Twice-Told-Tales: Satellite Crisis

A variety of arch-fiends and master criminals have found their sinister schemes squelched by the Worlds’ Greatest Heroes, those worlds being Earths One and Two. However, it was two mental masterminds who very nearly succeeded in destroying the Justice League and Justice Society… aboard the League’s own orbiting satellite headquarters! Who were these men, and how did they compare to this corrupt contemporaries? Let’s see!

Both Hammond and Romaine were opportunistic criminals who stumbled upon the means to transform themselves into immortals with the power to control the minds of those with weaker wills than their own. While Hammond prime adversary was Green Lantern of Earth-One, just as Roger Romaine’s main obstacle was Mister Terrific. 

Hammond reflected on various prominent villains who menaced the Justice League, each of whom had an Earth-Two counterpart that fought either the combined Justice Society and/or its individual members. 

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These menaces included, but were not limited to:

• Despero & Kulak
• Kanjar Ro & Blakfu
• Professors Amos Fortune & Zobar Zodiac
• Silver Age & Golden Age Key
  
• Androids Amazo & Akhet

Eventually, each hatched similar schemes whereby they took control of a super-powered agent while aboard the Justice League’s satellite, with the intend of turning said agent against their arch-enemies and their foes’ teammates.

Hector tried this first, dispatching the artificial life form known as the Shaggy Man to attack the Justice League aboard their satellite. The resulting conflict, after Hammond through his pawn overwhelmed all the League save one, led to the satellite falling out of orbit and nearly crash landing on Earth-One. Thankfully, the sole hero who hasn’t succumbed to Hector’s agent of destruction was Green Lantern, who saved the satellite and shrunk down the Shaggy Man!

Roger was the next to try this technique, mind-controlling his world’s Flash to attack the speedster’s Justice Society teammates along with their Justice League allies aboard the League satellite. The twin teams were able to stabilized the satellite’s decaying orbit during the conflict, thanks in part to the combined efforts of the Green Lanterns of two Earths. These two men along with their costumed colleagues uncovered the true culprit, Romain, who slayed Mister Terrific out of revenge for the humiliating defeats dealt to him by the Defender of Fair Play. The malevolent murderer fled back to Earth-Two, never to reappear.

The missing element in Hammond and Romanine’s criminal calculations was the indelible fidelity of honor, friendship and trust which ensures that the heroes will always… eventually… triumph over vile villains opposing them.

Dimensional Detours: Protectors & Prolonged Paralytics

Hector Hammond finally conceived the perfect scheme to finally rid himself of his arch-enemy, Green Lantern. Learning that his mortal foe was an agent of the superior powered Guardians of the Universe, Hammond used his awesome mental abilities to construct an energy duplicate of a Guardian from Oa, presenting itself as a renegade Oan. Launching a three-pronged attack to overwhelm Hal Jordan in his Green Lantern identity, Hector nearly achieved a victory. That is, until Hal recalled the existence of a place of refuge… Earth-Two!

While there, Hal sent his power ring back to Earth-One, hidden within Hector’s garments. Drawn to the ring, the Guardian constrict battled the paralytic Hammond, whose immortal invulnerable body protected him from his creation’s energy attacks. Destroying the faux-Guardian, he helped eliminate the threat he himself spawned!

While neither Hammond nor his fabricated Guardian persona piercec the barrier between universes, as both were unaware that this was the location where Jordan was hiding, Hector's counterpart Roger Romaine had inadvertently done so years later. This occured when Romaine mind-merged with the Flash of Earth-Two, having accompanied Flash and his teammates in the Justice Society to an annual gathering aboard the orbiting satellite headquarters of the Justice League. Some 22,300 miles above the equator of Earth-One, Romaine staged a murder of his arch-enemy Mister Terrific. 

Confronting both teams, including their Green Lanterns, Romaine successfully fled the scene back to Earth-Two following his act of manslaughter. A later recollection of this case by the Flash mentioned how the Justice Society were unable to track down and apprehend Romaine, who seemingly ceased his criminal activities following this incident, unless working through another proxy like Flash.

