BRAIN-CHILDBRAIN-CHILD
Real Name: Arnold Sutton
Identity/Class: Extra-dimensional (Earth-712) human mutant
Occupation: Student; former scientist and would-be world conqueror
Group Membership: Formerly the United States government of Earth-712
Affiliations: Squadron Supreme (former unwitting pawns)
Enemies: Avengers, Squadron Supreme
Known Relatives: Harold and Mrs. Sutton
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: The Dark Tower, on an island off the West Coast of the USA, Earth-712
First Appearance: (BTS) Avengers I#85 (February, 1971), (real appearance) Avengers I#86 (March, 1971)
Powers: Brain-Child possessed superhuman
intellect, granting him advanced reasoning, mathematical
abilities, etc., along with total recall. He is capable of
constructing advanced weaponry and other forms of technology.
In addition, he could form various creatures and machinery from
his mind, and animate them. Whether he was forming illusions, or
whether he was actually generating (or summoning) solid matter or
energy forms is unclear (and moot), but his creations vanished
when he was not able to concentrate on them. His entire base, the
Dark Tower, and all that was in it were created by his mind.
Arnold's powers were removed, making him a normal ten year old boy at that time. It remains to be seen whether he or his abilities will ever return.
History:
(Av86 (fb)) - Arnold Sutton is the son of two people who had been
exposed to excessive amounts of radiation under unknown
circumstances.
Within
a year, Arnold's superhuman intellect was already present, and he
read advanced text, such as Plane Geometry, although his parents
and others assumed he was only pretending to read them.
By age four, Arnold had proven himself, and had begun experimenting in advanced chemistry, developing the formula for a true universal solvent.
As Arnold aged, his intellect continued to grow, and soon his brain and skull began to expand as well. This did not help his limited social abilities.
By age nine, Arnold was working for the military, developing an advanced anti-ballistic missile. It was the military who gave him his nickname: Brain-Child.
At age ten, Arnold decided to segregate himself
from humanity. He agreed to continue to develop rocketry for
America, only if they would grant him a deserted island off of
the West Coast from which to work.
His seclusion did no assuage the bitterness he felt towards
humanity who utilized his mind, but shunned him as a person. He
decided to destroy the Earth to gain his revenge.
(Avengers#85 (ff)-BTS) - When Thor returned the Avengers to Earth from Polemachus, Goliath (Clint Barton), Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and the Vision, were somehow shunted to Earth-S, about a week in the future, where they found the Earth being destroyed by an over-active sun. The Scarlet Witch managed to return them to their correct time, although they remained on Earth-S (they did not initially realize they were on an alternate world).
(Avengers#85-BTS, 86) - Having designed the
rocket, Brain-Child One, Brain-Child planned to launch it into the sun, with
the intent of causing it to go super-nova. Duping the world into
believing his rocket to be a harmless probe designed to circle
the sun. The Avengers, however, convinced Nighthawk of what they
had seen, and with his aid, stopped the rocket launch. The
Avengers and the Squadron Supreme then traveled to the Dark Tower
to investigate. Sutton was more than happy to admit his actions,
and attacked the teams with a giant humanoid warrior, giant
amoebas, a super-adhesive, and electrically charged steel cables.
However, Goliath managed to make it through the barrage, and
formed a giant bow and used Hyperion as an arrow to knock the
Brain-Child off his throne. His mind exhausted from the continual
use of his power and the shock of his defeat, Arnold collapsed
to the ground, crying for his mommy. Dr. Spectrum used his power
prism to remove Brain-Child's advanced intellect and memories of
his actions, and returned him to normal form. The Squadron
Supreme vowed to make certain Sutton had a better life this time
around.
The Avengers were returned to Earth via the efforts of Thor's
hammer, Mjolnir, and the machinery of Tony Stark, which had
searched for the missing heroes.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema.
The title of this story, "Brain-Child to the Dark Tower came...!" is adapted from the poem by Browning: "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came."
Brain-Child's birthday is given as a week or so prior to January 4, 1971. The date is topical, but the month and day could still be correct.
This was one of the Avengers' earliest adventures with alternate Earths (but not the first! see below). The Vision pondered whether they might not have returned to their own world, but instead returned to another Earth, virtually identical to their own...and how would they ever know?
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
The Dark Tower has no known connection to:
Brain-Child One
A rocket designed by Brain-Child, allegedly to orbit and study the sun, but in reality, intended to strike the sun and cause it to go super-nova. Its launch was initiated while under the protection of the Squadron Supreme, but stopped by the Scarlet Witch. In one alternate future, it was laucnhed, and did result in the destruction of that counterpart of Earth-S.
--Avengers I#85, 86
The Dark Tower
Named for Browning's poem, this entire base was generated by the power of Sutton's mind. Computerized equipment, monitors, and various weapons all functioned as if real, and vanished with his defeat
--Avengers I#86
Appearances:
Avengers I#85 (February, 1971) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#86 (March, 1971) - Roy Thomas (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Last updated: 01/07/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
All characters mentioned or pictured are
™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real
thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com