Metallo
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Metallo is a comic book supervillain and cyborg who appears in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Metallo's trademark is his kryptonite power source, which he often uses as a weapon against Superman. His traditional identity is John Corben. The character first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959).
Contents |
Character biography
The Golden Age Metalo
The Golden Age Superman battled an unnamed scientist calling himself "Metalo" (note the alternate spelling) who wore a powered suit of steel armorWorld's Finest Comics #6 (Summer 1942) in a story titled "Man of Steel Versus Man of Metal". Years later, Superman encountered the villain a second time in a story with the same title.Superman Family #217 (April 1982) Metalo, his real name now revealed as George Grant, had a new suit of armor and had also taken a serum to increase his personal strength to superhuman levels. He exposed Superman to a ray that reduced the hero's 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 easily defeated Metalo.
The Silver Age Metallo
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, Corben suffered a near-fatal accident that mangled his body beyond repair. However, elderly scientist Professor Vale happened to come upon Corben, and used his scientific skill to transfer Corben's brain into a robotic body covered by a fleshlike artificial skin. However, Corben discovered that his power source, a capsule of uranium, would only last a day, but was told by Vale that kryptonite would provide him an indefinite power supply.
After obtaining a job with the Daily Planet, Corben briefly tried to romance Lois Lane, while deciding that he'd 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 in reality a fake prop; this mistake caused him to die. Superman eventually escaped from the kryptonite trap.
A second Metallo, John's brother Roger Corben, debuted in Superman #310 (April 1977). This Metallo was created by a secret organization that transferred Roger's brain into a new robotic body, so that Roger could get revenge on Superman for his brother's death. Like the previous Metallo, this one was also powered by kryptonite.
The Modern Age Metallo
After John Byrne rewrote Superman's origins in the 1986 miniseries The Man of Steel, Metallo was also given an altered backstory.
In the current version, John Corben was a small-time con man who was fatally injured in a car crash, but to his luck Professor Emmet Vale happened to pass by. Professor Vale was a pioneer in robotics, and erroneously believed that Superman was the first in a wave of superpowered Kryptonian invaders. Vale transplanted Corben's brain into a robotic body, which was powered by a two-pound chunk of kryptonite, and instructed him to kill Superman. Metallo — the alloy his body was made of, and now Corben's new moniker — thanked Vale by snapping his neck, killing him.
Despite ignoring Vale's commands, Metallo came into conflict with Superman on various occasions, in large part 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 Metallo to reactivate himself and escape. He remained a thorn in Superman's side, and due to his sheer power no other superhero save Superman could quickly and effectively handle him although an Indian-born woman named Arani Desai who called herself Celsius blew him apart with her thermal powers. Metallo later received a major upgrade via an unholy bargain with the demon Neron. As a result, Metallo was now able to morph his body into any mechanical shape he could imagine (turning his hands into guns or "growing" a jet-pack from his back) and project his consciousness into any technology|technological or metallic device (powers very similar to those of the Cyborg Superman). He could also now grow to monstrous size. During one battle, his gigantic fists were separated and later actually turned into housing by other superheros. 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 recent comics, evidence was uncovered that implicated John Corben as the criminal who shot and killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, the parents of Bruce Wayne. This proved to be a ruse by Lex Luthor, however, orchestrated in order to lure both the Dark Knight and Superman into a "final" confrontation. More recently, Corben's mind was removed from the Metallo body, and placed into a cloned version of his original human body, by the (second, post-Crisis) Toyman, Hiro Okamura, whose family had invented the metallo alloy. Despite the fact he is once again just a man, he is still a dangerous foe to Superman. It is unknown if Corben retained any of his Neron-granted abilities.
It is widely believed that the modernized Metallo was influenced by the film The Terminator. Metallo's mechanical design, as well as his fake human skin, greatly resemble the Terminator's endoskeleton and Arnold Schwarzenegger's body.
One Year Later
One year after the events of Infinite Crisis Metallo resurfaces, now in a fully human-looking body with an enhanced titanium-alloy frame and plastisteel muscle|musculature covered with forced-growth vat-clone organics.Action Comics #837 Luthor, needing vast quantities of Kryptonite, incapacitated Metallo and removed his Kryptonite energy core (Pulling the exact same stunt on him as he had before). Luthor upgrades Metallo by placing green, blue, gold, and red kryptonite into Metallo's chest cavity.Action Comics Annual #10
When Metallo resurfaces, his new body appears to be rotting. He attempts to steal a new alloy from Waynetech to replace his skin. When he is captured, he indicates that he is working for Brainiac.Superman Batman #34 Metallo is amongst the villains in the Justice League of America Wedding Special. He was seen in Salvation Run where he was burned through by Martian Manhunter eye blasts.Sallvation Run #5 . However he can seen as the member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains.
Powers and abilities
Metallo’s metallic body offers him a high degree of protection from physical and energy attacks. He has enhanced strength, endurance and agility. Metallo 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.
Metallo sold his soul to Neron in order to gain the ability to absorb any mechanical or metal object he touches. He can transform any machine into an extension of his exo-skeleton.
Brainiac 13 upgraded Metallo to tap into light spectra and energy frequencies. Metallo also used the technology to upgrade his body to monolithic proportions.
In other media
Super Friends
One version of Metallo appeared in a single episode of the show Super Friends.
Live action
Superboy
In the second-season Superboy episode "Metallo", Roger Corben (played by Michael Callan, and using the identity of the second Pre-Crisis Metallo), a bungling bank robber, tries to rob an armored car even though he is having extreme chest pains. Superboy arrives and apprehends the bank robber, but the small time crook has a heart attack and is taken to a hospital. After being there a while, he recovers and escapes by murdering his doctor. After he leaves, he suffers another attack and his car crashes into a tree and explodes. The police presume he is dead, but journalist Clark Kent is not so sure. Meanwhile, Corben is actually alive, having fallen into the hands of a mentally-unbalanced doctor who turns him into more of a machine than human being, and replaces his failing human heart with the radioactive power source Kryptonite. The unearthly power source transforms the villain into the powerful cyborg Metallo. Metallo made several more appearances in the Superboy series, specifically in the episodes "Super Menace", "People Vs. Metallo", "Threesome" (parts 1 and 2), and "Obituary for A Super-Hero".
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
In the Lois & Clark episode Metallo, Johnny Corben was the boyfriend of Lucy Lane and, unknown to her, a petty criminal. Corben was shot when a holdup went wrong. Dr. Emmett Vale, formerly a Lexcorp scientist, rebuilt him into a Kryptonite-powered cyborg. He was played by Scott Valentine.
DC animated universe
Superman: The Animated Series
Metallo appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, and was voiced by Malcolm McDowell.
John Corben was an Australian mercenary|criminal-for-hire who was involved in a plot by Lex Luthor to sell the LEXO-SKEL SUIT 5000 to Kasnian terrorists (Luthor knew that United States Department of Defense|the Pentagon would want him to design something bigger and better to combat the suit the terrorists had "stolen"). Corben was caught by Superman and jailed, but while in jail he contracted a rare and lethal disease. Luthor offered him a chance at new life, as a cyborg, by having his mind transplanted into a robotic body; a Dr. Vale assisted in the procedure. Corben's new body, made of a revolutionary new metal called Metallo, was powered by a kryptonite "heart", which Corben was eager to use against Superman in revenge for taking him in. Metallo is also almost as strong as Superman in the series.
At first, Corben revelled in his new body, but when he learned it had no sense of touch, no way to sense even a simple kiss, the sensory deprivation drove him insane and he took to referring to himself as Metallo. When Superman later revealed to Corben that Luthor himself had arranged for Corben to get ill while in prison, Corben turned on Luthor, but in the battle he was thrown off of Lex's yacht, and his non-buoyant body sank.
Metallo walked across the ocean floor, eventually reaching the shore of a small island that Superman was helping to evacuate due to an impending volcanic eruption. Initially, Metallo had no memory of who he or Superman were, and befriended two children on the island (the son and daughter of one of the seismology|seismologists studying the eruption). Metallo eventually did regain his memory and attacked Superman. However, he was caught in the lava flow. It cooled around him, leaving only part of his head and one arm exposed, the rest trapped in rock. Unable to free himself, he began to recite his name and history to himself, so he would not forget again. Metallo was eventually rescued and repaired by Intergang, who modified him with Kryptonite Vision, and he returned to plague Superman repeatedly. He even had a battle against Steel III (John Henry Irons).
Justice League
Metallo has also appeared in an episode of Justice League as a member of the Superman Revenge Squad but was defeated by Wonder Woman and the Flash. He was voiced by Corey Burton.
Justice League Unlimited
He later returned in Justice League Unlimited as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society once more voiced by McDowell. He, along with Silver Banshee, were sent on a mission to Skartaris (an area in the center of the Earth) to obtain a large kryptonite rock, but were thwarted by the Justice League, when Supergirl removed his kryptonite power supply. He was coerced to give them information in exchange for his power source, but just before divulging the information, he was forcibly shut down by an outside source. He was taken to the Watchtower waiting so that his mind could be probed for information.
In the Superman DVD sets, the producers noted that the character was difficult to write for since his kryptonite power source would logically enable him to kill Superman easily. As a result, plots had to be carefully contrived to give the superhero believable means to fight him.
The Batman
Metallo (John Corben) also appeared in season 5 of the animated series The Batman voiced by Lex Lang. His kryptonite heart is not in his center, but in the upper left quadrant of his chest. Also, Metallo has a back-up power source and can operate without the kryptonite heart. Metallo was paid by Lex Luthor to kill Superman. Because of the Kryptonite, Superman fought a losing battle until Batman and Robin showed up. They managed to get the Kryptonite out of Metallo enough for Superman to recover. After he recovered, Superman defeated Metallo and trapped him in a hydraulic compactor, although it is said that a certain type of battery keeps him alive.
Video games
Metallo appears in Superman: Shadow of Apokolips as a final boss for Nintendo GameCube|GameCube and PlayStation 2. Most recently, Metallo has appeared in the Superman Returns (video game)|Superman Returns video game as a recurring villain throughout the game. In the game, he was able to assemble metal cars, light poles, etc. to become a larger and stronger version of himself and is one of the Bosses in the Superman: The Man of Steel (video game)|Superman XBOX video game.