Once something of a goofy mad scientist, Emil Hamilton eventually became a Superman equivalent to Batman villain, Hush.
Superman’s iconic supporting cast includes such characters as Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White, but the Post-Crisis comic books added another recurring face to his list of friends. Inattentive and absent-minded, Professor Emil Hamilton was a staunch ally of the Man of Steel for years, giving him keen scientific insight in his never-ending battle.
The character would go on to appear in Superman: The Animated Series, Smallville, and Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, but his role in the comics would eventually diminish before changing drastically. Once something of a goofy mad scientist, Emil Hamilton eventually became a Superman equivalent to Hush.
As Dr. Emil Hamilton
Emil Hamilton debuted in Adventures of Superman #424 and was created by Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway. A somewhat goofy older scientist, he was essentially the Post-Crisis replacement for Lana Lang’s scientist uncle Phineas Potter. When he first appeared, Emil was something of a villain, using his various gadgets against Superman to see if they worked. In reality, this was the manifestation of the mental instability placed upon him by Lex Luthor stealing his inventions. Upon being treated in a mental institute, he works with Superman as a scientific advisor and created numerous inventions that aided the Man of Steel when he temporarily lost his powers. He also worked alongside Bibbo Bibbowski to use a laser in a vain attempt to stop Doomsday.
Hamilton would lose his arm during a cataclysmic event, but would use his own great intellect to replace it with a cybernetic prosthetic. This would lead to his first brush with true villainy. Brainiac 13’s attack on Metropolis left the city inundated with futuristic technology, and Hamilton himself had gone missing during this time. By that time, he had begun to feel inadequate and superfluous, as Superman now had the help of scientist and fellow superhero John Henry Irons/Steel. After Brainiac’s defeat, Hamilton returned as Overmind, the leader of a group of cybernetic terrorists planning to resurrect the robotic villain. He explains away his actions by stating that the B13 technology had essentially possessed the cybernetics in his arm, and from there, he would again become a staunch ally of Superman.