Mindwave assault Daredevil reading his thoughtsMIND-WAVE

Real Name: Erik Gelden

Identity/Class: Human (origins unknown)

Occupation: Bank plunderer

Group Membership: The Hood (Parker Robbins)'s army of resurrected Scourge victims aka. Deadly Dozen (Basilisk/Basil Elks, Bird-Man/Achille DiBacco, Black Abbott, Blue Streak/Don Thomas, Cheetah/Esteban Carracus, Cyclone/André Gerard, Death Adder/Roland Burroughs, Firebrand/Gary Gilbert, Hijacker/Howard Mitchell, Human Fly/Richard Deacon, Lascivious/Davida DeVito (formerly Titania), Letha/Helen Feliciano, Megatak/Gregory Nettles, Miracle Man/Joshua Ayers, Mirage/Desmond Charne, Turner D. Century/Clifford F. Michaels, Wraith/Brian DeWolff), Scourge victims

Affiliations: Cyclone, Esper-Ts, Firebrand (Gilbert), the Hood, Mirage

Enemies: Uri Geller, Daredevil, Punisher, Scourge of the Underworld

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile in the world

First Appearance: Daredevil I#133 (May, 1976)

Powers/Abilities: Mind-Wave possesses telepathy. He also used a laser gun, a helmet that filtered all the thoughts, and his Think-Tank.  It is not clear whether Mind-Wave's powers are inherent to him or technologically derived.

Mindwave is sensing another para-psycologistHistory: Mind-Wave's origins are unknown.

(Daredevil I#133 (fb) BTS) - Mind-Wave was a criminal; he plundered several countries using his powers. During one of his theft, he met Uri Geller in Europe. Geller couldn't stop him.

(Daredevil I#133) - Mind-Wave attacked Wall-Street with his Think-Tank and his Esper-Ts. Mind-Wave wanted to rob banks, but Daredevil intervened and distracted him. The Esper-Ts couldn't intercept Daredevil, so Mind-Wave had the Think-Tank blast at a building and Daredevil had to intervene so save the people there. Mind-Wave and his men fled.
    After few hours, Mind-Wave attacked again. His mental vibrations were heard by Uri Geller. Mind-Wave shot at Daredevil with his ray-gun, but missed him. Reading the hero's thought, Mind-Wave managed to hit Daredevil twice. Via a mental order he had his Tank hit Daredevil with a laser ray that imprisoned 'Devil's mind. He then sent his Esper-Ts to plunder the zone. Mind-Wave heard Uri Geller's mind but he couldn't read it, and he was hit by Geller, who freed Daredevil. Mind-Wave hid himself under the Tank and tried to blast Geller, but Geller's powers caused the gun to explode. Mind-Wave proposed an alliance to Geller, who refused and entangled the criminal by bending some metal bars around him.

(Captain America: Marvels Snapshots#1) - Daredevil's battle with Mind-Wave was noticed by civilians across the city.

(Captain America I#319) - Mind-Wave was among the criminals at the "Bar with no Name" and was shot dead by Scourge.

Mindwave in his resurrection outfit (Punisher VII#5) - Aided by Dormammu's dark magic, the Hood resurrected Mind-Wave along with several other of Scourge's victims to fight the Punisher.

(Punisher VII#6) - The Hood addressed the assembled villains (including Mind-Wave) who had been resurrected to kill the Punisher, warning them that failure to do so would leave them dead again after 30 days, but lying to them that it was the Punisher disguised as Scourge who had killed them. Each one resurrected had been augmented, armed and costumed by the Hood. After the crimelord left, Mind-Wave revealed his insecurity about himself, thinking himself a nobody.

(Punisher VII#7) - Mind-Wave sat at a table with Mirage, Cyclone and Firebrand playing cards and making jokes about Microchip. Letha and Lascivious then arrived; Letha asserted herself by briefly mind-controlling Cyclone to fight Mind-Wave.

(Punisher VII#8) - With Mirage's help, Mind-Wave was disguised as one of the (1980s era) Avengers (possibly Iron Man) as part of an elaborate masquerade to engage the Punisher, but the vigilante saw past the ruse and incapacitated him. The Punisher quickly set him as a trap with a grenade. Fearful and badly injured, he warned the others as they approached, but was incinerated in the blast.

Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman, Bob Brown and Jim Mooney.

It should be noted that the Mind-Wave that was shot by Scourge (and appeared in a head-shot in the OHOTMU Book of the Dead under "Scourge's Victims" was wearing one of the Esper-Ts' helmets, not the helmet worn by Mind-Wave himself. I'm theorizing then that there is the possibility that this was not Mind-Wave who was present at the Bar With No Name, but one of his agents, sent in his place (or even trying to steal his identity). Perhaps the real Mind-Wave smelled a trap. --Madison Carter

Another theory on this topic: Maybe Mind-Wave's actual telepathy helmet was destroyed in the fight with Daredevil and Geller, and he was just wearing one of his Esper-T's helmets because it was all he had. That would also explain how someone who had been a successful criminal internationally could end up as a no-name third-rater at a meeting for losers - he didn't even have any powers anymore.
--Graham

Nothing is said about how Mind-Wave gained his powers. Possibly the powers could be technological (his helmet), but it is uncertain.
--Spidermay

It's not stated explicitly, but it's strongly implied that his powers are based entirely around his helmet.
--Graham

His real name was revealed in Scourge's profile in OHOTMU A-Z HC#10.

Profile by Spidermay

Clarifications:

Mind-Wave has no known connections to

The Think-Tank has no known connections to


The Think-Tank rocks on Wall StreetThe Think-Tank

The Think-Tank was an enormous tank capable of crashing walls, shooting energy blasts and laser rays, driving itself with an automatic pilot, obeying to Mind-Wave thoughts, and probably many other tasks. It contained at least 8 Esper-Ts and also continued to fight without Mind-Wave orders. 

--Daredevil I#133

 

 


The Para-psycologists are not going so well against DaredevilEsper-Ts (Harold and others)

The Esper-Ts were normal humans (at least 8), equipped with laser guns and uniforms. Their task was rob the banks while Mind-Wave and the Tank controlled the situation.

The first time Mind-Wave read Daredevil's mind, he ordered the Esper-Ts to blast him, but they failed. Later, at a bank they were surprised by the hero and weren't a real threat against, only giving him any difficulty by their numbers.

--Daredevil I#133

 

 

 


Images:
Daredevil I#133, page 10, panel 6
Daredevil I#133, page 11, panel 7
Daredevil I#133, page 4, panel 3
Daredevil I#133, page 14, panel 1
Punisher VII#6, p14, pan3 (resurrected headshot)


Appearances:
Daredevil I#133 (May, 1976) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Bob Brown (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks)
Captain America I#319 (July, 1976) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Michael Carlin (editor)
Punisher VII#5 (July, 2009) - Rick Remender (writer), Jerome Opena (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
Punisher VII#6-8 (August-October, 2009) - Rick Remender (writer), Tan Eng Huat (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
Captain America: Marvels Snapshots#1 (August, 2020) - Mark Russell (writer), Ramon Perez (artist), Darren Shan (editor)


First Posted: 04/08/2005
Last updated: 07/02/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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