bradley_nicola-fullbradley_nicola-generator-effectsDr. NICOLA BRADLEY

Real Name: Nicola "Nic" Bradley

Identity/Class: Human (late 19th century and early 20th century)

Occupation: Inventor, scientist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: X-Club (James Bradley/Dr. Nemesis, Madison Jeffries, Dr. Kavita Rao, Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi), X-Men (Hank McCoy/Beast, Warren Worthington/Angel, Betsy Braddock/Psylocke);
    Cornelius Shaw posed as an ally and financed him

Enemies: Hellfire Club-San Francisco chapter circa 1906 (Lord Molyneux, Salome, League of Sensitives/Seers), Sentinel of Hellfire Club-San Francisco circa 1906

Known Relatives: Catherine Bradley (wife, deceased), James Bradley (Dr. Nemesis, son);
    John Price (father-in-law, presumably deceased), Mary Price (mother-in-law, presumably deceased)

Aliases: "You sad little man," "You walking punchline" (insults from Cornelius Shaw);
    "Worm" (insult from Salome)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly used an office in Telegraph Hill and had a home in the Mission District, San Francisco, California

Education: Presumably Ph.D. in engineering and/or physics or similar fields

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men#512 (August, 2009)

Powers/Abilities: Nicola Bradley was a genius inventor, able to create a generator-battery to produce vast amounts of electricity, far in excess of anything else available at the time.

    Their home was full of little gimmicks, presumably of his creation, such as his advanced viewer.bradley_nicola-face

    He seemed to occasionally experience visions or leaps of logic that enabled him to achieve fantastic inventions.

    It might be speculated that Nicola was a low-level mutant.

    He was highly altruistic, hoping to provide power free to all who needed it.

    Obsessed with his work, Nicola was typically defended by his wife, Catherine, a skilled warrior and a master of the advanced technology they possessed.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 145 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black (including moustache and goatee)

History:

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Inventor Dr. Nicola Bradley worked to develop a generator-battery that would provide "nearly infinite and wholly inexpensive wireless electricity" free and unfettered to all who needed it. He worked out of an office in Telegraph Hill and lived with his wife, Catherine, in their house in the Mission District. He apparently took the device home and worked on it there as well.

    With Nicola constantly driven with his work, Catherine took care of him.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking a power source for their large, robotic Sentinel with which they intended to exterminate "overmen" (mutants), the Hellfire Club, under the direction of Lord Molyneux, targeted Dr. Bradley to produce that source. Working alongside his agent Salome, Cornelius Shaw met with and bankrolled Bradley, investing thousands of dollars and allowing untold hours in his efforts.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - As his work never seemed to be done, and results proved to be elusive, Nicola slept less and less, despite being exhausted.

    He could see the finished product in his head, imagining every piece, every screw; he could trace the flow of power and visualize his generator-battery working; however, he could not make it work.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Frustrated with Nicola's lack of results, Cornelius sent a quartet of Hellfire Club agents (who had been gathered by Salome) to ambush Nicola in his office in Telegraph Hill and steal the device.bradley_nicola-generator-conception

(Uncanny X-Men#512) <1906> - As Nicola dozed off while working, the Hellfire Club agents prepared to ambush him, Nicola's wife, Catherine, entered the room and took out the four men with some sort of energy blaster.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Nicola and Catherine rushed back to their home and contacted Cornelius Shaw immediately. Not wanting any additional attention, they did not contact the authorities.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) <April 18, 1906> - The following morning, Cornelius and Salome met with Nicola and Catherine Bradley in their home, telling their seeming benefactors of their encounter. Cornelius asked about the device's location, and Nicola assured him it was safe. Nicola apoligized for the time it was taking him to complete the generator-battery, but Cornelius told Nicola and Catherine that their safety and that of the device was all that mattered, and that he knew Nicola would succeed; he could take all the time he needed, as they were talking about revolutionizing the way the entire world worked, and it would all be worth it in the end when he succeeded. Cornelius finally assured Nicola that his organization was delighted to continue funding him, and that he should just breathe deep, collect himself, and get the job done.

    They were interrupted as Catherine -- having seen them via an advanced viewing device of her or his or her parents -- informed them of the approach of unidentified parties: Hank McCoy/Beast, Warren Worthington/Angel, Betsy Braddock/Psylocke, James Bradley/Dr. Nemesis, Madison Jeffries, Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, and Dr. Kavita Rao, having traveled from over 100 years in the future in hopes of gaining blood samples from Nicola and Catherine Bradley as homo superior mutantkind had seemed to increase markedly in number around that point in time; they were specifically chosen as they were James Bradley's parents.

