This article is about the mainstream DCU character. For the Amalgam Comics version, please see Will Magnus (Amalgam Comics). This article is about the Amalgam Comics character; for the better known, regular DCU character that partially inspired the Amalgam version please see Will Magnus. ...

Doctor Will Magnus is a fictional human scientist in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Showcase #37 alongside his creations, the Metal Men, he was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru. DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to the date or issue of a characters first appearance. ... Showcase #4 (Oct. ... Robert Kanigher (June 18, 1915 - May 6, 2002) was a prolific comic book writer whose career spanned five decades. ... Cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #136 pencilled by Andru. ... The Metal Men are a team of robot superheroes created by writer Robert Kanigher, pencilled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito for DC Comics in 1962. ... The Doom Patrol is an idiosyncratic DC Comics superhero team that has been through several incarnations. ... Veridium is a fictional alien metal in the DC Comics universe. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... Cover to the History of the DC Universe trade paperback. ... Showcase #4 (September-October 1956, the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash. ... The Metal Men are a team of robot superheroes created by writer Robert Kanigher, pencilled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito for DC Comics in 1962. ... Robert Kanigher (June 18, 1915 - May 6, 2002) was a prolific comic book writer whose career spanned five decades. ... Cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #136 pencilled by Andru. ...

Character history

One of the most impressive geniuses of the DCU, Magnus often offers scientific advice to other characters. His greatest achievement is the one for which he first received renown: the creation of the Metal Men. The method through which Doc Magnus created the Metal Man has varied over years with various writers. At first they were just blank slate robots with responsometers, devices which generated their intelligence and personalities which just happened to be evocative of the metals from which they were formed. The Metal Men are a team of robot superheroes created by writer Robert Kanigher, pencilled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito for DC Comics in 1962. ... Tabula rasa (Latin: scraped tablet or clean slate) refers to the epistemological thesis that individual human beings are born with no innate or built-in mental content, in a word, blank, and that their entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually from their experiences and sensory perceptions of the...

In an attempt to boost sales of their comic book, the characters underwent vast changes. The Metal Men all assumed human alter egos, while Doc Magnus became a fugitive scientist dedicated towards global conquest. His personality change was credited to having been kidnapped, reawakened and brainwashed by a mad dictator. Instead sales plunged and the comic wasn't printed for a few years. Eventually Metal Men was picked back up again with Doc's sanity restored and he returned to assist his Metal Men.

At one point he saved Doom Patrol's Robotman, whose original body had been destroyed by Madame Rouge. Doc Magnus recovered Robotman's brain and built him a new cybernetic body. The Doom Patrol is an idiosyncratic DC Comics superhero team that has been through several incarnations. ... Robotman is the name of a DC Comics Superhero. ... Madame Rouge is a fictional DC Comics supervillain. ...

In 1993, a four part Metal Men mini-series retconned much of their backstory. It was revealed that the responsometers were not responsible for the Metal Men's sentience and that the Metal Men actually were imprinted with the intellects and personalities of real people: Magnus's own brother, his fiancee, two lab workers, a janitor, and a pizza-delivery man. These unfortunates' personalities were accidentally transferred to blank robots in a lab accident. At the climax of the miniseries, Gold was permanently killed and Doc Magnus mortally wounded. Doc permanently transferred his personality into a blank robot known as Veridium, made of a green alien metal, becoming the new robotic leader of the Metal Men. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Veridium is a fictional alien metal in the DC Comics universe. ...

With the advent of Identity Crisis, Gold is back and Doc Magnus is once again human. The whereabouts of the other Metal Men are still partially unknown, albeit the inert body of Lead was shown in Magnus' lab with the partially disassembled body of Tina. Identity Crisis is a seven-issue comic book limited series published by DC Comics in 2004, written by Brad Meltzer and penciled by Rags Morales. ...

Doc Magnus is currently an active character in the "52" series. As revealed during Infinite Crisis, when Superboy-Prime pounded on the walls of reality, he caused the very fabric of reality to shift, changing and merging histories. The "blank robots with responsometers" origin is said to be the defintive origin while the "human personalities" origin and the 1993 mini-series has been described as the byproduct of a mental breakdown suffered by Magnus. When Booster Gold visited, asking for help with Skeets, Magnus commented that the Metal Men "don't quite work anymore." Infinite Crisis was a seven-issue comic book limited series published by DC Comics. ... Superboy-Prime is a fictional superhero turned supervillain in the DC Universe. ... Booster Gold is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. ... Skeets is a fictional artificial intelligence robot from the future in the DC Comics Universe. ...

The responsometers now contain an "artificial soul", invented by Doc Magnus on insipiration of T. O. Morrow, when the latter was a college teacher for the young Magnus. After the unexplained dismantling of the Metal Man, Doc Magnus was unable to restore their personalities. He now takes Prozac for clinical depression, which is implied to be the result of this loss, and the reason of his unability to restore his creation to life. Thomas Oscar Morrow is a fictional supervillain in the DC universe. ... Background Fluoxetine hydrochloride (brand names include Prozac®, Symbyax® (compounded with olanzapine), Sarafem®, Fontex® (Sweden), Fluctine (Austria, Germany), Prodep (India), Fludac (India)) is an antidepressant drug used medically in the treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and many other disorders. ...

Meanwhile, government agents hover around hoping to use the Metal Men as soulless smart weapons. Through all of this, Magnus has been visiting Morrow in his cell in Haven. Morrow has warned Magnus that abductions of "mad" scientists have been occurring, including Doctor Sivana, whose lair Magnus investigates. The following is a list of prisons, asylums, institutions, planets, and alternate dimensions which have been used to imprison humans, superhumans, and nonhumans in various fictional comic book universes. ... Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a fictional comic book supervillain. ...

Eventually Morrow himself disappears, leaving a note for his former student with a string in machine code. Using the code, Magnus was able to revive Mercury, albeit his robotic friend and creation was apparently destroyed again trying to save him from a conspiracy trying to kidnap all the mad scientists in the DCU. Mindless replicas of the Metal Men forced Magnus to escape from his burned house before he was in fact captured. Caucasian, male, aging, crooked teeth, messy hair, lab coat, spectacles/goggles, dramatic posing — one popular stereotype of a mad scientist. ...

He is now on a tropical island where all the captured scientists have been given unlimited budgets to invent freely by Intergang. Magnus played along, claiming to be working on a Plutonium Man robot, but endeavored to be as slow as possible. When Magnus was confronted by his lack of progress, another scientist revealed to the island's management about his need for his medication. With that information, Magnus' medication was forcibly confiscated in order for his mental health to deteriorate and be more cooperative.

The story is ongoing.

Powers and abilities

• While human, Doc Magnus has had no special abilities aside from his great intellect. His vast intelligence was responsible for the creation of the Metal Men, along with various other robots.
• While he was Veridium, Magnus was the most powerful of the Metal Men. He could store and channel heat and energy. [1]

Veridium is a fictional alien metal in the DC Comics universe. ...

External links

• Toonopedia's Metal Men entry
• Will Magnus in 52 week 14