Monsieur Mallah

Monsieur Mallah
Monsieur Mallah with the Brain, from the cover to Outsiders (vol. 3) #37. Art by Daniel Acuña.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964)
Created by	Arnold Drake (writer) Bruno Premiani (artist)
In-story information
Species	Meta-Gorilla
Team affiliations	Gorilla City Brotherhood of Evil Injustice League Simian Scarlet
Partnerships	Gorilla Grodd The Brain
Notable aliases	Abu Hallam
Abilities	Superhuman strength, durability, speed, agility, reflexes, and intelligence Enhanced sense of smell Firearm mastery

Monsieur Mallah is a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. He is the gorilla servant of and, in time, the partner to Gorilla Grodd and the Brain, while serving as an enemy of the Doom Patrol, Justice League, and the Teen Titans.

Monsieur Mallah appears in the third season of the HBO Max series Doom Patrol , voiced by Jonathan Lipow.

Publication history

Monsieur Mallah first appeared in Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964) and was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. ^[1]

Fictional character biography

Origin

A scientist experimented on a captured gorilla from Gorilla City, raising his I.Q. to the genius-level of 178. He named the gorilla Monsieur Mallah and educated him for almost a decade before making him his personal assistant.

Ten years ago, I took a superior ape—stronger than any human... more agile than the best athlete! Through secret teaching methods and shock treatments, I gave it an I.Q. of 178! Genius status!

The Brain, explaining Mallah's origin in Doom Patrol #86

The scientist's colleague, Niles Caulder, grows jealous of his work and arranges for the scientist to get caught in an explosion, which destroys the scientist's body. Only the brain survives, and Caulder plans on putting his brain in a robot body. Mallah rescues the scientist, taking his brain and transferring it to a computer network that keeps it functioning. Now known simply as the Brain, the scientist and Mallah gather together the criminal organization known as the Brotherhood of Evil in hopes of conquering the world and getting revenge on Caulder. ^[2]

Caulder, now known as the Chief, through a series of other accidents that he manipulated, forms the superhero group known as the Doom Patrol. Setting out to destroy the Chief's 'pets', the Brain, Mallah, and their Brotherhood become enemies with the Patrol. Their criminal activities also put them into opposition with the Teen Titans.

Art from Doom Patrol #34, by Richard Case.

Doom Patrol

During Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run, Mallah has the Brain placed in one of Robotman's bodies. In his new body, the Brain confesses to Mallah that he's in love with him. Mallah reveals that he feels the same way, and the two kiss. However, Robotman's body had developed sentience and vowed never to be enslaved by a brain again; when Mallah placed his lover in the body, he triggered a self-destruct mechanism, which explodes as they kiss. ^[3]

The two later resurface (the Brain back to floating in a jar), with no explanation of how they survived the explosion. The Brotherhood begins raiding genetic research facilities to unlock the secrets of cloning and create a new body for the Brain, so he and Monsieur Mallah can resume their romance. ^{[4] [5] [6]} After a short while, the Brain's new clone body begins to break down, so he has Mallah rip off his head and put his brain back into another jar. ^[7]

In the Salvation Run storyline, the Brain and Monsieur Mallah appear amongst the villains that were sent to the planet Cygnus 4019. The Brain and Mallah arrive at Joker's camp, and Mallah asks Gorilla Grodd to speak with him away from the others. Mallah proposes to Grodd that, as fellow gorillas and the natural kings of the jungle, they should team up and, through their combined might, rule the entire place by themselves. Grodd laughs at Mallah for considering himself, an "absurd science experiment", comparable to "a proud child of Gorilla City". ^[8] Mallah strikes Grodd and calls him a beast, causing Grodd to fly into a rage and try to kill him. Although Mallah also has a gun and shoots Grodd several times, Grodd still has the upper hand, and is about to kill Mallah when the Brain interjects, pleading for Mallah's life. Thinking better of it, Grodd picks the Brain up and beats Mallah to death with the Brain, smashing the Brain's protective hull in the process and killing him as well. Before breathing his last breath, Monsieur Mallah says he dies happy taking solace in that he and the Brain will finally be able to be together forever. ^[9]

The New 52

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this continuity, Mallah was a gorilla who was experimented on by a New England scientist named Ernst to increase his intellect. He treated Mallah like a friend and an assistant. When an explosion occurred in his lab, Ernst was badly burned and Mallah saved his life by preserving his brain. ^[10] After becoming distrustful of humans, Brain took Mallah into attacking humans that they blamed for their plight. Then they raided LexCorp where they received a cyber-optic nerve so that Brain can see. During a standoff with the Special Crimes Unit, Maggie Sawyer tried to talk them down and agreed to help them if they surrendered. ^[11]

In an altered future, Brain and Monsieur Mallah appear assisting Gorilla Grodd in taking over the remains of Central City while The Black had taken over most of the world. They end up capturing Animal Man and the heroes that are with him. Animal Man's group is saved by Frankenstein and his Patchwork Army who defeat most of the gorillas as a few of them are allowed to escape to tell the tale of their defeat. ^[12]