    Catherine confronted the visitors at gunpoint and -- not giving them a chance to explain their intentions -- insisted upon their departure, after which they left peacefully.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 - BTS) - However, upon departing, Cornelius expressed his disgust for Nicola to Salome, spitting on the ground and then mocking Nicola's idealistic goals before noting that for such a brilliant man, he was quite possibly the dumbest man he had ever met. Cornelius then instructed Salome to severely punish the goons who had failed the night before.

    Learning that Shaw and Salome had failed to obtain the generator-battery, Lord Molyneux warned them at swordpoint not to fail him again.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - Left alone with his thoughts and without distractions at his home, Nicola experienced a vision that allowed him to complete his generator-battery, adding a ferrite rod to the line output transformers. bradley_nicola-stairs

    Elated, Nicola rushed upstairs and told Catherine, who in turn revealed that she was pregnant.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Nicola arranged a meeting with Shaw at his office.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - In the dimly lit office, Nicola prepared to reveal his device, not that these were "dark days," but an impatient Shaw told him he was no showman and asked why he had brought them there.

    When Nicola's device seemed to produce only dim light, Cornelius became enraged, accusing Nicola of wasting many thousands of dollars and many hours; but after the device demonstrated wireless transmission of electricity, Nicola exclaimed how it was nearly infinite and wholly inexpensive wireless electricity; he predicted they could have all of San Francisco electrified in less than a year. 

    Shaw was indeed impressed, and Salome noted, "We'll take it."

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Cornelius and Salome had Nicola and the device taken to the Hellfire Club facility. Nicola was bound in a chair in the room holding the Sentinel, and Lord Molyneux was summoned.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - After Molyneux discussed the threat of the Overman and Nicola was confused with why they wanted him, Cornelius mocked him as a pathetic joke before telling him his invention was the means to their end. Molyneux then revealed the Sentinel, and Salome told him his wife was being snuffed. However, as a Hellfire Club employee noted how the Seers were bleeding from their eyes, Molyneux realized the Overmen were there; Beast, Jeffries, and Psylocke then arrived to rescue Nicola.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 - BTS) - The generator-battery was inserted into the Sentinel, activating it, and Cornelius, Salome, and some Hellfire Club agents rode in a railed off booth area in its upper chest. The X-Men fled with Nicola.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - The Sentinel rampaged through the streets of San Francisco, and the X-Men opposed it.

    After Nicola noted that destroying the generator -- overloading it by hitting it square with as much electricity as possible -- was the only way to stop the Sentinel, Madison Jeffries designed a device that did just that.

    The Sentinel exploded, and Nicola was mortally wounded by debris.
bradley_nicola-death
    As he lay dying, Catherine rushed to his side. Nicola apologized, but Catherine told him his device had worked. As James Bradley took a blood sample from Nicola, he explained that there was something significant about the two of them, and that they were why his group had come there. Nicola realized that the visitors were overmen and that he thought he understood; he asked James his name, and then told Catherine that James would be a fine name for a boy.

    As Nicola died, the X-Men and associates returned to their present.

    Something about the generator-battery detonating and/or wherever he was drawing power from somehow affected the San Andreas Fault and triggered a massive earthquake...or it was all a coincidence.

Comments: Created by Matt Fraction, Yanick Paquette, and Karl Story.

    The wireless broadcast of power and the name Nicola seem very reminiscent of Nikola Tesla to me.

    I'm not sure what the deal with Catherine Bradley was, why her(?) parents had advanced equipment ("the scientific technology of tomorrow") and why she was such a skilled fighter. When I first read it, I took "setting off" as a term Nemesis was using for traveling and that they brought it all in there. In re-reviewing it, I think Nemesis was trying to say that his grandparents were just setting off the equipment and it was all Nicola's inventions ()?
    Regardless, Catherine had a very "Confederates of the Curious" feel to her, which is no surprise given that Matt Fraction wrote the story.
    Speaking of which, I'd love to see Matt Fraction and/or Ed Brubaker do further Confederates of the Curious stories. Or maybe the early life of Phineas Randall...maybe Phineas gave up his firstborn daughter for adoption...to the Prices...or not.

