Brain Cell (Morlock, X-Men character) (original) (raw)

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BRAIN CELL

Real Name: Kevin (last name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human mutant (Morlock), citizen of the United States

Occupation: Unrevealed, if any

Group Membership: Morlocks (Masque, MeMe, others)

Affiliations: Morlocks (Masque, MeMe, others see comments), Storm (Ororo Munroe), Professor Charles Xavier

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the Alley, Manhattan sewers, New York City, New York, USA

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#292 (September, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Brain Cell was a touch sensitive psionic, able to regulate the emotional state of anyone he had previously made physical contact with. He needed as little as a brief touch to establish a prolonged, possible permanent connection to their minds. He could dominate the emotions of several dozen people at once, psionically telling them what emotions to feel and act on. His personal level of distress was automatically transmitted to his subjects, causing them to act erratic and unreasonable.

Height: 4'8" (by approximation)
Weight: 90 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Yellow

History: (Uncanny X-Men I#291 (fb) - BTS) - The young telepath Brain Cell was among the Morlocks scarred both physically and psychically by a vengeful Masque. Unable to control his powers, Brain Cell used his tactile psionics to link the minds of all of the affected Morlocks together. Feeding them his rage, fear, resentment and other, primarily negative emotions, he caused the otherwise peaceful sewer dwelling mutant community to riot. Their plight caught the attention of the X-Men and their mentor Charles Xavier, who went down to the sewers to see what they could do to help. Xavier noticed that all the Morlocks were unified by a strong psionic presence.

(Uncanny X-Men I#292) - While the X-Men tried to deal with the out of control Morlocks who had started to invade Times Square, Charles Xavier remained down in the sewers. He used his telepathy to trace the source of the psionic presence controlling the others, eventually coming to the small corridor in which Brain Cell was hiding in. Unable to fit his hoverchair through the hallway, Xavier was forced to crawl through the narrow passage to reach him. On the way there, the professor noticed that he was stuck. Figuring his pants might have gotten stuck behind a sharp object, he yanked until he freed his leg. Much to his own shock, Xavier noticed he didn't simply rip his uniform but also his paralyzed leg. After he bandaged the wound as best he could with scraps of his ripped pants, he reached Brain Cell, who was still sending out powerful telepathic missives to the Morlocks fighting on the surface. By making physical contact, Xavier was able to add his telepathy to the boy's, allowing the frightened Morlock to gain control over his powers. Xavier made sure Brain Cell released his hold over the other Morlocks, who presumably returned back to their tunnels.

Comments: Created by Scott Lobdell (writer), Rurik Tyler, Tom Raney (pencils), Josef Rubinstein & Al Milgrom (inks).

The nature of Brain Cell's powers makes all those affected by his abilities potential affiliations. He had to at least have touched them at one point or another. However, because no previously established or otherwise known Morlocks appeared in the issue, it's hard to provide a full list.

The title of the issue Brain Cell made his first and only appearance to date in was "The Morlocks Take Manhattan," an obvious reference to the timeless 1984 movie The Muppets Take Manhattan. Brain Cell caused the Morlocks to burrow their way through the tunnels to "invade" Times Square. A striking visual idea, if only it wasn't done roughly a year earlier in the 1991 Avengers Annual, which saw the Moloids and Lava Men invading Broadway, on the run from Brutus.

Also, the notion that Xavier ripped open his own paralyzed leg, didn't even feel it and might have bled to death crawling through the Morlock Tunnels was a striking visual that never quite left me. While completely factual and accurate, it also added a disheartening sense of realism this ten year old wasn't quite used to getting from his comics.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Brain Cell should not be confused with

images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#292, p7, pan4 (main image)
Uncanny X-Men I#292, p16, pan3 (closeup)
Uncanny X-Men I#292, p14, pan3 (aided by Xavier)

Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#291 (August, 1992) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Raney (pencils), Hilary Barta (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#292 (September, 1992) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Rurik Tyler & Tom Raney (pencils), Josef Rubinstein & Al Milgrom (inks), Bob Harras (editor)

Last updated:07/13/15

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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