Professor Ivo

PROFESSOR IVO

Real Name: Anthony Ivo

Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Scientist, college professor

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Leo (father, deceased), unnamed grandmother (deceased), unnamed mother (deceased)

Aliases: None.

Base of Operations: Mobile

First Appearance: Brave and the Bold I #30 (June-July, 1960)

Powers: Professor Ivo's body did not age, but as the years went by he became more and more deformed and constantly wracked with pain. He was a brilliant scientist who specialized in the creation of androids. His inventions included machines that could siphon a human's lifeforce or the powers of a superhuman.

History: (Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1 (fb)) - Anthony Ivo was traumatized by his grandmother’s death, and at her funeral he started shouting that he refused to ever die. His father hit him and he tumbled into his grandmother’s grave, and vowed that this would be the last time he occupied a grave.

(Brave and the Bold #30) - Professor Ivo grew up with a crippling fear of death, and his fondest desire was to cheat death and become immortal.

(Hourman #1) - A fight between the time traveling Hourman III and Amazo broke out in Ivo’s workshop. Before the duo left for other times Amazo told his future creator how much he hated him.

(Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1 (fb)) - Ivo stopped talking to his father except to ask him for money, and used the funding to build a seagoing lab and search for methods of gaining immortality. Ivo invented biomechanical mirror genes that imitated the genetic traits of others, and used the genes to create something to aid him in his quest to cheat death. Ivo shot volleyball star Helmut Schultz and used the mirror genes to create a biomechanical replica of his body. His creation still needed a mind, so Ivo invited his father to his lab, killed him and gave his creation a mirror gene copy of his mind. Ivo’s project was complete, Amazo, the first android.

Ivo sent Amazo to gather several of the oldest living animals on Earth. With these specimens he created a serum that extended his lifespan 500 years. He then attempted to steal the powers of the Justice League of America, but was foiled by Green Lantern II. Professor Ivo was sent to jail for a 500 year sentence.

Ivo escaped prison and build a siphon-machine to steal the powers of the JLA. He succeeded in stealing the powers of several JLA members, but when he attempted to use his machine on Superman it overloaded. The machine exploded, knocking Ivo cold. The end result was a peaceful, reformed Ivo. The JLA let him go free, and he became employed as an astronomy professor at a small New England college.

(Justice League of America #218)-Ivo's peace was shattered when a delayed reaction to the life-extending serum turned him into a monstrosity. Ivo built a life-siphon machine that he hoped would restore his humanity by taking the lifeforce of six other individuals. The JLA stopped him, and Ivo was sent to Arkham Asylum.

(Justice League of America #258-261)-Blaming his hideous condition on the JLA, Ivo sent a gang of his androids to kill the team. Ivo never actually had dealings with the current JLA roster, but this mattered little to him. His androids killed Vibe and critically injured Steel I before Ivo was brought to justice. After this battle the Justice League of America disbanded, so Ivo did gain a measure of revenge.

(Justice League Quarterly #5) - Professor Ivo's deformities worsened, and he discovered that he was slowly becoming immobile. Ivo attempted suicide using his own deadly androids, but Ice and Guy Gardner took pity on Ivo, and used Guy's power-ring to cure his disfigurement. As a result oif the cure Ivo lost his immortality.

(Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1 (fb, BTS)) - Ivo’s fear of mortality resurfaced and he once again took the immortality serum. He returned to his monstrous appearance, but he was content that death would not claim him.

(JLA #5, JLA: Tomorrow Woman #1) - Ivo and T.O. Morrow designed the Tomorrow Woman, an android they programmed to gain the JLA’s trust, then blow up and kill the superteam. Through her eyes they watched her join the team and gain their good graces. They celebrated to excess with champagne, but Tomorrow Woman reported back to them telling them she wanted to destroy the JLA immediately because her resolve was fading. They yelled at her for making demands of her creators, and paid no real attention to her words. Ivo and Morrow were somewhat disappointed when Tomorrow Woman formed a will of her own and sacrificed her life to save the JLA from the IF (Implicate Field). The JLA took the mad scientist duo into custody.

(Aztek: The Ultimate Man #10) - Ivo’s health deteriorated when he lost access to his immortality serum while in jail, and he was sent to Vanity for treatment after suffering a cardiac arrest. Amazo gave Ivo a vial of immortality serum, claiming that things wouldn’t be the same if his archenemy died. Amazo actually spiked the serum with poison, but Ivo had taken an anti-toxin months ago because he anticipated this series of events playing out.

(Hourman #2) - Belle Reve Prison; Hourman III spoke to Ivo to learn if androids were inherently evil. Ivo mentioned Tomorrow Woman, who turned against her evil programming because there was good in her. Ivo begged Hourman (who was from the future) to let him know when he would die, and Hourman told him.

(Green Lantern / Atom #1) - Ivo set up headquarters in a dingy abandoned warehouse, but was discovered by Atom II and the Teen Lanterns, who incorrectly guessed that the villain Oblivion was one of Ivo’s android creations. Ivo lied and took credit for creating Oblivion, then attacked the heroes with a group of robots. Ivo and his robots were soon defeated, and Ivo admitted he had nothing to do with Oblivion, he was only trying to impress them by claiming to have created something powerful enough to have defeated the JLA.

(Justice League of America II #2-6) - Ivo stopped having to take his immortality serum, learning he was one of the thirteen true immortals to walk the Earth. Solomon Grundy hired him for a project to assemble a new Amazo to serve as his new immortal body, and Grundy promised to reward Ivo with the release of death. Ivo knew he could only die if the new Amazo replaced him as the thirteenth immortal. He repurposed a number of Starros with advanced technology to use them to control supervillains, so he would have unquestioning henchmen to do his legwork. He had the mind-controlled villains steal Red Tornado's body to act as Amazo's new shell, and transplanted Vixen's Tantu Totem and part of the Parasite's body into the android. The Justice League of America tracked Tornado's body to the T.O. Morrow's old hq in the Rocky Mountains, and when they confronted Ivo he unleashed a number of T.O. Morrow's other Tornado androids on them. Ivo fled to a sublevel of the hq to continue his work on Amazo, deleting Red Tornado's memories and uploading Amazo's consciousness. The JLofA confronted Ivo again, and Grundy allowed Amazo to fly off, telling the League they'd need his help in defeating him. Ivo was in tears at his plan not coming together, and being forced to continue his miserable existence. The League defeated Amazo, returning Tornado to his body, and destroyed Grundy.

(Justice League of America II #7) - Ivo fled the Justice League, teleporting away, but was confronted by Starro, who wanted to hurt him for injuring Starro hatchlings.

Comments: Created by Gardner Fox & Mike Sekowsky.

Professor Ivo received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #18.

In the pre-Zero Hour 30th century Professor Ivo was still around, killing descendants of the JLA before being captured by the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Ivo was featured in Superman’s subconscious therapy session in JLA #83.