COBRA
Real Name: Piet Voorhees
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Criminal
Group Membership: Dr. Henry Pym's Lethal Legion (Black Ant/Eric O'Grady LMD, Blizzard/Donald Gill, Bullet/Buck Cashman, Lodestone/Andrea Haggard, Mortar/Liana Feeser, Oddball/Orville Bock, Piecemeal, Speed Demon/James Sanders, Sunstroke/Sol Brodstroke, Supercharger/Ronald Hilliard);
formerly Savage Six (Rhino/Aleksei Sytsevich, Scorpion/Mac Gargan, Stegron, Tarantula/Anton Rodriguez, Vulture/Adrian Toomes), Hydra High Council (Armadillo/Antonio Rodriguez, Baron Blood/John Falsworth, Barzon Zemo/Helmut Zemo, Batroc the Leaper/Georges Batroc, Crossbones/Brock Rumlow, Sin/Sinthea Shmidt, Taskmaster/Tony Masters, Viper/Ophelia Sarkissian), Serpent Squad (Eel/Edward Lavell, Sin, Viper/Leon Murtaugh)
Affiliations: Chaeyi, Crossbones,
Eddie, Hydra Queen (Grace), Lucas, Mark Twelve (Ultron Mark Twelve), Dr. Henry Pym, Yakuza (Sano Orii);
formerly Ultron
Enemies: Arcade, Black Ant, Black Widow (Natasha
Romanova), Luke Cage, Captain America (Sam Wilson), Captain America (James Barnes), Sharon Carter,
Daredevil/Iron Fist (Danny Rand), Deadpool, Sonny Diperna, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), H.E.R.B.I.E., Kangaroo (Brian Hibbs), Kindred (Harry Osborn clone), Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff), Master Matrix, Misty Knight (Mercedes Knight), Mysterio/Cage McKnight (Quentin Beck), Nomad (Ian Rogers),
Screwball, Shark Girl (Iara Dos Santos), S.H.I.E.L.D., Sinister Six (Doctor Octopus/Otto Octavius, Electro/Max Dillon, Kraven the Hunter, Lizard, Mysterio/Quentin Beck, Sandman/William Baker), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Sunspot (Roberto da Costa), Superior Foes (Boomerang/Fred Myers, Hydro-Man/Morris Bench, Overdrive/James Beverly, Shocker/Herman Schultz, Speed Demon/James Sanders), Syndicate (Beetle/Janice Lincoln, Electro/Francine Frye, Ana Kraven, Lady Octopus/Carolyn Trainer, Scorpia/Elaine Coll, Trapstr, White Rabbit/Lorina Dodson), Taskmaster, Ultron,
Mary Jane Watson, White Tiger (Angela Del Toro),
Wild Pack (Black Ant/Eric O'Grady LMD, Chance/Nick Powell, Foreigner, Jack O'Lantern, Slyde, Taskmaster/Tony Masters);
formerly Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Avengers Inc. ("Victor Shade" aka. Ultron Mark Twelve, possessing Whirlwind/David Cannon, Janet Van Dyne), Luke Cage, Stinger (Cassie Lang), Valkyrie (Jane Foster), Vision, Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne)
Known Relatives: Klaus Voorhees (King Cobra, uncle)
Aliases: King Cobra
Base of Operations: Variable
First Appearance: White Tiger#1 (January, 2006)
Powers/Abilities: The Cobra, due to his injection of irradiated snake venom, is able to contort his body into small spaces, possessing a certain amount of elasticity. He also has enhanced senses, a bite that injects venom that can kill others within minutes, and the ability to project his venom through spit. He wears body armor that can protect him from some injury.
Height: 6'
Weight: 200 lbs.
