Master Menace

Latest revision as of 05:47, 21 January 2025

Master Menace is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Emil Zebediah Burbank was a male human being who resided on Earth-712 in the Multiverse. (Squadron Supreme v1 #6)

In his prime, was the foremost criminal mastermind of his world where he operated as the villainous Master Menace. Burbank's greatest and most frequent nemesis was the Squadron leader Hyperion. Burbank once contended that their enmity began when Hyperion's atomic vision somehow altered Burbank's hormones, so that since then, Burbank's hair upon his head and face would grow at an unusually rapid rate. (Thor v1 #280)

He appeared on the set of a film biography of Hyperion being directed by his brother, L.L. Burbank, raving that no one would leave the place alive. Burbank carried on him a handgun when he was confronted by Hyperion, who revealed that he was actually Hyperion's villainous counterpart and was secretly impersonating his double. The criminal Hyperion and Burbank conspired together to destroy the heroic Hyperion using a robot of Burbank had invented. The robot was defeated by Thor Odinson the Asgardian god from mainstream Earth. Together with the heroic Hyperion, the pair came to overcome the villainous Hyperion. (Thor v1 #280)

Years later, when the Overmind succeeding in taking control of the Squadron's Earth, Burbank, now calling himself Master Menace and wearing a weapons-laded battle suit, spent six months conquering the Middle East. He then discovered that the Squadron Supreme's proposed the Utopia Program which would be a threat to his own plans for world domination, particularly its plans to use 'behavior modification' on all criminals. The criminals Mink, Remnant, and Pinball sought help from Burbank to flee the Squadron's dimension entirely, which he agreed to do so. (Squadron Supreme v1 #6) Burbank wanted to overthrow the Squadron himself, and discovered the criminal Hyperion adrift and trapped in an extradimensional realm. Burbank freed him and they carried out a plan in which Hyperion captured and replaced his heroic counterpart in the Squadron and Burbank trapped him within a pocket dimension. Burbank wanted to use Hyperion II to subvert the Squadron from within, but Hyperion II refused, in part because of his crush on his teammate Power Princess. Hyperion II trapped Burbank within the same dimension as his counterpart. (Squadron Supreme v1 #7) Burbank and Hyperion were forced to work together to return, whereupon Hyperion defeated his villainous analog. (Squadron Supreme v1 #8)

Master Menace and Nighthawk remained in contact over the b-mod technology. Menace promised to come up with a countermeasure if Nighthawk and his newly formed Redeemers could get him the plans for the device--Burbank couldn't obtain them himself, fearing that Hyperion would know he had broken his promise. After a month, Burbank received the b-mod schematics. Quickly analyzing the data, despite the fact his lab was still in ruins in the wake of the Hyperion construct's attack, Menace managed to build a b-mod device for himself. Retrofitting the technology, Menace constructed a device that undid the b-mod conditioning without any brain damage. He tested it on three converted convicts, who promptly resumed their criminal activities. Menace contacted Nighthawk to inform him of his success. He demanded Nighthawk and the Redeemers bring them the b-mod altered former members of the Institute of Evil so he could help deprogram them. Menace personally oversaw the restoration of Lamprey and Shape. However, Blue Eagle had caught wise and tried to sneak up on the Redeemers. Menace had a simple solution: use the b-mod device on him and turn the hero to their side. Nighthawk refused, instead ordering Menace to simply make his former teammate forget about ever seeing them. (Squadron Supreme v1 #11) Menace was on hand to help deprogram Foxfire, the final member of the Institute of Evil. After adding her to the Redeemer ranks, Nighthawk was ready to move against the Squadron. Master Menace once again declined to fight alongside them, claiming the Squadron would fight them to the death, and that the best way to deal with the heroes was to use the b-mod technology on them. Nighthawk dismissed the notion out of hand, leading Burbank to pack up his technology and teleport away. (Squadron Supreme v1 #12)

Using his celestescope, Master Menace concluded the universe would cease to exist in a matter of hours. Burbank ordered his robotic servant Cerebrac to start packing all essential equipment and be ready to shift out of their dimension before it blanked out. He was interrupted by the Scarlet Centurion, who appeared before him as a chronographic projection that Menace futilely tried to blast away. The Centurion had come to offer his aid in stopping the mysterious universe-destroying force before it might threaten his future timeline, too. The villains were then alerted to the approach of Hyperion, who had also come to request Menace's aid. Hyperion wanted Menace to provide the Squadron with a spaceworthy vessel, but the villain revealed he had devised a plan to use his dimensional aperture generator to trap the approaching threat and send it elsewhere. In order to have sufficient time to adapt the technology, he had the Scarlet Centurion take him to the 40th century to make the necessary modifications. It took Emil Burbank fifteen years to perfect the dimensional aperture trap, most of which was involved after its development, as he worked tirelessly on ways to miniaturize the required components. Hyperion was shocked to find Burbank had aged upon his return, and he surprised his archenemy even more when he not only provided the spaceship, but also insisted he accompany the Squadron along with the Centurion and their ally Professor Imam. (Squadron Supreme: Death of Universe v1 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

He once contended that their enmity began when Hyperion's atomic vision somehow altered Burbank's hormones, so that since then, Burbank's hair grew at an unusually rapid rate. (Thor v1 #280)

Emil Burbank was shown to have a brother named L.L. Burbank who was a film maker. (Thor v1 #280)

Powers and abilities

He was capable of defending himself in combat situations by the use of certain types of technology. (Squadron Supreme v1 #4)

Notes

• Emil Burbank was created by Roy Thomas and Wayne Boring where he made a cameo appearance in Thor v1 #280 (February, 1979) and made his first appearance in Squadron Supreme v1 #6 (February 1986).
• The character was based on Superman Lex Luthor created by DC Comics.

Alternate Versions

• In Supreme Power v1 #18 (2005), an alternate version of Emil Burbank appeared in the setting of the Supreme Power reality set on Earth-31916 in the Multiverse. Emil Burbank was a man with many aliases and possibly the greatest intellect on the planet. He had doctoral degrees in biology, chemistry, metallurgy, psychology, economics, and literature from three different universities. As a child, Emil was noted for malicious and homicidal retribution against those he feels have wronged him, having a group of teenagers who bullied him killed in a building fire he started. Emil also sexually abused his older sister after drugging her unconscious with chemical compounds, eventually leaving her in a permanent catatonic state. At 18, his parents died in a car accident, which he arranged to collect on their life insurance and boasts about even while trying to say it was an accident. Emil also killed a professor who accused him of cheating in a fire he started.

Appearances

• Avengers v1: (1976)
• Thor v1: (1979)
• Squadron Supreme v1: (1986)
• Squadron Supreme v4:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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