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Brother Power the Geek

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Brother Power the Geek
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics/Vertigo
First appearanceBrother Power the Geek #1 (October 1968)
Created byJoe Simon
In-story information
Alter egoBrother Power
Team affiliationsLove Syndicate of Dreamworld
Abilities
  • Puppet Elemental:
    • Enhanced physical abilities
    • Electricity absorption
  • Vertigo:
    • Enhanced physical abilities
    • Can possess any artificial figure resembling a human being
    • Size manipulation

Brother Power the Geek is a comic book character created in the late 1960s for DC Comics by Joe Simon. He first appeared in Brother Power the Geek #1 (October 1968).[1][2]

The concept behind Brother Power was derived heavily from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein[2] right down to reanimation with the use of lightning. At the same time, Simon was also attempting to capture the sort of "wandering outcast philosopher" characterization that made Marvel Comics' Silver Surfer a cult hit among the college student readers of the period.[3]

According to Scott Shaw, the character was originally supposed to be called The Freak, but was renamed to The Geek due to concerns by DC Comics management over the possible drug reference "freak" implied at the time.[3]

Original appearance

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The original series lasted only two issues. Brother Power was originally a mannequin abandoned in an empty tailor's shop. The shop was taken over by hippies Nick Cranston and Paul Cymbalist, who dressed up the dummy in Paul's wet and bloodied "hip threads" to keep them from shrinking, having been attacked by Hound Dawg and other war hawks. Forgotten for months, but eventually struck by lightning, Brother Power was brought to life and endowed with superpowers.[1]

Shortly after his creation, Brother Power was kidnapped by the "Psychedelic Circus". The freaks in the Freakshow at the "Psychedelic Circus" were based on the styles of Ed Roth and Harvey Kurtzman, who were friends of Joe Simon. After escaping, he was fixed up and given a face by another hippie named Cindy, and attempted to run for the United States Congress.[4] His misadventures with the establishment led to finding work and encouraging other hippies to do so, eventually getting hired by the J.P. Acme Corporation just as it was taken over by the wicked Lord Sliderule. Brother Power's ingenuity still made the assembly line run more efficiently. Brother Power was last seen being shot into space on orders from Governor Ronald Reagan, after trying to prevent the sabotage of a rocket launch by Hound Dawg and his gang, knowing it would be blamed on hippies.

While sales of the title were modest, Brother Power was not popular among the staff. Former DC Comics editorial director Carmine Infantino claimed in several interviews following his retirement from comics that Superman editor Mort Weisinger disliked the character, and petitioned DC publisher Jack Liebowitz to shut down the title. According to Infantino, Weisinger harbored an admitted dislike for the hippie subculture of the 1960s, and felt that Joe Simon portrayed them too sympathetically.[5] It did not help that Hound Dawg and his cronies appeared with uniforms and gadgetry evocative of Nazis in the second issue. According to Simon, the third issue was canceled just before the finished artwork was to be set up for print duplication, and Simon would neither discuss the plot of this issue nor release any of the original art.[6]

Despite Weisinger's concerns over the hippie subculture and the level of drug abuse it represented, drug, substance and alcohol intake are not depicted.

Simon was not the artist on the title's two issues. The artwork was by Al Bare,[2] who had been working with Simon at Sick. Simon had hired Bare to "ghost" the art, and was subsequently credited with the art.[7]

Later appearances

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The character was revived briefly two decades later, first in a short story by Neil Gaiman in Swamp Thing Annual #5 (1989) (reprinted in Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days), and then in a Vertigo one-shot by Rachel Pollack and Mike Allred titled Vertigo Visions - The Geek.[8]

In Gaiman's story, Brother Power is revealed to be an imperfect elemental, similar to the Swamp Thing, and he is connected to all human simulacra such as dolls, dummies, statues, etc.[1] The story resumes with the rocket's return to Earth, guided into Tampa Bay by Firestorm after an unsuccessful attempt to destroy it. His newfound ability to change his size leads to a call to Batman, who defers to Abigail Cable. Ultimately, an aging hippie named Chester calms him down.

