WANTED: Earth-Two's Most Dangerous Super-Villains
The Psycho-Pirate II
Personal information
Name: Roger Hayden
Residence: Usually Mobile
Occupation: Professional
Criminal
First Appearance (Post-Golden Age): Showcase #56 (June 1965)
Character History
Little is known of the life of Roger Hayden prior to his incarceration
in the New York State penitentiary as the cellmate of Charlie Halstead, the
original Psycho-Pirate on Earth-Two.
Nearing the end of his life and long for legacy, Halstead imparted his
knowledge of criminal and the exploitation of emotional psychology to Halstead,
in the hopes that he would become the new Psycho-Pirate. One piece of knowledge
he imparted was the existence of the Medusa Masks, magical artifacts that
allowed the manipulation of a wide range of emotion. When Hayden was paroled, he learned that
famed archeologist Kent Nelson had uncovered the masks on an expedition in
Turkey and they were being displayed at a gala hosted by chemical magnate Rex
Tyler.
Stealing an invitation, Hayden stimulates the mask of Greed causing actress and Tyler girlfriend Wendi Harris to be overcome with actress and steal the masks. He then stimulates the mask of Mirth, paralyzing the crowd with laughter tell Harris can provide the masks to a beggar outside, who in turn is robbed by Hayden. Hayden then goes on a crime spree, first encounter Dr. Fate in a bank heist who he thwarts with Pride and Frustration and escapes. In his next crime, an art heist, he is intercepted by Hourman who he overcomes with Amity, causing the hero to help his new friend load the stolen art into the truck. Dr. Fate, in pursuit since his prior encounter, comes upon the scene as Hourman comes to his senses and the two pursue the Pirate to his mansion hideway. There they are both assaulted with Fear then Rage until the manage to overcome the villain and cover his face with an impenetrable mask so he can be carted off to prison (Showcase #56).
Three years later, Hayden left prison, still burdened with Fate’s debilitating mask. He journey into the remote mountains of India, where he purloined a powerful magic globe and fled to the US. Using this artifact, he seized control of a drifter who grew to giant size and used him to broadcast his emotions. This attracted the attention of The Spectre, whose energy was drained by the Pirate to dissolve the Fate’s bindings. As he became more powerful, he even turned his ire on the Spectre, inspiring paralyzing fear in the undead guardian until his human host Jim Corrigan got close enough to render the Pirate unconscious and send him back to prison (Spectre Vol. 1 #5).
The activities of the Psycho-Pirate are unrecorded for next
decade. In 1977, he divined that Alan
Scott and the Golden Age Green Lantern were one in the same and when the Gotham
Broadcasting discontinued Scott’s employment, the Pirate used his powers of
emotional manipulation to exploit the dejected hero and using his power ring,
amplify his own powers. From a hide-out
on Earth-One, Pirate lured the Justice Society into open conflict with Green
Lantern, destroying Gotham Airport.
Unknown the JSA, the Pirate used the rage experienced by Commission
Bruce Wayne to also bring the former Batman under his influence. After defeating the JSA at the airport, the
Pirate retreated to Earth-One and using his amplified powers, brought the Flash
likewise under his control. The JSA
trailed the Flash to Earth-One and there confronted the villain, defeating him
once more. The residual effects on Wayne
brought the active members of the JSA into battle with the reserve members
until the Commissioner was also cleared of the Pirate’s manipulation (All-Star
Comics #65-69).
Several years later, Hayden is liberated from prison by the Monocle, a member of the Ultra-Humanite’s new Secret Society of Super-Villains. The Society had a plan to purge Earth-Two of its heroic inhabitants by capturing the members’ traditional adversaries. The Pirate targeted Hourman at an awards banquet, send the captured hero to Limbo. While the Humanite’s plan was successful, in the process he had tricked Earth-One villains into thinking they had an equal stake in the outcome and once betrayed, the traveled to Limbo to free the heroes and defeat the Secret Society. The Earth-Two members were left in Limbo awaiting trials (Justice League of America #195-197).
Shortly thereafter, the Ultra-Humanite used the timeless nature of Limbo to contact himself in the 1940’s, pulling he and his Society colleagues into conflict with the All-Star Squadron and Infinity Inc. They were again defeated and once more returned to Limbo (All-Star Squadron Annual #2).