History:
(White Tiger#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Cobra, Klaus Voorhees, injected his nephew, Piet, with irradiated venom and turned him into the new super-powered Cobra. Cobra, with his powers of poisonous venom, flexible bones, restricting squeezes, and an enhanced sense of smell, hired himself out as an high level mercenary. He worked in southeast Asia, Bosnia, Central Asia, and Chechnya, where he delivered weapons to the rebels in exchange for diamonds. Cobra was hired by the Chaeyi to aid them in setting up American holdings. Working under Karlson, Cobra was sent with Eddie and others to secure authentic green cards and passports from Sano Orii, of the Yakuza.
(White Tiger#1) - The transfer was interrupted by fledgling hero the White Tiger (Angela Del Toro), who made off with a portion of the documents before bounding off with Daredevil (Danny Rand). Karlson and Cobra confronted Sano, blaming him for the failure. Karlson assigned Cobra to find the woman assailant and test her out, and ordered Sano to bring in another shipment without failure. Cobra staked out Eddie's garage until the White Tiger, in a new costume, arrived. He eagerly battled her and they traded several blows, White Tiger even managing to evade his poisonous spit. After a time, Sano called Cobra to come with him for their mission. White Tiger jumped on the car, breaking a window with a crowbar, but Sano threw her off while driving.
(White Tiger#2) - While Cobra watched, Sano sparred with Eddie, furious with him about another loss to White Tiger. He agreed to give Eddie another chance, but beheaded one of Eddie's friends as payment. Sano, with Cobra behind, later went to the Genosha Club and flirted with Amy. The dance was interrupted by Angela Del Toro, former partner of Driver. The two of them briefly sparred before Del Toro left. Cobra wondered if he smelled White Tiger in the room, but couldn't tell because of all the perfume.
(White Tiger#3 (fb)) - Sano watched from his car, with Cobra, as several of the Yakuza were arrested. He had some costumed cops cover up the battle scene, and grew furious when NYPD cops, including Adam, started investigating. In revenge, he had Adam transferred to another unit through his connections.
(White Tiger#3) - Cobra attacked White Tiger outside of Club Tokyo and managed to wrap himself around her and burn her shoulder with venom during their fight. She knocked him off a building, but he wrapped himself around a ladder easily. He ran off when he was summoned by the Chaeyi.
(White Tiger#4) - Sano and Cobra went to collect the documents from Jessup Tyne when White Tiger attacked again. Sano killed Tyne then fired on White Tiger, but Cobra demanded that Sano leave with the documents, promising to attack him if they were lost. White Tiger threw dirt in Cobra's eyes and they kept battling. When Cobra found out she knew about the Chaeyi, he bit her, intending for his poison to kill her within minutes, then he fled when the police arrived.
(White Tiger#5) - Sano and Cobra delivered guns to Eddie that evening as part of their bargain. Cobra was annoyed at the smell of Eddie's cigar.
(White Tiger#6) - Cobra
stood by while Sano and Kenzo Orii prepared to collect the completed Chaeyi
documents from Eddie and his gang. White Tiger, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Power
Man (Luke Cage), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), and Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) then
attacked. Cobra traded blows with White Tiger, hit Power Man with his venom,
then fled. Karlson and Cobra later hired Omega Red to take down White Tiger.
(Captain America V#28) - Donning his uncle's costume Cobra was recruited by Sin (daughter of the Red Skull) to serve in the new Serpent Squad alongside Eel and a new Viper. They attacked a stock market facility in Chinatown, killing everyone they came across. They soon breached a SHIELD facility and killed the agents there. They disguised themselves in SHIELD uniforms, using holographic technology to further disguise their appearances. Sin informed them they were there to rescue Crossbones.
(Captain America V#29 (fb)) - The Serpent Squad worked their way through the SHIELD facility, killing several agents. They liberated Crossbones, who greeted Sin with a kiss, and departed.
(Captain America V#35) - Sin led the Serpent Squad in an attack on the White House, while a riot organized by the Red Skull raged outside. They broke in only to be attacked by the new Captain America (James Barnes).
