This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2015)
The Mad Thinker was introduced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963).[2] Lee and Kirby gave the mad scientist a special ability to predict events to the precise second.[3]
Little to nothing was known of his origins or true identity until, over fifty years later, the Mad Thinker's first name was revealed to be Julius in the pages of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's Infamous Iron Man #2.[4]
Fictional character biography
The professional criminal mastermind known as the Mad Thinker made his debut fighting the Fantastic Four.[5] He once attempted to take over New York City using the Baxter Building as his base and all organized crime members as his lieutenants. The Fantastic Four were lured away from New York just before a meteorite struck the city and briefly knocked out electrical power, including the Baxter Building's defense systems. The Mad Thinker took the opportunity to create a robotic servant, the Awesome Android. He trapped the Fantastic Four in the lower quarters of the building but was eventually caught after being stopped by an unforeseen factor: the building's mailman, Willie Lumpkin, who on Reed Richards' orders rang a bell at 4 pm, activating a circuit breaker built into all of his devices.[6]
It seemed that his primary objective had not been to take over the city, but to steal Reed's technology. The Mad Thinker would gladly get sent to prison for a peek at the secrets of what he considered the greatest mind in the world.
After his initial defeat against the Fantastic Four, the Mad Thinker teamed with the Puppet Master for the first time. He used the original X-Men through a mind-controlled Professor X to battle the Fantastic Four.[7] Again with the Puppet Master, he pitted the Thing against the Human Torch, but was foiled by Reed Richards.[8] Later he created a radio-controlled bouncing ball with which he tried to eliminate the Thing and Torch while they were at a new dam's opening and nearly brought down the ball, but the Torch was able to destroy it.[9]
He then created Quasimodo, a "living" computer. He located and revived the original Human Torch and used him to battle the present-day Torch.[10] Later, with his Triumvirate of Terror (consisting of Piledriver, Hammerhead, and Thunderboot), he captured the Avengers and invaded Avengers Mansion, believing that he had successfully overcome them by remembering to take advantage of the human element of his enemies' personalities that he had forgotten in the past, but he was nevertheless foiled by the unexpected intervention of Hercules, who had only recently begun to stay with the Avengers following his exile from Olympus.[11]
The Mad Thinker impersonated Dr. Jose Santini and disrupted an attempt to cure the Thing, causing the Thing to turn against the Fantastic Four.[12] However, the Mad Thinker was captured by Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch. From his prison cell, he sent a battle android called the Monster Android against the Fantastic Four, but the android was sent into the Negative Zone by Mister Fantastic.[13]
He allied with the Puppet Master again and with Egghead in their attempted blackmail of the United States government using a laser-firing satellite and a giant android called "Gargan-Droid".[14] Again with the Puppet Master, he attacked the Fantastic Four using androids of their past foes.[15] With the Puppet Master, he then battled Spider-Man and the Thing.[16]
The Mad Thinker then took part in the Black Lama's contest of super-villains, but was defeated by Iron Man.[17] Mad Thinker then re-established control of his robot the Scavenger and sent it against the Fantastic Four. He was defeated by Thundra, Tigra, and Brute.[18] He then battled the Thing, Daredevil, Vision, and Yellowjacket.[19] With the Puppet Master and Wizard, he attempted to disrupt the wedding of the Human Torch and Alicia Masters.[20] The Mad Thinker later took control of the computers in Fantastic Four headquarters, but was foiled by Mister Fantastic.[21]
The Mad Thinker constructed android duplicates of his favorite thinkers to populate his own town called "Ponder" and had one of his robots bring Captain America to that town. Most of them were destroyed by Team America and Mad Thinker was arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.[22]
The Mad Thinker became interested in the young super-group called the New Warriors, and posed them a riddle when they first formed.[25] In the final issue of the series, the answer to the riddle was revealed: the Mad Thinker's nephew had accidentally gained uncontrollable superpowers from his lab, killing his mother in the process. Now, the Thinker wanted them to help him.[26]
Since then, the Mad Thinker has been seen battling She-Hulk in a prison escape attempt. However, this Mad Thinker was revealed to be merely yet another android duplicate of the real Mad Thinker.[volume&issueneeded] Following the destruction of this android, the Awesome Android (now calling itself Awesome Andy) took custody of the android's still-functional head,[volume&issueneeded] until it was stolen by the teenage supervillain Southpaw.[volume&issueneeded]
