Chen Lu
Radioactive Man's debut story begins with Thor's alter ego Donald Blake providing medical care for Indian soldiers injured in clashes with Chinese soldiers in the Himalayas. [4] Thor then defeats a Chinese armored column. [4] Later in Beijing, Zhou Enlai suggests to Mao Zedong that Thor must be destroyed and Mao orders Chinese scientist Chen Lu to devise a way to defeat Thor or die trying. [4] Chen exposes himself to small doses of radiation until he is able to endure a massive barrage, becoming a living "Radioactive Man". He plans to take over the world. [5]
Chen travels to New York City on a submarine. There, he battles Thor whom he hypnotizes in Times Square. [4] Eventually, Thor is able to recover and uses a tornado to send Chen to western China, where Chen detonates. [4]
Radioactive Man becomes a recurring foe of the Avengers, being coerced by Baron Zemo to join the original Masters of Evil in a bid to destroy the Avengers. [6] He is the first to confront the Avengers, and sticks Captain America and Giant-Man to the pavement with an adhesive, which Thor dodges. He is defeated by Giant-Man and Iron Man when they imprison him in lead coils. He is then deported back to China. [7] The character reappears with the new Masters of Evil, organized by Ultron. The villains, however, are betrayed by the Black Knight. [8] Radioactive Man and his teammates appear once again during a Halloween parade and are defeated by a coalition of superheroines called the Lady Liberators. [9]
Chen escapes and travels to Vietnam, where he joins Soviet villains Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo as part of a team called the Titanic Three. Acting as crime fighters in Vietnam, the trio is duped by a con man and petty thief called the Slasher and end up battling the Avengers until the deception is uncovered. [10] After an encounter with Iron Man, [11] the characters go their separate ways. After a humiliating defeat by Kang the Conqueror in Giant-Size Avengers, [12] Chen joins another incarnation of the Masters of Evil - led by Egghead - but is defeated by Ant-Man and deported back to China. [13]
Radioactive Man continued to feature in Iron Man, and is employed by Iron Man's arch-enemy Mandarin. [14] Chen is employed in his civilian capacity as a physicist by Stane International (taken over by Obadiah Stane). [15] Radioactive Man appears in the graphic novel Deathtrap: The Vault, among other supervillains attempting to escape from the Vault. Chen, however, aids the heroes in preventing a nuclear meltdown. [16]
Radioactive Man also features in an issue of The Sensational She-Hulk [17] and once again in The Avengers. [18]
After appearing in the second volume of Avengers which takes place in an alternate universe, [19] and briefly in Thunderbolts, [20] the one-shot Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil, [21] the third volume of the Avengers, [22] and alternate universe title Exiles , [23] Radioactive Man features in the limited series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. [24]
Chen attempts to reform and joins the Thunderbolts, a team composed almost entirely of reformed supervillains. [25] During the "Civil War" storyline, the character aids heroes Reed Richards and Yellowjacket imposter in building a holding prison for dissenting superpowered beings, and also battles the anti-registration heroes. [26] A major development occurs in the title Thunderbolts when the group encounters the Elders of the Universe member Grandmaster; the Radioactive Man absorbs an excessive amount of radiation and is forced to wear a radiation suit at all times. [27] The radiation eventually subsides, but Norman Osborn convinces him to retain the suit to distract the American public from his clearly Asian features and quell any lingering fears about his radioactivity. [28] The Radioactive Man is featured in the one shot Thunderbolts: International Incident, [29] the limited series Avengers/Invaders, [30] one shot King-Size Hulk, [31] and Thunderbolts: Reason In Madness [32] before appearing briefly in the Secret Invasion storyline. [33]
As part of the Thunderbolts, Radioactive Man fought Spider-Man and Anti-Venom during the New Ways to Die storyline; during the fight, Radioactive Man had a portion of his radiation powers drained by Anti-Venom. [34] He continued with the team however, going after Moon Knight. [35] Radioactive Man was one of Songbird's strongest allies within the team, often supporting her when she fought against Osborn.
After the events of Secret Invasion , Osborn and Moonstone began the process of neutralizing the members of the Thunderbolts who oppose Osborn in his plan to exploit the invasion for his own personal agenda to gain more power. Osborn arranged for Chen to be deported back to China, leading to a bittersweet departure involving himself and Songbird. [36]
Radioactive Man reappears in The Mighty Avengers as part of People's Defense Force, China's indigenous group of metahumans. The Radioactive Man demonstrates that at close proximity he can safely absorb the radiation of Inhuman Xerogen crystals and presumably safely absorb Terrigen Mist. However, the People's Defense Force is largely defeated by an invading entity known as The Unspoken, a deposed former king of the Inhumans. The Unspoken is defeated in China by the Mighty Avengers. [37]
During the Heroic Age storyline, a young man named Warhead appeared as a member of the Bastards of Evil, claiming to be the son of Radioactive Man. [38] He has been shown to have similar powers, but killed himself in a mass explosion that killed hundreds of people. [39]
Radioactive Man later released a Chinese dragon made of magic in the Federal Bank Reserve. While Captain America, Iron Man, the female Thor, and Vision fought the dragon, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, and Nova encounter Radioactive Man. The senior Avengers managed to destroy the dragon, but upon reuniting with their wards, they learn they let Radioactive Man escape. The young heroes explain they were forced to leave Radioactive Man alone as there was a man that needed to be rescued. The senior Avengers are proud of what the young heroes did as heroes are meant to protect people first and foremost and welcomes them to the team. [40]
In Immortal Thor, Radioactive Man allies with Grey Gargoyle, King Cobra, and Mister Hyde to attack Thor on Dario Agger's behalf. With help from Enchantress, Sif, and Magni, Thor defeats the villains, who are taken to Roxxon. [41]
