MINDBLADE

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Mindblade is the longest serving member of Justice Inc. and currently serves as the team's leader. He joined Justice Inc. under the code-name Psi-Shadow shortly during the events surrounding Underworld Unleashed. Sam was a mutant, the younger child of two carnival performers, his father was a stage magician and his mother a fortune teller. Both his parents also possessed mild psychic abilities which helped them in their acts and Sam's older sister, Sarah, developed powerful psychic abilties as a teenager. As Sam grew older it initially appeared that he did not have any powers. When his powers did surface in his late teens, the result was a tragedy. Sam's psychic powers revolved around the ability to sense and mimic any psionic abilities he was near. When his power first activated he was with his sister and the psychic shock permanently transferred her abilities to Sam and also put her into a coma. Devastated, Sam left home and enrolled in Hudson University to study psychology in the hopes of better understanding his abilities and perhaps giving him the knowledge to help his sister.

By the time Sam finished his undergraduate degree he had run out of money and could not continue his studies. He took a job writing ad copy. It was at this time that he joined Justice Inc., initially using the code name Psi-Shadow but later changing it to Mindblade. Sam joined the team at a time when its membership was undergoing the first of several major changes. Many of the original members had left during the events of Underworld Unleashed and by the end of it the team only consisted of Quiksilver, Tarantula, and Mindblade (though they would shortly be joined by the alien Nemesis). Early in his heroic career Sam came into som extra money which let him quit his job and attend graduate school to continue his psychology studies. It was around this time that the villain Monarch arrived in New York City claiming to have technology that could save people with incurable diseases and other problems. Despite the protests of his teammates Sam brought his comatose sister to Monarch, who successfully brought her out of her coma. To Sam's dismay, though, Sarah chose to remain with Monarch to help him in his allegedly altruistic cause. Monarch eventually left New York and took his followers with him to the island nation of Zandia.

Mindblade served with Justice Inc. through some of the team's toughest ordeals, including the death of Tarantula. During this period Mindblade became one of the more popular members of the team, due in large part to a very public, and televised, battle in Rockefeller Center where he single-handedly defeated Black Adam. A few months after Tarantula's death it appeared that the team had all but disbanded. The then-powerless Quiksilver had left, Cat refused to have anything to do with her teammates, and Sam had taken a leave of absence to go to Zandia to find his sister. While in Zandia, Mindblade met Captain Atom, who had gone undercover to thwart Monarch's master plan. Mindblade summoned Justice Inc. to Zandia and they teamed up with Extreme Justice to stop Monarch. It was during the final encounter with Monarch that the psychic battle which led to the creation of Mindshadow occurred. The strain of that battle burned out Mindblade's psychic powers.

The powerless Mindblade began to adopt a leadership role within Justice Inc., keeping the team from drifting apart again after Monarch's defeat. In order to restore his powers, Mindblade consults with the scientists at the Parapsychological Studies Institute (P.S.I.). In a confrontation with Mindshadow, who was imprisoned at the Institute, Mindblade's powers return, stronger than they had ever been. With his restored powers, and as the senior member of the team, Mindblade becomes the recognized leader of Justice Inc. just as the team was about to face some of its greatest challenges.

With Quiksilver's departure, Sam also took a role in managing the fund that had been set up to finance the team. During this time period his own personal finances began to increase. This was due in large part to the secret machinations of Vandal Savage as Mindblade would later discover. The team had undergone another shift in membership and was gaining popularity outside of the New York City area. The team's roster was one of the most powerful since it's inception, and that power would be needed to face the crisis to come.

During the Revelations Saga the team faced many challenges, including the death of a team member and the departure of others but Mindblade kept them together throughout. The team's popularity continued to rise, until Vandal Savage chose to strike. For months Savage had been secretly plotting against the team. Savage started by revealing to Mindblade that he had been manipulating Sam's finances to make him wealthy. After showing Mindblade that he now controlled the Justice Inc's funding, Savage captured the entire team and sent them off into deep space. He then destroyed the team's headquarters and made it appear that they had all been killed.

Now on the far side of the galaxy, the team escaped their captors and began the long journey home. Throughout this trial Mindblade still managed to keep the team together despite the strain, despair, and the conflicting personalities. After three months they finally returned to Earth only to find that the world believed they were dead. Initially the team was approached by Sarge Steel, who offered to help the team re-establish their civilian identities (also presumed dead thanks to Savage). In exchange Steel was hoping to turn Justice Inc. into a government-controlled hero team. Mindblade, however, had other plans. With the help of former Justice Inc. member Metalmorph, Sam was able to re-establish everyone's civilian identities. Plus he managed to seize his personal fortune back from Vandal Savage.

During the month's that they had been away, Sam's money had grown considerably. Now thanks to the unwitting Vandal Savage, Sam was a multi-millionaire. Sam used his fortune to restore the team's funding and set about building a new headquarters ina skyscraper in mid-town Manhattan. Since then Mindblade has stopped bothering to conceal his secret identity, but has stopped short of announcing his true identity in public. In the months following the team's return Mindblade has led Justice Inc. to global prominence as a hero team thanks to significant victories against such threats as H.I.V.E. and the Weaponers of Qward.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Mindblade is one of the most powerful psychics on the planet, a power level that stems from the fact that Sam is a psionic mimic. If any psionic ability (like telepathy, mind control, telekinesis, etc.) is used within several hundred yards of Mindblade he is automatically able to use that power himself for a short period of time. As a result of the accident when his powers first manifested, Sam has permanently duplicated his sister Sarah's powers. So in addition to his mimetic abilities Mindblade has telekinetic and telepathic powers, including the ability to move objects, surround himself with a force field, read minds, communicate telepathically and sense emotions. Mindblade has also developed the power of astral projection which allows him to separate his consciousness from his body and travel in a spirit-like form. Since he is physically a normal human, Mindblade wears a costume made from special materials that protect him in combat.

Warp Zone | DC Heroes | Justice Inc. | Mindblade