Ultra-Humanite
Encyclopedia
The Ultra-Humanite is a fictional character
that appears in comic book
s published by DC Comics
. The character first appeared in Action Comics
#13 (June 1939), and was created by Jerry Siegel
and Joe Shuster
. Debuting as an enemy of Superman
, he is the first recurring comic book supervillain.
faced by Superman
, and among the first supervillains of the Golden Age of Comics. He was designed to be the polar opposite of Superman; while Superman is a hero with superhuman strength, Ultra-Humanite is a criminal mastermind who has a crippled body but a highly advanced intellect.
The Ultra-Humanite represents one of the most significant threats to 20th century incarnations of the Justice Society. The origins of the super-criminal known as the Ultra-Humanite are shrouded in mystery. Even he claims not to remember his true name or appearance and attributes his vast intellect and mental prowess to scientific experiments of an unknown nature.
A fiendish "mad scientist" (Act No. 17, Oct 1939), hopelessly paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair, whose "great goal" is the "domination of the Earth" (Act No. 14, Jul 1939; and others). Portrayed as nearly bald in two texts (Act No. 13, Jun 1939; Act No. 19, Dec 1939), and as completely bald in two others (Act No. 14, Jul 1939; Act No. 17, Oct 1939), he is a "mental giant" -- the "head of a vast ring of evil enterprises" -- whose "fiery eyes burn with terrible hatred and sinister intelligence."
His real name is never stated in the chronicles, but he has been known as the Ultra-Humanite -- Ultra, for short -- ever since "a scientific experiment resulted in [his] possessing the most agile and learned brain on Earth!"
"--Unfortunately for mankind," proclaims the villain in June 1939, "I prefer to use this great intellect for crime. My goal? DOMINATION OF THE WORLD!!" (Act No. 13)
In June 1939 Superman sets out to smash the so-called Cab Protective League, an underworld
organization, headed by a racketeer named Jackie Reynolds, which is attempting to seize control of the city's lucrative taxi trade by launching a reign of terror against the independent cab companies, murdering their drivers and demolishing their taxicabs in an effort to coerce the independents into joining the League. Reynolds organized unscrupulous cab drivers into a union
, the Cab Protective League. Reynolds' union, financed by the Ultra-Humanite, intimidated other cab drivers through violence and threats against passengers. In the summer of 1939, a cab carrying Clark Kent was assaulted by a CPL driver.
Finally defeated and apprehended by Superman, Reynolds is convicted of his crimes and sentenced to a term in the Sing Sing
penitentiary. However, while en route to the prison by automobile, under police guard, Reynolds asks for, and receives, permission to smoke a cigarette
, and within moments, he has knocked his police escort unconscious by exhaling smoke from a specially prepared cigarette containing "a mysterious gas," hurled from the unconscious policemen from the speeding car, and made good his escape.
Superman thinks this was too advanced for Reynolds and searches the area, finally finding the stolen vehicle outside a house. He corners Reynolds at his secluded cabin hideout and is about to take him into custody when his attention is called to a second figure in the cabin, a "paralysed cripple" whose "fiery eyes...burn with a terrible hatred and sinister intelligence."
"So we meet at last, eh?" smiles the sinister paralytic. "It was inevitable that we should clash!"
"Who are you?" asks Superman.
"The head of a vast ring of evil enterprises," replies the paralytic, "--men like Reynolds are but my henchmen. You have interfered frequently with my plans, and it is time for you to be removed!" "If what you say is true," retorts Superman, "the thanks for giving me the opportunity to capture you!"
"You may not find that task as simple as it appears on the surface," remarks the paralytic confidently. "You may possess unbelievable strength--but you are pitting yourself against a mental giant! I am known as 'the Ultra-Humanite.'"
As Superman lunges forward to grab him, the villain unleashes a barrage of electricity sufficient "to kill five-hundred men," and Superman, trapped "amidst a sheet of flame" produced by the high-voltage current running through the electrified floor, lapses into unconsciousness. With Superman now helpless, Reynolds and the Ultra-Humanite attempt to annihilate him with a buzz saw, but as "the mighty saw" makes contact with Superman's invulnerable skin, there is "a great rasping--the sound of cracking metal--and the saw explodes into a thousand fragments-!"
"Reynolds dies a horrible death," notes the text, "as one of the steely fragments pierces his throat---!" Leaving Superman behind to perish in the cabin which the Ultra-Humanite has ordered them to set on fire, the villain's henchmen carry their crippled leader outside to a waiting aircraft, but Superman regains consciousness in the nick of time and leaps upward into the sky "out of reach of the hungry blaze."
"I'll bet that strange ship belongs to 'the Ultra-Humanite'!" cries Superman as he spies the weird aircraft carrying the villain and his henchmen. "--His fiendish deviltry is going to end RIGHT NOW!"
"Deliberately," observes the textual narrative, "Superman crashes into the planes propellor---down toward the distant Earth hurtle both doomed plane and Man of Steel---'the Ultra-Humanite's' vessel crumples sickeningly as it strikes the ground with a thunderous crash---" but Superman remains unharmed.
"Strange," muses Superman grimly, as he searches painstakingly through the wreckage of the aircraft, "I can't find any trace of 'the Ultra-Humanite'! Well that finishes his plan to control the Earth---or does it?" (Act No. 13, Jun 1939).
In July 1939, after scores of subway riders have been injured in the collapse of a subway tunnel and an inspector is nearly killed by a train when he is knocked out on train tracks, Superman discovers that Star, Inc., the firm that built the tunnel, defrauded the city by charging the city for expensive materials and then using substandard materials on the actual project. Before long, Superman has cornered Mr. Lyons, the head of Star, Inc., and forced him to sign a full confession of his crimes, but but as he races after the speeding automobile in which Lyons's two henchmen are attempting to escape, one of the henchmen presses a button inside the car and the vehicle instantly becomes invisible.
"Those men wouldn't have the ingenuity to make that car invisible," muses Superman, "... there's something sinister behind this!"
Although the automobile has become invisible, however, it still leaves tire tracks, and Superman's pursuit of the vehicle soon leads him to a boarded-up shed in the countryside where the Ultra-Humanite is lying in wait for him.
As Superman barges headlong into the shed, the villain freezes him inside a block of crystal. "BEHOLD!" gloats the Ultra-Humanite. "My mortal foe imprisoned in crystal....so that I can look upon him and laugh until eternity!
