Valerie "Val" Cooper is an employee of the United States Government frequently specializing in mutant and superhuman affairs.
History
Early Life[]
Val was born in the historic streets of Washington, D.C., where she was born and raised as the cherished daughter of George and Martha Cooper. From the outset, her upbringing was steeped in the pursuit of knowledge, with her parents fostering a rich educational environment for Valerie and her younger brother, Grant. Surrounded by books and encouraged to explore the world of ideas, Val excelled academically from a young age. Her insatiable curiosity and sharp intellect paved the way for her to thrive in school, where she displayed a natural aptitude for learning. As she matured, Val's passion for understanding the complexities of the human mind led her to pursue higher education. Enrolling in a prestigious Ivy League university, she embarked on a transformative academic journey that would shape her future profoundly. Delving deep into the realm of psychology, Val's keen analytical skills and dedication propelled her to earn a Ph.D. in the field.[8] Amidst the rigors of academia, Val found love in the form of Edmond Atkinson, a kindred spirit who shared her intellectual pursuits and supported her ambitions wholeheartedly.[9] During her pursuit of a PhD at college, Val crossed paths with Julia Cornwall, an undergraduate, sparking a friendship over games of tennis.[10]
Secret Empire[]
Freshly graduated and brimming with enthusiasm to embark on her governmental career, young Dr. Val Cooper was approached by what she believed to be a legitimate government agency, but in truth was the Secret Empire. They purported to be dedicated to shaping international policies concerning what they termed as "the emerging trend of the world's expanding mutant population." Although Val held no particular fascination for mutants, the enticing salary led her to accept the offer. Her inaugural assignment within the organization involved collaborating with a young mutant named Kyle Gibney. Kyle's volatile abilities appeared intrinsically linked to his emotions, presenting a unique challenge. Val's directive was clear: facilitate his emotional connection to gain control. Assured that Kyle was voluntarily brought to the department by concerned parents seeking assistance, Val dismissed Kyle's claims of being abducted. Unbeknownst to Val, the organization's true intentions were far from benevolent. Rather than aid, they sought to manipulate Kyle into a weapon. Initially skeptical, Val gradually developed a genuine connection with Kyle, fostering trust and friendship. Yet, her efforts unwittingly played into the organization's sinister agenda. As Kyle succumbed to their manipulations, transforming into the feral beast they desired, Val; realized the true nature of her employers. The abrupt separation from Kyle left her with scant information, informed only of his purported relocation to Canada for intensive psychotherapy. Val left the organization and joined the actual US government, but soon discovered unsettling truths about her former employer. Shocked by their exploitation of Kyle, despite her efforts, she couldn't save him. [11]
Political Career[]
In her inaugural role within the U.S. Government, Dr. Cooper assumed the position of Special Assistant to the President's National Security Council, was perhaps the most important figure in the United States government's ongoing efforts to cope with the growing number of superhuman beings in the nation. Dr. Cooper's primary concern was the danger that she believed superhuman mutants posed to the United States. Cooper recognized that superhuman mutants were emerging throughout the world and that both governments and private interests had begun to exploit their abilities. She believed that superhuman mutants in the employ of unfriendly powers could wreak havoc with the national security of the United States. Hence, she wanted the United States government to be able to protect itself against superhuman mutants and to strike back against them if necessary. She saw the United States as engaged in the equivalent of an "arms race" with other nations to find and develop an effective corps of superhuman mutants of its own before they do. Furthermore, Dr. Cooper disapproved of the activities of superhuman crime fighters who did not have the approval of the United States government. It was in this charged environment that she encountered Henry Gyrich, engaging in spirited debates that underscored their differing viewpoints[12][13]
While mutants remained a focal point of Val's responsibilities, she also recognized the threat posed by unauthorized superhumans engaged in vigilante activities. Determined to address this issue, she initiated efforts to cultivate government-controlled super-beings. Thus began Val's enduring tenure with the Commission on Superhuman Activities, where she quickly ascended to the role of acting head. Collaborating with a select team, Val spearheaded a project aimed at assembling a government-sanctioned team of superheroes. Tasked with extracting serum from rare Amazonian plants, Val saw an opportunity to test the serum on her old college acquaintance, Julia Carpenter. Julia, now divorced and facing financial difficulties, accepted Val's job offer in Washington. However, a laboratory mishap resulted in Julia being injected with a Spider Serum instead of the intended formula. This error endowed Julia with spider-like abilities, transforming her into the new "Spider-Woman". Despite the unexpected outcome, Julia's emergence as a super-being marked a triumph for Val's project, securing her employment under the Commission's auspices. [10][14]
During Val's tenure with both the National Security Council and the Commission on Superhuman Activity, she found herself navigating the turbulent waters of Senator Robert Kelly's Mutant Affairs Bill. Simultaneously, Val collaborated with Raven Darkhölm, who held the position of deputy director at the DARPA. Unbeknownst to Val and her colleagues, Raven was, in fact, Mystique, leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, operating under a guise to serve her own agenda. When Val expressed her stark views on mutants to Raven, it sparked animosity, with Mystique perceiving Val as a threat deserving of elimination. Through Raven's connections, Val was introduced to Forge, an inventor tasked with creating a weapon capable of neutralizing the abilities of superhumans, mutant or otherwise. However, upon completion, the untested weapon fell into the hands of the NSA, intending to employ it against the X-Man Rogue, deemed a significant threat. Despite Raven's objections, Valerie and the NSA proceeded with their plan, leading to a confrontation at Rogue's residence in Mississippi. Accompanying Henry Gyrich and his team, Val found herself embroiled in a chaotic situation where Rogue's teammate, Storm, inadvertently became the target of the weapon, resulting in the neutralization of her powers.[15] Despite Gyrich's oversight, his relentless pursuit of Rogue persisted. During a meeting with National Security Council agent Phillip Rosen, Val's disdain for Gyrich surfaced when she expressed a grim hope for a clash between Rogue and Gyrich. Meanwhile, Rosen speculated that Val's involvement in the neutralizer incident might jeopardize her career. However, his musings were cut short when he fell victim to a Dire Wraith, part of an alien race plotting to infiltrate governments by assuming key figures' identities. Targeting Val as their next mark, the Wraiths ambushed her in her hotel room, with one assuming Rosen's form. As the Wraiths launched their assault, Val found herself in a perilous situation. Fortuitously, Rogue intervened, engaging the Wraiths in combat while Val confronted the imposter posing as Rosen. Sensing Rogue's impending return, Val extracted crucial information from the Wraith masquerading as Rosen before dispatching it and fleeing into the night. As Val raced away in her car, she pondered Rogue's fate, only to be overtaken and rendered unconscious by Rogue herself, inadvertently absorbing Val's memories, including her connection to Forge's neutralizer project. Though spared by Rogue, Val remained a target if Storm fell victim to the Wraiths' attack.[16]
Mystique approached Cooper with the proposal of offering the Brotherhood's services as government operatives. Cooper accepted Mystique's offer, and the Brotherhood then operated under government auspices as Freedom Force, which Cooper supervised. Their first mission was the capture of Magneto, the Master of Magnetism.[17]
She was involved in the Commission's demand of ownership over the identity and property of "Captain America". She supervised the recruitment and training of the fifth Captain America (now known as U.S.Agent) and his partner Battlestar. Ultimately, the former Captain America revealed this to be a plot by his archenemy, the Red Skull, and he was reinstated as Captain America.[18]
When the majority of Freedom Force was caught or compromised after a mission to Kuwait during the Gulf War, the Freedom Force project was abandoned. About the same time, the villainous Shadow King mentally controlled Cooper. For reasons unclear, the Shadow King ordered Cooper to shoot Mystique.[19] Through force of will, however, Cooper managed to turn the gun on herself at the last minute. Mystique contacted espionage agent Nick Fury who helped cover up the truth, and for a while Mystique impersonated Cooper while the world believed her dead. During the impersonation, Mystique had herself hypnotized to believe herself to be Cooper so that the Shadow King would believe he had succeeded. Cooper resurfaced and Mystique resumed her identity when the hero teams X-Men and X-Factor and assorted allies defeated the Shadow King.[20][21]
