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Psycho-Man

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This article is about the Marvel Comics character. For the Black Sabbath song, see Psycho Man (song).
Psycho-Man
Psycho-Man as depicted in Fantastic Four #283 (October 1985). Art by John Byrne.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceFantastic Four Annual #5 (November 1967)
Created byStan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Place of originTraan
AbilitiesGenius-level intellect
Use of powered armor
Possesses a futuristic space vessel
Emotion manipulation via emotion-controlling device

Psycho-Man is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Psycho-Man first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #5 (Nov. 1967) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.[1]

Fictional character biography

Psycho-Man is the leader of a technocracy and governs a microscopic system of worlds in Sub-Atomica.[2][3] Due to overpopulation on these worlds, he decides that the macroscopic world will be an ideal new base. Psycho-Man builds human-sized armor and emotion-manipulating technology to invade Earth, only to be thwarted by the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans, and Black Panther.[4]

The character reappears in the title Fantastic Four when Mister Fantastic, the Human Torch and the Thing travel to Psycho-Man's realm to find the Silver Surfer. Becoming aware of the threat of Galactus, Psycho-Man allows the heroes and the Surfer to leave unopposed.[5] In the title Micronauts the diminutive heroes are joined by the entire Fantastic Four and battle Psycho-Man, who at this time claims to be in forced exile.[6] Psycho-Man reappears in the title Fantastic Four and uses an android based on the Hate-Monger to incite hatred amongst the population of New York City.[7] Psycho-Man succeeds in transforming the Invisible Girl into the entity Malice and sends her to destroy the remainder of the Fantastic Four. Mister Fantastic frees his wife from the conditioning and they pursue Psycho-Man to the Microverse, where the villain is forced to experience a number of negative emotions simultaneously by the Invisible Girl after she turned his own equipment against him. The villain lapses into a coma and Susan Richards, in recognition of the personal growth she experienced during this mission, changes her name to the Invisible Woman.[8]

Reduced to a minuscule size after an accidental exposure to Ant-Man's shrinking gas, Spider-Man finds himself in the Microverse face-to-face with Psycho-Man. After a failed attempt to drain the Captain Universe power from Spider-Man (a power he no longer possesses), Spider-Man escapes from Psycho-Man's prison to find an alien universe that Psycho-Man has shrunk and demanded they make him king. After a battle with Psycho-Man, Spider-Man, with the help of the beings of this shrunken universe, is able to destroy the device that controls Psycho-Man's power to manipulate the sizes of things, causing Psycho-Man to shrink and Spider-Man to return to normal size.[9]

In the fourth volume of the title Captain Marvel, the Kree hero Genis-Vell has an encounter with Psycho-Man in the Microverse when the villain temporarily controls Marvel's ally, Drax the Destroyer.[10] The character launches another attack on New York City in the title Marvel Knights 4 but is defeated once again by the Invisible Woman;[11] appears in an issue of the fourth volume of the Black Panther and battles a new version of the Fantastic Four (the Black Panther; the mutant Storm; the Thing and the Human Torch).[12]

Psycho-Man is killed by the Red Hulk during a tournament organized by the Grandmaster, but restored to life with other fallen characters when the tournament is completed.[13]

It is revealed that Psycho-Man has a daughter, who calls herself Psycho-Woman, who uses an "emotional modifier" device, far superior to her father's technology. She engineered a series of events that led to Johnny Storm impregnating a woman, in hopes of using the child's genetics to create a cosmic energy-powered army. Hiding in Johnny's body, she was apparently incinerated when he "flamed on".[14]

Psycho-Man attempted to take control of the students of Avengers Academy while they were out on a 'field trip' with substitute teacher Spider-Man.[15] He was defeated when Spider-Man's will power proved sufficient to shake off his influence thanks to his old experience with the Psycho-Man. Spider-Man rallied the other students to fight back and throw off his control, simultaneously giving Spider-Man the chance to connect to his students and prompt them to prove their worth as heroes.[16]

During the "Fear Itself" storyline, Psycho-Man takes advantage of the fear and chaos caused by the Serpent and his Worthy by plotting to use Man-Thing as the ultimate fear bomb for Earth and other worlds. Psycho-Man has to deal with the Fearsome Four (consisting of Howard the Duck, She-Hulk, Nighthawk, and Frankenstein's Monster). Psycho-Man brings forth an alternate version of the Fantastic Four (consisting of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Gray Hulk, and Ghost Rider) from another dimension and brainwashes them into fighting the Fearsome Four. Howard the Duck uses his secret weapon - a device called the "No Thing" - which defeats Psycho-Man and the alternate Fantastic Four.[17]

Psycho-Man later works with the Quiet Man to attack the Fantastic Four, but is defeated when Valeria Richards hacks his equipment and makes his forces withdraw.[volume & issue needed]

In the aftermath of the "Secret Empire" storyline, Psycho-Man appears in Colorado and battles the Champions. Cyclops wdefeats him by attacking him from behind, nearly killing him.[18]

Powers and abilities

Psycho-Man possesses advanced intelligence and can manipulate the emotions of others using his Control-Box.[3] Being a microscopic being, Psycho-Man uses and remotely controls an advanced body armor outside the Microverse.

Other versions

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

An altenrate universe variant of Psycho-Man from Earth-12101 appears in Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #1. He attempts to brainwash Deadpool, only to drive him insane and be killed by him.[19]

Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe variant of Psycho-Man from Earth-1610 appears in Ultimate Fantastic Four #44.[20] This version is Revka Temerlune Edifex Scyros III, the leader of Zenn-La, and is served by the Silver Surfer.

In other media

Psycho-Man appears in the Fantastic Four episode "Worlds Within Worlds", voiced by Jamie Horton.[21]

References

  1. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 281. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains. New York: Facts on File. p. 279-280. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.[1]
  3. ^ a b Sawan, Amer (February 24, 2024). "10 Fantastic Four Villains Who Can't Work on the Big Screen". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  4. ^ Fantastic Four Annual #5 (Nov. 1967). Marvel Comics.
  5. ^ Fantastic Four #76-77 (July-Aug. 1968). Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ Micronauts #15-16 (Mar.-Apr. 1980). Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017). Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History. DK Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 978-1465455505.
  8. ^ Fantastic Four #280-284 (July-Nov. 1985). Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #10, Web of Spider-Man Annual #6 (1990). Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ Captain Marvel #15-16 (Mar.-Apr. 2001). Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Marvel Knights 4 #10-12 (Nov 2004-Jan. 2005). Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ Black Panther vol. 4 #31 (Dec. 2007). Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ Hulk vol. 2 #12 (May 2009). Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ Fantastic Four Annual #32. Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #661. Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #662. Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #1-4. Marvel Comics.
  18. ^ Champions vol. 2 #12. Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #1. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ Ultimate Fantastic Four #44 (Sep. 2007). Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ "Psycho Man Voice - Fantastic Four (1994) (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 10, 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.
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