If I didn't know it before, I'm sure now this is my only chance to ever do anything great... for myself! Heroes like Superboy help mankind all the time... But what do they get out of it? Fame? Fame don't pay the bills-- And I'd rather be rich! 
- — Dyna-Mind
Johnny Webber was a high-school classmate of Clark Kent who used temporary psychic powers to steal as the villain Dyna-Mind.
History
Johnny Webber was a juvenile delinquent who joined Bash Bashford in tormenting Clark Kent during their high-school years. During a meteor shower over prom night, Clark deflected a Red Kryptonite meteoroid back into the atmosphere, causing it to fragment against another meteoroid containing a second unknown element. This sent a cloud of dust comprised of both Red K and the second element over the Smallville High School parking lot, granting Johnny temporary psychic powers and enhanced intelligence.[2]
Crafting the identity of the criminal Dyna-Mind, Johnny determined to pull off a string of daring crimes that would, in theory, make him wealthy for the rest of his life. Dyna-Mind started by robbing a rare coin exhibition at a Smallville county fair after using his first public appearance to cause a panic, then emptied the vaults of the local bank while holding the building hostage with midair telekinesis. Superboy attempted to stop Dyna-Mind on both occasions but was outmatched by Dyna-Mind's superior abilities. Finally, Dyna-Mind broke into Fort Knox and began to loot the federal government's gold reserves when Superboy challenged him a third time. Taking advantage of a clue in Dyna-Mind's boasting, Superboy deduced the origin of his powers and used his heat vision to eradicate the trace elements in Dyna-Mind's system that were responsible for his powers.[2][3]
After being unmasked as Johnny Webber, Dyna-Mind pretended that his memories of his criminal actions disappeared along with his powers, exploiting Superboy's capacity for mercy to evade punishment. However, Johnny as Dyna-Mind prepared a contingency plan for the retrieval of his ill-gotten gains prior to losing his powers: hiding the rare coins, bank heist money, and gold bullion in an active volcano, on the Atlantic Ocean floor, and inside a fake satellite orbiting in space. Johnny directed Superboy to these locations, where he encountered guardians conjured beforehand by Dyna-Mind to protect the loot. By expending kinetic energy in battles with the guardians, Superboy would inadvertently generate enough power to fulfill a requirement for a psychic summons placed on the stolen goods by Dyna-Mind, allowing Johnny Webber to teleport them to his current location even after the fading of the rest of his powers. However, Superboy deduced the nature of Johnny's scheme and tricked Johnny into confessing that he was in full control as Dyna-Mind, giving Superboy enough reason to arrest him.[4]
After several months, Johnny was released on parole into his family's custody and became deeply remorseful for his short-lived career as Dyna-Mind, tormented by recurring nightmares of being accused by Superboy of being "evil". Johnny also discovered that he had a residual trace of his former psychic powers. When John Zatara accidentally summoned an other-dimensional barbarian named Turlock the Berzerker during a stage show, Johnny decided to redeem himself for his previous crimes by lending a helping hand in secret. While Superboy and Zatara combined forces to suppress Turlock's rampage throughout Smallville, Johnny used the last of his psychic power to expel the barbarian back to the dimension he came from.[1]
After high school graduation, Johnny was hired by the same Smallville bank which he terrorized before, in a display of amity and forgiveness by the owner. Thirteen years later, Johnny had ascended the ranks to become bank vice-president and pulled strings to forward $130,000 to the county orphanage if fundraisers could match the contribution. Johnny planned to use that year's high-school reunion bash as a fundraising opportunity and ventured to Metropolis to solicit Clark Kent's help in the matter. During his visit, Johnny began erroneously referring to Clark as "Superman" and to Superman as "Clark", though not consciously aware of his slip-ups. Clark determined that Johnny must have read his mind years ago as Dyna-Mind and retained subconscious awareness of his secret identity as an adult. After Superman stopped a gang of thieves from robbing the fundraiser, he used super-hypnosis to correct the quirk in Johnny's recognition and attended the rest of the reunion as Clark.[5]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Flight (Formerly)
- Telekinesis (Formerly)
- Intangibility (Formerly)
- Force Field (Formerly)
- Teleportation (Formerly)
- Enhanced Intellect (Formerly)
Abilities
Notes
- This version of Dyna-Mind, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022–2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
Related
- 6 Appearances of Johnny Webber (Earth-One)
- 1 Images featuring Johnny Webber (Earth-One)
- 1 Quotations by or about Johnny Webber (Earth-One)
- Character Gallery: Johnny Webber (Earth-One)
Footnotes
  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." |