REINFORCER
Earth-148611

Real Name: Dexter Charne

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-148611) human Paranormal

Occupation: Psychologist

Group Membership: The Clinic for Paranormal Research (Craig LaGraves, Tanis Newhouse, Jane Semple, Orville Upham, Phillip Nolan Voigt, Juris Ziegler);
    formerly Therapy Group A (Bloodhound/Edward Zentner, Receptor/Tracey Speck, Regulator/Harlan Hackbarth, Shrapnel/Leland Sharp, Vice Versa/Geraldine Rumlow)

Affiliations: Bloodhound, Receptor (Tracey Speck), Regulator (Harlan Hackbarth), Shrapnel, Vice Versa, Philip Nolan Voigt

Enemies: Therapy Group C (Charlotte Beck, Lenore Fenzl, Stephanie Harrington, Craig LaGraves, Dave Landers, Randy O'Brien, Scuzz/Dennis Cuzinski, Jeff Walters), Dr. Jane Semple

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The Clinic for Paranormal Research, Wisconsin, USA

First Appearance: D.P.7 I#1 (November, 1986)

Powers/Abilities: Dexter Charne was a paranormal with a psychic power that allowed him to alter people's memories. This work required a very slow and gradual effort on Charne's part, as attempting to use his powers too quickly could cause psychic trauma that would last for months. Typically, Charne would alter only minor aspects of people's memories or convince them that actual events were merely dreams. Charne could also use this power to subtly control people's minds while speaking to them but it required time and effort for him to properly "reinforce" the mental changes.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 145 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Reddish-brown

History:
(D.P.7 I#12 (fb)) - Dexter Charne was a student of psychology at the University of Wisconsin and studied under Professor Philip Nolan Voigt. Years later, Charne went to work at the Sawyer Sanatorium. After the transformative White Event caused random people across the Earth to become super-powered paranormals, Charne was among those who gained superhuman powers. He was contacted by Voigt, whose own paranormal powers were to duplicate those of paranormals he came into contact with. Voigt and Charne entered into a partnership to assume control of the Sawyer Sanatorium, which they renamed "The Clinic for Paranormal Research" so that it could be used as a base of operations to amass a large collection of other paranormals.

(D.P.7 I#19/The Clinic profile) - Charne joined the Clinic's first therapy group, Therapy Group A. The other members were Harlan Hackbarth, Tracey Speck, Leland Sharp, Geraldine Rumlow and Edward Zentner. Charne, Hackbarth and Speck's complimentary paranormal powers made them ideal to help the Clinic control subsequent paranormals, while Sharp, Rumlow and Zentner became the first paranormals Voigt sent to form a team of headhunters to forcibly recruit additional paranormals to the Clinic. Charne was soon dubbed "Reinforcer."

(D.P.7 I#1) - As the seven members of the Clinic's Therapy Group C met together for the first time, Voigt, Receptor, Reinforcer and Regulator secretly monitored them. Voigt suggested that Therapy Group C would be ideal candidates for indoctrination but Charne observed that he would have to drop some of their current indoctrination subjects before he could start using his powers on someone new. Voigt told Speck to help Charne determine how to adjust the schedule.

    Three weeks later, Speck, Charne and Hackbarth were monitoring the members of Therapy Group C as they went to sleep but they themselves were spied on by Randy O'Brien's Anti-Body, who alerted Randy to the Clinic's nefarious intentions towards them. Harlan attempted to stop the Therapy Group C members from fleeing the Clinic but failed.

(D.P.7 I#2) - The next morning, Voigt learned of Therapy Group C's escape and found Charne and Speck treating Harlan for the injuries he sustained against Dave Landers. As Voigt demanded explanations for what had happened, Charne explained that he could have prevented their escape using his powers to cause a total cerebral override but that it would have caused psychic trauma that would take months to heal and Voigt had wanted them to be ready earlier than that. Rather than use his own staff against the escapees, Voigt informed them he would employ the Clini's headhunters.

(Kickers, Inc. I#5) - Charne joined Voigt as he gave the members of Kickers, Inc, a team of football players who moonlighted as private adventurers that had recently met with the escaped patients, a tour of the Clinic's facilities. While Voigt showed them a film of their recently escaped patients, Charne used his power to reinforce the power of Voigt's words so that he could convince Kickers, Inc. into believing the escapees were dangerous paranormals. This caused the members of Kickers, Inc. to engage in a fight with the escaped patients.

