MONSTER MASTER

Real Name: Unrevealed

Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Supervillain

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Dez-Nu (father), Marden King (brother)

Aliases: Jungle King

Base of Operations: Monster World, 30th Century

First Appearance: Adventure Comics I #309 (June, 1963)

Powers: Monster Master could control any animal using hypno-mental commands. His mental control required total concentration and could be broken if he was distracted.

History: (Adventure Comics I #309) - Dez-Nu was a famous animal trainer, and used an experimental ray to give his son hypno-mental control over animals, hoping he’d become the greatest animal trainer in history. He took the name Jungle King and applied for membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes. He brought a wild borlat into the Legion clubhouse and demonstrated his power to control it. While bragging about his powers and explaining his origin his concentration broke and the borlat tried to attack him. Sun Boy disabled the borlat, and the Legion turned Jungle King down because of his lack of control over his powers. Jungle King was in a furious rage over his rejection, and the Legionnaires wondered if his father’s ray experiment had altered Jungle King’s brain. The Jungle King traveled to Monster World, a planet most avoided because it was populated by strange and dangerous beasts. He assembled a team of wondrous beasts to serve him as the Legion of Super-Monsters. He renamed himself the Monster Master, and planned on getting revenge on the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Science Police alerted the Legion after he robbed the Space Bank and bragged he’d go after the rarest gems in the universe. Brainiac 5 deduced that he could only be talking about the comet jewels of Korr’s Sky City. Sky City was built on a platform that extended into the stratosphere to avoid Korr’s deadly smog. Monster Master’s Earthquake Beast created an earthquake that started to destabilize Sky City’s base, and the Legion went into action. They fought an even battle with the Legion of Super-Monsters, but Sky City’s base started to crumble, and they had to abandon the fight, using the Legion spaceship to hitch a cable around Sky city’s base to stabilize it while Monster Master made off with the comet jewels. Saturn girl picked up monster Master’s thoughts and realized his next target was Inshar, the World of Giant Flowers where he planned on stealing valuable seeds. The Legion came up with a plan to have chameleon Boy duplicate the form of one of the Super-Monsters to get the drop of Monster Master. The Legion captured the Drill Beast and Chameleon Boy took its’ place, but Bouncing Boy, who’d been told to stay behind with the Legion spaceship because his powers were no match for the monsters, tried to go after Monster Master. Monster Master, alerted to the Legion’s presence, flew off in his spaceship with his super-Monsters and the disguised Chameleon Boy. Brainiac 5 yelled at Bouncing boy for ruining their plan. Monster Master hid out on a rocky planet when he discovered Chameleon Boy’s presence. Monster Master sicced Omnibeast on him, but Chameleon Boy lured the monster into one of the rocky planet’s tunnels it got trapped under a cave-in. Monster Master flew off again, and the Legion predicted he’d return to Monster World to bolster the ranks of his Legion. Bouncing Boy redeemed himself on Monster World by tricking the Earthquake Beast, the most powerful of the Legion, into swinging its’ massive tail at a cliffside, and it was trapped under falling rocks. Ironically Monster Master was killed when the Gas Creature, a monster he’d twice rejected from his own Legion, vaporized him.

Comments: Created by Edmond Hamilton & John Forte.

Monster Master's appearance in Adventure Comics I #309 was reprinted in Adventure Comics I #500.