Kobra (DC comics)

Kobra
Jeffrey Burr as Kobra from JSA #12, Art by Buzz.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Kobra #1 (February 1976)
Created by	Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Jeffrey Franklin Burr Jason Burr
Team affiliations	Strike Force Kobra Blackadders Underground Society
Notable aliases	Lord Naga
Abilities	Incredible hand-to-hand combatant, Genius intelligence, Excellent planner and tactician. Also possesses longevity through the use of lazarus pits

Kobra is the name used by two fictional supervillains published by DC Comics. The Jeffrey Burr Kobra and his brother Jason first appeared in Kobra #1 (February 1976), and were created by Jack Kirby. Jason Burr debuted as Kobra in Faces of Evil: Kobra #1 (March 2009) by Ivan Brandon and Julian Lopez.

Both Jeffrey and Jason Burr were created by Jack Kirby for a proposed DC Comics series called King Kobra, the first issue of which was both written and drawn by Kirby. This first issue then sat in DC inventory for over a year, during which time Kirby left the publisher to return to Marvel Comics.

Eventually the concept was handed over to writer Martin Pasko with orders to make a series out of it. Pasko was unimpressed with King Kobra, feeling it to be a throwaway idea churned out by Kirby as he was preparing to leave DC, and tried to make the best of the assignment by whiting out all of Kirby's original dialogue, rescripting the issue, and having Pablo Marcos redraw some of the art. Now titled simply Kobra, the first issue of the series appeared in late 1975 (cover-dated February 1976). It was cancelled after seven issues, though the contents of the unpublished Kobra #8 saw print in DC Special Series #1. Pasko later reflected, "I wrote all of Kobra with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek—it was a preposterous exercise dumped in my lap, and it helped pay the rent on a very nice place in the Village."

Kobra is also featured in a January 2009 Faces of Evil one-shot, written by Ivan Brandon.

Kobra is an international terrorist and mad scientist who has crossed paths with the majority of Earth's costumed heroes during his attempts to usher in the Kali Yuga (an age of chaos). His real name is Jeffrey Franklin Burr, and he was born part of a set of siamese twins, but was stolen at birth by the Cult of the Kobra god, since a prophecy claimed he would lead them to rule the world. Under their teaching, he became a dangerous warrior and a sadistic criminal mastermind. He led the cult into using advanced technology to menace the world. Followers of Kobra would frequently address their master as "Naja-Naja", "naja naja" being the binomial name for the Indian Cobra. This later became "Nāga-Naga", a meaningless title which translates from the Sanskrit as "snake-snake". Whether this change was intentional or an error is not known.