Frank Rayles (Earth-One)

Frank Rayles
Mainstream Universe‎, 1950s-1986
Gallery
Real Name	Frank Rayles
Relatives	Harry Rayles (brother, deceased)
Base Of Operations	Unnamed observatory
Status
Alignment	Bad
Identity	Public Identity
Citizenship	American
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Criminal
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Hair	Brown
Origin
Universe	Earth-One
Creators	Cary Bates · Joe Staton
First Appearance	DC Comics Presents #11 (July, 1979)

Frank Rayles was a one-time minor adversary of Superman and Hawkman.

History

Frank Rayles was an ex-con who served time in prison due to being caught by Hawkman. By coincidence, his brother Harry also had an association with Hawkman, albeit of a more benevolent sort. Harry had made his personal fortune as a major investor in the stock market and channeled his wealth into research of astronomy. Harry Rayles theorized that concentrated exposure to the EM wavelengths emitted by the star Polaris would super-charge Hawkman's body with superior physical might just as those emitted by Sol do the same for Superman. While Harry's hypothesis was sound, he also realized that the super-charged Hawkman would lose his free will and become receptive to mind-control stimuli, discontinuing his research. Harry then died, and Frank inherited his late brother's observatory and all of his wealth and research. Using the Starscope Harry had used to store up light energy from Polaris, Frank bombarded Hawkman and put the Winged Warrior under mind-control. On Rayles's orders, Hawkman tampered with a trophy to be publicly bequeathed to Superman by the President of France, causing it to engulf the Man of Steel in an explosion of energies that gave Superman temporary retrograde amnesia and blasted him back in time to World War II on the Western front. After Superman regained his memories and returned to his appropriate time-era, Hawkman attacked Superman and succeeded in affecting him with his Polaris-charged punches, but Superman got the upper hand and routed the mind-controlled Hawkman. Later in the day, Superman spent 6 hours entertaining a Daily Planet sweepstakes winner named Marc Teichman, but an eerie glow around Superman's body captured by Teichman's developed photographs tipped Clark Kent off that something was wrong. Clark was then contacted by a blue jay sent by Hawkman prior to his mental takeover to warn Superman of Rayles's plot. Superman faked his and the Polaris-charged Hawkman's deaths in a second large explosion caused by the next clash between the two, using the broadcast of the event on the evening news to put Rayles into a false sense of security that his plan had succeeded. Once Rayles removed his mind-control helmet in satisfaction, Superman and Hawkman ambushed Rayles in his observatory and turned him in to the authorities.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Starscope: A device created by his brother Harry, which could store light energy from distant stars.
  • Mind Control: When charged up with light energy from the star Polaris, the Starscope could be used to super-charge Thanagarian physiology, simultaneously magnifying physical abilities and destroying free will in the affected.
  • Power Distribution: Thanagarians imbued with Polaris-power were given the ability to generate explosive force through physical contact.

Related

• 3 Appearances of Frank Rayles (Earth-One)
• 1 Images featuring Frank Rayles (Earth-One)
• Quotations by or about Frank Rayles (Earth-One)
• Character Gallery: Frank Rayles (Earth-One)

Footnotes

Superman Villain(s) This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."

Hawkman and Hawkgirl Villain(s) This character, team or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of the Hawkman, or his associates Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Hawkman Villains category."