PROFILE

• Real Name: Chen Lu
• AKA: Greenie, R-Man
• Family: –
• Base of Operation: Beijing, China; formerly Vietnam, New York
• Identity: Known to Authorities Identity
• Citizenship: Chinese
• Martial Status: Single
• Occupation: Nuclear physicist
• Education: PhD in Nuclear Physics
• Gender: Male
• Height: 6′ 6″ (1.98 m)
• Weight: 290 lbs (131.54 kg)
• Eyes: Brown
• Hair: Bald
• Unusual Feature: No visible pupils, Constantly gives off radiation; Iridescent green skin which he can cause to appear normal by lowering his radiation level for short periods.
• Origin: Human who harnessed the power of controlled radiation and turned it upon himself becoming a Mutate
• Universe: Marvel Prime Universe (Earth-616)

With all the characters who got their powers from radiation, it was only a matter of time before we get a character that is made up of radiation. Introduced in Journey into Mystery #93 (1963) by Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein and Jack Kirby, Chen Lu was a scientist in the People’s Republic of China who was tasked with finding a way to defeat Thor after he thwarted their attempt to invade India. He would give him several immunities to various radiation and then bombarded himself with a special type of radiation. This mutated his body into the glowing green skin being that would constantly give off radiation. He was sent to New York (or the India/China border depending on the writer) and would battle Thor before the god sent him back to China.

Baron Heinrich Zemo recruited him to join his Masters of Evil as a founding member in his revenge against Captain America. He was later seen as a member of Crimson Cowl’s (Ultron) version of the Masters. After breaking out, he escaped to Vietnam and joined Titanium man and Crimson Dynamo (Nevsky) as the Titanic Three, a team dedicated to protecting Eastern Communism. After they broke up, he joined the Egghead team of Master in his revenge against Hank Pym. After a few solo crimes, he tried to use his powers for good and joined the Thunderbolts.

In the team, he became close with Songbird when she became the team leader and helped her stop Zemo with his plans. After helping Iron Man’s side in Civil War, he was made a member of Osborn’s Thunderbolts, where he was given a new costume. He would remain with the team until he objected to Osborn using the Secret Invasion for his own benefit. He was shipped back to China and would join the People’s Defense Force, China’s answer to the Avengers. He would later return to the Thunderbolts under Zemo’s leadership to hunt down the Punisher.

Radioactive man is a character known for being a member of various teams rather than a solo villain. As such he has been requested by fans for a while to complete a few teams. He was supposed to be part of the ill-fated Jubilee mini-baf wave, but that entire line was cancelled and slotted into other sets, with Radioactive Man being part of a box set exclusive to Target.