Cole Burns

AKA The Wolf. First appeared in issue #9. Cole Burns was the first Minuteman shown to be reactivated, shortly after he accepted Graves' offer to avenge his grandmother's untimely death. Prior to his reactivation, he worked as an ice cream salesman, and was running small deals for a local racketeer in New Jersey. He had a girlfriend, Sasha, but the events of his resumed life as a Minuteman apparently left anything between them finished.

Cole spends much of the early series as Graves' "right hand man" and was shown to be fiercely loyal to him even when not fully understanding Graves' plans himself. It was Cole who carried out the murder of Daniel Peres, and assisted Remi Rome in the killing of Mia Simone under Graves' orders. He was also later sent with Mr. Branch to retrieve the La Morte dil Cesar painting from Ronnie Rome, only to find Branch dead once that mission was completed.

Following the deaths of Branch (with whom Cole had become friendly) and Wylie Times (with whom Cole was, if not friendly, at least purported to mutually like and/or respect one another) he became disillusioned with Graves' plans. Cole took the painting, then met with Jack Daw and Loop Hughes, seemingly in consideration of changing sides. Lono, who refused to trust Cole after his years of loyalty to Graves, ordered Loop over the phone to terminate Cole on the spot. Loop's attempt to comply with this order is then halted by Jack. Cole and Jack led Loop to a secluded rural area, apparently to execute him. At this point Jack turned on Cole, knocking him out, and allowing Loop to escape. It is later revealed that Cole's intention was supposedly never to kill Loop and the two leave the woods together.

A short while later, Cole and Loop run into Jack at a motel, where he is found with Echo Memoria. Cole shoots Echo whilst she and Jack are engaged in sexual intercourse, killing her to avenge Mr. Branch. A standoff ensues, and after assessing their predicament, as well as their roles in the motives of their respective bosses, Cole and the remaining Minutemen (Jack, Loop and Victor) set out to the Medici estate to confront Graves and the Trust.

In issue #100, Cole covertly killed Tibo Vermeer and Joan D'Arcy, before confronting Megan Dietrich. Trapping her in a room doused with gasoline, he taunted her with his lighter. The sound of an unexpected gunshot, fired by Agent Graves in another room, caused Cole to accidentally drop the lighter, incinerating both Megan and himself.

Cole's codename, "The Wolf", is reflected in his personal story arc in 100 Bullets. He is at first depicted as unquestioning and loyal to the assumed leader of his "pack" (Graves), but gradually becomes more independent as another leader (Wylie) dies and Cole finds himself with a greater degree of power. Eventually he seizes a powerful token (the much-sought-after "La Morte dil Cesar") for his own purposes, and ends the series as a Minuteman gone rogue, killing off Megan Dietrich's would-be alliance with the remaining Trust powers and looking every bit the predator circling his final kill before his accidental death.

Cole was reactivated in issue #9 when a rock musician, paid by Graves, whispered the word "Croatoa" to him. He was fully "awakened" after his ice cream truck exploded and he was caught by the blast.