Cobalt Blue
Cobalt Blue is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Malcolm Thawne was a male human born over 17 years ago where he was the son of Nora Allen and her husband with him being the twin brother of Barry Allen. His mother was pregnant with him when she went to the hospital and was tended to by Dr. Gilmore. At the same time, Charlene Thawne was similarly pregnant when the two women had arrived at the doctor's practice. Unknown to anyone, Dr. Gilmore was drunk at that moment and had moments ago sent his nurse home when the two pregnant women arrived for the delivery when lightning caused a power cut. In these conditions, Gilmore performed the delivery where he was successful in the case of the Allen's but for the Thawne's he caused an accidental strangling of the newborn on the umbilical cord. Thus, he infant Thawne was killed as a result of the drunken doctor's condition and in a panic he looked for a solution. He decided to substitute one of the Allen twin's for the Thawne's child so that both families would emerge with an offspring. Gilmore convinced the Allen's that the twin was born stillborn and gave the real infant to the Thawne's who named him Malcolm Thawne. (The Flash v2 #144)
Malcolm's "parents" were con artists, passing off a healing salve that was actually used to cover the Thawnes' natural super abilities. Because of his clean-cut looks and demeanor, Malcolm was most often used to lure the unsuspecting victims. As an adult, he was in Central City, and stumbled onto his twin brother, Barry Allen, by chance. Curious why there was another man with his face, he demanded the truth from his parents. They admitted everything, having been aware of the infant switch from the beginning. Malcolm refused to believe that his parents could be so heartless, and he tracked down the doctor that had delivered him. The doctor confirmed the Thawnes' story and, in a rage, Malcolm murdered the doctor[2].
He went to his adoptive grandmother to learn more about the blue flame the Thawnes wielded. It turned out that it was an art with many more capabilities than what Hugo and family had been using it for. Malcolm's grandmother told him that the flame could steal anything that your heart desired, feeding on passion. Using this power, she taught him how to place his hatred for Barry Allen inside a talisman, which he wore on his chest.
Malcolm drew his power from this talisman, and adopted a costume as the super-villain Cobalt Blue. When he faced the Flash and Kid Flash, he had the ability to steal their speed by enveloping them in his blue flame. After a battle at the zoo, Cobalt Blue appeared in Barry's lab, revealing his knowledge of Barry's identity. After a high-speed chase with a Flash created from the blue flame, Cobalt Blue was engulfed in his own blue flame. Wally thought that he had caught a glimpse of the face behind the mask, a very familiar one. (Speed Force v1 #1)
Cobalt Blue surfaced again after Barry's death. He blew up the Flash Museum and attacked Barry's old house and his laboratory at the police station. He also robbed the original Flash, Jay Garrick, of his speed. Wally, now going by the Flash, tracked him down to Barry's tombstone, which Malcolm tricked Wally into destroying. However, Wally bought time by prompting Malcolm to tell his life story while he soaked up enough speed force energy to retaliate, defeating the villain quite quickly.
His first attempt ended in failure[4], and Malcolm was absorbed into the gem, only to re-emerge years later. By this time, Wally West had assumed the mantle of the Flash. Barry's death during the Crisis on Infinite Earths appeared to have cheated Malcolm out of his dreams of revenge on his brother. Instead, Malcolm focused on Allen's descendants traveling through time in a bid to exterminate them, starting with Wally West. Under the identity of Cobalt Blue, Malcolm ignited a family feud that endured for a millennium.
The feud came to a head in the late 30th century, where Barry Allen was living with his wife Iris. Wally West arrived to try to protect his uncle. Flashes of all eras between the 20th and 30th centuries arrived soon after, all under the control of Thawne's spirit because they all were carrying a shard of the original Cobalt Blue gem[3]. After defeating all the other Flashes[5], in the end, Wally West ended the menace of Cobalt Blue by running so fast that he skirted the edge of the Speed Force. Its power poured into the gem, and Thawne's spirit (and the gem itself) overloaded from the excess energy[6].
Cobalt Blue and the Rogues held a funeral for Captain Boomerang in Avernus. (The Flash v2 #217)
Despite the fact that there are supposed to be many Cobalt Blues between now and the 30th century, neither Malcolm or Cobalt Blue have appeared since the "Chain Lightning" arc. It is unknown if these timelines even exist following the events of Infinite Crisis.
Numerous others in the future have become Cobalt Blue. There would be one almost every century that would take over the mantle.[1]
21st Century
The Cobalt Blue of the 21st century wore a glass armor. Not much was seen of him, as he was defeated in about 30 seconds by a time travelling Jay Garrick and Iris West II[7].
