Machinist (DC)

The **Machinist** is a male comic character who features in DC Comics.

## Biography

The Machinist

At some point, he was noted to had encountered the mysterious Mr. Oz. (Superman v3 #35)

Uncovering a piece of one of his creations, the newly arrived superbeing known as Ulysses tracked the unique magnetic energy signature to the Metropolis Scrap Yard. He and Superman arrived at the site in order to find the perpetrator for the recent attack though the Machinist had sighted them at the scene. One of his mind ticks managed to ambush Ulysses and take over his mind where it had him attack Superman. The Man of Steel was then forced to take down his ally which was when he was confronted by the Machinist. He had two of his mechanical wolves attack Superman in order to use this incident as a test of his creations and to show prospective clients his machines that were capable of standing up to Superman. According to his projections, his creations being able to stand up to the Man of Steel for 10 minutes was enough to net the Machinist tens of millions of dollars. During the fight, he unleashed mind-ticks intending to take control over Superman but Ulysses used his eye beams to kill the Machinist. However, the Machinist revealed he was simply speaking through an innocent man under his control and dressed as him. (Superman v3 #34) The police later arrived at the scene with Ulysses feeling guilty over having killed a man. In reality, the innocent person disguised as the Machinist was long dead from the effects of the mind-tick. Meanwhile, the Machinist was operating from his hidden base on a barge that was carrying his merchandise to prospective customers. It remained trapped by a storm that was preventing clients from visiting him when the barge was tracked down by Superman and Ulysses. The two looked to apprehend the arms dealer who unleashed a horde of his flying creations that were destroyed by the two super-beings. They then looked to apprehend the villain with Ulysses using his powers to attempt to track the Machinists clients. However, the extra-dimensional hero was shocked to find that the Earth was manufacturing countless weapons globally. This caused him to leave the scene and provided enough of a distraction for the Machinist to trigger explosives on his barge. This seemingly killed with only his broken mask being found by Superman. (Superman v3 #35)

Afterwards, the Machinist came to resurface once again where he operated on multiple battlefields around the world. In one case, he was involved in an incident in Georgia that was in the grip of a civil war. Taking advantage of the situation, he employed his mind-ticks to amass a small army that began to attack settlements in the region around the Caucasus Mountains. He used another puppet to operate as him in the field as he once again tested his merchandise in order to promote it to potential clients. His activities drew the attention of Superman but attempted to apprehend the villain only to find another innocent being controlled by a mind-tick. At the same time, another puppet of the Machinist was heading a similar attack in Germany. Superman came to determine that the Machinist was using stolen LexCorp equipment and thus enlisted the aid of Lex Luthor. Luthor came to track the villainous arms dealer on the Kashmir/India border where the Machinist had taken control of people and animals once again. Upon the arrival of Superman and Luthor, the Machinist dispatched his mind controlled minions against the pair. During the battle, the Machinist used an enhanced chip to take control of Lex Luthor who he then used to attack Superman. (Action Comics v1 #985) He observed their fight with amusement as Luthor indulged in his own resentments against the Man of Steel. Their fight took them into orbit before returning where Lex unleashed his full arsenal against Superman. Surprising the Machinist, this act actually destroyed the Mind-Tick thus freeing Luthor from its control. Unleashing his remaining arsenal, the villain attempted to escape by getting rid of his costume in order to hide amongst his mercenaries. He had attempted to flee the scene only to be caught by Superman who had determined the real Machinist through his unique electromagnetic signature. This led to the villain being arrested where he was to be questioned on who was paying him to accelerate wars around the globe. (Action Comics v1 #986)

## Overview

### Personality and attributes

According to him, he was two brilliant people that were sewn together with him stating that he did not choose this life but had long come to accept it. (Superman v3 #35)

The Machinist had said that the world would never stop wanting weapons and it was for this reason that heroes would not be rid of him. (Superman v3 #35) He claimed he was only giving people what they wanted and that humanity did not need encouragement to be provided weapons of war. (Action Comics v1 #985)

His tactics involved possessing people and even animals in order to conscript anything that could kill more. All this was for the purpose of creating more terror which he used to destabilise regions and intensify existing conflicts. (Action Comics v1 #985)

He made his mechanical creations for the purpose of selling them to interested parties and in fact considered them his merchandise. In some cases, he had them target heroes in order to showcase their capabilities to prospective clients. (Superman v3 #34) According to him, he had a long client list that he did not give up to others. (Superman v3 #35)

The Machinist through his network claimed to have had access to the greatest library in the world and could see death on a scale that others could not believe. (Superman v3 #34)

### Powers and abilities

Testing his merchandise in Superman v3 #34.
The Machinist was a human being who by adulthood came to be a skilled inventor and roboticist. (Action Comics v1 #986)

Some of his technology was shown to be taken from stolen LexCorp equipment. (Action Comics v1 #985) The Machinist was able to construct sophisticated androids that operated as killer machines. (Superman v3 #35) He considered his creations to be his merchandise. It was noted that his creations were connected to a vast network allowing him to see everything through their eyes. (Superman v3 #34)

Among his creations included:

* **Mind-Ticks** : small yellow mechanical bugs that could embed themselves into the skin of a living being causing them to fall under the control of the Machinist and forced to follow his orders. (Superman v3 #34) Cracking into the skull, they took over the body's voluntary functions where they could root themselves deeply within the brain. It was noted that the effects of the mind-ticks could kill the person who could be long dead and yet puppeted by the Machinist. (Superman v3 #35) The technology was said to be a type of cerebral cortex graft where power jabbed up and along the longitudinal fissure in order to ensure compliance. A master chip was responsible for controlling multiple mind-ticks over an area and its destruction would shut down the other units as well. Special enhanced chips were also used that killed a person if removed from them. (Action Comics v1 #985) The Mind-Ticks often activated the subject's subconscious in a way the user did not expect with him giving people what they always secretly wanted. (Action Comics v1 #986)

A common tactic employed by the Machinist was to take innocent people and use Mind-Ticks to control them. He then had them dress as him and act as his proxy where they pretended to be him. Thus, he was safe and if killed then an innocent man was murdered in his place. (Superman v3 #34) A transmitter was used to allow the Machinist to speak through his decoys. (Superman v3 #35)

Upon settling in an area, he had a workshop that he called **the Factory** where he produced his creations. (Superman v3 #34)

## Notes

* The Machinist was created by Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr. where he made his first appearance in Superman v3 #34 (October, 2014).

## Appearances

* *Superman v3*: (2014)
* *Action Comics v1*: