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Brain (DC Comics)

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This article is about the DC Comics character. For the Canadian publisher's character, see The Brain (Bell comics).
The Brain
Monsieur Mallah with the Brain, from the cover to Outsiders (vol. 3) #37.
Art by Daniel Acuña.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceDoom Patrol #86 (March 1964)
Created byArnold Drake (writer)
Bruno Premiani (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoUnknown (Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis)
Ernst ("The New 52" continuity)
SpeciesCyborg
Team affiliationsBrotherhood of Evil
Injustice League
Secret Society of Super Villains
PartnershipsMonsieur Mallah
Notable aliasesUltimax
Abilities(Currently):
  • Genius-level intellect
  • Bionic surrogacy

(Formerly):

  • Mass consciousness

The Brain is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Commonly as a frequent enemy of the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans, he is a French genius and criminal mastermind.[1]

The Brain appears as the main antagonist in the third season of the HBO Max series Doom Patrol, voiced by Riley Shanahan.

Publication history

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The Brain first appeared in Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964) and was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani.[2] Drake later commented: "I used that same concept in a Jerry Lewis comic book, and in a Bob Hope comic I had a totem pole that talked to him. Often times, I wrote the same storylines for the comedy stuff that I wrote for the serious stuff. I just turned it on its head".[3]

Fictional character biography

[edit]

As a scientist, the Brain performs experiments on animals to raise their intelligence. One of these is on a gorilla, who he names Monsieur Mallah and educates for almost a decade before making him his assistant. His colleague Niles Caulder grows jealous of his work and arranges for the Brain to get caught in an explosion, which destroys his body. Only the brain survives, which Caulder plans on putting into a robotic body. Mallah rescues the Brain, transferring him to a computer network that keeps him functioning.[4]

The Brain and Mallah form the Brotherhood of Evil in hopes of conquering the world and getting revenge on Caulder, recruiting Madame Rouge, General Immortus, and Garguax.[5] Caulder, now known as the "Chief", through a series of other accidents that he manipulated, forms the Doom Patrol. The Brain, Mallah, and their Brotherhood's criminal activities also pit them against the Teen Titans. The Brotherhood go against the newly formed Justice League, with the Brain using a genetic splicer to take the Flash's legs, Green Lantern's ring, Black Canary's vocal chords, and Martian Manhunter's eyes.[6] The Brain is defeated by the League and the Doom Patrol, the League using cybernetic implants created by Niles Caulder to compensate for their lost powers. Aquaman is thrown to the Brain, overpowers his control of the ring, and separates the Brain from his makeshift body.[7]

Art from Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #34, by Richard Case.

During Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run, Mallah has the Brain placed in one of Robotman's bodies. The two confess their love for one another and kiss. However, Robotman's body had developed sentience and vowed never to be enslaved by a brain again. When Mallah places the Brain in Robotman's body, which triggers a self-destruct mechanism and explodes as the two kiss.[8] The two later resurface (the Brain back to floating in a jar), with no explanation of how they survived the explosion.[9]

In Salvation Run, Brain and Mallah are among the villains exiled to the planet Cygnus 4019. An altercation between Mallah and Gorilla Grodd ends with Grodd beating Mallah to death with Brain's chassis, killing them both.[10]

Brain is later resurrected in The New 52 continuity reboot.[11] This version is a scientist named Ernst who was mortally wounded in an explosion and saved by Monsieur Mallah, who preserved his brain. After becoming distrustful of humans, Brain and Mallah attack humans who they blame for their plight.[12]

In the Dawn of DC series Unstoppable Doom Patrol, Mallah betrays and kills Brain, believing that their relationship is toxic and no longer loving.[13][14]

Powers and abilities

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The Brain is highly intelligent and a master of manipulation. His body is armed with a variety of weapons. On the rare occasion when the Brain has been vulnerable without robotic protection or assistance from other villains, he has protected himself by attacking opponents through telekinesis.

Other characters named Brain

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DC Comics previously had other villains named the Brain:

  • The first villain was a human criminal who earned his nickname for his cleverness and battled the Seven Soldiers of Victory.[15]
  • The second villain to use the name Brain was a crime boss who fought Flash.[16]
  • The third villain to use the name Brain is a crime boss who fought Wonder Woman and manipulated her into questioning her own existence.[17]
  • The fourth villain to use the name Brain is a criminal mastermind who fought Superman.[18]

Other versions

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Earth-S

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On Earth-S, the Brain is the name used by Warden Loomis, a serial killer who is an enemy of Mr. Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid.[19]

In other media

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Television

[edit]

