Some villains are weird. Some are weirder than others. One could argue that nobody is weirder than Nobody. Who is this Nobody? What are his powers and where did he get them? Let’s find out!
Eric Morden was a man with ambition. While having no powers of his own, he was clever, and sought out a position within the Brotherhood of Evil, a society of villains. His big claim to fame was stealing a lunar exploration robot that had been made by the Doom Patrol’s Chief. The Brotherhood accepted Eric, for a time.
For reasons never explained, Eric had a major falling out with the two leaders of the Brotherhood of Evil, The Brain and Monsieur Mallah. The two wanted Eric dead so he fled to hide in Paraguay. It was here that Eric would reach out to a Nazi scientist to experiment on him, granting him super powers. Eric was warped into the new form of a two-dimensional shadow being who could steal the sanity of others. This also left a mark on his own psyche.
While he could no longer return to the Brotherhood of Evil, Eric decided he could start a new brotherhood. The Brotherhood of Dada would be his own concept for a team of villains. Eric would seek out the strangest individuals he could find that had bizarre powers that could be used for all manner of criminal activity. The crimes they would commit would be equally as strange.
Eric and the Brotherhood would find a magical painting that allowed them to steal all of Paris, France inside of it. This worked so well as they also had collected some of their archenemies, the Doom Patrol. It would be the Doom Patrol’s imprisonment that would be this plan’s undoing. Crazy Jane of the Doom Patrol was able to unleash the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse to threaten the Brotherhood of Dada. Realizing the Brotherhood and the Doom Patrol would have to work together, Eric would end up getting himself and the rest of the Brotherhood of Dada trapped in the painting while the Doom Patrol and Paris were freed.
Eventually, Eric would be able to get himself freed and started a new Brotherhood of Evil with new members to help him with his schemes. Their first order of business was to steal the bicycle of Albert Hoffman, the chemist who discovered LSD. Using the bike’s psychedelic resonance, Eric would make a bid for president of the United States of America.
Turns out, the US government has no desire to let Eric be president so send out their super-powered agent, Yankee Doodle Dandy, to execute him. Eric’s new Brotherhood are murdered and this includes Eric, himself. He left no body behind and simply disintegrated.
Time would pass and Eric would return but his powers and look had changed. Now, Eric was a white, two-dimensional being that could possess others, he would also change his name from Mister Nobody to Mister Somebody. He would possess a billionaire and use his new resources to start Mister Somebody Enterprises, MSE.
This money allowed Eric to become a real threat to his old enemies, nearly destroying Danny the Street and creating the Front Men, a team of metahumans that would police heroes and other powered beings. His money allowed him to manipulate the press to make the Front Men look like heroes who were under attack by the Doom Patrol. It would take the literal end of the world and cancellation of the comic for Eric’s latest venture to be put to an end. He would quit on the cusp of victory, aggravated at such luck.
Eric would return, in his Mister Nobody look and would have a daughter, Terry None, with him. His new team was the Brotherhood of Nada and they had come up with the deadly food product, $#!+ that could destroy reality. As weird things go, Eric, his Brotherhood of Nada, and the Doom Patrol would find themselves in beyond reality in a place called Outer-Heaven. Here, Eric would volunteer to stay behind, where he would spend his time entertaining Eonymous, a god that can end universes.
There you have it! Mister Nobody is one of the oddest foes the Doom Patrol has dealt with again and again. He’s been brought to life in animation and live-action on the small screen. Where will Nobody or even Somebody appear next? Only Nobody knows! See you next time!
Suggested Reading
Doom Patrol #86
Doom Patrol, Vol. 2 #26
Doom Patrol, Vol. 3 #14
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