(D.P.7 I#7) - Charne was present with Tracey as the mercenaries Voigt had hired to capture the escapees reported in, asking her to supply the locations of Randy O'Brien and Dave Landers to them.

(D.P.7 I#8) - Charne was present as the mercenaries reported to Speck that they had caught Charlotte Beck and wanted to know if they were being followed. Charne remarked to Tracey that the mercenaries couldn't "tie their shoelaces" without their help but Tracey quieted Charne before the agents heard him.

(D.P.7 I#9) - With all but Dave Landers back in the custody of the Clinic, Charne began using his power to indoctrinate them. With Harlan regulating them to sleep, Charne could affect their minds, sending them dreams to manipulate their memories and causing them to forget what they had learned about the Clinic. Much to the surprise of Harlan and Charne, Randy O'Brien awoke while being reinforced. Harlan quickly put him back to sleep but Charne noted he could only guide the dreams he made one mind at a time and not focusing on O'Brien gave him an opportunity to awake. Charne was concerned because O'Brien had seen where he really was but Harlan opined that O'Brien would think it was part of a dream.

(D.P.7 I#10) - Charne, Speck and Hackbarth continued to monitor the six sleeping returnees. Speck noted that Harlan seemed to enjoy using his powers to render people helpless. Voigt entered to update the trio about the fruitless attempts to locate the still-missing Landers. Unknown to Charne, Harlan was manipulating him and Tracey by regulating their adrenaline and fatigue poisons so they could work longer shifts for Voigt. Hackbarth offered Charne and Speck a break while he monitored the six patients solo. Tracey finally decided she'd had enough and told Voigt she was quitting but after leaving his office, she tried to enter his mind and was struck unconscious by the episode. Charne used his powers to rewrite her memories so that she would think the entire episode in the office was a dream, taking four hours to recondition her. As she told Charne what she had "dreamed" inside of Voigt's mind and the void she beheld, Charne wondered where the dream came from, not realizing it was an actual memory.

(D.P.7 I#11) - Stephanie Harrington suddenly awoke one evening and attempted to awaken Lenore Fenzl, surprising Speck and Charne. When Charne tried to stop Stephanie, she used her superhuman strength to throw him across the room. Hackbarth quickly arrived in time to force Harrington back into sedation. Hackbarth mocked Speck and Charne, claiming he couldn't leave them alone "for a minute without a foul-up." Later, Stephanie again resisted the team's efforts at forcing her into sleep. This infuriated Hackbarth, who declared he would kill her and expected Charne and Speck to back up whatever story he told. As Hackbarth assaulted Stephanie's nervous system, Charne interfered and used his power to inflict trauma on Stephanie's brain but because Hackbarth was already locked into her nervous system, he was likewise affected and knocked unconscious. Charne regretted what he had done to Hackbarth but Speck opined that Voigt would understand he had used his powers to save their patient.

(D.P.7 I#12) - Speck and Charne united their powers to look inside Stephanie's mind but found it a disjointed mess due to the trauma Charne had inflicted. They tried to help her but Stephanie resisted them and destroyed her own astral body, driving them from her mind. Voigt then met with them and asked them to use their powers on the recently recaptured Dave Landers, hoping they could learn why Landers had eluded them for so long. As they prepared to enter Landers' mind, Charne remarked suggestively how he enjoyed the "mental intimacy" he and Speck enjoyed, calling it "psyche-dipping into virgin mindpools." Speck and Charne again linked their powers and tried to enter Landers' mind but because Landers had been given a mental block to protect the existence of the ESPeople, the mental block caused psychic backlash that knocked them both unconscious.

