The international terrorist known as Kobra desires to rule the world. But in order to do that, he must kill a few people first. One of those roadblocks is Kobra's very own twin brother, Jason Burr. There's only one small problem, any time Jason or brother Jeffrey, Kobra's real name, experiences any pain, the other mysteriously feels it!
Jason Burr doesn't understand why sometimes he'll be perfectly fine at home or work and then WHAM!- it reels like someone hit him upside the head for no reason. But Kobra knows of the connection between the two siblings and that's why as much as Jeffrey Burr would love to kill his twin, he just cannot. Because if Jason dies, so will Jeffrey!
The character of Kobra was co-created by Jack Kirby and Steve Sherman during Kirby's early 70s tenure at DC Comics. Sherman took elements of Vincent Price's vengeful Dr. Phibes and crafted a story in which a villain was the main character. Sherman also added the very Kirby moniker of King to the character and in his earliest incarnation, Kobra was referred to as King Kobra.
When King Kirby took a look at the script, he was mostly unimpressed. But the comic book legend saw promise in the character and working with Sherman, Kirby tweaked the character. The psychic link between siblings was taken from Alexandre Dumas' The Corsican Brothers and brother Jason was created to be the yin to Korba's yang.
Within days, Steve Sherman retooled the script and Jack had the first issue written and drawn. And then Kirby went back to Marvel. In the midst of Kirby's return to the House of Ideas, the Kobra project was shelved. Finally, in late 1975, the book was given over to Martin Pasko who absolutely hated the whole thing. Most of Kirby's script was replaced. Artist Pablo Marcos was assigned to retool some of the King's pencils. And ultimately, the character was named as simply 'Kobra.'
Issue #5 sees Kobra working multiple schemes simultaneously. First of all, the terrorist is planning a gigantic earthquake that promises to destroy all of the state of California. But how this plan makes him ruler of the earth is still unclear. Next, Kobra attempts to kill off anyone who might be getting close enough to his ultimate plans. This includes San Francisco private eye Jonny Double, whom Kobra operatives try several times unsuccessfully to assassinate. Lastly, Kobra is developing a way to sever the bond between him and twin Jason. But the villain has got to act fast as brother is on his way from the Big Apple to stop Kobra once and for all.
Only 2 more issues of Kobra would be produced. Poor sales sparked by early rumors of cancellation were the main culprits. One could argue Martin Pasko's half-hearted approach to the script was another culprit. '...It was a preposterous exercise dumped on my lap,' Pasko once remarked. Fans were given some semblance of closure as elements of the scraped 8th issue were printed in the pages of DC Special Series #1.
Jeffrey Burr would eventually find a way to break free from his bond with Jason. Kobra would then kill his brethren; though the villain was never truly free from Jason as the crime-lord was forever haunted by visions of him. Kobra would late clash with characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and the Justice Society of America before meeting his demise at the hands of Black Adam in JSA #51. In a strange twist of fate, Kobra was reborn with followers re-animating Jason Burr to become their new leader!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
Completing this review completes Task #27 (Villain is the Main Character) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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