Upon being released, Hayden was transferred to a mental asylum after his prolonged use of the Medusa Masks had damaged his emotional stability. There he is taken by the Monitor as an agent against the Anti-Monitors efforts to destroy the Multiverse. Appreciating his emotion-manipulating powers, he is kidnapped by the Anti-Monitor and convinced to join the opposition. Further empowered by the Anti-Monitor, the Psycho-Pirate enthralled entire worlds while torturing the captured Flash of Earth-One. Ultimately, the Flash broke free and turned the Pirate powers against the monitor, dying himself and wrecking the Pirate’s mind completely. As the Crisis concluded, the Pirate, or a version of him, was found bound in a padded cell, remembering all the worlds that no one in the new time line could perceive (Crisis on Infinite Earths LS).
Powers and Abilities
The Psycho-Pirate has mastered the use of the Medusa Mask, an ancient artifact that confers the emotions of the wearer onto those around them. The Pirate has studied these masks in detail and experimented with them, ultimately merging them into a single Medusa Mask that he keeps with him constantly. His inherent range and total number of people affected are not defined but were apparently considerable. He was even available to affect the emotions of the unliving in the case of the Spectre. His powers could be further amplified from external sources of magic such as ancient magical artifacts, the ring of the Green Lantern or equipment of the Anti-Monitor to influence emotions between dimensions or on a planetary scale. The full duration of his effects are unclear and it is likewise unknown whether the Pirate could withdraw his influence as easily as he applied it. The abilities of the Pirate appeared to improve with experience with the Masks and grew stronger over time.
Weaknesses and Limitations
The Pirate’s primary power source is the Medusa Mask and separated from for it an extended period of time, especially early in his career, would leave him powerless. Even when plugged into supportive power sources, the abilities of the Pirate can be depleted, especially with larger numbers of targets and frequent shifts in emotion. There is no evidence that the Mask’s convey any particular resistance to physical injury and the Pirate was often render unconscious by combatants with human levels of force. The effects of the Masks on his longevity are unclear.
Multiversity
Prior Earth-0
The history of the Psycho-Pirate on the prior Earth-0 is thought to be largely similar to that of his Earth-Two counterpart. Indeed, it is not precisely clear how the Earth-0 counterpart related to his Earth-Two relative – A different individual with the knowledge of other Earths, possession of the Earth-0 Pirate by the Earth-Two version or an actual transplant from one dimension to the other. Regardless of his full identity, the Psycho-Pirate in this time was every bit the criminal as any other version of the character. In the immediate aftermath of Crisis, the Psycho-Pirate became an immediate thorn in the side of the inheritors of the JSA legacy, Infinity Inc. (Infinity Inc. #31-32, Infinity Inc. Special). While the memories of the multiverse faded over time, an encounter with Animal Man resurfaced them, driving him insane once more (Animal Man #20-24). A deal with Neron restored his sanity and amped his powers (Underworld Unleashed LS) and eventually led him to confront Power Girl, the other Earth-0 individual with Earth-Two resonance on behalf of Alexander Luthor of Earth-Three. (JSA Classified #1-4). During a break-out of captured heroes in Luthor’s base, the Psycho-Pirate attacked Black Adam, who promptly killed him by shoving the Medusa Mask through his skull (Infinite Crisis #6). He was resurrected as a Black Lantern during the Blackest Night (Blackest Night #3).
Current Earth-0
The current Psycho-Pirate is an inmate as Arkham Asylum and ally of Bane. He has no history similar to his Earth-Two counterpart as the JSA never existed on this world.
Earth-22
The Psycho-Pirate is known to exist in this timeline, much earlier than other lines (The 1950’s). While his appearance is essentially identical to other version, his history is totally unknown (The Golden Age LS).
Appearances
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Issue # |
Comments |
Reprinted in: |
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Behind the scenes/cameos |
Justice Society TPB Vol. 1, Showcase Presents All-Star Comics Vol. 1, All-Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever |
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vs. the Justice Society |
Justice Society TPB Vol. 2, Showcase Presents All-Star Comics Vol. 1, All-Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever |
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With the Ultra-Humanite’s Secret Society, vs. Infinity Inc. and the All-Star Squadron |
Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga Vol. 1 |
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With the Ultra-Humanite’s Secret Society, vs. Infinity Inc. and the All-Star Squadron |
Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga Vol. 1 |
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Crisis on Infinite Earths HC, Crisis on Infinite Earths TPB, Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths HC, Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths HC |
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With Harbinger and Firestorm as an agent of the Monitor |
Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Edition #1 |
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With the Ultra-Humanite’s Secret Society, vs. the JLA and JSA |
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 6 TPB. DC Comics Classics: The Justice League by George Perez #2 |
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Showcase #56 |
First Appearance, origin, vs. Dr. Fate and Hourman |
Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 1 |
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vs. the Spectre |
Adventure Comics #498, Showcase Presents: The Spectre Vol. 1, The Spectre: Wrath of the Spectre Omnibus. |