Brainwave (comics)
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Brainwave or Brain Wave is a name shared by two characters in the DC Comics Universe, who are father and son.
Henry King, Sr.
Brain Wave was Henry King, a super-villain who used his psionic powers to battle the Justice Society of America in the 1940s, first appearing in All-Star Comics #15 (February/March 1943). He was a member of the Injustice Society.Character history
Henry King, Sr. was born in the early 1910s as born a mutant with vast mental attributes. An introvert who found solace in reading books, which he one day learned to create three-dimensional images of, such as Sir Lancelot of the Round Table. King had developed a crush on a neighbor girl named Lucy who eventually married his acquaintance Edwin Ackerman, causing King tremendous jealousy.As an adult, King was a college and later medical school graduate, obtaining a psychiatry degree. He decided to use his now more fully developed image projecting abilities in a secret life of crime. His first criminal act was creating thought-constructs that stole money needed by him to fund his new activities. He then became a crime lord.
In early 1942, Brain Wave contacted Professor Elba, developer of the "insanity serum", augmented by Brain Wave's mental abilities. Professor Elba was defeated by the Justice Society.
Noticing this team of vigilantes, Brain Wave approached individual members of the JSA as psychiatrist Dr. Henry King. Implanting a post-hypnotic suggestions to assemble at the 1939 World's Fair perisphere, he attached each of the JSAers (except Green Lantern) to a mental chamber which immersed them in a fantasy of wartime conflict. Brain Wave next assembled the All-Star Squadron at the World's Fair's trylon tower, imprisoning each of them in the same device. However, once Green Lantern was connected to the device, his willpower proved too great for the chamber and its orchestrator, leaving it in ruin and King mentally unstable.
In 1943, Brain Wave again battled the Justice Society, when its individual members traced various criminal operations back to Dr. King. At this time, he vented his revenge on Edwin Ackerman. Starman tracked King to his office of psychiatry, however he was unable to produce sufficient proof to arrest the villain. Each of the JSAers eventually converged on King's Sharktooth Bay tower. Additionally, heroines Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Inza Cramer, Dian Belmont, Doris Lee and Peachy Pet Thunder. Together, the two groups were able to corner King, who fell off of his tower to his assumed doom.
However, King's smock was caught on the limb of a tree. Thus saved, he sought revenge by utilizing his shrinking ray device to shrink the JSAers to a height of 8 inches. Storing them as trophies in his lair, King left his foes to meet with his minions. With the aid of Hawkman's bird allies, the JSAers left to confront the criminal henchmen directly. Eventually, Johnny Thunder commanded his Thunderbolt to help restore each member to their proper height. The JSA then converged once more at the Sharktooth Bay tower, the road to which was mined by King. However, Thunderbolt teleported the bombs to under the tower, which again seemed to have ended the life of King.
Henry King, Jr.
Henry "Hank" King, Jr. is a DC Comics superhero, sometimes supervillain, who is the son of the original Brainwave, from whom he inherited his powers. Created by Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway and Mike Machlan, he first appeared in All-Star Squadron #24 (1983).
Character history
Originally called Brainwave Jr., Hank was a founding member of Infinity, Inc. and served as an attempt to bring honor to his family name. During this time, he had a relationship with fellow team member Jade, daughter of Green Lantern.When Hank's father died, he passed on his mental powers to his son, greatly increasing them and causing him to become somewhat unhinged. He dropped the "Jr." and dropped out of the public eye after Infinity Inc. disbanded. He would show up years later in New York City, causing riots and general chaos with his telepathy, even mind controlling Jade and Green Lantern until finally confronting Kyle Rayner. He left peaceful, but left a forboding warning.
Black Adam and Mr. Mind
He would resurface again as part of Black Adam's team, which included Infinitors Northwind and Atom Smasher, and helped liberate Khandaq. In an attempt to stop Hank, considered the most dangerous member of the team, Hawkman had Ray Palmer shrink and enter Brainwave's body. Guided by Dr. Mid-Nite, Palmer was to operate on King's brain, specifically the abnormal mass of nerve fibers leading from the auditory cortex to a growth on the side of the inferior colliculus, the supposed source of Brainwave's powers.While a member of Black Adam's group, Brainwave acted both malicious and calculating, seemingly having become a supervillain again. His telepathy was also at a high point, being able to will the powerful Captain Marvel to turn back into young Billy Batson.
The source of these actions were found in Henry's brain, where Palmer encountered Mr. Mind who had been feeding on Brainwave's growth. He found it especially delicious, unlike regular humans. Palmer would eventually get past the worm and successfully incapacitate brainwave. He was later taken back with the JSA and left in the care of his mother Mary Pemberton. It is unknown when Brainwave became a host for Mr. Mind.
Later, Brainwave was recruited by Doctor Fate to save Sand from the Dreaming. In that mental plane, he was able to destroy the brainwashing that had been done to Sand and return him to the waking realm.
Henry King, Jr. seems to have three specific attitudes. The first was heroic. The second villainous, and the third, cold and calculating (this one was Mr. Mind controlling him or at least strongly influencing him). King has since returned to his heroic persona.
Powers and abilities
Both King Sr. and Jr. had a variety of mental powers. King Sr. was originally much stronger, and upon his death, he somehow passed his powers on to his son, vastly increasing King Jr.'s power level.Chief among their powers is telepathy. Both are able to dominate many minds at once and cause people too see illusions or even have complete control over them. Proximity seemed key to the effectiveness of this power, even though it had no defined range. King Jr. had mentioned how even strong wills could not resist him when he was right next to them. While many telepaths filter out the thoughts of others, King Jr. allows them to flow freely through his mind.
Lesser used powers of the Kings include telekinesis, the creation of realistic three-dimensional holograms, and the ability to fire blasts of psionic energy.
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