The Mad Thinker

The Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master. From Fantastic Four vol. 1 #28 ©1964 Marvel Comics. ART BY JACK KIRBY AND CHIC STONE.

The Mad Thinker

(pop culture)“Another power-mad genius for us to contend with!” sighs the exasperated Invisible Girl as she and her teammates are locked out of their headquarters by the Mad Thinker in Fantastic Four vol. 1 #15 (1963). Fond of mimicking the contemplative pose of Rodin's famous statue, the Thinker (his “Mad” modifier courtesy of the media) uses computers and his photographic memory to anticipate every probability in committing crimes (a gimmick employed years later by DC Comics' the Calculator). Dispatching the “Awesome Android”—a 15-foot, square-skulled, morphing monstrosity— against the Fantastic Four, the Thinker wields the FF's own weapons against them, but Mr. Fantastic outthinks the Thinker by tripping a circuit breaker to de-power his lab. Given his unbridled ego, it is odd that the Thinker has revealed little of his past, but his fascination with synthetic beings is no secret. He created Quasimodo (the Quasi-Motivational Destruct Organ) and myriad other assassin automatons, and even resuscitated the original Human Torch (an android). Dressed in a green jumpsuit, the Thinker was well coiffed in his debut but later sprouted a mop-top. Despite his remarkable mathematical intellect, the Thinker is always stymied by Mr. Fantastic's intuitive brilliance; his perspective in his ongoing war with the FF was chronicled in Fantastic Four: Foes #1 (2005). While the Thinker refuses to ponder benevolence, his Awesome Android, nicknamed “Awesome Andy,” now works as an office assistant at a legal practice that specializes in superhuman law, the firm that also retains She-Hulk.