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| Mad Thinker | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963)[1] |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Julius |
| Team affiliations | Maggia Triumvirate of Terror Intelligencia Illuminati Masters of Evil |
| Partnerships | Puppet Master Egghead Klaw Wizard Awesome Android |
| Notable aliases | Dr. José Santini, The Thinker |
| Abilities | Master tactician and strategist Genius-level intellect Ability to project his mind into the body ofAwesome Android and other robots |
TheMad Thinker is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He is portrayed to be an evil genius specializing inrobotics. He is sometimes referred to just as "The Thinker".
The Mad Thinker was introduced byStan Lee andJack Kirby inFantastic 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 beJulius in the pages of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev'sInfamous Iron Man #2.[4]
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 theBaxter Building as his base and all organized crime members as his lieutenants. The Fantastic Four were lured away from New York just before ameteorite 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, theAwesome 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 onReed 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 thePuppet Master for the first time. He used the originalX-Men through a mind-controlledProfessor X to battle the Fantastic Four.[7] Again with the Puppet Master, he pitted theThing against theHuman Torch, but was foiled by Reed Richards.[8] Later he created a radio-controlledbouncing 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 createdQuasimodo, a "living" computer. He located and revived theoriginal 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 theAvengers and invadedAvengers 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 byHercules.[11]
Mad Thinker, along with Awesome Android, appears as a member of theIntelligencia.[12] During a conflict between the Intelligencia and theSinister Six, the Mad Thinker is killed byDoctor Octopus.MODOK Superior later resurrects the Mad Thinker and the other Intelligencia members.[13][14]
In "All-New, All-Different Marvel," Mad Thinker appears as a member of theHood's incarnation of theIlluminati.[15]
Sometime later, the Mad Thinker appears inLa Paz, Bolivia where he is surprised byDoctor 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.[4] Mad Thinker is later shown to be inS.H.I.E.L.D. custody.[16]
After escaping from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Mad Thinker became obsessed with Mister Fantastic's whereabouts, as he has not returned toEarth-616. Misinterpreting Mister Fantastic's absence, Mad Thinker thinks that Mister Fantastic wants Mad Thinker to succeed him and the Fantastic Four.[17] 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. He took his Fantastic Four to follow Human Torch and Thing on theirmultiverse travels 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.[18]
During the "One World Under Doom" storyline, Mad Thinker meets withDreadknight,Exterminatrix,Madcap, andMister Hyde to discuss Doctor Doom becomingSorcerer Supreme and the Avengers and theMasters of Evil trying to fight him. He pitches that they form their branch of the Masters of Evil. After rebuilding Quasimodo to assist them, the Masters of Evil begin their takeover of theImpossible City and plan to drop an asteroid on New York City. The group is opposed byCaptain America (Sam Wilson), who dons armor created by the Impossible City. After his teammates are defeated, Mad Thinker dons armor with technology derived from theSuper-Adaptoid technology and fights Sam Wilson andBlack Panther, with the armor allowing him to use all the abilities of his teammates. The Impossible City's Suit extension takes control of Dreadknight and performs a hard reset, freeing itself from the Masters of Evil. The rest of the Avengers appear and help defeat Mad Thinker.[19]
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 aneidetic 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, andartificial intelligence, with Ph.D.s in computer science and engineering. He has constructed his own androidAwesome Android and twice resurrected theoriginal Human Torch. He also builtQuasimodo 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 can 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.
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.
The following robots and androids were created by Mad Thinker:
An original incarnation of the Mad Thinker namedRhona Burchill appears in theUltimate Marvel universe. She is a rejected applicant of theBaxter Building'sthink tank who sought revenge and removed portions of her brotherBobby's brain to increase her own intelligence. However, this leaves her with a deformed head and a disjointed,stream of consciousness speech pattern.[27]
In a parody issue ofWhat If?, Spider-Man defeats the Mad Thinker by debating philosophy, boring the observingUatu.[28]
The Mad Thinker appears in issue #12 ofThe Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes tie-in comic.[30]
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