. ^ Terror Titans #4
9. ^ Terror Titans #5
10. ^ Terror Titans #6
11. ^ Teen Titans #59