Creation
Barry Witherspoon was created by Marv Wolfman and Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Machine Man Vol 1#14.
Biography
Barry Witherspoon, out of work, and looking for a way to help support his family, agreed to an experimental process that involved minipulating the density of objects. He was bombaded by “extradimensional mass” that made him nigh invulnerable, super strong, and extremely heavy, but the process also made him dissconnect with reality. He wandered around in a daze, unless given orders by someone using special sonic amplifiers.
The brother of the scientist who carried out this experiment was an aide to Miles Brickman, and saw an opportunity to further’s Brickman’s campaign against Machine Man. Brickman’s aides dressed Witherspoon as Machine Man, and ordered him to rob banks. This made the media slam Machine Man, and made the aides a tidy profit.
However, in order to catch the imposter, Machine Man turned himself in to the police. The aides carried out a robbery while Machine Man was under observation, and Machine Man’s name was cleared. He then hunted down the aides and detroyed the sonic amplifier, leaving Witherspoon unresponsive. Witherspoon was later drained of the extradimensional energy allowing him to regain consciousness and return to his family
Powers and Abilities
Witherspoon was bombarded with extradimensional mass that increased his density, and bolstered his strength, allowing him to trivially ignore attacks from Machine Man, and throw the android a long distance with a single hand. While in this state he was apparently unaware of reality, but was highly suggestable to commands made with certain types of sonic amplification. These powers were presumably lost when the scientist drained off the energy.
Equipment
Witherspoon wore a costume that was a replica of Machine Man’s outer shell, although it did not replicate his abilities.
Note: On the cover of Machine Man #14, Barry’s first and only appearance, he is wearing a costume that resembles his Machine Man disguise, but is green. This may be to avoid spoiling the events of the issue. Barry Witherspoon has never worn this costume in canon.