(Captain America V#36) - Captain America defeated the Serpent Squad. Leaving Crossbones behind, Cobra escaped with a heavily injured Sin in a helicopter. He reported the incident to Red Skull, who had a good laugh hearing about the new Captain America.
(Captain America VI#8 - BTS) - Following their release or escape, the Serpent Squad were hired by the Hydra Queen (although they were unaware of the identity of their employer) to use Madbombs to cause a huge riot in New York City. They had been told that Captain America wouldn't be a threat as he had been depowered and they could use the opportunity to loot the city.
(Captain America VI#6) - Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Hawkeye located the Madbomb but before they could try to disarm it, Captain America had his super-soldier serum rendered inert and Hawkeye was stunned by a blast of electricity from the Eel. The Squad then beat down Cap, knocking him unconscious.
(Captain America VI#7) - The Serpent Squad left the defeated heroes and committed robberies across New York City whilst people rioted due to the Madbomb. The following day, another riot broke out in New York City and the Serpent Squad attacked another bank with Cobra attacking the bank manager. As the Squad threatened to set off another Madbomb inside the bank unless the manager opened the safe, Captain America and Sharon Carter arrived with Cap knocking the Madbomb from Cobra's hand.
(Captain America VI#8) - As the Squad attacked, Cobra caught Cap's shield but was knocked out by him anyway soon thereafter. Sharon Carter later interrogated Cobra, but he couldn't reveal his employers because he had never even met them. He was pretty angry at them because they lied to them about how long Cap would be weakened. He also revealed the Serpent Squad were hired to be a distraction.
(All-New Captain America#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point King Cobra joined Hydra under Baron Zemo's leadership.
(All-New Captain America#1) - Baron Blood was at a meeting in Bagalia with Baron Zemo, Armadillo, Crossbones, King Cobra, Sin, Taskmaster and Viper. They were just discussing the new Captain America (Sam Wilson), when he arrived at their meeting place using Hydra's teleporting Infinite Elevator alongside Nomad (Ian Rogers) and Lucas, whom the duo had just saved from Hydra. Zemo welcomed Cap with his allies assembled behind him.
(All-New Captain America#2) - Baron Blood fought Cap and Nomad alongside the other villains until Nomad told Cap he could take care of the villains himself and Cap should take Lucas to safety. Nomad was captured by Zemo and his crew while Lucas, who turned out to be a Hydra agent himself, returned to Zemo after shooting Cap in the shoulder. Cobra and the others left Zemo's Bagalia base with several canisters of Lucas' blood, taking the Infinite Elevator to bring the blood to locations all over the world as part of their plan to spread the blood through bombs.
(All-New Captain America#4 (fb) - BTS) - Armadillo and King Cobra hid a canister of Lucas' blood in a crop duster somewhere in India.
(All-New Captain America#4) - Captain America (Wilson) found Armadillo in a slum in India and attacked him. During the fight King Cobra attacked Wilson from behind and threatened to break all his bones, but Armadillo turned on King Cobra and knocked him out.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Amazing Spider-Man V#13 (fb) - BTS) - King Cobra was apprehended by Taskmaster and Black Ant.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#13) - King Cobra was kept in a cage with Stegron, Tarantula, Vulture, and Scorpion.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#16) - King Cobra was introduced as a member of the Savage Six with fellow captives Tarantula, Vulture, Stegron, Scorpion, and Rhino, by Arcade and Kraven the Hunter at a party full of rich men, who were told they could hunt the criminals.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#17) - King Cobra woke up captive in Central Park among dozens of super-villains and Spider-Man, with armed hunters after them all.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#18) - The villains realized they were trapped as the Hunter Bots closed in.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#19) - King Cobra and other villains agreed to follow the Vulture when he had a plan to disable the Hunter-Bots.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#20.HU) - Owl saw Vulture kill the first of the hunters and the villains began attacking directly.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#22) - Owl and the others killed more Hunter-Bots until the system shut down and they were freed; Vulture claimed the victory.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#23) - After the police arrested the surviving villains, the Savage Six chose to stay banded together.
