#brainwave

Infinity, Inc. info page

[ID: fanart of Brainwave Jr from DC comics, he is in mid-leap. end ID]

Injustice

365 DC Comics Heroes & Villains Paper Cut-Outs

Brainwave

Two individuals have be known as the Brainwave.  The first was Henry Kind Sr. who found at an early age that he possessed inborn psychic powers.  With practice and concentration Henry could manifest entirely convincing illusions of whatever it was that he could dream up.  

Terribly shy and socially isolated, King grew embittered toward the world and chose to use his powers obtain power and dominance.  Under the moniker of the ‘Brainwave’ he went up against the Justice Society and nearly defeated the team of heroes.  It would prove to be the first of many altercation between Brainwave and the Society.  Brainwave’s powers continued to grow and as they did his cranium became jaeger and more elongated. 

His altered appearance further compounded his feelings of alienation and Brainwave chose to join the first iteration of the Injustice Society (a consortium of villains who chose to work together to take on a common for).  This Injustice Society almost succeeded in conquering the world, but were undone by the clever thinking of the Green Lantern (Scott).  

At some point in his life, King managed to find romance, having entered into an unlikely marriage with the heroine known as Merry the Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks.  Merry had been an amateur superhero who often worked alongside The Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy.  How she and Brainwave came to be an item remains unknown but there is no indication that King used mind control nor any of his psychic powers to manipulate her.  

Henry and Mary had a child together, a son whom they named Henry King Jr.  Years later, Henry Jr. discovered that he had inherited the same powers as his father (albeit without any of the physical deformations).  The young Henry wanted to make amends for his father’s past misdeeds and he became a hero, naming himself ‘Brainwave Jr.’ and helping to form the team of young legacy heroes known as Infinity Inc.  

Brainwave Sr. was coaxed out of retirement by the Ultra-Humanite who had formed a new version of the Injustice Society that planned to destroy both the Justice Society as the Justice League.  And yet Brainwave Sr. had a change of heart when he discovered that the Humanite also planned on destroying Infinity Inc.  The one-time villain attacked the Ultra-Humanite, intent on saving his sons life.

Following a tremendous battle, the Ultra-Humanite’s scheme was thwarted, but Brainwave Sr. paid for the victory with his life.  With his dying breaths, Brainwave transferred the bulk of his powers to his son, greatly augmenting Henry Jr.’s psychic abilities.  

Brainwave Jr. continued to operate as a superhero, yet struggled to cope with the enormity of his peers.  It became difficult to filter out all of the foreign thoughts and feelings that constantly bombarded his mind.  His romance with his teammate Jade ended badly and Henry Jr. became socially isolated and unhinged.  He ended up becoming a villain, forming a new version of the Legion of Doom.  

The team were defeated by the Justice League and Henry Jr. was remanded to inpatient psychiatric care.  The treatment Henry Jr. received seemed to work for a time and he was able to live a peaceful civilian life for a short time.  It appeared that Henry Jr. had returned to villainy when he showed up as a an ally of Black Adam in the violent other throwing of the the government of Kahndaq.  Herein Henry Jr. demonstrated a cruelty and malevolence that was very unlike him.  Indeed there was a concern that he may be suffering from some form of brain tumor.  

The heroic Atom shrunk down in size to investigate the matter.  Within the recesses of Henry’s brain the Atom discovered that the former hero had been taken over by the worm-like villain known as Mister Mind.  The Atom defeated Mr. Mind and Henry quickly regained his sanity.  

Although no longer a villain, Henry was reluctant to return to the role of hero and he agreed to stay on as an adjunct part of the Justice Society, a reserve member whom the team could call on if needed.  

The King-Pemberton family is a complicated situation that's fraught with a lot of equally complicated emotions of all sides. It deals with a lot of uncomfortable topics for most people but it's not nearly as...lurid as some people THINK the tale is.

(Image of Merry, Girl of 1000 Gimmicks from her prime circa 1948) Merry Pemberton, AKA Merry, Girl of 1000 Gimmicks was a latecomer to the Golden Age. Making her debut in 1948 she was the adoptive sister of Sylvester Pemberton the industrial heir who was the Star Spangled Kid. Discovering her brother's secret identity soon after the end of the war she subbed in during an extended period when her brother's partner Stripesy was recovering from a broken leg. Using a "bag of tricks" filled with dozens of small mechanical gadgets like the two pictured above.

Like her brother she too vanished into obscurity during the heroic interregnum after the HUAC trial. In retirement she met a man named Henry King with whom she fell in love and married. They would have two children, the older Henry King Jr who would become the Infinity Inc member Brainwave Jr. And a younger daughter named Jacqueline who would eventually take up her mantle under the name Gimmix. It wasn't until well into her children's teenage years that Merry discovered her husband was the supervillain Brainwave leading to the collapse of their marriage. NOW, this is the point where some possibly harmful misconceptions come in. So let's make some things clear:

Merry did NOT know who her husband was when they met, they did NOT meet, begin their relationship OR marry during their original careers because!

Merry was a minor during her original superhero career but was a legal adult during her and King's relationship. There IS an age gap but that's nobody's business but hers in the first place.

Henry DID project a more handsome and masculine appearance upon those around him using his abilities. Over time this illusion became so mentally ingrained on those around him, including Merry, that he did not have to actively maintain it.

While King DID enter the relationship upon false pretenses and with an imbalance of information (she shared her secret identity with him very early on, he of course did not) and that is certainly immoral and a betrayal in MANY senses HOWEVER.

This is the big one. Merry INSISTS, to this day that King never used his abilities to manipulate her mentally, emotionally or PHYSICALLY during their relationship. While he lied and hid the truth he did NOT use his abilities to coax her into a relationship either emotional or physical. She loved him to the best of her ability, she WANTED to marry him and WANTED to have his children.

That last one is the biggest thing she still has to swat down to this day. She is adamant that she was never sexually assaulted at any point during their multiple decade relationship. While she did not fully FORGIVE her ex husband in the time between the revelation and his death at the hands of the Ultra Humanite protecting their son she makes it clear that it is not nearly as simple as many modern commentators claim. King Sr was not some transparent villain manipulating and forcing himself upon a hapless damsel, he lied, the same way lots of other people lie. And she loved him, for real, and she loves their children with all her heart.

The famous quote of their son, Henry King Jr during the unveiling of Infinity Inc where he says she "died of a broken heart" was an unfortunate confluence of good intentions and poor preparation. None of the Infinity Inc members had been prepped to take questions before the press conference and the question was shouted very suddenly at the young man who had only a few months before learned who his father was, his mother was still in a deep depression and the last thing she needed was an avalanche of paparazzi. As many teenagers are want to do, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind with the intention that his family's private pain REMAIN private.

Merry has since reappeared in the public eye very briefly as a member of the "Old Justice" group that clashed for a time with Young Justice. Beyond that she has been very firmly in retirement, especially since the repeated mental breakdowns and violent crises involving her son eventually being remanded to intensive therapy and at home care.