DC Rebirth

In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". The Brotherhood of Evil worked together on a narcotic element which is then distributed to the addict population of New York City. ^[13] The designer drug, Bliss, was designed to put people in a fugue state so Brain could use their dormant mental capacity to expand his own intellect to godlike levels. ^[14]

As his acumen began to reach hyper-genius levels of intellectual capacity, The Brain began to physically transcend his body at varying percentages over time. As his abilities increase, he situated ecological catastrophes as bait to lure his enemies in the Justice League toward various traps while he worked toward achieving transcendent consciousness. ^[15]

His ascent to godhood also came with the side effect of nullifying his empathy, becoming personally distant from the humanistic coil such as relations and his dearest confidante. To that end, Mallah betrayed Brain to the Titans before he could reshape reality to his own ends, ending the threat he posed for good. ^[16]

Year of the Villain

During the "Year of the Villain", Joker imprisoned Brain and Monsieur Mallah in an old fairground while The Batman Who Laughs was infecting people. Joker tortured them and left them in Lex Luthor's care in exchange for the knowledge to defeat The Batman Who Laughs. ^[17]

Powers and abilities

Monsieur Mallah has inhuman strength, durability, speed, agility, reflexes, and intelligence, as well as a keen sense of smell. He usually carries a machine gun or any other firearms with him. ^[18]

In other media

Television

• Monsieur Mallah appears in Teen Titans , voiced by Glenn Shadix. ^[19] This version is irritable, overconfident, and typically prefers direct assaults via his brute strength over tactical prowess. He assists the Brotherhood of Evil in their plot to eliminate young heroes around the world, only to be defeated and flash-frozen by the Teen Titans.
• Monsieur Mallah appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold , voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. ^[19] In the episode "Gorillas in our Midst!", he joins Gorilla Grodd and Gorilla Boss in forming G.A.S.P. (Gorillas and Apes Seizing Power) and replacing Gotham City's citizens with apes, only to be thwarted by Batman, Detective Chimp, B'wana Beast, and Vixen. In the episode "The Last Patrol!", Mallah and the Brain join forces with General Zahl, among other enemies of the Doom Patrol, to seek revenge on them, only to be defeated by Batman once more.
• Monsieur Mallah appears in Young Justice , voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. ^[19] This version is a member of the Light in the first two seasons, during which he is eventually captured by the Team, and the Suicide Squad in the third season.
• Monsieur Mallah appears in the "Doom Patrol" segment of DC Nation Shorts , voiced by David Kaye. ^[19]
• Monsieur Mallah appears in Teen Titans Go! , voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
• Monsieur Mallah appears in Doom Patrol , voiced by Jonathan Lipow. ^[19] This version is a member of the Brotherhood of Evil. After helping the Brain steal Robotman's body, Mallah leaves the former.
• Monsieur Mallah appears in the My Adventures with Superman episode "My Adventures with Mad Science", voiced by André Sogliuzzo. ^[20] This version is a kind-hearted gorilla who was given greater intelligence by the Brain of Project Cadmus. ^[20]

Video games

• Monsieur Mallah appears in DC Universe Online , voiced by Leif Anders. ^[19]
• Monsieur Mallah appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure . ^[21]
• Monsieur Mallah appears as a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains , voiced by Peter Jessop. ^[19]

Miscellaneous

• Monsieur Mallah appears in Justice League Adventures #6. ^[22]
• Monsieur Mallah appears in Justice League Unlimited #31. ^[23]
• Monsieur Mallah appears in Smallville Season 11 #9. ^[24]

See also

• List of fictional primates

References

1. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 208. ISBN   978-1-4654-5357-0.
2. Wells, John (2015). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 180. ISBN   978-1605490458.
3. Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #34 (July 1990). DC Comics.
4. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #34 (May 2006). DC Comics.
5. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #35 (June 2006)
6. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #36 (July 2006). DC Comics.
7. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #37 (August 2006). DC Comics.
8. Salvation Run #3. DC Comics.
9. Salvation Run #4. DC Comics.
10. Red Hood: Outlaw #44. DC Comics.
11. Young Monsters in Love #1. DC Comics.
12. Animal Man (vol. 2) #15. DC Comics.
13. Titans (vol. 2) #19. DC Comics.
14. Titans (vol. 2) #20. DC Comics.
15. Titans (vol. 2) #22. DC Comics.
16. Titans (vol. 2) Annual #2. DC Comics.
17. Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #1. DC Comics.
18. Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #16 (June 1986)
19. "Monsieur Mallah Voices (Teen Titans)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 10, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
20. Nelson, Samantha (June 26, 2023). "My Adventures With Superman Review". IGN. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
21. Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
22. "Justice League Adventures #6 - Wolf's Clothing : Sold! (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
23. "Justice League Unlimited #31 - The One-Man Justice League (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
24. Smallville Season 11 #9 DC Comics.