Publication history
Valerie Cooper was created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr., and first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men No. 176 (Dec. 1983). [2]
The character received an entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 No. 2.
Cooper appeared sporadically as a secondary character, often an antagonist, in various Marvel series through the 1980s, primarily Uncanny X-Men written by Claremont and Captain America written by Mark Gruenwald. Writer Peter David and artist Larry Stroman took over X-Factor in 1991 to which Cooper is added as a major character and she was featured in the series' majority until its cancellation in 1998.
Cooper reached additional prominence in the mid-2000s, appearing in dozens of issues in 2006 at the height of Marvel's "Decimation" and "Civil War" events. David returned to write a relaunched X-Factor in 2006 and eventually featured her character in the series during 2007-2009. She made few appearances in the 2010s.
Fictional character biography
Dr. Valerie Cooper is a special National Security Advisor on national security issues, which include superhuman affairs. Originally, she takes a hard-line concern on the problem of the threat that superhumans and mutants posed to the United States.
Freedom Force
Cooper begins overseeing Mystique's former Brotherhood of Mutants, whose members now operate as government agents as part of Freedom Force. Around this time, Cooper is also involved in a project to create government-sponsored superheroes, which results in Julia Carpenter gaining superpowers and becoming the second Spider-Woman. Carpenter is subsequently assigned by Cooper to join Freedom Force.
Cooper and the Commission on Superhuman Activities are directly involved in the events of the government demanding the Captain America identity under the argument of being their property; Steve Rogers gives up the Captain America identity, and Cooper supervises the recruitment of John Walker and Battlestar as the new Captain America and Bucky respectively. Cooper's next duty is to hire Forge to create a machine to detect mutant powers.
The Freedom Force project is shut down when several members are killed or go missing after being abandoned in Kuwait. During the Muir Island Saga, Cooper's mind falls under the Shadow King's control. The Shadow King orders Cooper to shoot Mystique, but she refuses and shoots herself instead. Cooper is critically injured, but survives. Mystique, with the aid of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. hypnotists, goes undercover disguised as Cooper in an attempt to foil the Shadow King. It is not until the Shadow King's defeat by the X-Men and X-Factor that Mystique and Cooper return to their own lives.
X-Factor
After witnessing first-hand the deeds of mutants throughout the years, Cooper is the concept of a government sponsored team another shot. She was able to convince several X-Men members and their associates to form a new X-Factor team. This new team, consisting of Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man, Quicksilver and Strong Guy replaces Freedom Force, with Cooper acting as government liaison to the team. Val is assisted by the human employee Baldrick. [3] Soon afterward, Cooper is once again mentally controlled, this time by the Acolytes. She was freed from the Acolytes' control, but her relationship with X-Factor is damaged when it is revealed that she knew of Project Wideawake, a new Sentinel project being developed by the United States government. Cooper later decides to hand leadership of the team directly to Forge. With the world getting more dangerous around her and the departure of some of the members, Cooper is forced by the government to allow Mystique and Sabretooth to join. With Forge in command, the team goes underground.
Commission on Superhuman Activities
Cooper returns to the Commission on Superhuman Activities. In this position, she assists the X-Men on several occasions. She later takes Charles Xavier to a government facility following the Onslaught incident. Cooper is instrumental in helping the old Thunderbolts defeat Henry Peter Gyrich and negotiates for the team to receive a presidential pardon.
O*N*E
Cooper helps establish the Office of National Emergency (or O*N*E), an official government branch dedicated to preparation and defense against superhuman threats; not much later, she becomes its deputy director. The O*N*E, with its first line of defense being the Sentinel Squad O*N*E, becomes responsible for the mutant refugee camp established at the X-Mansion after most of the world's mutants are depowered during the Decimation event. Many mutants join the camp willingly, while some are secretly coerced into it.
With the destruction of the X-Mansion and the X-Men's subsequent move to San Francisco, O*N*E no longer watches over the X-Men's day-to-day activities nor does it guard them with Sentinels.
Valerie Cooper and Havok enter in a business relationship. [4]
Cooper is revealed to have been involved in an intimate relationship with U.S. Agent while working for the Office of National Emergency. [5]
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