History: (JLA #123 (fb)) - A young boy found great joy in unlocking the secrets of locks and puzzles. He was very goal orientated and solitary, so his interest suited him perfectly.

(JLA #9) - As a man he worked for Intergang knew his only asset was intelligence so he endeavored to become smarter. He developed psycho-chemicals that expanded his mind and became the Key.

(JLA #6-9) - The Key lingered in a coma, until a nurse attending him mentioned the Justice League. Key revived, thanked the staff for their hospitality, and drove them mad with his chemical powers. He boarded the JLA Watchtower on the moon, got the drop on the JLA and knocked them out. Key hooked the JLAers up to a machine and injected them with a neural virus that made each member dream of a replica reality. He hoped they’d help him find the keys to creation in their dreams. He knew the JLA always won, and he was counting on it. When they escaped the dreams he made for them they’d generate enough psycho-electric energy to open a gateway to negative space. He planned to step through and become one with the center of the universe. Green Arrow Connor Hawk, who was due to be inducted to the JLA arrived at the Watchtower and destroyed a Keyman, but Key put him on the run before returning to the JLA. The JLA shook off their dreams and woke up, but before Key could enter negative space Green Arrow knocked him cold with a boxing-glove arrow. Key was placed in Arkham and his mind was put in a fractal-maze, keeping it continually occupied so he’d never wake up.

(JLA #120) - The Key used his expanded mental powers to make Arkham's doctors believe he was showing remarkable progress when he had in fact escaped. He fled to the sewers to be away from the thoughts of others that kept hammering his mind, and when he stumbled across a sewer worker he blamed him for shattering his peace and killed him, leaving a note in blood saying "The JLA Made Me Do It."

(JLA #121-125) - Time in the fractal maze actually allowed Key to develop the telepathy he’d always sought but he now heard anguished voices of human populations all the time in his head, and it was eating away at his remaining sanity. He tried to drink away the pain, despite objections from a maternal Keyman, but this didn’t alleviate things. One individual’s thoughts rang loudest in Key’s head; Milo O’Keefe, a construction worker who was going bankrupt and being railroaded into prison. Key controlled him and had him suicide-bomb a busload of innocents, and the voices quieted. Key never thought of himself as a murderer, but was grateful for the relief of pain, and placed the blame in his actions squarely on the JLA. The voices resumed, so he forced board members of Old Comfort Whiskey to commit suicide, and committed a rampage murder in Metropolis. The JLA investigated the Metropolis incident, and Key found himself drawn to Manitou Dawn, a sorceress who’ was out of her depths much as he was. During a battle between the JLA and O.M.A.C.s Key spirited her away. He tried to forge a friendship with her, but she recoiled. He immobilized her and explained that if he combined their powers he could cleanse Earth of human live, forever silencing his voices, and bringing and end to pain to humanity. Green Arrow and Black Canary tried to rescue Dawn, but a Keyman held them off long enough for Key to flee with Dawn to Gotham City. She resisted his efforts to join her mind to his, but his activities had attracted Envy of the Seven Deadly Sins, who boosted his powers. He entered the minds of thousands and began to kill them, and when Green Arrow and Batman tried to stop him Envy set them against each other. Envy planned to keep Key from destroying humanity, but also wanted to use him as a conduit to the human consciousness so he could enjoy the seemy thoughts of others and turn brother against brother. Key didn’t like being a puppet and absorbed thousands of minds and forced their thoughts into Envy’s mind. This overloaded Envy, and he broke away from the Key and retreated. Batman wanted to take the Key back to Arkham, but he begged Dawn to save him. She knew his madness and powers would only grow in Arkham, so she sent him to the astral plane. Insulated from the material world and no longer afflicted by voiced the Key found peace within himself.

Comments: Created by Gardner Fox & Mike Sekowsky.

Key received a profile in JLA-Z #2 and Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #12..

A statue of the Key was seen in the JLA Watchtower trophy room in Flash II #214.

Green Lantern III #147 showed an image of the Key when Green Lantern John Stewart talked to his therapist about his superhero career.

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