In a world with all manner of powers, it would make sense that governments would want their own teams they can control. One such team in one such world is Copra. Off the books, off the charts, and often off the wall violence when these criminals and mercenaries get the call. Who is Copra? Let’s find out!
Originally only meant to be a one year, possibly two year, project headed by Sonia Stone, Copra was meant for elite criminals and mercenaries to be trained to work as a unit and fulfill whatever black ops missions were needed. The government would secretly fund them but they were never an official agency. A dirty secret meant to be kept off the radar but well known to anyone who runs in those circles.
While the original team was mostly criminals with super skills able to rival any sort of heroes, looking to cut time off from their prison sentence, over the years, those criminals either worked all their time off and quit or were hired back on as mercenaries. Mercenaries were picked up as they were found, or so it would seem, Sonia often kept her eye on some of the people she thought she could get to work for her.
She had Frank Castillo, a genius in weaponry and combat as the trainer for all new Copra recruits. He stayed on until his family were brutally murdered by the mob, seeking justice on his own and then mercenary work would bring him back to the team as a consultant. Harkness was an all around monster of a human being and took up crime for the hell of it until he got a bomb in him by Copra and worked his debt off.
Guthie was a mystery, a woman who had no past, no identity, just appeared out of thin air with no memories. She was strong enough and skilled enough that Sonia put her to work as part of the team. One of the best assassins in the world, Floyd was in it for the money until his eldest son was kidnapped and murdered, unable to move on, he quit, like Castillo.
Wir, a code name made up by a teenager who found himself with a power armor suit that only he could command. Wasn’t long until he was making trouble and got caught. Due to how tough and strong he was in the suit, he made perfect muscle for mission. There’s Gracie, she was a model and actor who learned how to be a great fighter from her husband’s stuntman. She got into drugs and that got her into Sonia’s power to bail out. She’s a top notch gymnast and combatant.
There would be many other members who would come and go, some by death, others choosing to retire from Copra to figure out another life. Some went on to become dictators, return to a life of crime or just live out their days as mercenaries. Whatever happened, Copra tended to stay with you no matter what, whether you liked it or not.
There you have it! Copra is one of my favorite comic series of all time. A loving homage to Suicide Squad and pretty much all of cape comics in general. It’s been revived with Image now as its major publisher, this used to be a tough series to grab back in the day due to limited release as small press. What lies next for Copra as a series and story? Guess we’ll have to wait and see! Until then, see you next time!
Suggested Reading
Copra Vol. 1 &2
Copra Versus
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