Pollack's story featured a brief return of Brother Power's adversary, Lord Sliderule, now in a business suit, and depicted Brother Power being forced to perform as a circus geek, eating live animals for the first time. Eventually, after more misadventures with the establishment, he is reunited with Cindy (the hippie who had given him his face), now a prostitute, and is destroyed in his original form while saving her life; however, he survives by possessing one of her dolls.

In Grant Morrison's Animal Man, Brother Power is mentioned as having escaped Limbo.[9] He also appeared briefly in Tom Peyer's Totems as a guest at John Constantine's 1999 New Year's Eve party.[1]

Brother Power made a return appearance in The Brave and the Bold vol. 3 #29 (January 2010).[10] This issue presents Cindy as having been a doctor at a free clinic, but after some tragedy, having opened a toy store that was burned before the story begins. The story also casts doubt over Brother Power's true origin, as conflicting urban legends are mentioned, some stating that Brother Power is a reanimated dummy and others saying he is an elemental. In addition, it is also established, retroactively, that the original series took place in Gotham City, although they had previously been explicitly set in San Francisco, with "the governor" clearly drawn as Reagan. After awakening in 2009, Brother Power wanders throughout Gotham until he stumbles upon a burning building where several innocent people have been left tied up and gagged inside. Though Batman tries to convince Power to abandon the building and let him take care of the victims, he refuses, remarking that he does not belong in the modern world. The issue ends with the dazed and badly-injured Brother Power staggering through the sewers, where he collapses. In the closing narration, Batman finds comfort in the idea that Brother Power will eventually reawaken in a time when values have prevailed that are closer to his own.

The character played a role in the limited series Inferior Five as a guidance voice in Peacemaker's helmet as a way for him to get more notoriety by a team-up. This plan failed as the series ended on 6 issues which caused him to mope about how his plan could have worked.

Other versions

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In other media

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Television

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Video games

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Brother Power the Geek appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[12]

Miscellaneous

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Brother Power the Geek appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #15.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Wallace, Dan (2008). "Brother Power, the Geek". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1.
  2. ^ a b c McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1960s". DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The medium didn't appear to be ready for Brother Power, the Geek, envisioned by writer Joe Simon and artist Al Bare. Simon's mod re-imagining of Frankenstein's monster...a mannequin turned reclusive hero-philosopher was a trip that lasted only two issues.
  3. ^ a b Shaw, Scott (September 28, 2003). "Brother Power, The Geek". Scott Shaw!'s Oddball Comics. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2011. Like Marvel's Silver Surfer, Brother Power, the Geek was a peaceful superpowered philosopher, but unlike Norrin Radd, Brother Power never found his intended audience...Supposedly, "The Geek" was originally intended to be called "The Freak" but DC management was concerned that "freak" might be perceived as a drug reference!
  4. ^ Morris, Jon (2015). The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half Baked Heroes from Comic Book History. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Quirk Books. pp. 132–133. ISBN 978-1-59474-763-2.
  5. ^ Markstein, Don (2007). "Brother Power, the Geek". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014.
  6. ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 218. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  7. ^ Brother Power, the Geek #1 and #2 at the Grand Comics Database
  8. ^ Vertigo Visions - The Geek at the Grand Comics Database
  9. ^ Morrison, Grant (w), Truog, Chas (p), Farmer, Mark (i). "Monkey Puzzles" Animal Man, no. 25 (July 1990).
  10. ^ "The Brave and the Bold #29". DC Comics. November 18, 2009. Archived from the original on October 5, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  11. ^ Kesel, Karl (w), Haley, Matt (p), Simmons, Tom (i). "Laugh 'till It Hurts" Tangent Comics/The Joker, no. 1 (December 1997).
  12. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
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Further reading

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