Henry King, Jr. (New Earth)

Brainwave, Jr.
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 1930s-2011
Gallery
Real Name	Henry "Hank" King, Jr.
Main Alias	Brainwave, Jr.
Other Aliases	Brainwave
Relatives	"Fly-Foot" Creamer (grandfather) · Henry King (Brainwave, father) · Merry Pemberton (Merry the Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks, mother) · Sylvester Pemberton (Star-Spangled Kid, uncle, deceased) · Jacqueline Pemberton (Gimmix, half-sister)
Affiliation	Formerly Infinity, Inc., Justice Society of America · Legion of Doom, Black Reign, Justice Society International
Base Of Operations	formerly Los Angeles
Status
Alignment	Good
Identity	Public Identity
Citizenship	American
Marital Status	Single
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5' 11"
Weight	165 lbs (75 kg)
Eyes	Blue
Hair	Strawberry Blond
Origin
Universe	Earth-Two · New Earth
Creators	Roy Thomas
First Appearance	All-Star Squadron #24 (August, 1983)

I know you look at me as one of your children. You respect me for not following in my father's footsteps. I've tried my best to be a hero. And i don't mean to read your mind. It just hapens. I can't turn it off as well as i used to do. I'm used to people talking behind my back. I live with it every day now. Every second. I live a life not many could handle, Flash. A world based on honesty instead of lies. In fact... i live in a dream.

— Brainwave, Jr.

Henry "Hank" King, Jr. is Brainwave, Jr. - so named because his father was Brainwave. Unlike his father, he was a hero and a member of Infinity, Inc..

History

This is an in-universe article with out-of-universe material.

This article covers information about something that exists within the DC Universe, and should not contain out-of-universe material. Please remove all out-of-universe material, or include it in a separate section at the bottom of the article. And take off that silly costume.

Pre-Crisis

Originally born on Earth-Two as the son of the criminal Brainwave and Gimmick Girl (who was originally written as being tricked into the relation but later openly acceptant of her husband) Hank Jr. was revealed to have inherted his father's superhuman mental abilities.

Hank Jr. would remain mostly hidden from the condemnation of his famous parents until he attained early adulthood and sought to actively pursue an active crime-fighting career in some measure to atone for his father's past deeds in his uncle, Sylvester Pemberton, Jr., the original Star-Spangled Kid who was forming a new superhero group called Infinity, Inc.. Following his father's death, he dropped the 'Jr.' from his name and began calling himself just 'Brainwave'.

Infinity, Inc. consisted of many of the direct children and successors of the Justice Society members. Despite their youth the team proved their effectiveness when they defeated their elder heroes when the Justice Society was possessed by the Stream of Ruthlessness. While a member of Infinity, Inc., Hank met and became romantically attached to Jade the daughter of Alan Scott. Despite his best attempts the relationship ended badly.

Post-Crisis

Hank (center) with his Legion of Doom

After the disbanding of the original Infinity Inc. Hank suffered a mental breakdown due to unresolved guilt issues over his villainous father and, shaving his head in order to more closely resemble his father, founded the Legion of Doom and used them to attack a branch of the Justice League. He was captured and sent for psychiatric treatment but was not cured. Black Adam used his mental instability to convince him to join his crusade to free his native Kahndaq and bring peace to Earth as Adam saw fit.

Henry as Brainwave

During the ensuing battle against the JSA a miniaturized Atom entered Hank's head in an attempt to destroy the growth that gave him his powers. Inside Hank's head Atom found that Hank's brain was actually harboring the parasitic worm-like Mr. Mind who was using him as a source of food and development while amplifying Hank's telepathic powers and the real cause of his mental problems causing him to run amok acting villainous. Hank was saved from Mr. Mind by Atom treated by Doctor Mid-Nite of the JSA and eventually turned over to the care of his mother, Merry Pemberton.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Telepathy
  • Illusion Casting
  • Brain-Blast
• Telekinesis
  • Force Field

Notes

• Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and no longer apply.
  

Trivia

• Brainwave once dated Jade.
• Brainwave is somewhat mentally unstable. Early in the development of his powers he had a tendency to create illusions subconsciously that could fool even himself. According to Doctor Mid-Nite, Brainwave has an abnormal mass of nerve fibers leading from his auditory cortex to a growth on the side of his inferior colliculus in his brain which he hypothesized is what drives him insane and gives him his telepathic abilities.

Related

• 111 Appearances of Henry King, Jr. (New Earth)
• 25 Images featuring Henry King, Jr. (New Earth)
• 1 Quotations by or about Henry King, Jr. (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Henry King, Jr. (New Earth)

Footnotes

Justice Society of America member This character is or was a primary member of the Justice Society of America in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice Society of America members" category.

Legion of Doom member This character is or was a member of the Legion of Doom, a team of supervillains called together for the purpose of conquering the world and defeating the Super Friends, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Legion of Doom members" category.