23rd Century
The Cobalt Blue of this time had brutally murdered the Flash of that era's wife and had crippled his daughter, Sela[8]. Eight months after this, the Flash killed Cobalt Blue. But his victory was short-lived as a child picked up the gem and, being consumed by its rage, killed the Flash. However, a time-travelling Max Mercury and Sela Allen, who was now healed, returned the boy to normal[7].
25th Century
In the 25th century, the roles of the Flash and Cobalt Blue were reversed. Now Chardaq Allen had taken the role of Cobalt Blue. Professor Zoom and Wally West defeated Chardaq and returned him to normal[8].
28th Century
This Cobalt Blue almost ended the Allen bloodline when she infected Jace Allen with a virus. However, Jace's father Blaine, the then current Flash, sacrificed himself to save his son[4]. Ten years later, Jace was now the Flash[9] and he and a time-travelling Jesse Quick defeated Cobalt Blue[7].
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Malcolm Thawne was a male human who had blonde hair and was the identical twin brother of Barry Allen where the two shared similar features. (The Flash v2 #144) As Cobalt Blue, he initially hid behind a masked persona making him appear as a knight where he wore a cape and manifested a blue flaming sword. (Speed Force v1 #1)
Cobalt Blue did not believe the Flash to be as smart as him. (Speed Force v1 #1)
He felt that the power of the Flash should have belonged to him and that he had been cheated of this power due to random chance. (The Flash v2 #144) He felt that he should have gained the powers of both the Flash and Kid Flash which was why he aimed to take them by force. (Speed Force v1 #1)
Powers and abilities
Unlike the Rogues, Cobalt Blue's powers were said to not stem from science. (Speed Force v1 #1)
It was said that the flames were even able to impart on the wearer secret knowledge. This allowed Cobalt Blue to learn of the events that empowered the Flash and his sidekick Kid Flash. (Speed Force v1 #1)
It was shown that the flames were capable of stealing the energy of a speedster thus making them weaker over time. However, he could not steal it at any moment and it had to be done when they were actively using their abilities. It did so by draining power molecule by molecule where the speedster was being stripped of their speed with their very life force being torn from them. A danger emerged though that if Cobalt Blue emitted too much energy then the flames could turn on him and feed on his energy until nothing was left. (Speed Force v1 #1)
Cobalt Blue could manipulate the flames to create all manner of constructs. One of his favourite being a flaming sword that he used in battle. Weapons empowered by the blue flame could seemingly cut through anything or anyone. In fact, energy constructs generated by the flame were even able to injure a speedster that was phasing through solid matter. In another instance, he used the flames to animate a Flash costume to attack the actual hero himself. He could also empower such constructs with stolen Speed Force he had siphoned from a speedster thus making this construct as fast as the Flash. (Speed Force v1 #1)
He was capable of teleporting where he could manifest in a sudden blue flame at any location. (Speed Force v1 #1)
The Blue Flame was mainly used by the Thawne family to "heal" and presumably Malcolm has the same ability but he hasn't shown the ability to produce healing flames as of yet.
Malcolm used his hatred to channel the Blue Flame to steal objects and power from his enemies. On most occasions he uses this power to steal speed from the Flashes. Malcolm can reach incredible amounts of speed by using his Blue Flame to steal speed from opponents. He can steal multiple levels of speed from different sources and achieve speeds to assault even Wally West.
Notes
- Cobalt Blue was created by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn where he made his first appearance in Speed Force #1 (November, 1997).
Alternate Versions
- In Future State: Justice League v1 #1 (2021), a new version of Cobalt Blue was shown in the alternate timeline of Future State. This figure operated by the mid-21st century where he came to be a member of the Legion of Doom that was assembled by T.O. Morrow. They gathered in order to defeat the new Justice League but were all murdered by the White Martians of the Hyperclan as part of their own plot to take over the Earth.
In other media
Television
- In The Flash, the Cobalt Blue identity appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse where he was portrayed by actor Rick Cosnett. This version was the persona adopted by a resurrected Eddie Thawne who had originally sacrificed himself to stop his descendant the Reverse-Flash from killing Barry Allen. However, Eddie was mysteriously resurrected in 2049 as a result of the Negative Speed Force's machinations, which chose Eddie as its new avatar, a mantle that Eddie accepts upon realizing the apparent lack of appreciation he got from his original death. The Negative Speed Force eventually decided to get revenge on Barry for the death of its avatar. It cloaked Barry with cobalt radiation, which caused him to bounce across time. The Negative Speed Force also sent a blue crystal wherever it sent Barry.[14] It first sent him to March 18, 2000, where it intended to make him relive the day that his mother was killed. To ensure that Barry stayed in 2000, the Negative Speed Force destabilized the temporal wormhole that he attempted to use to get back to the present.
Appearances
- Speed Force v1: (1997)
- Flash v2:
External Links
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