Shades of Romaine's adventure in Earth-One's orbit aboard the League satellite mirrored that of Hammond's when he mentally controlled the synthetic Shaggy Man to attack the team of heroes aboard their vessel. Romaine's appearance in Earth-One's universe echoes Jordan's when he escaped Hammond and his Guardian in outerspace and fled into orbit above Earth-Two. As was shown, Hal journeyed to Earth-Two where he remained until his power ring returned to his side following Hammond clash with his spawn, which Hammond had to destroy to save himself.

Malevolent Manipulating Mental Masterminds

Mustached male masterminds of the mind, exerting their knowledge to create a new form of man. Each used their genius in different ways. Hector Hammond of Earth-One and Roger Romaine of Earth-Two chose to use their intellect for evil, transforming themselves into mental manipulators.

Hector Hammond was a criminal who stumbled upon a strange iron ore meteor that could mutate the minds of men tens of thousands of years advanced. At first using four scientists, whom Hammond had kidnapped and mutated in order to provide him futuristic inventions, after a battle with the Green Lantern he found his plans quashed. Hector then used the meteorite on himself, gaining telekinetic power and immortality, although the process had debilitating effects on his body.

Roger Romaine was a criminal who through inexplicable means became the Spirit King, wherein he was a recurring foe of both Mister Terrific in Gateway City throughout the 1940s. He recruited a wide variety of agents whom he mentally manipulated. In the late 1970's, Spirit King returned and this time faced the Flash while in Keystone City. Years later, he would execute his revenge on his two remaining enemies by mentally controlling the Flash into slaying Terrific*. He could exercise his will power over others while in a phantom form, which he later did to his Flash on their second meeting.

Hammond suffered a side effect of immobility, driving him to find a cure for his interminable condition. Hammond continued to also scheme while tormenting Lantern and his Justice League allies repeatedly over the years. Although he was paralyzed, Hammond was able to manipulate others mentally to do his bidding including Sonar, the Shaggy Man** and others villains. He did this in a phantom form.

Romaine was preceeded in a life of crime by his cousin, who was named for the same common ancestor they both shared. This Roger Romaine*** was an officer in the e-corp of the U.S. army who was dishonorably discharged for insubordination and turned to crime to exploit his aptitude for tinkering. As the Gadgeteer, Romaine found himself opposed by the hero known as Steel. Although equipped with a wide-range of cutting-edge gadgets and weaponry, Romaine found himself outmatched by Steel and possibly perished in an explosion.

Eventually, Hammond created a new incarnation of his old ally Amos "Mr. Memory" Fortune's Royal Flush Gang, which he led as their leader "Wildcard", using a robotic Ace as his cybernetic proxy. Later, he joined forces with his ex-girlfriend Carol Ferris in her Star Sapphire identity versus their adversary Green Lantern.

There are conflicting reports as to the eventuality of the second Romaine. During their congressional America vs. the Justice Society hearing, the Flash admitted that they never apprehended the Spirit King. He never reappeared to torment his foes, and seemingly never satisfied his insatiable greed after decades running from the law in his multiple identities.

Hammond and Romaine's allies Sonar and Gadgeteer had access to technology they invented, such as Sonar’s sonic tuning fork gun and Gadgeteer’s sonic harmonica emitter (as well as flight technology from Sonar’s nucleo sonic motor and Gadgeteer’s auto-gyro allowing them to fly). Yet these pale in comparsion to the mental might of "Wildcard" Hammond and "Spirit King" Romaine who literally could oppose the combined Justice League and Justice Society on their own with simply their magnificent mental might. 

* Spirit King/Roger Romaine first encountered Mister Terrific as the Swami (Sensation Comics #33). Then he worked through his agents Don Grieco (Sensation Comics #49) and Dr. I.M. Smart (Sensation Comics #62). Similarly, Hector Hammond worked through his agents such as Dr. Evart (Green Lantern v.2 #5) and Silver Skates (Green Lantern v2 #64).