Although willing to kill heroes who get in his way, there are lines the Mad Thinker will not cross. A partnership with the Wizard was cut short after the kidnapping of the child Franklin Richards. The Wizard wished to experiment upon Franklin and learn the secret of his vast powers. The Mad Thinker, however, claimed that this had an almost certain probability of Franklin's death. When the Wizard acknowledged this, but decided to continue anyway, an angry Thinker dissolved the partnership and helped lead Franklin's godfather, The Thing, to where the Wizard had the boy hostage.[volume&issueneeded]
When Spider-Man's dimwitted enemy Rhino had an operation that made him a genius, he broke the Mad Thinker out of jail so he could join his crime syndicate.[27]
The Mad Thinker then allies himself with the Puppet Master, planning to strike against the Fantastic Four yet again.[volume&issueneeded] Told that he preferred to be called "The Thinker", The Puppet Master asked him why he had been called "The Mad Thinker" in the past. The reply was that he used to have "repressed anger issues". When the Puppet Master asks him about his anger, he replies that "it isn't repressed any more".[volume&issueneeded] He has built a device to amplify the Puppet Master's power so that they can escalate a battle between the two rival factions in the Super Hero Civil War.[volume&issueneeded]
In exchange for not being connected to the crimes on Yancy Street, Reed has the Mad Thinker double-check his calculations concerning the potential effects of not supporting the registration of all superheroes.[28]
During the "Dark Reign" storyline, Quasimodo analyzed his creator for Norman Osborn. He recommended to Norman that he would lead a group against Mad Thinker if Norman wanted to go after him.[29]
Mad Thinker, along with Awesome Android, later appear as members of the Intelligencia.[30][31] Mad Thinker even created the Gammadroid which he used to help MODOK and Hulk Robot capture Red Hulk.[32]
During a conflict between the Intelligencia and the Sinister Six as a prelude to the Ends of the Earth storyline, Mad Thinker was able to briefly deactivate Electro's powers, but was caught off-guard when Electro physically attacked him instead, the surprise of the attack allowing Electro to defeat him. He was presumably killed when Doctor Octopus used the Zero Cannon to launch him into space. MODOK Superior vows to find a way to restore his fellow Intelligencia members.[33]
MODOK Superior was able to revive Mad Thinker and the other Intelligencia members where they began to formulate their plans after their predicted shatter of the superhero community.[34]
During the Time Runs Out storyline, Mad Thinker was at some point contracted by Doctor Doom to be part of his attempts at uncovering the truth behind the Incursions. Thinker managed to tap into and map the Mapmakers network, allowing them to locate the source of the Incursions.[35]
Sometime later, the Mad Thinker appears in La Paz, Bolivia where he is surprised by Doctor Doom in his version of the Iron Man armor, who offers him the chance to turn his life around in exchange for a device he used in a robot. Upon refusing, Mad Thinker activated a few robots to fight Doom only for him to be defeated.[37] Mad Thinker is later shown to be in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.[38]
After escaping from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Mad Thinker became obsessed with Mister Fantastic's whereabouts, as he has not returned to Earth-616. Misinterpreting Mister Fantastic's absence, Mad Thinker thinks that Mister Fantastic wants Mad Thinker to succeed him and the Fantastic Four.[39] While styling his hair after Mister Fantastic and calling himself by that name, Mad Thinker hired three people named Lumen, Goodfire, and Smash to make up his Fantastic Four and gives them powers similar to the Fantastic Four. Mad Thinker now has elasticity, Lumen can become invisible with the side-effect of distorting the perception of the environment around him if he loses control of his invisibility, Goodfire has a blue fiery plasma form which she can't turn off and can also fly in this form, and Smash possesses super-strength and enhanced durability while sporting gold-colored skin. He took his Fantastic Four to follow Human Torch and Thing on their multiverse travels in order to eliminate the old remnants of the Fantastic Four. Mad Thinker's Fantastic Four confronts Human Torch and Thing in an unidentified reality. Despite Human Torch and Thing being powerless at the time, the two of them held their own against Mad Thinker's Fantastic Four until they escaped.[40]
Powers and abilities
The Mad Thinker does not have superhuman powers. However, he is an extraordinary genius with knowledge of technology centuries beyond conventional science, for reasons unexplained. He has an eidetic memory and can rapidly organize and correlate vast amounts of information and perceive non-obvious patterns. He has the facilities and means to create all manner of sophisticated weaponry, androids, armor, and vehicles.