"When he destroyed my plane, he thought that I, too, had been eliminated! But unknown to SUPERMAN, I escaped with a parachute!
"He alone stood between me and my great goal!...DOMINATION OF THE EARTH! Now I can hasten my plans, unhampered!"
However, the villain has not reckoned on the Man of Steel's amazing recuperative powers. "As SUPERMAN revives, he flexes his great muscles and the crystal block explodes!"
Now realizing that capture is imminent unless he somehow escapes, the Ultra-Humanite presses a hidden button and vanishes mysteriously through the center of the floor. A search beneath the floorboards reveals nothing, and when Superman finally races outside, he finds that "the invisible car's gone! He's made good his escape!" Lyons's two henchmen, however, are still inside the shed, and Superman swiftly apprehends them and turns them over to the authorities.
"The 'Ultra-Humanite' has got to be stopped before he succeeds in his mad plan to dominate the Earth," muses Clark Kent afterward. "if not, the world will succumb to evil forces!"
"Only one obstacle confronts me-Superman!" thinks the villain aloud to himself in the safety and seclusion of some hidden laboratory. "He must be wiped out! It's a terrific task... but my tremendous brain can devise some way to trick him!" (Act No. 14, Jul 1939).
In October 1939, after quelling a raging fire aboard the steamship Clarion, Superman learns that the Clarion is the fourth Deering Lines ship to have recently been "deliberately destroyed" and that a mysterious extortionist has been demanding a payment of $5,000,000 in return for bringing the sabotage to a halt.
To compound the mystery, the Deering Lines' general manager has been receiving telephone calls from the extortionist that do not travel over the telephone company's wires, even though he does receive them on his regular office telephone. "only one person could have accomplished the miraculous scientific feat of telephoning without using the telephone company's lines," thinks Clark Kent to himself, "Ultra,' the mad scientist who seeks domination of the Earth."
After trailing the Ultra-Humanite's henchmen to his secret laboratory hideout, Superman finally confronts the villain, who has been attempting to extort money from Derring Lines in order to acquire the funds he needs "to continue my costly subversive activities."
Superman hurls himself at the Ultra-Humanite, but his hands only "pass thru [sic] 'Ultra's' figure" as "the scientist's body wavers" and then abruptly vanishes into thin air.
"Wh... What?" exclaims Superman, completely bewildered. "... Then it wasn't 'Ultra' who was here, after all--just a projected image of him!" Indeed, the Ultra-Humanite is still at large, but his plot to extort $5,000,000 from the Deering Lines has been thwarted, and his henchmen, apprehended by Superman, will be turned over to the authorities (Act No. 17).
In December 1939 a strange epidemic plagues the population, with strange purple blotches killing the affected. Soon, "the streets are clogged with death [...] Horror grips the city!!" A young scientist, Professor Henry Travers, after reading on old history books of a similar "Purple Plague" that blighted the middle ages, recognizes that the symptoms are identical, and concocts an antidote. The first test fails, but he is able to save the son of another scientist. Ultra sees Travers interest in the old book, and after intercepting Traver's call to Clark, kidnaps him. Superman rescues the scientist. After receiving news of Superman's interference, swears that "No freak of nature will stop me from achieving my goal!" and then assures that "The human race shall be blotted out so that I can launch a race of my own".
Later, Ultra's henchmen fire an unknown ray and knock out Superman. Ultra tries hypnotizing him by placing a helmet on hi head, but Superman fakes being controlled, and when he is taken to spread the plague with a henchman, he destroys the "fantastic airship of Ultra's creation" that was spreading its "cargo of Purple Death".
Superman then returns to Ultra's stongholds where the villain tries to blast him, but Superman places the Ultra-Humanite in front of the gun, killing him (Act 19, Dec 1939).
In January 1940 Superman learns that Ultra's assistant revived him "via adrenalin", but as this recovery was only temporary, he orders his henchmen to kidnap Dolores Winters, a movie actress, and then "places his mighty brain in her young vital body." As Dolores, the Ultra-Humanite announces her retirement from acting, and plans a retirement party on her yacht, the Sea-Serpent, where she invites "a gay crowd of leading movie actors, writers, directors, and producers", some of the world's wealthiest men. When the party is in full-swing, she slips away unnoticed and moves the yacht to sea. She then corrals her guests with guns, having replaced the crew with her henchmen, and shoots one in cold blood when he thinks it is a joke. Ultra then announces via the ship's radio that she's holding the celebrities captive and that a sum of five million dollars must be paid to see them again.
The ransom note is delivered to a radio studio manager, and while Superman secretly stands by, the note materializes in front of the studio-head. Seeing that the ransom should be delivered within a buoy near the Centel Lighthouse, Superman follows it into a submerged submarine after magnetic force is used to drag it down, and then, to an air-filled cavern. Here Dolores has helmets on the heads of the captives, wired to a control board where she can electrocute them. Even though she has got the money, she still decides to kill the captives. The Man of Steel throws a huge stalagmite into the switchboard, breaking the electrical connection, and then tries to capture Dolores. She waves a lighted torch in front of the captives, and Superman, seeing the mad look in her eyes, realises she is Ultra, at which point the villain tells him what happened. But after seeing Superman blowing the torch out, she dives into the water and escapes (Act No. 20, Jan 1940).
