Mad Thinker
Mad Thinker is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Julius was a male human born in the modern age. (Infamous Iron Man v1 #2) During college, he met a man named Jinkins in college who kept his details and stayed in contact with him over the years. (New Warriors v1 #2) He himself stated that he had worked in the private sector for over a decade. (New Warriors v1 #3) At some point, he came to be known as the Mad Thinker where for years he used his intellect to outwit the law who were not aware of his existence. The Thinker made a call to mobsters and gang leaders across the country to gather in New York in order to form a kingdom of crime with himself as leader. To begin such a plan, he wanted to cement himself by taking control over New York City itself. The biggest challenge to his plot was the new team of superheroes that were the Fantastic Four. (Fantastic Four v1 #15)
Whilst in prison, his hideout was raided by the authorities who accidently awakened the Thinker's Android Man. Once activated, the machine was tasked with finding the Fantastic Four leading to a confrontation with Ben Grimm. (Fantastic Four v1 #79) An unknown force came to compel the Mad Thinker into building a powerful robotic armature which he made in the form of the Hulk. However, upon completing the machine, he came to question the force that influenced his mind in building the automaton and thus put the Cosmic Hulk into storage. (Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk v1 #1)
For a time, he grew tired of the life of crime which left him feeling empty with him building a large number of androids to built a town populated by robots styled after great intellectual figures. (Captain America v1 #269)
The Mad Thinker was once more in prison where he was approached by a mysterious figure asking him to join a cabal of other supervillains who were to unite and destroy the world's superheroes. The scientist thought about the proposal and ultimately refused where he also deduced the man was Loki. The refusal infuriated the god of lies who teleported away from the scene with the incident leading to the Thinker to decide to escape his cell due to the upcoming calamitous events that he had predicted that would befall society. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #28)
He was later called to Genetech by an old college colleague of his where he was asked as a consultant on a mission. The company was looking to pioneer methods of superhuman genetic engineering and came to be interested in the newly formed band of heroes called the New Warriors. Thus, the Thinker went to have initial encounters with each hero in order to discern their strengths and weaknesses before gathering them all in one spot. Despite being hired for the task, he became fascinated with the young heroes and came to like them as he felt they were the future for the world and wanted to warn them of Genetech's goals. However, an angry Night-Thrasher struck seemingly killing the Thinker by severing his head causing Primus to lash out at the young heroes but it turned out that it was only an android simulacrum. After giving his warning, the Thinker told the heroes they were free to do what they wanted with the information he had given them and had not supplied their true identities to Genetech. (New Warriors v1 #3)
He came to be detained at a maximum-security facility located in upstate New York. Despite his captivity, he used a transference implant to send his mind into a robotic duplicate in one of his hidden laboratories in order to continue his operations. During this time, he came to learn of a robot based on his old equipment being used against Spider-Man with the Wall-Crawler defeating it. This dew the attention of the Thinker who became fascinated at Spider-Man’s ability to respond to danger. He then decided to study this ability further in an attempt to artificially replicate it for himself. Thus, he dispatched a battle-droid with finding and attacking Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #242)
Many years ago, he was recruited into the ranks of a team of supervillain scientists called the Intelligencia. (Fall of the Hulks: Alpha v1 #1)
