Rocket Red

For other uses, see Red Rocket (disambiguation).

Rocket Red (Russian: Ракетно-Красный, romanized: Raketno-Krasnyy) is a superhero appearing in the DC Comics universe. Created by Steve Englehart and Joe Staton, he first appeared in Green Lantern Corps #208 (January 1987),^[1] appearing shortly afterward in Justice League in issue #3 (July 1987); Rocket Red was inducted into the Justice League in Justice League #7 (November 1987).

Rocket Red
Gavril Ivanovich, JLI's second Rocket Red; art by Aaron Lopresti.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Pushkin Justice League #3 (July 1987) Ivanovich Justice League: Generation Lost #4 (August 2010)
Created by	Pushkin Steve Englehart (writer) Joe Staton (artist) Ivanovich Judd Winick (writer) Joe Bennett (artist)
In-story information
Full name	Dimitri Pushkin Gavril Ivanovich
Team affiliations	Justice League Rocket Red Brigade Justice League International Justice League Europe Pushkin: Black Lantern Corps
Notable aliases	Rocket Red #4
Abilities	Superhuman strength and durability Flight Energy blasts Technology manipulation

The term "Rocket Reds" refers to any member of the Rocket Red Brigade; the name in the singular is used to refer to the three individual characters named Rocket Red who were members of the Justice League. These comprise the original Rocket Red #7 (later revealed as an android), Dmitri Pushkin (Rocket Red #4), and Gavril Ivanovich.

Fictional character biography

Dmitri Pushkin

Dmitri in his second armor, art by Ty Templeton.

Dmitri Pushkin (Rocket Red #4) joins the Justice League International after Rocket Red #7 is revealed to be a Manhunter. A kind-hearted and jolly man with a taste for American culture, Pushkin serves with the Justice League International for many years.

In the 2005 series The OMAC Project, Pushkin is killed while protecting the Justice League's members.^[2] He has remained dead since, but was temporarily resurrected as a Black Lantern during the Blackest Night event in 2009.^[3]

Gavril Ivanovich

The second Rocket Red, Gavril Ivanovich, is a renegade member of the group who sports outdated armor and beliefs. Despite this, he joins the Justice League after helping them battle Checkmate.^[4][5][6][7]

In The New 52 continuity reboot, Ivanovich is part of a superhero team founded by the United Nations and led by Booster Gold.^[8][9] He is later killed in an explosion during a press conference introducing the team.^[10]

Powers and abilities

The Rocket Reds were originally created for the Soviet Union by Kilowog and the Rocket Red Brigade — normal human beings enhanced using "forced evolution" and armored battle suits — proudly defended the USSR.

Their abilities included super strength, invulnerability, flight, the ability to project powerful energy blasts, and "mecha-empathy", the ability to sense and control computers and machines.

In other media

Television

• An unidentified Rocket Red resembling Dmitri Pushkin makes non-speaking appearances in Justice League Unlimited as a member of the Justice League.^[11]
• The Dmitri Pushkin incarnation of Rocket Red makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!" as a member of Justice League International.
• The Dmitri Pushkin incarnation of Rocket Red appears in the Young Justice episode "Leverage", voiced by Steve Blum.^[12] This version is a new member of the Rocket Red Brigade.

Merchandise

• Rocket Red received an action figure in Mattel's DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection toy line.
• Rocket Red received an action figure in Mattel's Signature Series, available through Mattel's online outlet at MattyCollector.com.