    Was Nicola a low-level mutant, like Forge? You'd have to ask Matt Fraction.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Nicola Bradley should be distinguished from:

bradley_nicola-generator-fullgenerator-battery

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Inventor Dr. Nicola Bradley worked to develop a generator-battery that would provide "nearly infinite and wholly inexpensive wireless electricity" free and unfettered to all who needed it. He worked out of an office in Telegraph Hill and lived with his wife, Catherine, in his parents' or in-law's house in the Mission District. He apparently took the device home and worked on it there as well.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking a power source for their large, robotic Sentinel with which they intended to exterminate "overmen" (mutants), the Hellfire Club, under the direction of Lord Molyneux, targeted Dr. Bradley to produce that source. Working alongside his agent Salome, Cornelius Shaw met with and bankrolled Bradley, investing thousands of dollars and allowing untold hours in his efforts.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - As his work never seemed to be done, and results proved to be elusive, Nicola slept less and less, despite being exhausted.

    He could see the finished product in his head, imagining every piece, every screw; he could trace the flow of power and visualize his generator-battery working; however, he could not make it work.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Frustrated with Nicola's lack of results, Cornelius sent a quartet of Hellfire Club agents (who had been gathered by Salome) to ambush Nicola in his office in Telegraph Hill and steal the device.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) <1906> - As Nicola dozed off while working, the Hellfire Club agents prepared to ambush him, Nicola's wife, Catherine, entered the room and took out the four men with some sort of energy blaster.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - Left alone with his thoughts and without distractions at his home, Nicola experienced a vision that allowed him to complete his generator-battery, adding a ferrite rod to the line output transformers.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - When Nicola's device seemed to produce only dim light, Cornelius became enraged, accusing Nicola of wasting many thousands of dollars and many hours; but after the device demonstrated wireless transmission of electricity, Nicola exclaimed how it was nearly infinite and wholly inexpensive wireless electricity; he predicted they could have all of San Francisco electrified in less than a year.  Shaw was indeed impressed, and Salome noted, "We'll take it."

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Cornelius and Salome had Nicola and the device taken to the Hellfire Club facility. Nicola was bound in a chair in the room holding the Sentinel, and Lord Molyneux was summoned.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - Shaw and Molyneux revealed the Sentinel, which would be powered by Nicola's generator-battery and used to exterminate the overmen.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 - BTS) - The generator-battery was inserted into the Sentinel, activating it, and Cornelius, Salome, and some Hellfire Club agents rode in a railed off booth area in its upper chest. The X-Men fled with Nicola.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - The Sentinel rampaged through the streets of San Francisco, and the X-Men opposed it.

    After Nicola noted that destroying the generator -- overloading it by hitting it square with as much electricity as possible -- was the only way to stop the Sentinel, Madison Jeffries designed a device that did just that.

    The Sentinel exploded, and Nicola was mortally wounded by debris.

    Something about the generator-battery detonating and/or wherever he was drawing power from somehow affected the San Andreas Fault and triggered a massive earthquake...or it was all a coincidence.

--Uncanny X-Men#512

Note: See the main image for the generator-battery in action
bradley-nicola-1906-viewerbradley-nicola-1906-viewer-viewviewer

    Within their Mission District home, there was a viewer (presumably created by Nicola), from which they could observe anyone approaching their house.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) <April 18, 1906> - As Nicola and Catherine met with Cornelius Shaw and Salome, Catherine -- having seen them via an advanced viewing device of her or his or her parents -- informed them of the approach of unidentified parties. These were Hank McCoy/Beast, Warren Worthington/Angel, Betsy Braddock/Psylocke, James Bradley/Dr. Nemesis, Madison Jeffries, Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, and Dr. Kavita Rao, having traveled from over 100 years in the future in hopes of gaining blood samples from Nicola and Catherine Bradley as homo superior mutantkind had seemed to increase markedly in number around that point in time; they were specifically chosen as they were James Bradley's parents.

    Prior to their ringing the doorbell, James Bradley departed to avoid meeting his parents as an adult, and Psylocke mentally "suggested" that anyone seeing them would see them as normal people.

    However, having glimpsed their true forms (including the monstrous Beast and the winged Angel) prior to being influenced by Psylocke, Catherine confronted the visitors at gunpoint and -- not giving them a chance to explain their intentions -- insisted upon their departure, after which they left peacefully.

--Uncanny X-Men#512
bradley_nicola-generator-home-exteriorMission District home

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Inventor Dr. Nicola Bradley worked to develop a generator-battery that would provide "nearly infinite and wholly inexpensive wireless electricity" free and unfettered to all who needed it. He worked out of an office in Telegraph Hill and lived with his wife, Catherine, in his parents' or in-law's house in the Mission District. He apparently took the device home and worked on it there as well.