Soon after, the Ultra-Humanite read of the discover of an atomic weapon created by physicist Terry Curtis after Clark puts it into the Daily Planet. Using the comely form of the young actress, the villain seduced and kidnapped the scientist with the help of two thugs. Atop the building Ultra forces Terry into an autogyro. After extended torture under the torture ray, Curtis agreed to help the Ultra-Humanite build an atomic arsenal of his own. The Ultra-Humanite tells the city he wants $2,0000,000 or he will destroy every building and life in the city. As a demonstration of their power they will destroy the Wentworth Tower at 2:00 P.M that afternoon. When an airship attacks the Tower, Superman holds the Tower up long enough to let the spectators escape. Superman destroys the disintegrator by throwing a boulder and follows the plane to the criminal lair, which is a city inside a volcano, and defeats the robot guards. In the lab of Ultra, the villain threatens to destroy Metropolis if Superman moves closer. In exchange for the release of Curtis, the Ultra-Humanite sends Supermen to steal crown jewels, expecting him to be destroyed by the guards as she alerts them. Superman is able to battle past the guards and get the jewels however. When Superman returns unharmed with the jewels, the Ultra-Humanite first sends diamond drills at Superman, but Superman breaks past them. A thug fires the disintegrator at Superman, but Superman knocks him out and takes the weapon. Curtis seizes Ultra to stop her pulling the lever that will destroy the city. Superman then disintegrates the photo-electric-cell connections. Confronted again with his ultimate foe, the Ultra-Humanite dives through an opening in the side of his lair to his apparent doom in the volcano's crater. Superman throws boulders in that set of the volcano and leaves with Curtis, though it is unknown whether he takes the Jewels with him. (Action Comics #21)
[Editorial Note: Most early records
Siegel and Shuster replaced the Ultra-Humanite as Superman's arch foe when Lex Luthor
was introduced into the Superman comic. Originally, Luthor was depicted as a mad scientist with a full head of red hair. An artist later mistakenly drew Luthor with a bald head and Siegel approved of Luthor's new look. Because Siegel and Shuster didn't need two bald mad scientists battling Superman, they dropped the Ultra-Humanite from Superman comics in favor of Luthor. The Ultra-Humanite made his last Superman appearance in Action Comics #21 (1940), where he apparently dies, and made no further comic book appearances for several decades.
system, the continuity of Golden Age
Superman stories and the Ultra-Humanite were retroactively placed on Earth-Two
, the Earth of DC's Golden Age characters. The Ultra-Humanite was reintroduced during the Silver Age as a recurring villain in the Mr. and Mrs. Superman feature in the Superman Family
anthology comic. Mr. and Mrs. Superman consists of stories about the early years of the marriage between the Earth-Two Superman
and Lois Lane, and features a number of Golden Age Superman villains of which the Ultra-Humanite is the most prominent. In the annual JLA/JSA teamup in Justice League of America
#195-197, the Ultra-Humanite transfers his consciousness to an albino ape body and becomes a major super-villain of Earth-Two. Afterwards, he regularly appears in DC Comics titles, opposing the All-Star Squadron
in the 1940s, and the Justice Society of America
and Infinity, Inc. in the decades since World War II.
, Superman's history was rewritten in The Man of Steel
miniseries, and the Earth-Two Superman was removed from continuity. However, the Ultra-Humanite was excluded from Superman's reboot, and his post-Crisis history remained tied to the 1940s and to the Justice Society of America and All-Star Squadron. Previous appearances of the Ultra-Humanite fighting Golden Age Superman in the 1940s in Action Comics #13-21 and in All-Star Squadron were re-told for the sake of continuity (a technique known as retconning) to show him having fought other 1940s heroes.
The Ultra-Humanite's most ambitious scheme occurs in the 2002 "Stealing Thunder" story arc from JSA #32-37, where, in the aged body of Johnny Thunder
, he deceives Jakeem Thunder
into handing over his magical pen. With the power of the omnipotent Thunderbolt, the Ultra-Humanite first restores his body's youth, and then proceeds to take over the world. Under his rule, Earth is transformed into essentially a single mind, with nearly every metahuman becoming an extension of the Ultra-Humanite.
However, a select few heroes manage to escape the control of the Ultra-Humanite: Jakeem Thunder, Captain Marvel
, Hourman (Rick Tyler), the third Crimson Avenger
, Power Girl
, Sand
, and the second Icicle. Wildcat
and Hector Hall
are also free- Wildcat as an apparent side effect of his 'nine lives', and Hall so that he could summon the garb of Doctor Fate
and thus provide the Ultra-Humanite with access to Nabu's power-, but both are held captive by the Ultra-Humanite. After the reserve JSA are able to temporarily short out the Thunderbolt to deprive their enemy of access to the Thunderbolt's power, the Ultra-Humanite is seemingly killed by the Crimson Avenger (although the Icicle nearly beats her to it) as revenge for the death of the first Crimson Avenger, who dies earlier in an explosion triggered by the Ultra-Humanite.
, history was altered to bring Dolores Winters (now called Delores Winters
) back to life via the reveal that her brain was placed in a new body after Ultra-Humanite stole her body for his own use in the pages of JSA Classified #19-20 (2007). In Power Girl (vol. 2) #2 (2009), the Ultra-Humanite's secret origin is revised, shedding more light on his past life as a genius youth, Gerard Shugel (a name derived from Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel). He was born with both an intellect that surpassed the world's greatest minds and a degenerative disease that was slowly eating away at him. He used his intellect to find ways to keep the disease at bay, while trying to find a way to transplant his brain into a healthy body.
Working with a reckless and young Satanna, a fellow college researcher, they worked together at their brain/transplant and animal hybridization technologies. Forced to relocate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and beset by rebel forces and the military, Satanna was forced, as a stop-gap measure, to transplant the healthy brain of Gerarld into the altered body of an albino gorilla. They shared an intimate relationship for a while, then they parted way for a long time, paving the way for their separate adventures as chronicled pre-OYL.
In the 2006-2007 "Lightning Saga" crossover between Justice Society of America and Justice League of America, the untold story of how Ultra-Humanite transitioned from Delores Winter's body to his albino-ape form was revealed: Per Degaton
, the villainous time traveler, and a young version of Despero
rescued the Delores Winters-version of Ultra-Humanite from a hospital in the year 1948. It is revealed that the Ultra-Humanite was stricken with terminal cancer
and in exchange for his loyalty, Per Degaton agreed to provide a new body for the villain, in the form of a rare albino ape from the secret civilization known as Gorilla City
. Christening themselves the "Time Stealers", they align themselves with Mr. Mind, Rex Hunter, the mysterious "Black Beetle", and the villainous father of Booster Gold
in an attempt to manipulate time for their own selfish goals. However, their conspiracy ultimately unravels at the hands of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle
Ted Kord. In the end, Ultra-Humanite and Despero were sent back into the past after their group were defeated, while other members were returned to their previous places in time.
In Justice League of America (vol. 2) #1 (2006), Ultra-Humanite is said to still be alive and well, having stolen a copy of Steve Dayton's "Mento
" helmet.
Later on Ultra-Humanite is seen aiding the Reach
in their plans to conquer Earth; he is defeated by Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner
. Most recently he appears in the first arc of Power Girl
(vol. 2), using an anti-gravity mechanism to raise New York City
into the air, holding the city hostage
in exchange to transfer his mind into Power Girl's body. The attempt fails, and Power Girl accidentally scars his whole body with acid burns, maiming his form for good.