His analytical, mathematical, and geometrical abilities are of a sophisticated order not commonly found on Earth. He is particularly adept at computers, robotics, and artificial intelligence, with Ph.D.s in computer science and engineering. He has constructed his own android Awesome Android and twice resurrected the original Human Torch. He also built Quasimodo and the Scavenger, and various other equipment as needed, including monocle-sized hypno-lenses. In addition to his own achievements he has stolen much of the secret technology of Reed Richards, back in the incident when he took over the Baxter building.
The Mad Thinker is also a proficient disguise artist. Through a surgically implanted radio link, he is able to project his consciousness into an android simulacrum of himself.
The Thinker's intricate plans are most often foiled by what he refers to as the x-factor, or human unpredictability. Also the Thinker is not an intuitive genius (e.g., Reed Richards) and is thus incapable of true invention; instead, he synthesizes for his own use the creations of others (e.g., his android creations are based on discoveries of Reed Richards).
The Mad Thinker is able to escape from prison with little difficulty. He often uses his thoughts to control a robot at a remote, secret base. This gives him an alibi—he is already in prison.
Mad Thinker's robots and androids
The following robots and androids were created by Mad Thinker:
Android Man - An android created by Mad Thinker as a fail-safe in the event that he was betrayed by Wizard.[41]
Gammadroid - An android powered by a combination of gamma and cosmic energy. Mad Thinker can control Gammadroid with his mind and have it do heavy-lifting jobs for him.[32]
"Gargan-Droid" - A giant robot that was created by Mad Thinker when he collaborated with Egghead and Puppet Master.[42]
Alpha - The protector of the Intellectual Robots who was built by the Mark Twain robot. He has a mace-like right hand. Alpha managed to defeat Spider-Man in battle and held his own against Vision.[43]
Mark Twain Robot - A robot modeled after Mark Twain.[22] After the robots were destroyed by Team America, it was revealed that the Mark Twain Robot survived and rebuilt his fellow robots in an underground laboratory previously used by the Mad Thinker.[43]
Monster Android - A 12ft. android created by Mad Thinker and classified as his most powerful android creation.[13]
Quasimodo - A computer that was created by Mad Thinker in his base in the Mojave Desert and later abandoned. It was given a humanoid body by Silver Surfer.
Other versions
Ultimate Marvel
An original incarnation of the Mad Thinker named Rhona Burchill appears in the Ultimate Marvel universe. She is a rejected applicant of the Baxter Building's think tank who sought revenge and removed portions of her brother Bobby's brain to increase her own intelligence. However, this leaves her with a deformed head and disjointed, stream of consciousness speech pattern.[44][45]
The Mad Thinker appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Danny Mann.[47] This version is an inmate of the Big House before a mass technological malfunction enables him and the other inmates to escape in the pilot episode, "Breakout".
The Mad Thinker appears in issue #12 of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes tie-in comic.[48] Working out of Solocorps Labs, he approaches Bruce Banner in disguise and exploits his desire to be rid of the Hulk, using a machine to drain and weaponize his gamma energy. However, he is defeated by Banner, who re-absorbs the energy to prevent it from overloading.
Related Research Articles
Doctor Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5. In his comic book appearances, Doctor Doom is the monarch of the fictional European country of Latveria whose goal is to bring order to humanity through world conquest. He serves as the archenemy of Mister Fantastic and the Fantastic Four, though he has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, the Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers. While usually portrayed as a villain, Doom has also been an antihero at times, working with heroes if their goals align and only if it benefits him. Doctor Doom was ranked #4 by Wizard on its list of the 101 Greatest Villains of All Time and #3 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time. In a later article, IGN would declare Doom as Marvel's greatest villain.
