Mr. Mind

Pre-Crisis

On a distant world dwelt a race of weak-eyed subterranean worms. One of them was born a mutant with a mighty brain, far superior to his fellows, yet was unable to make use of his mental powers because of his small size and lack of hands. This was the future Mr. Mind.

An exiled alien came to that plane to set up a scientific laboratory. Mr Mind discovered he could transfer his own mentality temporarily into this being, and he used the lab to create his glasses, voice amplifier and other equipment.

Among these was a trans-dimensional radio with which he could pick up broadcasts from more than one Earth. He decided to visit Earth-2, hoping first to meet those whose broadcasts had amused him – then to enlist the powers of the Justice Society into his service as the first in a society of conquest.

But the JSA was away from Earth, so Mr. Mind instead sought out some of their enemies, including Oom, Mister Who, Ramulus, Nyola and the Dummy, for a first try at a society of evil. When this was thwarted, he made his next attempt on Earth-S, setting up his headquarters on a nearby asteroid. He then broadcast to the greatest villains on Earth as well as the leaders of the axis powers, enlisting them all in his Monster Society of Evil.

For some time, Mr Mind battled Captain Marvel, who at first only knew him as a radio voice. Then, when Cap destroyed his headquarters, Mind escaped to Earth to work with the Axis, though he later traveled to the planetoid Punkus, where he ruled the crocodile men who alone could breathe the poisonous atmosphere of that world – Mr. Mind needing a breathing helmet there.

At last, deserted by his minions, Mr. MInd was captured by Captain Marvel and put on trial for multiple murders. (Although he had not carried these out himself, he had ordered them).

Found guilty, he was sent to the electric chair, but what Captain Marvel and everyone else did not realise was that Mr. Mind’s race were immune to electricity. However, the shock from the chair placed Mr Mind into a temporary state of suspended animation, and he awoke just as a taxidermist was about to stuff him for a museum.

With his mental powers, Mind ensured the man used another worm instead. The World’s Wickedest Worm then spun a cocoon and spent years in hibernation before returning to again battle Captain Marvel and the whole Marvel Family.

Post-Crisis

Mr. Mind was chosen as the first agent from the Venusian worms to infiltrate Earth, but was stopped by Starman, Bulletman and the Green Lantern Abin Sur. Mind was not seen again for many decades, when he teamed up with Dr. Sivana to try and take over the Earth. The worms were stopped forever when Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel killed all of them, except Mr. Mind, when they were thrown into deep space, freezing them. Mind was taken into DEO custody by Sarge Steel. Mind later escaped by taking control of Steel, and reprograms Marvel villain Mr. Atom to destroy Fairfield, where the Batson siblings lived. Mind also successfully cloned himself, taking over many citizens of Fairview. Atom successfully detonated, killing hundreds in Fairview but Mind was once again defeated.

Joker´s Last Laugh

During the Joker’s Last Laugh storyline, where the Joker triggered a break-out of supervillain prison the Slab, Mister Mind was forced to work with former Mister Miracle Shilo Norman to escape after Black Mass trapped the Slab in a black hole, Mister Mind agreeing to take control of Black Mass and reverse what he had done to restore the Slab to normal space, although Norman ensured his cooperation by tying a string of floss around him before he entered Black Mass (Reasoning that, if Mister Mind attempted to remain inside afterwards, he would be either yanked out or torn in half by the string).

Black Reign

During the Black Reign, it was revealed that Black Adam had offered up Brainwave Jr. as a host for the Venusian parasite to live in. In exchange, Mr. Mind offered his services in keeping Hank King at Black Adam’s side. After hearing the full story of how the two frequent foes of Captain Marvel had allied with each other, the Atom managed to incapacitate Mr. Mind with an energy blast that severed the mind-link and caused Brainwave to collapse.

52

Following this, Mind catured by Sivana and treated with Suspendium, causing Mind to create a cocoon for itself. Ulimately, it was revealed that he was incubating within Booster Gold’s sidekick Skeets, and had been systematicly killing time travelers throughout the timeline, including killing Waverider to guarantee his skin could be used to coat Skeets so Skeets can travel through the time stream. Mind was eventually discovered by Rip Hunter and Booster Gold. By this time. Mind had metamorphisized into its mature form- a creature called a Hyperfly. As the Hyerfly, Mind began to eat the 52 identical worlds that compromised the Multiverse. He was stopped by Booster when he was stuck in a stable timeloop, being discovered by Sivana and becoming the Hyperfly over and over.

Booster Gold

Some time afterwords, he was rescued by the Time Stealers in an attempt at destroying Booster and Rip. He was able to reproduce inside Booster’s father, Jonar Carter. Mind is killed when a time tossed Ted Kord steps on him. At least two offspring of Mind’s survived.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance

One of his offspring born while in Jonar’s body, resurfaces alive in Japan, taking control over Rising Sun. Under his thrall Rising Sun starts acting erratical, apparently devolving into a drunken, overweight, nostalgic bent on disgracing the disrespectful youngsters of the Super Young Team. As part of this campaign, Mind kills many disaster relief workers in Midway City. While threatening to immolate Earth, it’s the Super Young Team who discovers the alien presence in Rising Sun’s brain, deeply lodged inside it.

Action Comics

The latter was paid by an as of yet unknown benefactor to kill Lex Luthor. While confronting Lex, it was mentioned that Mind’s conscience was passed down through “a strand of eight-D RNA”.

New 52

Mr. Mind who is encased within a glass container and a glass jar calls to Sivana telepathically. Sivana had just located the entrance to The Rock of Eternity and he formerly introduce himself and infers that he and Sivana will be best of friends.

Alternate Versions

In the Justice story, Sivana creates mind-controlling robotic worms based on Mr. Mind. They are later mass produced by Brainiac and used in an attempt to destroy the Earth. Similar worms appear on Earth-22, which Luthor uses to keep Billy Batson docile and controlled. Due to similar themes and creative teams, Justice may be set on the same world of Earth-22.

Action Figures

Despite Mind’s small size, several action figures of him have been made over the years, mainly as accessories to other figures. The first was in a DC Direct figure of Captain Marvel, which included Mr. Mind as a small unarticulated accessory. Many years later, a figure of Sivana was made that again included Mind. Lastly, the modern version of Booster Gold from the DC Universe Classics line includes a Skeets accessory that can be opened, revealing Mind inside Skeets.

Other Media

Batman: Brave and the Bold

In the episode “The Malicious Mr. Mind!“, Mr. Mind appears as the second leader of the Monster Society of Evil. He uses the society to steal the components of a shrink ray to take over Fawcett City with. Mind is able to turn the Marvel family against one another by taking over their body and beginning arguments amongst themselves. All the while, Sivana is jealous of Mind taking the Society from him. When he turns the completed beam on Mind, it is revealed that it is actually a growth ray, turning Mind into an enormous centipede like creature based on the Hyperfly. Batman is able to defeat him, even as he de-ages from a de-aging ray Sivana used on him, when he turns the growth ray into reverse and uses it against Mind.