Satanna returns to New York, attempting to aid her former lover, stealing the body of the current Terra, Atlee, for Gerard's use. After a lengthy fight, however, Power Girl is able to retrieve Terra's brain (now in the crippled simian form of the Ultra-Humanite) and bring both of them to Strata, Atlee's advanced underground birth society, to get her friend restored to her proper body. Strata's scientist agree to clone a new, fully human body for Gerard Shugel, resembling a healthy version of his twenty year old human self, cured from his degenerative disease. Power Girl attempts to hire him as a scientist for her Starr Labs, and Gerard plays along showing a fake desire of reformation.
. He has the power to transfer his brain
into another body. Various bodies occupied over the years include actress Delores Winters
, a giant insect
, a Tyrannosaurus rex
, Justice Society
member Johnny Thunder
, and a glass dome. His best-known and most frequently revisited form is that of a mutated albino
gorilla
. He has also invented numerous other devices including an invisible car, a mind-control helmet (though it did not work on Superman), and robots.
He has often been mistaken on screen for The Brain or Monsieur Mallah from the Doom Patrol comic series.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
that appears in comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The character first appeared in Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#13 (June 1939), and was created by Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
. Debuting as an enemy of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, he is the first recurring comic book supervillain.
Golden Age
The Ultra-Humanite is the first supervillainSupervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
faced by Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, and among the first supervillains of the Golden Age of Comics. He was designed to be the polar opposite of Superman; while Superman is a hero with superhuman strength, Ultra-Humanite is a criminal mastermind who has a crippled body but a highly advanced intellect.
A fiendish "mad scientist" (Act No. 17, Oct 1939), hopelessly paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair, whose "great goal" is the "domination of the Earth" (Act No. 14, Jul 1939; and others). Portrayed as nearly bald in two texts (Act No. 13, Jun 1939; Act No. 19, Dec 1939), and as completely bald in two others (Act No. 14, Jul 1939; Act No. 17, Oct 1939), he is a "mental giant" -- the "head of a vast ring of evil enterprises" -- whose "fiery eyes burn with terrible hatred and sinister intelligence."
His real name is never stated in the chronicles, but he has been known as the Ultra-Humanite -- Ultra, for short -- ever since "a scientific experiment resulted in [his] possessing the most agile and learned brain on Earth!"
"--Unfortunately for mankind," proclaims the villain in June 1939, "I prefer to use this great intellect for crime. My goal? DOMINATION OF THE WORLD!!" (Act No. 13)
In June 1939 Superman sets out to smash the so-called Cab Protective League, an underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
organization, headed by a racketeer named Jackie Reynolds, which is attempting to seize control of the city's lucrative taxi trade by launching a reign of terror against the independent cab companies, murdering their drivers and demolishing their taxicabs in an effort to coerce the independents into joining the League. Reynolds organized unscrupulous cab drivers into a union
Union
Union may refer to:* Trade union or labor union, an organization of workers that have banded together, often for the purpose of getting better working conditions or pay...
, the Cab Protective League. Reynolds' union, financed by the Ultra-Humanite, intimidated other cab drivers through violence and threats against passengers. In the summer of 1939, a cab carrying Clark Kent was assaulted by a CPL driver.
Finally defeated and apprehended by Superman, Reynolds is convicted of his crimes and sentenced to a term in the Sing Sing
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
penitentiary. However, while en route to the prison by automobile, under police guard, Reynolds asks for, and receives, permission to smoke a cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
, and within moments, he has knocked his police escort unconscious by exhaling smoke from a specially prepared cigarette containing "a mysterious gas," hurled from the unconscious policemen from the speeding car, and made good his escape.
Superman thinks this was too advanced for Reynolds and searches the area, finally finding the stolen vehicle outside a house. He corners Reynolds at his secluded cabin hideout and is about to take him into custody when his attention is called to a second figure in the cabin, a "paralysed cripple" whose "fiery eyes...burn with a terrible hatred and sinister intelligence."
"So we meet at last, eh?" smiles the sinister paralytic. "It was inevitable that we should clash!"
"Who are you?" asks Superman.
"The head of a vast ring of evil enterprises," replies the paralytic, "--men like Reynolds are but my henchmen. You have interfered frequently with my plans, and it is time for you to be removed!" "If what you say is true," retorts Superman, "the thanks for giving me the opportunity to capture you!"
"You may not find that task as simple as it appears on the surface," remarks the paralytic confidently. "You may possess unbelievable strength--but you are pitting yourself against a mental giant! I am known as 'the Ultra-Humanite.'"
As Superman lunges forward to grab him, the villain unleashes a barrage of electricity sufficient "to kill five-hundred men," and Superman, trapped "amidst a sheet of flame" produced by the high-voltage current running through the electrified floor, lapses into unconsciousness. With Superman now helpless, Reynolds and the Ultra-Humanite attempt to annihilate him with a buzz saw, but as "the mighty saw" makes contact with Superman's invulnerable skin, there is "a great rasping--the sound of cracking metal--and the saw explodes into a thousand fragments-!"
"Reynolds dies a horrible death," notes the text, "as one of the steely fragments pierces his throat---!" Leaving Superman behind to perish in the cabin which the Ultra-Humanite has ordered them to set on fire, the villain's henchmen carry their crippled leader outside to a waiting aircraft, but Superman regains consciousness in the nick of time and leaps upward into the sky "out of reach of the hungry blaze."
"I'll bet that strange ship belongs to 'the Ultra-Humanite'!" cries Superman as he spies the weird aircraft carrying the villain and his henchmen. "--His fiendish deviltry is going to end RIGHT NOW!"
"Deliberately," observes the textual narrative, "Superman crashes into the planes propellor---down toward the distant Earth hurtle both doomed plane and Man of Steel---'the Ultra-Humanite's' vessel crumples sickeningly as it strikes the ground with a thunderous crash---" but Superman remains unharmed.
"Strange," muses Superman grimly, as he searches painstakingly through the wreckage of the aircraft, "I can't find any trace of 'the Ultra-Humanite'! Well that finishes his plan to control the Earth---or does it?" (Act No. 13, Jun 1939).
