The Matter Master is a DC Comics

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

and a recurring foe of

Hawkman Hawkman is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1, published by All-American ...

. Created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, he first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #35 (April–May 1961).

Fictional character history

Scientist turned

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

Mark Mandrill is trying to turn lead into gold when the compound he is working on explodes. Instinctively shouting "Stay away from me!", he is amazed when the compound obeys his commands. Dubbing the material "Mentachem", he makes a wand out of it and uses it to begin a life of crime. He fights against Hawkman for many years, as well as the Justice League of America. He is also a member of the

Secret Society of Super Villains Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #15 in July 1978, ...

. Matter Master later resurfaces in

St. Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

, kidnapping the richest people in order to draw Hawkman into a confrontation. The battle lasts only a few seconds, ending when Hawkman uses his axe to sever Matter Master's right arm. Mandrill later returns in league with a team of other villains who had been victims of mind-wipes by the JLA.

Powers and abilities

Matter Master has no innate superpowers, but as long as he is in contact with his "Mentachem" wand he can reshape, transmute, or levitate any matter. The effect vanishes over time or as soon as he loses contact with the wand. He also has a genius level intellect.

Other versions

A heroic Earth-Three version of Mandrill exists as Matter Mage and a member of the Justice Society All Stars.

In other media

Miscellaneous

* Matter Master appears in '' Justice League Unlimited'' #31. His powers allow him to control an overconfident Metamorpho due to his elemental nature. * In the first story arc of the 2011 '' Batman Beyond'' ongoing series, a metahuman control officer named Carson Jatts discovers that the many metahuman energies he has been exposed over the years has given him a form of cancer that started to kill him. Wanting revenge against the superhero community, Jatts tries to steal the metachem wand, but accidentally absorbs its energies into his hand, giving him the power to change elements by touch but only accelerate his condition. After suffering an injury following an altercation with the Justice League Unlimited, Jatts turns his powers upon himself, restoring his body and dubbing himself the new Matter Master.''Batman Beyond'' #2 (February 2011) * Matter Master had a cameo in '' The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' issue #9.

References

External links

Matter Master at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
{{authority control DC Comics supervillains Fictional alchemists DC Comics metahumans Characters created by Joe Kubert Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1961