Mentallo

This article is about the Marvel Comics character. For other uses, see Mentallo (disambiguation).

Mentallo
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Strange Tales #141 (February, 1966)
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Marvin Flumm
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	S.H.I.E.L.D. HYDRA Resistants New Enforcers
Partnerships	Fixer
Notable aliases	Think Tank
Abilities	Telepathy, mental probes that function as a radar-sense.

Mentallo (real name Marvin Flumm) is a fictional comic book supervillain, a mutant who appears in books published by Marvel Comics.

After having been fired for cause after attempting a covert takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D., he has since operated as both a freelance criminal and subversive and a high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enemy HYDRA. Flumm is usually depicted as using technology to increase his power. He once had a long-term partnership with the Fixer. This partnership effectively ended when the Fixer was invited to join the Thunderbolts.

Fictional character biography

Marvin Flumm was born in Watford City, North Dakota. He once worked as a shoe salesman. As a mutant telepath of moderate ability, Mentallo was recruited by the original S.H.I.E.L.D. as a candidate for their ESP Division. However, he teamed with the Fixer in an attempt to take over S.H.I.E.L.D., and clashed with Nick Fury for the first time.^[1] He then served as a division leader in the HYDRA fragment led by Silvermane.^[2] Mentallo teamed with the Fixer again, and they placed Deathlok under their control. They attempted to make the U.S. President their slave, but were thwarted by the Fantastic Four.^[3] Mentallo and the Fixer were employed by HYDRA again, but Mentallo was rendered comatose by the Micronauts.^[4] In the custody of Professor Power, Mentallo battled Professor X on a psychic plane.^[5] Mentallo was captured by the Super-Adaptoid, who was impersonating the Fixer, but he was rescued by the Avengers.^[6]

Under the name Think Tank, Flumm was a member of the Resistants, which was originally an incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Resistants opposed the Mutant Registration Act. As Think-Tank, he fought the then-current Captain America (John Walker).^[7] He was imprisoned, and resumed his identity as Mentallo. He started a mass breakout at the Vault. However, his powers were briefly amplified and used by Iron Man to compel the escapees to surrender.^[8] He then directed an unsuccessful attack on the Hulk and the Thing.^[9] Mentallo later attended the A.I.M. weapons exposition.^[10]

Mentallo once worked for the Red Skull and partnered with the Juggernaut in a successful attempt to brainwash the Hulk to attack the Avengers. Mentallo managed to mentally impersonate the Hulk's wife-killing father and bully him into submission.^[11]

His most recent major role in the Marvel Comics Universe was using his telepathy as part of a conspiracy to break out of prison and acquire a device that would allow his employer to control all the supervillains who ever worked for Justin Hammer. Controlling the body of the villain Headlok, while Mentallo himself remained in prison, he freed several prisoners who came to be informally known as the Chain Gang. Hawkeye was included in the breakout, and led to the plan failing, following it up by forming a new team of Thunderbolts.^{[volume & issue needed]} He is one of the few mutants who retained their powers after the Decimation.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Mentallo plays a small role in the "Secret War" crossover event.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Shortly after the events of World War Hulk, Mentallo was among the members of Hood's Crime Syndicate.^[12] He remained with them until they were defeated by the New Avengers.^[13]

Some time after, Mentallo was hired by MODOK to be part of a supervillain heist squad. Due to his psychic powers, he realised MODOK was creating a psychic illusion of money to secure everyone's loyalty, and MODOK secretly told him the "full extent" of the plans would be revealed to him, and several other villains.^[14] Mentallo quickly decided that instead he was going to sell the villain out to whoever stumped up the cash. After noticing "the Chameleon" had a telepathic shield and Spider-Man's powers & Spider-Sense, he went to him offering to betray MODOK's plans to the Avengers for cash. Unfortunately for Mentallo, it wasn't Spider-Man at all but A.I.M.'s Ultra-Adaptoid which incinerated him to protect its cover.^[15] He was presumed dead, but Mentallo was revealed to be alive when he appeared at Ryker's Island to inform the Fantastic Four and S.H.I.E.L.D. about the New Defenders.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In Secret Invasion, a person who look likes Mentallo appears as part of the Hood's alliance with super-powered heroes. The group is intent on defeating the Skrull invasion force of New York City.^[16] He was later seen, during an attack on the New Avengers.^[17]