(Amazing Mary-Jane I#1) - King Cobra, with the Savage Six, made plans to attack the movie set of Cage McKnight's new film about Mysterio.
(Amazing Mary-Jane I#2) - The Savage Six attacked the set of the film.
(Amazing Mary-Jane I#3) - King Cobra tossed poison pellets to destroy parts of the set, but Mysterio soon tricked them into marching away, using his illusion technology.
(Amazing Mary-Jane I#4) - After questioning a reporter about the location of the new movie set, the Savage Six waited for days to find the new movie set. They later found actor Charlie, and demanded he reveal the location of the set.
(Amazing Mary-Jane I#5) - The Savage Six attacked the movie set, where Mary Jane Watson managed to hold them off on her own; she unleashed robots of the original X-Men against King Cobra. The rest of the crew attacked, including Cage McKnight (Mysterio), Sonny Diperna, Master Matrix, Kangaroo, Mallory, H.E.R.B.I.E., and Screwball. The Savage Six were overwhelmed and fled.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#70) - King Cobra remained with the Savage Six.
(Sinister Six I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Kindred put centipedes in the brains of the villains, forcing them to fight Spider-Man and threatening to destroy them if they didn't.
(Sinister War I#1) - The Savage Six attacked the premiere of Mysterio's movie, with Cobra battling Spider-Man directly when the hero arrived. The Sinister Six then attacked and the two groups began sparring.
(Sinister Six I#2) - The Savage Six continued fighting the Sinister Six, with villain groups, the Wild Pack, the Syndicate, and the Superior Foes getting involved.
(Sinister War I#3) - The chaotic battle continued, with King Cobra wrapping himself around Lizard in the fight.
(Sinister War I#4) - The battle ended when Dr. Octopus disrupted the centipedes in the brains of the villains, who all collapsed, and Spider-Man escaped.
(X-Men Red II#16/2 (fb) - BTS) - Back in his original costume Piet Voorhees moved to South America and found a base in the caverns under the Isle of Snakes. He gathered a cult-like Serpent Society, civilians who would pledge themselves to Set, and planned to change them into snake-men to serve him. He also protected the island against poachers, who were after the snake's venom, and killed some of them.
(X-Men Red II#16/2) - As King Cobra gave the cult members a potion to drink, some vomited up blood and died while others changed into snake-men. Sunspot and Shark Girl attacked, and defeated them. After Piet revealed that he was also protecting the island's snakes against poachers, Sunspot and Shark Girl scared off the poachers.
(Avengers Inc.#5 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Henry Pym, still partially influenced by Ultron, created robotic ants with each possessing part of Ultron's code inside them. He sent these ants to a list of criminals, including King Cobra, to temporarily place them in a state of seeming death and play a sound file that made it seem like they were victims of the Scourge of the Underworld. As a consultant coroner Pym then picked up King Cobra and gained his cooperation after he regained consciousness 40 hours after his seeming demise. He became part of Pym's new Lethal Legion, who were assembled to destroy Ultron. He was unaware that Pym had actually been duped by Ultron into creating the team so Ultron could use their bodies as hosts.
(Avengers Inc.#4) - Avengers Inc. (Janet Van Dyne and "Victor Shade") and Moon Knight found Pym's hideout and were introduced to his new Lethal Legion, including King Cobra. In front of the Lethal Legion "Shade" seemingly turned on Pym by sticking his arm through him because "Shade" was Ultron.