Needing to check to see if their mission would be a success, the Mad Thinker sent his Gammadroid to locate the secret location of and use one of Dr. Doom's Time-Platforms stolen by Thundra. Using its computers to access the future they saw visions of a future where they succeeded in winning their battle against the Hulk and taking over the world. This convinced them to continue their plan unchanged, but at the time they were unaware that the Red Hulk had betrayed them to Bruce Banner and the pair had hacked into the computer and fed the Intelligencia false images of the future. (Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk v1 #4) Part of the Intelligencia's plot was to incapacitate the 10 most intelligent people on Earth. With Reed Richards and Dr. Doom captured, the Mad Thinker rigged their minds into Dr. Doom's Liddleville simulation as well as the other minds that were later captured. (Hulk v2 #20) Ultimately, the Intelligencia's plot was doomed to failure and while the Hulk and Red Hulk battled it out in Washington, D.C., the Mad Thinker, Red Ghost, and Wizard robbed the US Treasury before fleeing the battle. (Hulk v2 #24) After the Intelligencia's defeat, the Mad Thinker was one of the many members of the organization who fled to begin a new base of operations. He along with Klaw both journeyed to Switzerland after the latter wanted his powers removed. The Thinker had created the android Byte to contain the power but the laboratory was attacked by the She-Hulk and Lyra who caused an avalanche at the site when the damage they caused resulted in Klaw's power going out of control. The two heroes defeated his army of Gammadroids and caused an avalanche that destroyed his base. (She-Hulks v1 #3) Before the She-Hulks could take the Thinker back into custody they were attacked by Klaw and Byte but they too were defeated. The Thinker was then incarcerated at Gamma Base. (She-Hulks v1 #4)
He was later approached by Spider-Man from the Future Foundation where he received an invitation to join a gathering host by Doctor Doom. At first, the Mad Thinker was unsure what to think of it but ultimately acme to accept it. This consisted of a group of some of the smartest minds of the planet that were to set about the task of defeating several members of the Interdimensional Council of Reeds that were operating on the planet. (FF v1 #3) Working with Richards, Doom, the High Evolutionary, Nathaniel Richards, the Wizard, two of his AIM cohorts, and Diablo, they all deduced that the Council of Reeds were trying to build a device to return to their home realities, but to do so they would set off the world changing War of the Four Cities. (FF v1 #4) When they later learned that the Invisible Woman took some of the Future Foundation to battle the Council's forces at Old Atlantis, the Thinker and the others were kept under watch while Reed rescued them. (FF v1 #5) The Council next appeared at the Forever City of the High Evolutionary, where they battled the Inhumans. The evil geniuses agreed to accompany the Future Foundation into battle. The Mad Thinker and his colleagues even adopted the stylized colors of the Future Foundation as a sign of solidarity. During the battle Dr. Doom attempted to betray the group to the Council of Reeds but was attacked by the Thinker and Diablo. (FF v1 #8) Doom fought back, but was easily incapacitated his opponents, but the fighting soon stopped when the the Reeds from Earth-4280 and "Earth-Unknown" were defeated and captured, but Reed of Earth-12498 managed to escape. (FF v1 #9) The Thinker and his cohorts were then incarcerated by the Inhumans. (FF v1 #11)
Overview
Personality and attributes
After the seeming death of Reed Richards, the Mad Thinker decided to claim his code name and briefly became the new Mister Fantastic. (Marvel 2-In-One v1 #9)
He claimed that his life of crime was simply a game to him that was played as a brilliant mind diversion to challenge him in ways he could not find elsewhere. (Captain America v1 #269) Information was seen by the Thinker as a commodity which he cherished. (New Warriors v1 #3)
When trapped in prison, he used his time to calculate the reason for his previous defeat and capture. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #28)
Powers and abilities
He was said to possess a genius rarely seen on Earth with his brain being the equivalent of an organic computer. Given sufficient data, he was aid to be capable of predicting the future with a very high degree of probability. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #28)
At some point, the Thinker had implanted a micro-transference unit in his cerebral cortex. This allowed him to project his thoughts and mind into a robotic simulacrum that resided in one of his many laboratories. As such, he was able to remotely engage in plots even if he was detained in prison. Not only could be transfer his mind into robotic duplicates but he could also use the implant to pick up on sensory data from his other machines allowing him to witness their operations to gather information. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #242)
Though referred to as an expert in robotics, he was actually able to construct androids that were more like people. (Fantastic Four v1 #79) It was said that his creations were among the most advanced androids in the world. (Captain America v1 #269)