** Both Hector Hammond, through the Shaggy Man, and Roger Romaine, through the golden age Flash, attacked their Worlds’ Greatest Heroes… the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America… aboard the JLA’s satellite headquarters orbiting Earth-One.  On this occasion, Romaine finally battled Alan “Green Lantern” Scott, the counterpart of Hammond’s arch-enemy Hal “Green Lantern” Jordan.

*** Just like there were two Roger Romaines of Earth-Two, there were two Hal Jordans of Earth-One who were cousins named after a common relative, with the older Hal becoming Green Lantern and the younger Hal becoming Air Wave.

Sonic Supervillains Sinisterly Subvert Sovereignties

Sonar and Gadgeteer were disgruntled patriots of their respective countries, seeking recognition for their scientific achievements yet being scoffed by those in authority. Using their mastery of technologies centering around super-sonics, they were able to carve criminal careers over time.

Sonar is actually Bito Wladon, a former expatriate of the Earth-One European country known as Modora. Son of deaf parents, Bito developed the science behind sonar technology and escaped to the United States to steal equipment necessary to construct his sonar weaponry. Running afoul of Green Lantern, Sonar nevertheless gains notoriety for his small homeland and eventually overthrows its dictator to become Modora's new ruler! So while a criminal in the west, he is a national hero in his sovereign territory.  At one point, he would be mentally controlled by fellow Green Lantern foe Hector Hammond.

Gadgeteer was Roger Romaine, an officer in the e-corp of the U.S. army who was dishonorably discharged for insubordination and turned to crime to exploit his aptitude for tinkering. Gadgeteer found himself opposed by the hero known as Steel. Although equipped with a wide-range of cutting-edge gadgets and weaponry, Romaine found himself outmatched by Steel and seemingly perished in an explosion. His cousin with the same first name as he would also operate on the opposite side of the United States as the Spirit King, arch-enemy of Mister Terrific and later the Flash. 

Sonar's flight device incorporated sound wave technology, as had his patented sonic punch, Bito's Sonic Spectre hand weapon could be employed for varying attacks that made him a formidable adversary versus the Lantern, with sound used against light. Gadgeteer used comparable devices, such as his ultra-sonic stunner and his instant-gadget portable helicopter, along with pocket lasers. However, these paled next to the metallic-enforced might of Steel.

Allegedly, Roger "Spirit King" Romaine manipulated his distant cousin Roger "Gadgeteer" Romaine, causing the latter to adopt the alter ego of Red Sage. Clad in an emerald business suit rather than emerald military gear while still draped in a red cape (while wearing a face mask to disguise his natural facial features), Gadgeteer as Sage himself manipulated various individuals into becoming his pawns in a crimewave based on playing cards. In this sense, the two Romaines' card caper mirrored that of Sonar's passive partner Hammond who was the "Wildcard" behind a version of the Royal Flush Gang who once fought the Justice League. Red Sage was opposed by and defeated at the hands of Doctor Fate.

Eventually, Sonar devised the means of usurping the monetary control which the United States has over the world, including Modora. Infecting American currency with a plague that gave humans superhuman strength along with enducing madness, Sonar as S.T.A.R. Laboratories scientist Professor Dunkirk devised the Ultima-Card to use for ecnomic transactions. However, these mobile devices then channeled humanity's intellect into animals, causing them to rise up against mankind around the world. In fact, Sonar was merely a pawn of the alien Queen Bee, both of whom are captured by Green Lantern and the Justice League of America who help return both men and beast to normal once more.

The Gadgeteer returned a couple years after his Red Sage phase, this time adopting the alias of Handy Mann aka "Lord Haw-Haw", using his sonic technology to coordinate a crimewave in Gotham City. This time, it was Alan "Green Lantern" Scott who defeated Romaine, who finally retired from crime.