In July 1939, after scores of subway riders have been injured in the collapse of a subway tunnel and an inspector is nearly killed by a train when he is knocked out on train tracks, Superman discovers that Star, Inc., the firm that built the tunnel, defrauded the city by charging the city for expensive materials and then using substandard materials on the actual project. Before long, Superman has cornered Mr. Lyons, the head of Star, Inc., and forced him to sign a full confession of his crimes, but but as he races after the speeding automobile in which Lyons's two henchmen are attempting to escape, one of the henchmen presses a button inside the car and the vehicle instantly becomes invisible.
"Those men wouldn't have the ingenuity to make that car invisible," muses Superman, "... there's something sinister behind this!"
Although the automobile has become invisible, however, it still leaves tire tracks, and Superman's pursuit of the vehicle soon leads him to a boarded-up shed in the countryside where the Ultra-Humanite is lying in wait for him.
As Superman barges headlong into the shed, the villain freezes him inside a block of crystal. "BEHOLD!" gloats the Ultra-Humanite. "My mortal foe imprisoned in crystal....so that I can look upon him and laugh until eternity!
"When he destroyed my plane, he thought that I, too, had been eliminated! But unknown to SUPERMAN, I escaped with a parachute!
"He alone stood between me and my great goal!...DOMINATION OF THE EARTH! Now I can hasten my plans, unhampered!"
However, the villain has not reckoned on the Man of Steel's amazing recuperative powers. "As SUPERMAN revives, he flexes his great muscles and the crystal block explodes!"
Now realizing that capture is imminent unless he somehow escapes, the Ultra-Humanite presses a hidden button and vanishes mysteriously through the center of the floor. A search beneath the floorboards reveals nothing, and when Superman finally races outside, he finds that "the invisible car's gone! He's made good his escape!" Lyons's two henchmen, however, are still inside the shed, and Superman swiftly apprehends them and turns them over to the authorities.
"The 'Ultra-Humanite' has got to be stopped before he succeeds in his mad plan to dominate the Earth," muses Clark Kent afterward. "if not, the world will succumb to evil forces!"
"Only one obstacle confronts me-Superman!" thinks the villain aloud to himself in the safety and seclusion of some hidden laboratory. "He must be wiped out! It's a terrific task... but my tremendous brain can devise some way to trick him!" (Act No. 14, Jul 1939).
In October 1939, after quelling a raging fire aboard the steamship Clarion, Superman learns that the Clarion is the fourth Deering Lines ship to have recently been "deliberately destroyed" and that a mysterious extortionist has been demanding a payment of $5,000,000 in return for bringing the sabotage to a halt.
To compound the mystery, the Deering Lines' general manager has been receiving telephone calls from the extortionist that do not travel over the telephone company's wires, even though he does receive them on his regular office telephone. "only one person could have accomplished the miraculous scientific feat of telephoning without using the telephone company's lines," thinks Clark Kent to himself, "Ultra,' the mad scientist who seeks domination of the Earth."
After trailing the Ultra-Humanite's henchmen to his secret laboratory hideout, Superman finally confronts the villain, who has been attempting to extort money from Derring Lines in order to acquire the funds he needs "to continue my costly subversive activities."
Superman hurls himself at the Ultra-Humanite, but his hands only "pass thru [sic] 'Ultra's' figure" as "the scientist's body wavers" and then abruptly vanishes into thin air.
"Wh... What?" exclaims Superman, completely bewildered. "... Then it wasn't 'Ultra' who was here, after all--just a projected image of him!" Indeed, the Ultra-Humanite is still at large, but his plot to extort $5,000,000 from the Deering Lines has been thwarted, and his henchmen, apprehended by Superman, will be turned over to the authorities (Act No. 17).
In December 1939 a strange epidemic plagues the population, with strange purple blotches killing the affected. Soon, "the streets are clogged with death [...] Horror grips the city!!" A young scientist, Professor Henry Travers, after reading on old history books of a similar "Purple Plague" that blighted the middle ages, recognizes that the symptoms are identical, and concocts an antidote. The first test fails, but he is able to save the son of another scientist. Ultra sees Travers interest in the old book, and after intercepting Traver's call to Clark, kidnaps him. Superman rescues the scientist. After receiving news of Superman's interference, swears that "No freak of nature will stop me from achieving my goal!" and then assures that "The human race shall be blotted out so that I can launch a race of my own".
Later, Ultra's henchmen fire an unknown ray and knock out Superman. Ultra tries hypnotizing him by placing a helmet on hi head, but Superman fakes being controlled, and when he is taken to spread the plague with a henchman, he destroys the "fantastic airship of Ultra's creation" that was spreading its "cargo of Purple Death".
Superman then returns to Ultra's stongholds where the villain tries to blast him, but Superman places the Ultra-Humanite in front of the gun, killing him (Act 19, Dec 1939).
In January 1940 Superman learns that Ultra's assistant revived him "via adrenalin", but as this recovery was only temporary, he orders his henchmen to kidnap Dolores Winters, a movie actress, and then "places his mighty brain in her young vital body." As Dolores, the Ultra-Humanite announces her retirement from acting, and plans a retirement party on her yacht, the Sea-Serpent, where she invites "a gay crowd of leading movie actors, writers, directors, and producers", some of the world's wealthiest men. When the party is in full-swing, she slips away unnoticed and moves the yacht to sea. She then corrals her guests with guns, having replaced the crew with her henchmen, and shoots one in cold blood when he thinks it is a joke. Ultra then announces via the ship's radio that she's holding the celebrities captive and that a sum of five million dollars must be paid to see them again.
The ransom note is delivered to a radio studio manager, and while Superman secretly stands by, the note materializes in front of the studio-head. Seeing that the ransom should be delivered within a buoy near the Centel Lighthouse, Superman follows it into a submerged submarine after magnetic force is used to drag it down, and then, to an air-filled cavern. Here Dolores has helmets on the heads of the captives, wired to a control board where she can electrocute them. Even though she has got the money, she still decides to kill the captives. The Man of Steel throws a huge stalagmite into the switchboard, breaking the electrical connection, and then tries to capture Dolores. She waves a lighted torch in front of the captives, and Superman, seeing the mad look in her eyes, realises she is Ultra, at which point the villain tells him what happened. But after seeing Superman blowing the torch out, she dives into the water and escapes (Act No. 20, Jan 1940).
