DC Database
Register
Advertisement

Jeffrey Franklin, known better as Kobra, was a cult leader and military tactician with the goal of world domination with unlimited resources and tens of thousands of followers.

Origin

Born with a twin brother named Jason, he was kidnapped shortly after his birth by the Kobra Cult and raised to be their leader. Into adulthood, Kobra discovered that he shared a psychic link with his brother, which could be used against them. The cult could not risk killing Jason without harming Jeffrey, but they later developed a device that shut off the link, and Kobra had Jason killed.

Kobra Jeffrey Franklin Burr 002

Kobra

Some called him the deadliest man on Earth. He had mostly kept his operations confined to Asia and Europe. However, he began expanding to the Midwest in the United States. Kobra's men began operating in Keystone City, building a headquarters on the site of an old textile factor on Kanigher, by the river, disguising the new building with a hologram. The headquarters contained chemical labs, hologram generators, and weapons arsenals. They built a hydro-electric plant under the river, a solar energy plant in a greenhouse, and a wind power plant in a fake cornfield. Kobra's men all wore power receiver backpacks, which were beamed energy from the various power plants. The energy formed a giant power-net over the city. At Kobra's orders, they began orchestrating the disappearance of many fringe religious cults in the Keystone City area. They began to monitor closely Linda Park, the only reporter who was following the disappearances. They sent many ninjas to attack her, both at the television station and at her home, and succeeded in stealing her research.

Kobra himself, who had been in Tibet, came to Keystone when problems had arisen with the Flash. He, with the help of Impulse, had destroyed the hydro-electric plant, and had several skirmishes with Kobra's men. Afraid that Flash would uncover his other power plants, Kobra pondered enacting Project Morpheus, a plan that had been scheduled for the turn of the century. However, Wally and company destroyed two more of Kobra's plants. This event, which ruptured the energy web, made made up Kobra's mind, and they began Project Morpheus, enclosing the city in a giant force-field.

Kobra had a geothermal tap built in one of Keystone's major fault lines. Fearing that Linda would suspect this, he ordered her to be killed. Hoping to be teleported away from Keystone, which would be ground zero for Project Morpheus, Kobra's plans were shattered when the Pied Piper disrupted their power, leaving Kobra in the city. He then attempted to stop the Flash with a giant laser, a laser calibrated to his speed. However, when Impulse arrived, the laser got confused, and scrambled. Kobra was still able to fire another shot, this time at Linda, playing out the vision Wally had earlier. Wally managed to save her, but he had to run beyond light speed, sending him to the Speed Force. However, Project Morpheus had begun. The fault lines under Keystone had begun to shift. Using the geothermic power provided this created, the energy from the containment field around the city were directed to a satellite in orbit of the Earth, which relayed power to Kobra's agents across the country. Before Kobra teleported out of Keystone, he had one more thing to do, to finally get rid of Linda. However, the Flash returned, as a being of pure Speed Force energy, and saved her. He then destroyed the geothermal tap, cutting off all the power to Kobra's minions around the nation.

After the betrayal of his lover Eve during the Strike Force Kobra fiasco, she split Kobra in two and established her own splinter group. The Justice League rushed to San Diego to prevent disaster as two rival factions of the Kobra Cult prepared to go to war. One faction was led by Eve the other was led by Kobra himself.[1]

Trial and Punishment

He recently kidnapped the former hero Air Wave and used him to seize control of the world's media and satellite resources, intending to destroy a number of major world cities. However, in a demonstration of his power, he incidentally killed Terri Rothstein, Atom Smasher's mother, ensuring the Justice Society of America's involvement.

Kobra Jeffrey Franklin Burr 007

Kobra is killed.

During the resultant trial, he shrugged off claims of terrorism, claiming to be an enlightened soul (a bodhisattva) trying to free souls from their karmic debt by random acts of violence. Following this, his followers threatened to kill the media outside the courthouse with bioengineered suicide bomb implants. He escaped immediately prior to the Princes of Darkness adventure, causing Atom Smasher to leave the team. Soon afterwards, Atom Smasher and Black Adam tracked him down to his headquarters in the Himalayan Mountains, killed his honor guard, and ripped his heart out.

Powers

Abilities


  • Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.

Related

External Links

Footnotes


Injustice League Unlimited 002
Justice League Villain
DC Rebirth Logo

This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Justice League Villains."

Advertisement