Henry King, Jr. (New Earth)

Henry King, Jr.
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 1930s-2011
Gallery
Real Name	Henry King, Jr.
Other Aliases	Brainwave, Jr.
Relatives	Henry King (father), Merry Pemberton (mother) · Jacqueline Pemberton (half-sister), Sylvester Pemberton (uncle)
Affiliation	Infinity, Inc., Justice Society of America (reserve)
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)

     

History

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.

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

After the disbanding of the original Infinity Inc. Hank drops the Jr from his name and began on a series of events that finally resulted in him finally joining the JSA. It was revealed during this time that he was suffering a mental breakdown causing his behavior to become erratic. 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. 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 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 his fellow JSA members and eventually turned over to the care of his mother, Merry Pemberton.

His current situation and power ability is undetermined.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Superhuman mental abilities including but not limited to:

• Illusion Casting
• Telepathy
• Telekinesis

Weaknesses

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.

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.

Related

• 109 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.