Soon after, the Ultra-Humanite read of the discover of an atomic weapon created by physicist Terry Curtis after Clark puts it into the Daily Planet. Using the comely form of the young actress, the villain seduced and kidnapped the scientist with the help of two thugs. Atop the building Ultra forces Terry into an autogyro. After extended torture under the torture ray, Curtis agreed to help the Ultra-Humanite build an atomic arsenal of his own. The Ultra-Humanite tells the city he wants $2,0000,000 or he will destroy every building and life in the city. As a demonstration of their power they will destroy the Wentworth Tower at 2:00 P.M that afternoon. When an airship attacks the Tower, Superman holds the Tower up long enough to let the spectators escape. Superman destroys the disintegrator by throwing a boulder and follows the plane to the criminal lair, which is a city inside a volcano, and defeats the robot guards. In the lab of Ultra, the villain threatens to destroy Metropolis if Superman moves closer. In exchange for the release of Curtis, the Ultra-Humanite sends Supermen to steal crown jewels, expecting him to be destroyed by the guards as she alerts them. Superman is able to battle past the guards and get the jewels however. When Superman returns unharmed with the jewels, the Ultra-Humanite first sends diamond drills at Superman, but Superman breaks past them. A thug fires the disintegrator at Superman, but Superman knocks him out and takes the weapon. Curtis seizes Ultra to stop her pulling the lever that will destroy the city. Superman then disintegrates the photo-electric-cell connections. Confronted again with his ultimate foe, the Ultra-Humanite dives through an opening in the side of his lair to his apparent doom in the volcano's crater. Superman throws boulders in that set of the volcano and leaves with Curtis, though it is unknown whether he takes the Jewels with him. (Action Comics #21)
[Editorial Note: Most early records
Siegel and Shuster replaced the Ultra-Humanite as Superman's arch foe when Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
was introduced into the Superman comic. Originally, Luthor was depicted as a mad scientist with a full head of red hair. An artist later mistakenly drew Luthor with a bald head and Siegel approved of Luthor's new look. Because Siegel and Shuster didn't need two bald mad scientists battling Superman, they dropped the Ultra-Humanite from Superman comics in favor of Luthor. The Ultra-Humanite made his last Superman appearance in Action Comics #21 (1940), where he apparently dies, and made no further comic book appearances for several decades.
Silver Age and the Multiverse
With the introduction of DC's multiverseMultiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
system, the continuity of Golden Age
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
Superman stories and the Ultra-Humanite were retroactively placed on Earth-Two
Earth-Two
Earth-Two is a fictional universe appearing in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. First appearing in The Flash #123 , Earth-Two was created to explain how Silver-Age versions of characters such as the Flash could appear in stories with their Golden Age counterparts...
, the Earth of DC's Golden Age characters. The Ultra-Humanite was reintroduced during the Silver Age as a recurring villain in the Mr. and Mrs. Superman feature in the Superman Family
Superman Family
Superman Family was a DC Comics comic book series which ran from 1974 to 1982 featuring stories starring supporting characters in the Superman comics...
anthology comic. Mr. and Mrs. Superman consists of stories about the early years of the marriage between the Earth-Two Superman
Kal-L
The Superman of Earth-Two is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Justice League of America #73 . He is a version of the Kryptonian superhero Superman from an alternate reality called Earth-Two...
and Lois Lane, and features a number of Golden Age Superman villains of which the Ultra-Humanite is the most prominent. In the annual JLA/JSA teamup in Justice League of America
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
#195-197, the Ultra-Humanite transfers his consciousness to an albino ape body and becomes a major super-villain of Earth-Two. Afterwards, he regularly appears in DC Comics titles, opposing the All-Star Squadron
All-Star Squadron
The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in a special insert in Justice League of America #193 . Created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway.-The concept:...
in the 1940s, and the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
and Infinity, Inc. in the decades since World War II.
Post-Crisis
After the 1985-1986 limited series Crisis on Infinite EarthsCrisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
, Superman's history was rewritten in The Man of Steel
The Man of Steel (comic book)
The Man of Steel is a six-issue comic book limited series released in 1986 by DC Comics, several months after the twelve-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths completed. The Man of Steel was written and penciled by John Byrne and inked by Dick Giordano.-Overview:The mini-series was...
miniseries, and the Earth-Two Superman was removed from continuity. However, the Ultra-Humanite was excluded from Superman's reboot, and his post-Crisis history remained tied to the 1940s and to the Justice Society of America and All-Star Squadron. Previous appearances of the Ultra-Humanite fighting Golden Age Superman in the 1940s in Action Comics #13-21 and in All-Star Squadron were re-told for the sake of continuity (a technique known as retconning) to show him having fought other 1940s heroes.
The Ultra-Humanite's most ambitious scheme occurs in the 2002 "Stealing Thunder" story arc from JSA #32-37, where, in the aged body of Johnny Thunder
Johnny Thunder
Johnny Thunder is the name of three fictional characters in comics published by DC Comics. A fourth character has the variant name Jonni Thunder.It is also the name of an unrelated Lego character.-Fictional character biography:...
, he deceives Jakeem Thunder
Jakeem Thunder
Jakeem Thunder , initially called J.J. Thunder, is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe, a member of the superhero team the Justice Society of America. Jakeem first appeared in Flash Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams), initially called J.J. Thunder, is a fictional character in the...
into handing over his magical pen. With the power of the omnipotent Thunderbolt, the Ultra-Humanite first restores his body's youth, and then proceeds to take over the world. Under his rule, Earth is transformed into essentially a single mind, with nearly every metahuman becoming an extension of the Ultra-Humanite.
However, a select few heroes manage to escape the control of the Ultra-Humanite: Jakeem Thunder, Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
, Hourman (Rick Tyler), the third Crimson Avenger
Crimson Avenger
The Crimson Avenger is the name of three separate fictional characters, superheroes who exist in the DC Comics universe.-Lee Walter Travis:The original Crimson Avenger made his first published appearance in Detective Comics #20...
, Power Girl
Power Girl
Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
, Sand
Sandy Hawkins
Sanderson "Sandy" Hawkins, formerly known as Sandy, the Golden Boy, Sands, Sand, and currently as Sandman, is a fictional character, superhero in the DC Comics universe created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #69.-Golden Age:The Character of Sandy the Golden...
