Controller (Marvel)

The Controller is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Basil Sandhurst

As a child, Basil Sandhurst grew up where he was stricken with sickness that often left him bed-ridden for months. His childhood led to him becoming a scientist where he never felt he was in control of his own life. In this time, he developed a theory that involved harnessing the power of the human mind but his unorthodox practices led to him being barred from working at any legitimate research center. This led to his brother Vincent using his own influence as a lawyer to get Basil a job at his place of employment named Cord Industries that was owned by Drexel Cord. The unscrupulous Vincent had hoped that his brother would help him take over the company. However, an incident occurred one day when Basil went on a rampage in the lab where Vincent accidentally pushed his brother into some experimental chemicals. The resultant explosion came to scar and cripple Basil leaving him both weak and completely bed-ridden. Out of guilt, Vincent set his brother up in an automated house and a laboratory using the money embezzled from Cord Industries. With these resources, Basil came to fashion himself an exoskeleton that would allow him the freedom of movement and control over his own destiny. This magnified Sandhurst's ambitions where he became determined to take over the world. (Iron Man v1 #12)

Using a Mental-Wave Absorbatron, Basil could tap into the mental energy of his victims and beam it to his exoskeleton, and the “slave discs” would help by remotely adding to the Absorbatron’s range of broadcast. In this manner, Basil, now calling himself the Controller, took over his entire town, starting with Vincent, who had dared to confront his brother. Tony Stark and Janice Cord happened to investigate Cord Industries and Basil took the opportunity to battle Iron Man, whom he saw as a product of Stark’s 'inferior' genius. Although the Controller seemed to have the upper hand, Iron Man was able to lead Basil out of the Absorbatron's range and defeat him. (Iron Man v1 #13) While in prison, Basil found that the mental energies he had previously absorbed left him with enough power to take control over others’ minds. He arranged for his own transfer to a sanitarium, where he systematically took control over the staff and patients. After using his pawns to create a new Absorbatron, he also wanted to upgrade his helmet to avoid his previous defeat. He lured Tony Stark to the sanitarium, forcing him to invent a helmet that no longer would allow him to travel out of range, but could also fire destructive bolts of mental energy. Tony Stark battled the Controller as Iron Man until the circuits in the Controller’s helmet fried, a design Stark had intentionally put in to foil the Controller. (Iron Man v1 #28)

Notes

• The Controller was created by Archie Goodwin and George Tuska where he made his first appearance in Iron Man v1 #12 (April, 1969).

In other media

Television

• In Iron Man, the Controller appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series in the episode "The Armor Wars: Part 1" where he was voiced by actor Jamie Horton.
• In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, the Controller appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Michael Kopsa.

Appearances

• Iron Man v1: (1969)
• Tony Stark: Iron Man v1:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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