At one point, he came to use special gloves similar to the prosthetics of Rachna Koul. This allowed him to simulate a degree of body elasticity similar to Mister Fantastic, but only with his lower arms. (Marvel 2-In-One v1 #10)
Among his creations included:
- Awesome Android :
- Android Man : resembled a human being and possessed superhuman strength as well as endurance. (Fantastic Four v1 #79)
- Compound D : a modified variation of artificial Horton Cells that acted as a neuronic filter that blocked all nerve signals except for those initiated by itself thus replacing a conscious will with a programmable one making it effectively a mind control substance. (Torch v1 #2)
- Gammadroid : a variation of the Awesome Android that was a red-skinned version and absorbed gamma as well as cosmic energies that he could remotely control. (Fall of the Hulks: Gamma v1 #1)
- Byte : a machine that that resembled the Awesome Android but was larger and made to contain Klaw's power when the fellow villain wanted to be back to normal. (She-Hulks v1 #3)
Among his creations was the Another type of automaton he had constructed were referred to as Battle-Droids that were made of magnanium steel, synthetic tissue and micro-circuitry with them equipped with rockets for quick propulsion as well as being armed with weaponry. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #242)
One of his creations was a highly advanced computer that he called the Quasi-Motivational Destruct Organ that had a degree of self-awareness and wanted to have a physical form. The Mad Thinker allowed the electrons of the artificial intelligence to develop the facsimile of a face and even gave him a name Quasimodo but refused to give him a physical body. This was despite Quasimodo's repeated requests to have a physical form with the Thinker coming to regret giving the computer a name. (Fantastic Four Annual v1 #4)
He maintained a number of secret laboratories that were referred to as a Toybox where an artificial intelligence managed the facility. After repeated syntax errors, the A.I. triggered a purge scenario to destroy the facility if it believed a person was an intruder. (Solo v1 #1)
The Mad Thinker later came to be a member of the group of supervillain scientists known as the Intelligencia. (Fall of the Hulks: Alpha v1 #1)
Notes
- The Mad Thinker was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where he made his first appearance in Fantastic Four v1 #15 (June, 1963).
Alternate Versions
- In Ultimate Fantastic Four v1 #19 (2005), an alternate version of the Mad Thinker appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. This version was Rhona Burchill who was a young woman who became jealous of Reed Richards since he got into the Baxter Building Program for gifted children instead of her. She used some of her brother's brain matter to increase her brain power, and had a disfigured head as a result of it. She spoke aloud almost constantly in a stream-of-consciousness style as a side-effect from the augmentation.
In other media
Television
- In The Marvel Super Heroes, the Mad Thinker appeared in the animated television series 'Iron Man' segment where he was voiced by actor Len Carlson.
- In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, the Ultimate Marvel version of Mad Thinker named Rhona Erwin who appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Brenna O'Brien.
- in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Mad Thinker appeared briefly in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Danny Mann.
Other
- In Fantastic Four: The Baxter Effect, the Mad Thinker appeared in the setting of the non-canon novel written by Dave Stern and published by Pocket Books. It listed the Mad Thinkers real name as being Max von Scharf where he came to use one of Reed Richards’ inventions to create an alternate reality. Here, Ben Grimm is Mr. Invulnerable, husband and father. The Fantastic Four consists of himself, a disfigured Reed Richards, the Human Torch (Anthony Yates), and Max von Scharf – the Thinker. The team has grown distant after the mysterious destruction of Elizabeth, New Jersey. However, both Ben and Max are haunted by vague memories of the original reality.
Appearances
- Fantastic Four v1: (1963)
- Fantastic Four Annual v1:
- Captain America v1:
- Daredevil:
- New Warriors v1:
- Torch v1:
- Fall of the Hulks: Alpha v1:
- Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk v1:
- Hulk v2:
- She-Hulks v1:
- FF v1:
- Avengers v4:
- Solo v1:
- Infamous Iron Man v1:
- Marvel 2-In-One v1:
External Links
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