DR. OLIVER BROADHURST

Real Name: Oliver Broadhurst

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Scientist, roboticist

Group Membership: Underground Legion

Affiliations: Giant-Man, Dr. William Haines, Colonel Kragg, Machine Man, Mason, Peter Spaulding, Dr. Abel Stack, Barry Witherspoon

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: William Amos' mansion, New York
formerly, the Broadhurst Research Center, Central City, California

First Appearance: 2001: A Space Odyssey#8 (July, 1977)

Powers/Abilities: Dr. Broadhurst is one of the most brilliant roboticists of modern times. In addition to overseeing the project which led to the creation of Machine Man, he also constructed Wildwind, and made modifications to Sentry#459. Broadhurst also has a cybernetic right hand, which he presumably built for himself.

History: (2001: A Space Odyssey#8) - Dr. Oliver Broadhurst was the scientist who oversaw the attempt to create a reliable artificial man-- the "X" series. Unfortunately, nearly every model of the X program went insane, and had to be destroyed. Broadhurst finally decided to destroy all of the remaining robots, unaware that one of his scientists, Dr. Abel Stack, had made model X-51 into a being almost human. The bomb Broadhurst activated killed Stack instead of X-51. As Mr. Machine, X-51 was later caught by Colonel Kragg's forces, and returned to Broadhurst, where he was placed in captivity. Broadhurst was deeply troubled that Kragg had removed the artificial face Stack had created for Mr. Machine, as he felt it was an important part of what made him unique.

(2001: A Space Odyssey#9) - When Mr. Machine broke free, Broadhurst was able to put an end to his struggle against Kragg's forces, and offered to reattach his face. Mr. Machine agreed, and subsequently, Broadhurst allowed Mr. Machine to depart from them, to seek his own identity.

(Machine Man I#1) - Dr. Broadhurst met with a man from Washington assigned to oversee the dismantling of Broadhurst's project. Broadhurst told the man the history of his project, and his belief that X-51 might prove the experiment a success. After Colonel Kragg was given the word to go ahead with his assault on X-51 (now called Machine Man), Broadhurst had no option but to stand by and watch.

(Machine Man I#10) - After his systems were badly damaged battling the Hulk, Machine Man's friend Peter Spaulding brought Dr. Broadhurst to Machine Man to help repair him. Although Broadhurst was able to repair him successfully, he removed many of Machine Man's weapons systems in the process. This troubled Machine Man, who set off alone to explore himself. When an agent of Kublai Khan attacked Machine Man, he wound up buried beneath a cliff, alongside Spaulding, Broadhurst, Kragg, and Senator Miles Brickman. Machine Man managed to rescue all of them and bring them to safety, despite Brickman's dislike of him.

(Machine Man I#14) - Dr. Broadhurst was brought in by Machine Man to help Barry Witherspoon, a man who had accidentally obtained superhuman density powers in an experiment. Broadhurst removed Witherspoon's unwanted powers, and received his thanks.

(Blackwulf#3/2) - Some time later, Dr. Broadhurst served as a member of the Underground Legion, and constructed team member Wildwind--although she was unaware of her robotic nature. Broadhurst was present when team member Sparrow agreed to go on a mission for the CIA, prompted to her by Mason.

(Blackwulf#5) - When the rest of the Underground Legion returned from their mission to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with Wildwind seemingly dead, Broadhurst immediately took her away from them to save her "life." He mentioned Sparrow's mission to them in passing.

(Blackwulf#6) - By the time the Underground returned, Wildwind was activated again. Giant-Man correctly guessed that Wildwind was a robot, but kept Broadhurst's secret. Sentry#459, who had been recovered by the Legion from Ultron, was turned over to Broadhurst for study, at his insistence. Broadhurst also studied Sparrow, who had been infected by Ultron's living circuitry. He warned her that the black box Ultron had given her to control her nervous system could prove addictive, but she refused to listen to him.

(Blackwulf#7 (fb)) - When Sentry#459 detected the use of Earth's Stargate, Broadhurst informed the Underground, who set off to investigate Tantalus' activities.

(X-51#1 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Broadhurst apparently passed away under unrevealed circumstances, and Dr. Haines took his place at the Broadhurst Research Center.

Comments: Created by Jack Kirby and Michael Royer.

In 2001#8, Dr. Broadhurst told Kragg that he had planted the homing device into X-51, but in Machine Man I#1, he accused Kragg of performing the deed!

So, Dr. Broadhurst is dead. ...Unless that's what the Underground Legion want people to think...

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Dr. Oliver Broadhurst should not be confused with:

• Broadcast Power, used by Timekeeper to enhance his agents, @ Aladdin Effect
• Broadside, of the Crimson Pirates, @ Uncanny X-Men#384
• Broadside, of Earth-691, member of Force, @ Guardians of the Galaxy#3
• The Broadway Project, attempted to create powerful laser with a gem, @ Dracula Lives#7

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com/

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters