Roger Corben (Earth-One)

Roger Corben was the brother of John Corben, the first Metallo.

History

Roger Corben joined SKULL as a field operative in the hope of exacting revenge on Superman for his brother John's death. Roger was sent on a mission to steal samples of artificially created elements from S.T.A.R. Labs that could be used to sythesize Kryptonite. Unbeknownst to Roger, his superiors planned to engineer a falling debris "accident" to befall him during the ensuing standoff with Superman and the authorities, crushing his human body beyond repair. SKULL rebuilt Roger as a cyborg and powered him with synthetic Kryptonite, essentially creating a new Metallo. The leaders of SKULL encouraged Roger to blame Superman for his loss of humanity, giving Roger more reason to want Superman dead. SKULL later kidnapped Steve Lombard and held him hostage at a sports arena to compel Superman to face Metallo in battle. The Man of Steel prevailed by pushing the limits of Metallo's cybernetic body, but Roger refused to admit defeat, choosing to flip a suicide-switch that shut his body's internal mechanics down and apparently killed him. In actuality, Metallo merely entered a temporary coma and reactivated in the morgue later that night while nobody was around.^[1]

After going into hiding, Roger realized that SKULL was responsible for destroying his human body and had turned him into Metallo in the hope that he would be their compliant weapon. Instead, Metallo turned his vengeance upon SKULL itself, stealing a matter-transporter ray from SKULL's industrial spy, treacherous S.T.A.R. Labs director Albert Michaels. Metallo went on a killing spree with the matter-transporter, substituting the hearts of miscellaneous SKULL agents with phosphorescent green fake-Kryptonite rocks. When Jenet Klyburn summoned Superman to explain the deaths, Superman immediately recognized that the Kryptonite-heart symbolism indicated Metallo's involvement and checked with the city morgue to confirm that Roger Corben had "returned from the dead." Meanwhile, Metallo kidnapped and impersonated Martin H. Korda, the new associate producer of WGBS-TV, providing a cover for his activities while he plotted to work up to murdering Superman himself. In preparation, Metallo embarked on a campaign to locate and collect samples of Green Kryptonite, newly fallen to Earth from space in small quantities, utilizing SKULL's own Kryptonite Pipeline operation to direct his search. After eliminating SKULL, Metallo's endgame was to use the matter-transporter to substitute his cybernetic body's Kryptonite heart with Superman's biological heart, believing that the contribution from Superman's alien physiology would augment his capabilities. Ultimately, Superman deduced Metallo's plans and defeated him by generating a radio frequency that jammed Metallo's electronics and brought him to collapse.^[2][3][4]

Metallo was subsequently incarcerated in the Mount Olympus Correctional Facility, where architect and warden Carl Draper had designed a cell especially to keep Metallo in check. When Draper had his own criminal conversion as the Master Jailer, he used the power-packs of the super-villain inmates' cells to duplicate their powers, including Metallo's ability to emit Kryptonite radiation.^[5] Metallo broke out of prison during a jailbreak orchestrated by Master Jailer, but he was soon recaptured by Superman.^[6]

Metallo followed Lois Lane to Gotham City to track down Dr. John Cranshaw, one of the SKULL scientists involved in the procedure that created him. Lois had been contacted by Cranshaw to discuss his surrender to the authorities for his own protection from Metallo's wrath. Instead, Metallo used Lois to draw Cranshaw out into the open and captured him. Batman attempted to stop Metallo, only to be incapacitated with a modified version of his Kryptonite ray and taken captive with Cranshaw. Metallo revealed that a defect in his robot body's construction had caused a radiation leak that threatened to take his life and that he needed Cranshaw to repair the defect for his own survival. Cranshaw repaired Metallo's body but sabotaged his Kryptonite ray, allowing Batman to capture him.^[7]

After two years of imprisonment, Metallo was broken out of Superman Island again by his gang, who followed instructions Metallo left behind to simulate a controlled black hole using Kryptonite radiation. Metallo subsequently replaced his Kryptonite heart with the anti-gravity field containing the miniature black hole, giving himself power over gravitational forces. Superman and Batman pursued Metallo and his gang as they went on a crime spree through Gotham City. However, the controls stabilizing the anti-gravity field were smashed during the ensuing battle in Metallo's lair, apparently causing Metallo to be killed by his own black hole.^[8]

Metallo challenged Superman numerous times over the years, as well as the likes of Batman and Blue Devil.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Cybernetic Enhancement^[1]
  • Superhuman Strength^[1]
  • Superhuman Stamina^[1]
  • Superhuman Speed^[1]
  • Energy Projection: Powered by a chunk of Kryptonite which replaced his heart, the radiation from which could weaken or even kill Superman.^[1]

Abilities

• Medical Science^[4]
• Robotic Engineering^[4]

Weaknesses

• Kryptonite Dependancy
• Technological Reliability
  

Paraphernalia

Transportation

• SKULL Jet-Scooter

Notes

• This version of Metallo, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
  

Trivia

• Three man made radioactive elements made up the Synthetic Kryptonite for Metallo's heart these were Einsteinium, Nobelium and an unnamed element. Each of the elements were stolen from a different S.T.A.R. Labs location.^[1]
• After Infinite Crisis, the history of the New Earth John Corben was rewritten and his first appearance as Metallo in the post-Infinite Crisis/pre-Flashpoint continuity had him wearing a costume nearly identical to that of the Earth-One Roger Corben.

Related

• 13 Appearances of Roger Corben (Earth-One)
• 3 Images featuring Roger Corben (Earth-One)
• 2 Quotations by or about Roger Corben (Earth-One)
• Character Gallery: Roger Corben (Earth-One)

External Links

• Metallo at Wikipedia.org

Footnotes

Superman Villain(s) This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."