Metallo
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Real Identity: John Corben
Affiliation(s): Integang and Legion of Doom
Appearances (STAS): The Last Son of Krypton Part Two, Part Three, The Way of All Flesh, Action Figures, Heavy Metal and Superman's Pal
Appearances (JL/U): Hereafter Part One, I am Legion and Chaos at the Earth's Core
Powers: Super Strength, Invulnerability, and Kryptonite Blasts
Voiced By: Malcolm McDowell and Corey Burton
In underworld circles, John Corben had made a name for himself as a cold, soulless mercenary and hit man. Corben was recruited to an elite squad of terrorists under the Regent of Kaznia. Under the cover story of being a special attache, Corben remained in port at Metropolis. His true mission was to steal Lex Luthor's new weapons system, LexoSuit-5000. Superman arrived but was unable to stop the theft. While leafing through some of Jimmy Olsen's photos, Clark Kent noticed the Kaznian flag and rused the docks to stop Corben.
Corben resided at Meropolis' Stryker's Prison with some extra ammenities, due to Lex Luthor's influence. Luthor also bribed Striker's head physician, Dr. Vale, to secretly lace Corben's food with a rare disease, Roscoe's retrovirus. Soon after, Corben's escape was engineered as his disease went terminal. Luthor then approached Corben with an offer-a billion dollars to destroy Superman with an alternate procedure. Luthor's bio team essentially turned Corben into a cyborg by placing his human brain into a Metallo alloy body powered with Kryptonite.
As Metallo, Corben found himself with super strength that can match Superman blow for blow in a fight, expose his Kryptonite "heart" in his chest cavity and set out for revenge. Corben soon discovered what had really happened to him. His grief drove him mad and he tore most of his synthetic skin and revealed his metallic exoskeleton. Metallo tried to kill Luthor aboard his yacht but Superman interfered. Following an explosion, Metallo was lost at sea for a year.
Metallo washed ashore on the volcanic Raknaveek Island with memory loss. The children of a geologist, Bobby and Sarita Felix befriended Metallo and guided him to do heroic things. Metallo's return caught the attention of the outside world. Upon seeing Lois Lane and Superman, Metallo's memories returned and he became obsessed with killing Superman. Metallo was defeated and caught in the eruption.
The remnants of Intergang freed Metallo and fixed his body. They also made some improvements, including the ability to shoot Kryptonite lasers from his eyes. Together, they began a rash of multi-million dollar bank heists. Superman confronted the gang and discovered Metallo's involvement. Severely weakened, Superman was saved by former LexCorp engineer, John Irons. While Superman recovered under a full spectrum light generator, Irons donned his Steel suit and stalled Metallo. He managed to crush Metallo's power source and earned the praise of the slum's inhabitants.
Metallo's infamous career caught the admiration of a Metropolis denizen, Tina. While Metallo hid away at the city's scrap yard, far north, Tina infiltrated the Daily Planet as an intern. However, she was unable to work under Lois Lane, who Metallo wanted to be kidnapped and used as bait to lure Superman. Instead, Tina befriended Jimmy Olsen, who accidentally earned the title of "Superman's Pal." In the following battle, Metallo was incapacitated.
Over a couple of years, Metallo was rebuilt again. He led four other supervillains in a failed plot to kill Superman. He has since joined the larger group, the Legion of Doom. One of Metallo's known missions with the Legion of Doom involved the failed Skartaris alliance. With Silver Banshee, Metallo went to Skartaris and offered themselves as military advisors to the dictator, Deimos. In exchange for expertise and energy weapons, Metallo and Banshee would be allowed to take the fabled Great Stone. The Stone turned out to be a gigantic sample of Kryptonite. In the final stand, Metallo made his way to the Stone to be attacked by Supergirl and Stargirl. He stalked Supergirl, who was powerless at the time. Supergirl's quick thinking overcame Metallo's advantage. After a brief interrogation instigated by Green Lantern, Metallo's mind was overcome, a safeguard put into all members of the Legion of Doom. Metallo's body was confiscated by the Justice League.