Matter Master

MATTER MASTER

Real Name: Mark Mandrill

Class: Human technology-user

Occupation: Supervillain

Group Affiliation: Secret Society of Super-Villains

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Midway City

First Appearance: Brave and the Bold I #35 (April-May, 1961)

Powers: Matter Master wielded a Mentachem Wand, which responded only to his mental commands. The Wand allowed him control over pure materials; he could shrink them, expand them or animate them at will. The Wand could absorb and release pure forms of energy.

History: While aspiring alchemist Mark Mandrill was trying to turn lead into gold he accidentally created the Mentachem compound, which obeyed his mental commands. He fashioned a magic wand out of Metachem and created the Matter Master identity for himself. Matter Master committed a series of robberies, but was apprehended by Hawkman.

Matter Master joined the Secret Society of Super-Villains, but was jailed by Captain Comet.

(DC Comics Presents #26) - Sargon the Sorcerer decided it was no longer safe for him to use the ruby of life, so he donated it to a museum and set up a protective spell around it. Matter Master had his eye on the ruby, but knew he needed Sargon to break the spell himself, so he committed a series of crimes that mimicked the abilities of the ruby. Sargon worried that he’d turned back to a life of evil and had been using the ruby without realizing it., but Matter Master pushed his plan too far when he knocked out Sargon, turned a bank vault to butter, and left Sargon in his home surrounded by money. Sargon knew the money in his apartment were all duplicates of the same dollar bill, so he knew someone else had the heist. Sargon returned to the museum, and animated his portrait there to pretend to unlock the ruby of life; even without the ruby he’d retained some spell casting abilities. This drew out the Matter Master, and Sargon defeated him and broke his wand.

(Flash II #197 (fb)) - Metahuman profiler Hunter Zoloman did a profile on Matter Master, leading to his arrest by the F.B.I.

(Hawkman IV #23) - Matter Master served time in Belle Reve and was looked down on and mocked by his peers, who weren’t impressed by the fact that it was Hawkman that sent him to prison. Upon his release he held a St. Roch auction house hostage to draw out Hawkman. His fight with Hawkman ended quickly, Hawkman tossed a battleaxe at the Master that severed his right arm.

(JLA #115-119) - Despero restored the memories of former Secret Society of Super-Villains members Wizard, Chronos, Felix Faust, Floronic Man, Matter Master and Star Sapphire, who’d been mind-wiped years ago by the JLA after learning the secret identities of the heroes. They sought vengeance on the JLA for tampering with their minds, first picking off Red Tornado in Happy Harbor and Ralph Dibny in Opal City. This got the JLA’s attention, and they defeated the JLA and then confronted Batman, presenting him with the unconscious bodies of the JLA. The JLA revived, and they did battle again. Matter Master tried to cripple Hawkman for taking his arm in addition to his memory, but eventually the villains chose to retreat. The JLA and resented them for it. The JLA presumed that the former Society members who had their minds intact remembered their secret identities, and went to look in on their loved ones. The former Society members made an attack on the Daily Planet, trying to kill Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White. They planned to take out all the JLA’s loved ones. The JLA defeated them, and had to decide what to do with the villains. Hawkman was adamant about mindwiping them again, and called for a vote, but it was a draw. Zatanna told the team her past actions were an abuse of magic, and she refused to mindwipe anyone ever again. She told the JLA to take her off reserve status and and left for Themyscira. Zatanna talked with Wonder Woman, and had a change of heart. She considered the Society members her mess, and she once again mindwiped them, telling them they were getting off easy for what they tried to do to the JLA.

Comments: Created by Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert

In the pre-Crisis DC Universe Matter Master was a Hawkman II (Katar Hol) foe. In the post-Crisis DC Universe Matter Master fought Hawkman I (Carter Hall). This was confirmed in Hawkman IV #23.

Matter Master received a profile in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #15. Matter Master received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #20 under the Secret Society of Super-Villains entry.