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Mister Mind and the Monster Society of Evil

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Mister Mind is a comic book supervillain first published by Fawcett Comics, and today owned by DC Comics. Mind, created by writer Otto Binder and artist C.C. Beck as one of Fawcett character Captain Marvel' primary villains, is a two-inch alien worm of high intelligence. Mind ususally carries out his villainous plans through an organization called the Monster Society of Evil, significant as the first supervillain team in comics. Mind and the Monster Scoiety of Evil made their debuts in Captain Marvel Adventures #22, and the resulting "Moster Society of Evil" story arc continued for two years in Captain Marvel Adventures, ending with issue #46.

The original Mister Mind, depicted in Fawcett publications and pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC publications, was a cartoonish worm possesing an intelligence beyond that of human beings. This Mister Mind possessed no other superpowers, spoke through the use of a "talk box" which hung around his neck, and was depicted as being myopic and needing eyeglasses. Meanwhile, the membership and size of Mind's Monster Society has changed dramatically over the years, from thousands of members (including the entire Axis) in the 1940s Captain Marvel Adventures comics to only a handful in DC's Shazam! stories.

The current version of Mister Mind, introduced by Jerry Ordway in his Power of Shazam! series, is a more realistically-depicted alien worm from the planet Venus, possesing powers which include mind control, telepathy, and mental image projection. This Mind is the only survivor of a race of mind-controlling Venusian worms, and irregularly appears in DC Universe stories attempting to find hosts and/or clone himself.

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Full history (in fictional chronolgical order)

Earth-2

The first appearance of the Monster Society, chronologically, was in All-Star Squadron #51-54 (November 1985 to February 1986). In the universe known as Earth-2, Mr. Mind came to Earth during World War II, drawn by its radio broadcasts; he especially loved Charlie McCarthy. Upon learning his beloved Charlie was not real, he decided to conquer the world instead. To this end, he formed the first Monster Society Of Evil, which was merely a shadow of what was to come. Not long after its founding, the other villains tried to kill him, and Mr. Mind retreated to Earth-S. Without his leadership, the team was quickly defeated in battle by the All-Star Squadron.

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Captain Marvel Adventures: \"Nightmares From Now On\"

As a side-effect of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Mr. Mind arrived in the universe of Earth-S sometime around 1846 (it was mentioned in this story that he had been working on a weapon for 97 years). His brilliant intellect, telepathic powers, and ruthlessness allowed him to conquer much of space, establishing bases on many different worlds as well as varied locations on Earth. He recruited supervillains, armies, and entire alien species to aid him in his attempt to conquer the Earth. He began his reign of terror on Earth in 1943, boasting that he and the Monster Society Of Evil would give the world's greatest superhero, Captain Marvel, "nightmares from now on." Easily the longest story of the Golden Age of Comics, his attempts to do so were featured in Captain Marvel Adventures #22-46 (March 1943 to May 1945).

He had many and varied plans: to steal magical, future-telling pearls; to lead the Allied army in Africa astray; to bomb Pearl Harbor a second time; to crush North America beneath a giant glacier; to make Captain Marvel his mental slave; to topple all the buildings in Captain Marvel's home city; to trap the United States in eternal darkness; to move the Great Wall Of China to crush the Chinese Army; to immobilize the air fleet of Australia; to use the ten-mile-long gun "Great Big Bertha" to literally blow holes in America and Russia; to invade Scotland from an artificial island; to cause a giant volcano to erupt in the middle of Britain; to literally blow the Earth in two; to make a movie about himself to intimidate the world; to destroy Earth's armies with a Black Death Ray; to publish a book about himself to try and convince everyone he should be their rightful leader; to create a vicious, multi-headed Hydra; to smash an asteroid into America; and to wreck the world's navies.

But Captain Marvel stopped them all, dismantled all of his resources, and arrested, frightened away, or accidentally killed all of his henchmen. Finally, a desperate Mr. Mind attacked Captain Marvel's alter ego, Billy Batson, with ether and left him unconscious. But he then realized that without his henchmen, he was practically helpless and unable to kill him. He tried frantically to push a live electrical wire onto Billy, who woke up just in time. Mr. Mind fled into the infrastructure of radio station WHIZ, Billy's place of work, but with a little help from an exterminator, Captain Marvel soon captured the world's wickedest worm and the Earth could sleep soundly again.

