Real Name: Thomas "Tom" Regal

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Unrevealed; former student

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey) - kept him from breakin' his fool neck

Enemies: X-Men - opposed his rampage

Known Relatives: Andrew Regal (father)

Aliases: "The magnificent Mekano" (as called by himself)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed; formerly an unidentified university in Greenwich Village, New York

First Appearance: X-Men I#36 (September, 1967)

Powers/Abilities: Tom Regal had no paranormal powers; he drove a Volkswagen.

As Mekano, he wore a crude exoskeleton which acted as braces around his limbs and torso; it increased his speed and strength, enabling him to lift two tons and make leaps to great height. However, it did little to enhance his resistance to injury.

Height: 6'4"
Weight: 183 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:
(X-Men I#36 (fb) - BTS) - College student Tom Regal was the son of a wealthy philanthropist; although his father provided for all his material needs, Tom felt neglected because his father was always so busy with his projects that he never had any time for Tom. To get his father's attention, Tom stole a box containing an experimental exoskeleton from the university research center. After placing the box on the floor of the backseat of his car, Tom drove off to Greenwich Village, where he planned to use the exoskeleton to demolish the new Washington Square Park Memorial Library, the construction of which his father had funded.

(X-Men I#36) - On the way there, Tom gave a ride to three of the X-Men -- Angel, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl -- who were in their civilian identities. He maintained a low profile by flipping out when one of them touched the box containing the exoskeleton: "KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF IT!...it contains a valuable science project I'm working on. When it's finished, I'll show them what I can do! I'll show EVERYBODY!"

   Tom dropped the three X-Men off at Washington Square Park, where the Beast and Iceman were putting on a public exhibition (to try to earn some money, so the team could take a trip to Europe to oppose Factor Three).

   Using the distraction of the crowd unwittingly provided by the two X-Men, Tom donned the exoskeleton. In his new identity of Mekano, he climbed to the top of the Washington Square Arch; using a megaphone, he announced his intentions, and also claimed that the X-Men were his allies -- this kept the mutant team tied up with the authorities, so that they couldn't interfere with Mekano's plans...for awhile, anyway.

   Mekano began his rampage inside the library, toppling book shelves and destroying audio-visual equipment. When the X-Men came after him, Mekano held his own one-on-one for a short time, before fleeing from the group. Leaping out of an upper-floor window to the rooftop of a nearby building, Mekano didn't quite make it -- when he grabbed the ledge of the adjoining building with his power-augmented gauntlets, he crushed it and fell. But as he plummeted to the ground, Marvel Girl caught Mekano with her telekinesis and gently lowered him to the ground, where he surrendered and unmasked.

   Just then, Tom's dad showed up for the library's dedication ceremony, and Tom confessed that he did everything just to get his father to notice him. Feeling that the whole situation was all his fault, the repentant Andrew Regal said, "So it looks like I'm the one who's guilty here--not you!"; subsequently, Mr. Regal refused to press charges against his son -- instead, he gave the X-Men money for their needed trip (...then a rainbow shined overhead, and...)

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas and Ross Andru.

Mr. Regal's first name was revealed as Andrew in the A-Z Handbook profile for Mekano
--James Cope

Mekano has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook.

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks (sub-profiles, images).




















CLARIFICATIONS:
Mekano has no known connections to:

Tom and Andrew Regal have no known connections to:

Andrew Regal

The father of Tom Regal, Andrew was a wealthy philanthropist who funded the construction of the Washington Square Park Memorial Library. But because he was so busy with the project, Andrew had neglected his own son.

When construction of the library was completed, Andrew arrived for the dedication ceremony; he learned that the exoskeleton-clad Mekano had tried to destroy the library, until the villain was defeated by the X-Men.

Mekano unmasked and revealed himself to be Tom Regal, who was heartbroken because his father was too preoccupied with his work to pay attention to him; Tom admitted that he became Mekano just to do something to get his father to notice him. Upon learning how his son felt, Andrew regretted ignoring Tom, and since the library was still technically his until the dedication, Andrew refused to press charges ("...if I pressed any charges, they'd be against myself!").

For helping to show him the error of his ways, Andrew Regal felt that he owed the X-Men a reward, so he pulled out his checkbook; Cyclops accepted the payment (...so he and his teammates could buy airline tickets to fly to Europe, where they would battle Factor Three), but insisted that he considered the money to only be a loan.

Afterward, Andrew took Tom to the university research center, so his son could return the exoskeleton he stole.

--X-Men I#36

images: (without ads)
Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook, p35 (Main Image - Mekano; refurbed version of X-Men I#36, Cover)
X-Men I#36, p9, pan1 (Headshot - Tom Regal)
X-Men I#36, p11, pan1 (Headshot - Mekano)
X-Men I#36, p13, pan4 (Mekano topples book shelves in library)
X-Men I#36, p19, pan6 (Andrew Regal wants to reward X-Men; Marvel Girl, Beast, Cyclops (background))
X-Men I#36, p20, pan1 (Andrew Regal; Tom Regal (background))

Appearances:
X-Men I#36 (September, 1967) - Roy Thomas (writer), Ross Andru (pencils), George Roussos (inks), Sam Rosen (letters), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 07/25/2002
Last updated: 02/04/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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