(D.P.7 I#13) - Speck and Charne awoke and learned Randy O'Brien and Dave Landers had confronted and fought with Voigt, ending with Voigt abandoning the Clinic, his fate unknown. Landers demanded Charne explain what had happened to Stephanie. Charne explained what Hackbarth had done to her and directed Landers to the ward where Stephanie was recovering. Charne and Speck went to a staff meeting in Voigt's office as they attempted to determine the Clinic's future until and unless Voigt returned. When Dr. Semple nominated Craig LaGraves to be interim head of the Clinic, Charne interrupted to promote himself, noting his close working relationship with Voigt and thus the sense of continuity he would provide. He also noted how instrumental he was to various therapies at the Clinic and thus it was in the Clinic's best interests to keep him as happy as possible. Dr. Semple asked Charne to explain what he meant by "continuity." Charne replied that paranormals were there to stay and that mankind would begin to hate and fear them once the public realized they existed. He intended to make as few changes to Voigt's policies as possible. The matter was put to a vote with only Speck and security chief Upham withholding their votes for LaGraves (Charne had used his power to influence Upham but didn't have enough time to affect the rest). LaGraves was thus named interim director but Charne remained determined to become director, resolving to affect one Clinic staffer at a time.

    Charne went to LaGraves' office while he was alone and used his powers to give him a stroke. Seen by Dr. Semple as he exited the office, Charne told her LaGraves had suddenly had a stroke but when Upham arrived, Charne claimed he had been the one to arrive and find Semple leaving the office with a guilty look on her face. Realizing Charne was responsible for what happened to LaGraves, Semple went to O'Brien and Landers, knowing they were the only people in the Clinic she could absolutely trust. Unable to read O'Brien and Landers' minds, Speck was slow to realize Semple had been to see them in the control room's monitors. She warned Charne the two men were likely on their way and Charne encouraged Speck to leave but she kissed him, insisting they were "in this together." Landers broke down the control room door and faced Charne. Charne tried to use his powers on Landers but again had no effect, so he pulled out a handgun and shot Landers several times in the chest. Landers was stunned and Charne moved forward to attempt a headshot but O'Brien's multiple Anti-Bodies flew into the room. Charne fired at the Anti-Bodies but one of his bullets passed right through one of them and struck Speck in her throat. Barred from exiting the room by another Anti-Body, Charne was grabbed by Landers, who prepared to strike Charne, but Landers was prevented by an Anti-Body that reached through Landers' body, grabbed Charne by the neck and snapped his neck. Charne and Speck were both deceased by the time Clinic staff arrived.

(D.P.7 I#21 (fb) - BTS) - Fearing that an investigation into Charne and Speck's deaths would unmask the Clinic's true purpose, the new director Tanis Newhouse had their bodies buried in the woods bordering the Clinic's property.

(D.P.7 I#21 - BTS) - Charne and Speck's coffins were disinterred by former Clinic staffer Abner Heath and his journalist friend Jensen. Jensen's subsequent discovery that the Clinic was home to paranormals and exposure of the coffins to local law enforcement ultimately caused the Clinic to be permanently closed.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Ryan and Romeo Tanghal.

    In Kickers, Inc. I#5 he was mistakenly called "Mr. Charney."

    Earth-15731's Dexter Charne was never identified by name but since Earth-15731's diverged from Earth-148611, it stands to reason that he would share the name of his Earth-148611 counterpart. --Proto-Man

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Reinforcer should not be confused with:

Dexter Charne of Earth-15731

In the reality of Earth-15731, events diverged immediately after Therapy Group C left the Clinic. The group was delayed by an encounter with Earth-58163's Proteus, allowing Harlan Hackbarth to lead Dexter, Tracey Speck and armed Clinic staff in an attempt to retrieve the group on the Clinic's grounds when the reality-hopping Exiles suddenly appeared. The team of heroes quickly teleported away with all the members of Therapy Group C.







--Exiles I#72

images: (without ads)
D.P. 7 I#11, page 17, panel 8 (Reinforcer, main)
D.P. 7 I#2, page 4, panel 4 (Reinforcer, face)
D.P. 7 I#11, page 18, panel 1 (Reinforcer using powers)
Exiles I#72, page 11, panel 1 (Dexter Charne of Earth-15731)

Appearances:
D.P.7 I#1-2 (November-December, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Romeo Tanghal (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Kickers, Inc. I#5 (March, 1987) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Sam de la Rosa (inker), Michael Hggins (editor)
D.P.7 I#7 (May, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Romeo Tanghal (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
D.P.7 I#8 (June, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Danny Bulandi (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
D.P.7 I#9 (July, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
D.P.7 I#10 (August, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
D.P.7 I#11 (September, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
D.P.7 I#12-13 (October-November, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Howard Mackie (editor)
D.P.7 I#21 (July, 1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Howard Mackie (editor)

First posted: 06/09/2025
Last updated: 06/09/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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