, and the second Icicle. Wildcat
Wildcat (comics)
Wildcat is the name of several fictional characters, all DC Comics superheroes. The first and most famous of these is Ted Grant, a long-time member of the Justice Society of America...
and Hector Hall
Hector Hall
Hector Hall was a superhero who appeared in DC Comics's Infinity, Inc., Sandman and JSA. He has gone by the names Silver Scarab, Sandman and, before his death, Dr. Fate.-Childhood:...
are also free- Wildcat as an apparent side effect of his 'nine lives', and Hall so that he could summon the garb of Doctor Fate
Doctor Fate
Doctor Fate is the name of a succession of fictional sorcerers who appear in books published by DC Comics. The original version was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, and first appeared in More Fun Comics #55...
and thus provide the Ultra-Humanite with access to Nabu's power-, but both are held captive by the Ultra-Humanite. After the reserve JSA are able to temporarily short out the Thunderbolt to deprive their enemy of access to the Thunderbolt's power, the Ultra-Humanite is seemingly killed by the Crimson Avenger (although the Icicle nearly beats her to it) as revenge for the death of the first Crimson Avenger, who dies earlier in an explosion triggered by the Ultra-Humanite.
One Year Later
After the events of Infinite CrisisInfinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
, history was altered to bring Dolores Winters (now called Delores Winters
Delores Winters
Delores Winters is a DC Comics character, originally named Dolores Winters. Until recently her main role in DC Universe history has been as a body occupied by the Ultra-Humanite in the 1940s, but she has made more significant appearances in current continuity.-History:In the early 1940s Delores was...
) back to life via the reveal that her brain was placed in a new body after Ultra-Humanite stole her body for his own use in the pages of JSA Classified #19-20 (2007). In Power Girl (vol. 2) #2 (2009), the Ultra-Humanite's secret origin is revised, shedding more light on his past life as a genius youth, Gerard Shugel (a name derived from Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel). He was born with both an intellect that surpassed the world's greatest minds and a degenerative disease that was slowly eating away at him. He used his intellect to find ways to keep the disease at bay, while trying to find a way to transplant his brain into a healthy body.
Working with a reckless and young Satanna, a fellow college researcher, they worked together at their brain/transplant and animal hybridization technologies. Forced to relocate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
and beset by rebel forces and the military, Satanna was forced, as a stop-gap measure, to transplant the healthy brain of Gerarld into the altered body of an albino gorilla. They shared an intimate relationship for a while, then they parted way for a long time, paving the way for their separate adventures as chronicled pre-OYL.
In the 2006-2007 "Lightning Saga" crossover between Justice Society of America and Justice League of America, the untold story of how Ultra-Humanite transitioned from Delores Winter's body to his albino-ape form was revealed: Per Degaton
Per Degaton
Per Degaton is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain who can travel through time. Per Degaton made his first appearance in All Star Comics #35 and was created by John Broome and Irwin Hasen...
, the villainous time traveler, and a young version of Despero
Despero
Despero is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Justice League of America #1 Despero is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Justice League of America #1 Despero...
rescued the Delores Winters-version of Ultra-Humanite from a hospital in the year 1948. It is revealed that the Ultra-Humanite was stricken with terminal cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and in exchange for his loyalty, Per Degaton agreed to provide a new body for the villain, in the form of a rare albino ape from the secret civilization known as Gorilla City
Gorilla City
Gorilla City is a fictional city in the DC Comics Universe. The city, hidden in the jungles of Africa, is home to a race of super-intelligent gorillas, that gained their powers from a meteorite. The supervillain Gorilla Grodd is also from the city. Gorilla City first appears in The Flash vol...
. Christening themselves the "Time Stealers", they align themselves with Mr. Mind, Rex Hunter, the mysterious "Black Beetle", and the villainous father of Booster Gold
Booster Gold
Booster Gold is a fictional DC Comics superhero. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League, DC Comics' all-star team of heroes. The character is initially depicted as a glory-seeking showboat from the future, using knowledge of...
in an attempt to manipulate time for their own selfish goals. However, their conspiracy ultimately unravels at the hands of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.-Publication history:...
Ted Kord. In the end, Ultra-Humanite and Despero were sent back into the past after their group were defeated, while other members were returned to their previous places in time.
In Justice League of America (vol. 2) #1 (2006), Ultra-Humanite is said to still be alive and well, having stolen a copy of Steve Dayton's "Mento
Mento (comics)
Mento is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Doom Patrol #91 , and was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani.-Fictional character biography:...
" helmet.
Later on Ultra-Humanite is seen aiding the Reach
Reach (comics)
The Reach are a villainous race of cybernetic insectoid aliens in the DC Comics universe. They are unintentionally responsible for the creation of the dynasty of super heroes known as the Blue Beetles.-Fictional history:...
in their plans to conquer Earth; he is defeated by Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner
Guy Gardner (comics)
Guy Gardner is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He is a core member of the Green Lantern family of characters, and for a time was also a significant member of the Justice League family of characters.He was created by John Broome and Gil Kane in Green Lantern...
. Most recently he appears in the first arc of Power Girl
Power Girl
Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
(vol. 2), using an anti-gravity mechanism to raise New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
into the air, holding the city hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
in exchange to transfer his mind into Power Girl's body. The attempt fails, and Power Girl accidentally scars his whole body with acid burns, maiming his form for good.
Satanna returns to New York, attempting to aid her former lover, stealing the body of the current Terra, Atlee, for Gerard's use. After a lengthy fight, however, Power Girl is able to retrieve Terra's brain (now in the crippled simian form of the Ultra-Humanite) and bring both of them to Strata, Atlee's advanced underground birth society, to get her friend restored to her proper body. Strata's scientist agree to clone a new, fully human body for Gerard Shugel, resembling a healthy version of his twenty year old human self, cured from his degenerative disease. Power Girl attempts to hire him as a scientist for her Starr Labs, and Gerard plays along showing a fake desire of reformation.
Powers and abilities
The Ultra-Humanite is a scientific genius, and possesses one of the most advanced human minds in the DC UniverseDC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
. He has the power to transfer his brain
Body swap
A body swap is a storytelling device seen in a variety of fiction, most often in television shows and movies, in which two people exchange minds and end up in each other's bodies. Alternatively, their minds may stay where they are as their bodies adjust...
into another body. Various bodies occupied over the years include actress Delores Winters
Delores Winters
Delores Winters is a DC Comics character, originally named Dolores Winters. Until recently her main role in DC Universe history has been as a body occupied by the Ultra-Humanite in the 1940s, but she has made more significant appearances in current continuity.-History:In the early 1940s Delores was...