During the Heroic Age, Mentallo once again encountered the Avengers. He attempted to control the mind of Reptil, who transformed himself into a dinosaur, with Mentallo unable to control the reptillian mind. Reptil was unable to control himself either, and Mentallo was badly savaged as a result.^[18]

Mentallo psychically enslaved the Kaiju monsters of Monster Island on behalf of the Roxxon Corporation, who attempted to seize control of the Island in order to drill for oil. He was stopped and defeated by the X-Men, after he double-crossed Roxxon and tried to flee with his professional fee of a billion dollars. Mentallo was killed as he was fleeing by being squashed to death when one of the giant monsters threw a cargo hold directly on top of him, which contained the entire billion dollars in cash.^[19]

Powers and abilities

Mentallo is a mutant with limited psionic powers which can be augmented through scientific means (often provided by the Fixer). Mentallo has telepathy and can read the thought of any human mind within an approximate five mile (8 km) radius. He has the ability to project "mental bolts" at opponents, create psionic screens to protect himself from psionic assault, control the bodies and minds of other humans, communicate telepathically and cast mental illusions. Mentallo has difficulty focusing his powers on moving targets. He is unusually vulnerable to psionic attack unless he erects a mental screen.

Mentallo wears a modified S.H.I.E.L.D. battle-suit. He has used various weaponry, including conventional firearms, rocket-guns, and a "sonic whammer" which projects intense vibratory blasts. He usually wears a special helmet to protect him against telepathic feedback, background noise and psionic assault from other telepaths. The Fixer has supplied him with "electronic masks" (or "servo-pods") which adhere to victims' faces and places them under Mentallo's control. The Fixer's "mentascope" enables Mentallo to use his psionic power to locate and attack victims from afar. Mentallo is cabable of flight via the Fixer's "anti-grav propellant unit" or "flying discs" and a tank that can bore its way through the ground.

Mentallo also has the ability to send out mental probes to identify the shape and size of objects in his near vicinity, effectively creating some type of radar-sense. He can even locate invisible and intangible objects this way.

As the Resistants member Think Tank, he rode within a small tread-propelled vehicle in which he sat, with his upper body and head still exposed. This tank unit was armed with a wide range of weapons — machine guns, metal grappler arms etc. — which Mentallo directly controlled with his telepathic ability and a special interface helmet.

Other versions

House of M

In the House of M reality, Mentallo (alongside Arclight and Wild Child) is a member of the Red Guard that was positioned in Australia to serve Exodus.^[20]

See also

• List of S.H.I.E.L.D. members

References

1. ^ Strange Tales Vol. 1 #141
2. ^ Daredevil #123
3. ^ Marvel Two-in-One #26-27
4. ^ Micronauts #24-25
5. ^ Marvel Team-Up #118
6. ^ Avengers #287
7. ^ Captain America #346
8. ^ Avengers: Death Trap, the Vault
9. ^ Incredible Hulk Annual #18
10. ^ Captain America #412
11. ^ Incredible Hulk #403
12. ^ New Avengers #35 (2007)
13. ^ New Avengers Annual #2 (2008)
14. ^ Super-Villain Team-Up (vol. 2) #1
15. ^ Super-Villain Team-Up (vol. 2) #2
16. ^ Secret Invasion #7
17. ^ New Avengers #56-57
18. ^ Avengers Academy #6
19. ^ Astonishing X-Men #41
20. ^ Hulk: Broken Worlds #1

External links

• Mentallo at Marvel.com