Video games

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Miscellaneous

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  • The Brain appears in Teen Titans Go! (2004).[24]
  • The Brain appears in Justice League Adventures #6.[25]
  • The Brain appears in Justice League Unlimited #31.[26]
  • The Brain appears in Smallville Season 11 #9.[27]
  • The Young Justice incarnation of the Brain appears in issues #18 and #19 of the Young Justice tie-in comic book series.[28] This version was originally among a group of scientists, led by an old woman who would become the Ultra-Humanite, who settled in Bwunda to conduct experiments on the native gorillas before having his brain transplanted into a robotic container. After building Gorilla City, the scientists enslaved the gorillas, enhanced their intellect with Kobra venom, placed inhibitor collars on them, and took their offspring hostage. Two years later, the scientists are pursued by the Team, who form an alliance with the gorillas. Despite destroying Gorilla City and freeing the offspring, the Brain and Ultra-Humanite escape.

References

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  1. ^ Jimenez, Phil (2008), "Brain", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, p. 60, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1
  2. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  3. ^ Browning, Michael (July 2013). "The Doom Patrol Interviews: Arnold Drake". Back Issue! (#65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 41.
  4. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 38–39. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  5. ^ Wells, John (2015). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 180. ISBN 978-1605490458.
  6. ^ Waid, Mark; Augustyn, Brian (w), Kitson, Barry (p), Bair, Michael (i), Garrahy, Pat (col). "A League Divided" JLA: Year One, vol. 1, no. 5 (May 1998). DC Comics.
  7. ^ Waid, Mark; Augustyn, Brian (w), Kitson, Barry (p), Bair, Michael; Stokes, John (i), Garrahy, Pat (col). "Sum of Their Parts" JLA: Year One, vol. 1, no. 6 (June 1998). DC Comics.
  8. ^ Morrison, Grant (w), Case, Richard (p), Nyberg, John (i), Vozzo, Daniel (col). "The Soul of a New Machine" Doom Patrol, vol. 2, no. 34 (July 1990). DC Comics.
  9. ^ Johns, Geoff (w), Daniel, Tony S. (p), Conrad, Kevin; Thibert, Art (i), Horie, Richard; Horie, Tanya (col). "New Teen Titans, Part 1" Teen Titans, vol. 3, no. 34 (May 2006). DC Comics.
  10. ^ Sturges, Lilah (w), Chen, Sean (p), Wong, Walden (i), Kalisz, John (col). "Life is but a Nightmare" Salvation Run, vol. 1, no. 4 (April 2008). DC Comics.
  11. ^ Bedard, Tony (w), Churchill, Ian (p), Rapmund, Norm (i), Aviña, Tony (col). "Metatroll93" Teen Titans, vol. 5, no. 20 (July 2016). DC Comics.
  12. ^ Orlando, Steve (w), Klein, Nic (p), Klein, Nic (i), Klein, Nic (col). "Visibility" Young Monsters in Love, vol. 1, no. 1 (April 2018). DC Comics.
  13. ^ Culver, Dennis (w), Burnham, Chris (p), Burnham, Chris (i), Reber, Brian (col). "Degenerates One and All" Unstoppable Doom Patrol, vol. 1, no. 1 (May 2023). DC Comics.
  14. ^ Zachary, Brandon (April 2, 2023). "A Classic Doom Patrol Villain Just Suffered a Shocking Betrayal - And an Even Worse Death". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  15. ^ Weisinger, Mort (w), Meskin, Mort (p), Meskin, Mort (i). "Beware! The Black Star Shines!" Leading Comics, vol. 1, no. 2 (March 1942). DC Comics.
  16. ^ Fox, Gardner (w), Hibbard, Everett E. (p), Hibbard, Everett E. (i). "Haunted Halloween" Flash Comics, vol. 1, no. 78 (December 1946). DC Comics.
  17. ^ Kanigher, Robert (w), Peter, Harry G. (p), Peter, Harry G. (i). "Seven Days To Doom" Wonder Woman, vol. 1, no. 58 (March 1953). DC Comics.
  18. ^ Superman #83 (July 1953)
  19. ^ America's Greatest Comics #1 (1941)
  20. ^ a b c d e f g "Brain Voices (Teen Titans)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 9, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  21. ^ "R/DCDoomPatrol - Riley Shanahan (Cliff's on-set actor) has revealed he voiced the Brain in season 3!". 25 December 2021.
  22. ^ Nelson, Samantha (June 26, 2023). "My Adventures With Superman Review". IGN. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  23. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  24. ^ "Teen Titans Go! #33 - The Strangest Sports Story Ever Told (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  25. ^ "Justice League Adventures #6 - Wolf's Clothing : Sold! (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  26. ^ "Justice League Unlimited #31 - The One-Man Justice League (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  27. ^ Smallville Season 11 #9
  28. ^ "Young Justice #18 - Monkey Business (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
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