, a giant insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
, a Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
, Justice Society
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
member Johnny Thunder
Johnny Thunder
Johnny Thunder is the name of three fictional characters in comics published by DC Comics. A fourth character has the variant name Jonni Thunder.It is also the name of an unrelated Lego character.-Fictional character biography:...
, and a glass dome. His best-known and most frequently revisited form is that of a mutated albino
Albinism
Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...
gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
. He has also invented numerous other devices including an invisible car, a mind-control helmet (though it did not work on Superman), and robots.
Other versions
- An alternate Ultra-Humanite appears in issues three and four of the TangentTangent ComicsTangent Comics was a DC Comics imprint created in 1997–1998, developed from ideas created by Dan Jurgens. The line, formed from various one-shots, focused on creating all-new characters using established DC names, such as the Joker, Superman, and the Flash...
: Superman's Reign series. This version is a living weapon created by the Soviets, that went out of control. He is allegedly destroyed in battle by the Tangent version of Superman, but it is later revealed that he was preserved and reprogrammed to fight for the Tangent's Superman's cause. He is finally destroyed by the combined efforts of the Tangent Batman and New Earth Superman. - Ultra-Humanite appears in Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold (comics)Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an American comic book series published by DC Comics. It is based on the TV series of the same name.-UK Title:The UK version is published by Titan Magazines and the first issue was released on 11 March 2010...
#3. The character targets the President causing Batman and Green Arrow to team up and stop Ultra-Humanite. The reason established for him switching his mind into apes is that he didn't want people to mistake him for Lex Luthor. - The first three issues of Legends of the DC Universe feature the post-Crisis Superman, early in his career, battling a scientist named Morgan Wilde who, angered by the death of his wife, swore revenge on Luthor and gains the ability to transfer his "life essence" (called "Under-Light") as the U.L.T.R.A. Humanite.
- In the ElseworldsElseworldsElseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
miniseries, The Golden AgeThe Golden Age (comics)The Golden Age is a 1993 four-issue Elseworlds comic book mini-series by writer James Robinson and artist Paul Smith. It concerns the Golden Age DC Comics superheroes entering the 1950s and facing the advent of McCarthyism.-Plot:...
, the Ultra-Humanite places his brain into the body of Tex Thomson, known as the "Americommando". He also arranges to place the brain of his ally, Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, into the body of Danny DunbarDan the Dyna-MiteDan the Dyna-Mite is a fictional character, a teen-aged superhero published by DC Comics. He was the young sidekick to the character TNT, and was created by Mort Weisinger and Hal Sharp in 1942. TNT and Dyna-Mite made their debut in World's Finest Comics # 5, and starred in Star-Spangled Comics #...
, while simultaneously arranging to give Hitler (as Dunbar) super-powers. - The Ultra-Humanite is the principal villain in the John Byrne limited series Superman & Batman: GenerationsSuperman & Batman: GenerationsSuperman & Batman: Generations is the umbrella title of three Elseworlds comic book limited series published by DC Comics in the United States, written and illustrated by John Byrne...
. He first appears in the 1939 story, but is believed to be killed when his escape rocket explodes. Decades later, it is revealed that the Humanite had his brain placed in the body of his lackey Lex LuthorLex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
, and posed as Luthor for the intervening time. He then attempts to swap bodies with a then-powerless Superman, but is killed when Superman, attempting to escape, throws a metal spear into Humanite's computer, causing it to electrocute the villain.
Television
- Ultra-Humanite appears in his gorilla body form in three episodes of the Justice LeagueJustice League (TV series)Justice League is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 2001 to 2004 on Cartoon Network. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics...
animated series voiced by Ian BuchananIan BuchananIan Buchanan is a Scottish television actor who appeared on the soap opera All My Children as Dr. Greg Madden.His first major work in the United States was playing the characters Duke Lavery on the soap General Hospital from 1986 to 1989, and Ian McFyfer in series three and four of the comedy...
. In this version, he is depicted as a cultured intellectual criminal with a deep love for classical musicClassical musicClassical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and violent hatred for most modern forms of art. The animated series version is shown to be somewhat more benevolent than his comic counterpart, as he, in one way or another, always helps the primary protagonist in the episodes in which he appears, albeit for his own reasons (such as once betraying Lex Luthor after Batman bribed him with additional funding to a public broadcasting channel). In "Comfort and Joy," he later encountered Flash and they ended up delivering toys to some orphans.
He has often been mistaken on screen for The Brain or Monsieur Mallah from the Doom Patrol comic series.
Video games
- Ultra-Humanite appears in DC Universe OnlineDC Universe OnlineDC Universe Online or DCUO is an MMORPG by Sony Online Entertainment – Austin. Jim Lee serves as the game's Executive Creative Director, along with Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nuñez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez...
, voiced by Brian JepsonBrian JepsonBrian Jepson is an American voice actor who works for Elephant Productions. He has done voice over work for Tx DOT, PBS, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, ADV Films, Sony Entertainment Online and various other companies including Retro Studios, creators of the Wii video game Metroid Prime 3:...
. He is encountered in a wrecked spaceship on Gorilla Island where he plots to fire missiles at Metropolis if his demands aren't met. The players managed to defeat Ultra-Humanite. Gorilla Grodd was watching the outcome from his base and stated that Ultra-Humanite is no true ape. Ultra-Humanite is assisted by UGA Commanders, UGA Commandos, UGA Elite Guards, UGA Elite Snipers, UGA Engineers, UGA Marksmen, UGA Sergeants, UGA Soldiers, Bean, Furious George, and Tiny.
Toys
- Ultra-Humanite received a figure in Mattel's Justice League Unlimited toyline.
- Ultra-Humanite was the Collect and Connect figure for the fourteenth wave of the DC Universe ClassicsDC Universe ClassicsDC Universe Classics is an action figure toyline, a sub-line of the DC Universe toy brand manufactured by Mattel. These are 6-inch scale figures based on characters owned by DC Comics...
line.
External links
- A biography about the Ultra-Humanite
- Supermanica: Ultra-Humanite Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Ultra-Humanite