    With the parents always "setting off," and the house was full of little gimmicks and pneumatic tubes everywhere. 

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - The morning after Catherine fought off a group of attackers at Nicola's office, they met with his financial backer, Cornelius Shaw, and his agent Salome at their home; they failed to realize that Shaw, frustrated with Nicola's lack of results and seeking to use his generator-bettery to power a weapon to exterminate the "overmen" (mutants)), had sent the attackers. Shaw feigned concern for Nicola's well-being and assured him he had all the time in the world.bradley_nicola-generator-home-interior

    They were interrupted as Catherine -- having seen them via an advanced viewing device of her or his or her parents -- informed them of the approach of unidentified parties: Hank McCoy/Beast, Warren Worthington/Angel, Betsy Braddock/Psylocke, James Bradley/Dr. Nemesis, Madison Jeffries, Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, and Dr. Kavita Rao, having traveled from over 100 years in the future in hopes of gaining blood samples from Nicola and Catherine Bradley as homo superior mutantkind had seemed to increase markedly in number around that point in time. Catherine confronted the visitors at gunpoint and -- not giving them a chance to explain their intentions -- insisted upon their departure, after which they left peacefully.

    Learning that Shaw and Salome had failed to obtain the generator-battery, Lord Molyneux warned them at swordpoint not to fail him again.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - Left alone with his thoughts and without distractions at his home, Nicola experienced a vision that allowed him to complete his generator-battery, adding a ferrite rod to the line output transformers.

    Elated, Nicola rushed upstairs and told Catherine, who in turn revealed that she was pregnant.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Nicola arranged a meeting with Shaw at his office.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - Six Hellfire Club agents invaded the Bradley's home and attempted to ambush Catherine, but she stunned one and escaped, while an arriving Angel took out the rest. However, she then developed vaginal bleeding and collapsed. James Bradley examined and stabilized her and noted that her condition, placenta previa, required strict rest or she would lose the baby.

    The X-Men destroyed the Sentinel by overloading the generator-battery, but Nicola was mortally wounded by shrapnel from the Sentinel.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Catherine's parents, John and Mary Price, came from Lemon Grove, California to stay with Catherine so she could stay off her feet as much as possible. 

--Uncanny X-Men#512
bradley_nicola-generator-office-exteriorTelegraph Hill officebradley_nicola-generator-office-interior

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Inventor Dr. Nicola Bradley worked to develop a generator-battery that would provide "nearly infinite and wholly inexpensive wireless electricity" free and unfettered to all who needed it. He worked out of an office in Telegraph Hill and lived with his wife, Catherine, in his parents' or in-law's house in the Mission District. He apparently took the device home and worked on it there as well.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Frustrated with Nicola's lack of results, Cornelius Shaw (who, as part of the Hellfire Club, backed Bradley financially with the goal of using his generator-bettery to power a weapon to exterminate the "overmen" (mutants)) sent a quartet of Hellfire Club agents (who had been gathered by Salome) to ambush Nicola in his office in Telegraph Hill and steal the device.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) <April 17, 1906> - As Nicola dozed off while working, the Hellfire Club agents prepared to ambush him, Nicola's wife, Catherine, entered the room and took out the four men with some sort of energy blaster.

(Uncanny X-Men#512) - Completing the device the next night, Nicola met with Shaw and Salome at his office and demonstrated the generator-battery.

(Uncanny X-Men#512 (fb) - BTS) - Cornelius and Salome had Nicola and the device taken to the Hellfire Club facility. Nicola was bound in a chair in the room holding the Sentinel, and Lord Molyneux was summoned.

--Uncanny X-Men#512

images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men#512, pg. 4, panel 1-2 (Telegraph Hill office exterior and interior);
        pg. 6, panel 1-2 (Mission District home, exterior and interior);
        pg. 7, panel 4 (face close-up);
        pg. 14, panel 1 (generator-battery, full);
          panel 3 (leap of logic);
       pg. 15, panel 1 (running up stairs);
          panel 4 (full body, distant);
       pg. 18, panel 1 (upper body, demonstrating generator-battery);
       pg. 33, panel 2 (impaled)

Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men#512 (August, 2009) - Matt Fraction (writer), Yanick Paquette (penciler), Karl Story (inker), Daniel Ketchum (assistant editor), Nick Lowe (editor)

First posted: 09/08/2019
Last updated: 11/30/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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