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Return of the Society

Almost thirty years later, the Monster Society Of Evil was briefly reformed in Shazam! #14 (September-October 1974). An escaped Mr. Mind, hungry for revenge, assembled a new, smaller group. Although armed with a new and improved death ray that drew on their combined hatred, they were no match for Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr.

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The Monster Society strikes back

Mr. Mind reformed his Monster Society Of Evil one last time, in World's Finest Comics 264-267 (August-September 1980 to February-March 1981). Arguably the strongest incarnation of the group ever formed, almost the entire Marvel Family had to unite in order to stop them--Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and the three Lieutenant Marvels: Tall Marvel, Fat Marvel, and Hill Marvel (the only ones who didn't battle them were Black Adam, who was a member of the Monster Society Of Evil, and Uncle Marvel, a powerless yet wily old man). Their wicked plans were wide-ranging, beginning with an assault on Egypt, expanding to a scheme to reverse the entire Earth's topography, and conquering hundreds of planets and using them to build an army of spaceships. Their plans culminated in a massive assault on the Rock of Eternity, the point where all time and space can be accessed and the home of the Marvels' benefactor, Shazam.

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Post-Crisis

Mr. Mind was re-introduced into the DC Universe in Jerry Ordway's The Power of Shazam! series. Mind was one of a race of millions of mind-controlling worms from the planet Venus, who had plans to invade and take over the Earth. Appointed as the go-ahead agent, Mind arrived on Earth during World War II, by means of an indestructible green Venusian space suit, but was captured by Bulletman, Starman, and Green Lantern Abin Sur before enacting his plan. Mind eventually escaped, and decades later forced Dr. Sivana to join forces with him, needing Sivana's scientific prowess to facilitate the Venusian worms' plans.

The worms' plans to invade the Earth were thwarted by Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, who succeeded in killing all of the worms save for Mr. Mind, whom they placed in the custody of Sargeant Steel and the Department of Meta-Human Affairs. Mind eventually escapes, Takes over Steel's mind, and programs Mister Atom, another Marvel Family villain in Steel's custody, to destroy the town of Fairfield, where Billy Batson (Captain Marvel) and Mary Bromfield (Mary Marvel) lived with their adopted parents. After Mister Atom's nuclear blast destroys the city and kills nearly all of its residents, the Marvels arrive in Washington, DC seeking revenge. Mr. Mind's plot to set off a nuclear holocaust included using clones of himself to take over the minds of several regular American citizens, who were to make their ways to nuclear bomb facilities and initiate a nuclear holocaust. However, Mind's plan was foiled by the Marvel Family and several Green Lanterns.

Mister Mind was last seen in the JSA series, as a member of former Monster Society member Black Adam's vigilante team, organized to overthrow the oppressive government of Adam's home country, Khandaq. Mind enhabited the body of Brainwave and amplified his powers, until being discovered and captured by the Atom and the JSA.

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World's Funnest

In the Elseworlds story Superman & Batman: World's Funnest (November 2000), the two near omnipotent imps Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite engage in a tremendous duel that destroys many planes of reality. One of these appears to be a version of Earth-S. During their time there, they run into a version of the Monster Society Of Evil slightly different than any other; it almost seems like a "Greatest Hits" version. Mxyzptlk easily destroys them (With a tentacled beast labeled Mr. Mxyzptlk's Anti-Social Monster) when they begin to annoy him, along with the rest of the universe; however, by the end of the book, all is returned as it was.

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Current status in comics

Writer/artist Jeff Smith is working on a miniseries entitled Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil, due to be released in 2006. As of yet, however, little is known of the plot.

It was stated in 52 #1 that the Monster Society tore up Opal City pretty badly. In the same issue, Mr. Mind was seen together with Dr. Sivana before the latter was kidnapped by forces unknown. At the end of issue #3, Mr. Mind was shown to have wrapped himself in a cocoon, much as caterpillars do; after more than 60 years, it appears it is time for him to undergo metamorphosis. As of week 10, the cocoon has hatched.

Cultural references

 

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