Cooper convinced several of the heroes who defeated the Shadow King to be a part of a new government-sponsored team in the spirit of Freedom Force: the new X-Factor.[3] Cooper acted as government liaison to the very publicly operating team, but later she fell under the mental influence of one of the Acolytes of Magneto, and X-Factor was taken from her control and placed under the liaison of their member Forge.[22]
When X-Factor's team leader Havok lost control of his powers and disappeared, Forge became team leader and Val slid back into the role of liaison, though she was forced to implement policy that she never fully agreed with, such as allowing the villains Mystique and Sabretooth to join.[23][24] Soon, X-Factor had grown so uncomfortable with the government's heavy-handed involvement that they violently cut their ties to them, choosing to operate "underground."[25]
Cooper returned to the Commission on Superhuman Activities, but often used her position to help the X-Men surreptitiously, such as assisting the X-Men after they broke into the Pentagon searching for the Genoshan scientist Dr. Peter Corbeau or giving them tips to the activities of mutant villains. Cooper also helped the Thunderbolts and the V-Battalion defeat Henry Peter Gyrich when he was being controlled by nano-technology.[26]
Valerie Cooper later proposed a plan for the Sentinels. She wanted them to be protectors of humans, and called them a squad. The plan would turn out to be a bit of a failure, and she would later arrive to the X-Mansion with her plan of Sentinels protecting the mutants after M-Day. At first there was tension between her and the X-Men, but they later learned to accept her being there only to help.[27]
Cooper put together a squad to go after Stegron who was attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. bases. She placed Tigra in charge and had Humberto Lopez recruited to the team.[28]
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With her cane
She began working with Jamie Madrox's X-Factor Investigations as part of her role as the head of the O*N*E*.[29] After X-Factor moved to Detroit, Val Cooper continued to work with Madrox unbeknownst to the rest of the team. She revealed her secret arrangement with Madrox when she attempted to provide protection for Siryn and her unborn child. She was hit by a bullet ricochet from her own agents who were trying to apprehend Siryn and Rictor.[30]
Val was hospitalized[31] and eventually returned to duty, initially needing a walking cane to assist her.[32] After a while however, she fully recovered and dropped the cane.[33]Attributes
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Abilities
Notes
- Valerie's FBI agent brother having found a girl "dead... wrapped in plastic"[3] is a reference to the protagonist of contemporary television drama Twin Peaks, Dale Cooper, who famously worked a case of that nature and happens to share Valerie's surname.
See Also
- 226 appearance(s) of Valerie Cooper (Earth-616)
- 10 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Valerie Cooper (Earth-616)
- 5 minor appearance(s) of Valerie Cooper (Earth-616)
- 34 mention(s) of Valerie Cooper (Earth-616)
- 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Valerie Cooper (Earth-616)
- 17 image(s) of Valerie Cooper (Earth-616)
- 13 quotation(s) by or about Valerie Cooper (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ X-Man #26
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #183
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 X-Factor #71
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #44
- ↑ Civil War Files #1
- ↑ Decimation: House of M - The Day After #1
- ↑ X-Factor #133
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #2
- ↑ X-Factor #137
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Avengers West Coast #84
- ↑ X-Factor #142
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #176
- ↑ Avengers Annual #15
- ↑ Spider-Woman (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #183–185
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #186
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #199–200
- ↑ Captain America #332–350
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #266–267
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #279
- ↑ X-Factor #70
- ↑ X-Factor #92–94
- ↑ X-Factor #114
- ↑ X-Factor #124
- ↑ X-Factor #132
- ↑ Thunderbolts #49–50
- ↑ Civil War: X-Men #1–4
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil #1
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #17
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #38
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #39
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #42
- ↑ X-Factor #233
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #2
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 2