(Avengers Inc.#5) - "Shade" aka. Ultron Mark Twelve purged Pym's system from Ultron's code because he felt that Ultron was sending a signal to take him over. He couldn't prevent the takover of the assembled Lethal Legion, including King Cobra. Vision, Valkyrie (Jane Foster), Luke Cage, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Stinger (Cassie Lang) and Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne) joined the battle against the Lethal Legion. King Cobra was beate up by Moon Knight, but was soon back on his feet. He was ultimately purged of the Ultron code by Ultron Mark Twelve to free him. King Cobra was the first of the Lethal Legion to get that Ultron was still out there and dangerous and was ready to go with Pym wherever he takes them. Because the threat was still not over Pym took the Lethal Legion to Sub-Atomica to keep planning the destruction of Ultron.
Comments: Created by Tamora Pierce, Timothy Liebe, Phil Briones, and Don Hillsman.
It was revealed in OHotMU A-Z Hardcover#3 that Piet is the Cobra in Sin's Serpent Squad.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Cobra
has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update#3, p62, pan1 (main)
White Tiger#3, p11, pan2 (2nd)
White Tiger#6, p16, pan4 (3rd)
Captain America V#28, p6, pan3 (as King Cobra)
All-New Captain America#4, p10, pan1 (vs. Armadillo)
Amazing Mary Jane#4, p14 (with Savage Six)
Appearances:
White Tiger#1-6 (January-June, 2006) - Tamora Pierce,
Timothy Liebe (writers), Phil Briones (penciler), Don Hillsman (inker), Ruwan
Jayatilleke (editor)
Captain America V#28-29 (September-October, 2007) - Ed Brubaker
(writer), Steve Epting, Mike Perkins (pencilers/inkers), Tom Brevoort
(editor)
Captain America V#35-36 (April-May, 2008) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Butch
Guice (penciler/inker), Mike Perkins (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Captain America VI#6 (February, 2012) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Captain America VI#7 (March, 2012) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Captain America VI#8 (April, 2012) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
All-New Captain America#1-2 (January-February, 2015) - Rick Remender
(writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Tom
Brevoort (editor)
All-New Captain America#4 (May-June, 2015) - Rick Remender (writer),
Stuart Immonen (pencils), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Tom Brevoort
(editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#13 (March, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ryan Ottley (penciler), Cliff Rathburn (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#16 (April, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ryan Ottley, Alberto Alburquerque (pencilers), Cliff Rathburn (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#17-18 (June, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Humberto Ramos (penciler), Victor Olazaba (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#19 (June, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Gerardo Sandoval (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#20.HU (July, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Cory Smith (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#22 (July, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Humberto Ramos (penciler), Victor Olazaba (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#23 (July 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ryan Ottley (penciler), Cliff Rathburn (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Mary-Jane I#1-5 (December, 2019 - April, 2020) - Leah Williams (writer), Carlos Gomez (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#70 (September, 2021) - Nick Spencer (writer), Federico Vicentini (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
Sinister War I#1 (September, 2021) - Nick Spencer (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), Andrew Hennessy, John Dell, Andy Owens (inkers), Nick Lowe (editor)
Sinister War I#2 (October, 2021) - Nick Spencer & Ed Brisson (writers), Mark Bagley, Dioegenes Neves, Carlos Gomez, Ze Carlos (pencilers), Andrew Hennessy, John Dell, Andy Owens (inkers), Nick Lowe (editor)
Sinister War I#3 (October, 2021) - Nick Spencer & Ed Brisson (writers), Mark Bagley, Carlos Gomez, Ze Carlos (pencilers), Andrew Hennessy, Andy Owens, John Del (inkers), Nick Lowe (editor)
Sinister War I#4 (October, 2021) - Nick Spencer & Ed Brisson (writers), Mark Bagley, Diogenes Neves, Marcelo Ferreira (pencilers), Andrew Hennessy, Andy Owens (inkers), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men Red II#16/2 (December, 2023) - Raphael Dracoon & Carolina Munhoz (writers), Marcelo Costa (artist), Jordan White (editor)
Avengers Inc.#4-5 (February-March, 2024) - Al Ewing (writer), Leonard Kirk (Artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 02/27/2008
Last updated: 03/08/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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