The Thing is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. The Thing was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1.
Mister Fantastic is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The character is a founding member and the leader of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace and electrical engineering, chemistry, all levels of physics, and human and alien biology. BusinessWeek listed Mister Fantastic as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics. He is the inventor of the spacecraft that was bombarded by cosmic radiation on its maiden voyage, granting the Fantastic Four their powers. Richards gained the ability to stretch his body into any shape he desires.
The Human Torch is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a similar, previous character, the android Human Torch of the same name and powers who was created in 1939 by writer-artist Carl Burgos for Marvel Comics' predecessor company, Timely Comics.
The Human Torch, also known as Jim Hammond, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer and artist Carl Burgos, he first appeared in Marvel Comics #1, published by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics.
Thundra is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is often aligned with the Fantastic Four. She is a powerful, red haired, amazon-like warrior, or Femizon, from a matriarchal, technologically advanced future timeline where men have been subjugated by women.
The Frightful Four are a group of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They serve as the antithesis to the Fantastic Four.
The Wizard, also known as the Wingless Wizard, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared as an enemy for the Human Torch.
Machine Man is an android superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Jack Kirby for 2001: A Space Odyssey #8, a comic written and drawn by Kirby featuring concepts based on the eponymous 1968 Stanley Kubrick feature film and Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel. Shortly thereafter, Machine Man spun off into his own Kirby-created series. He is a robot, the only survivor of a series, raised as a human son of scientist Abel Stack, who was killed removing his auto-destruct mechanism, and further evolved to sentience by a Monolith.
Peter Petruski is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #104. Petruski is one of the first supervillains who became active during the "Silver Age" of Marvel Comics. He is known under the codenames Paste-Pot Pete and Trapster. Petruski is a former research chemist in New York City who invented an extremely adhesive "multi-polymer" liquid, which he used to create a paste-gun and become a criminal. He has also been a member of the Intelligencia and the Frightful Four at various points in his history.
The Puppet Master is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The Red Ghost and his Super-Apes are a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters started their career fighting the Fantastic Four, before confronting other Marvel heroes, such as Iron Man and Spider-Man.
The Illuminati are a fictional secret society group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters joined forces and secretly work behind the scenes. The Illuminati was established to exist in their first published appearance in New Avengers #7, written by Brian Michael Bendis. Their history was discussed in the special New Avengers: Illuminati. The group was revealed to have been formed very shortly after the Kree–Skrull War.
Fantastic Four, also known as Fantastic Four: The Animated Series, is the third animated television series based on Marvel's comic book series of the same name. Airing began on September 24, 1994, until ending on February 24, 1996. The series ran for two seasons, with 13 episodes per season, making 26 episodes in total.
"Acts of Vengeance" is a comic book crossover storyline running through several titles published by Marvel Comics from December 1989 to February 1990.
The Awesome Android is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #15 and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby.
Machinesmith is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably as a regular enemy of Captain America. He specializes in robotics, and is able to make convincing robotic doubles of other superhumans. His own mind was ultimately transferred to a robotic body.
Giganto is a fictional monster appearing in the American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Giganto has been seen across two separate instances in the Marvel Universe.
"Fall of the Hulks" is a 2010 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics. It ran throughout the ongoing Hulk and Incredible Hulk series, as well as a self-titled limited series; featuring the Hulk and various members of his supporting cast.
The Future Foundation is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Jonathan Hickman, the team first appeared in Fantastic Four #579 and stars in the series FF, written by Hickman and illustrated by Steve Epting. The Future Foundation is a philanthropic organization created by Mister Fantastic to better serve humanity's future.
↑ Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017). Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History. DK Publishing. p.92. ISBN978-1465455505.
↑ As revealed in Infamous Iron Man #2. Marvel Comics.
↑ "Mad Thinker Voices (Fantastic Four)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 22, 2019. Check mark indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
