MOTHER MATRIX

Real Name: Barbara Gruber

Identity/Class: Human technology user; East German citizen
(East Germany will eventually become topical, but not for awhile)

Occupation: Geneticist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Zandroff, O'Donald and the rest of her crew

Enemies: Kymaera (Nita Prentiss)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: submarine in the Atlantic Ocean;
    formerly: Huntington laboratories

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents#156/1 (early June, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: None. She was a very intelligent and cold person though.

History:

(MCP#156 (fb) ) - Barbara Gruber was born in East Berlin. Her family defected to the west when she was six. Her mother died shortly after. She was always a gifted student with an incredible mind and shunned social relations for her studies. She attended Berkeley and graduated in Bio-Genetics. She was declared unfit for medical practice by the faculty. She continued her career in research only and got a job at Huntington Laboratories with her doctorate in Bio-Engineering. The lab made millions from her research and men above her always gained the credit. The projects she wished to charter were never taken seriously. She was reprimanded when she complained. After ten years she had enough and disappeared with a few millions embezzled from the company she worked for. She became Mother Matrix and used the money to purchase bases for her operations and influence in various labs. She developed a genetic formula for the creation of super beings for her new world order and was in need of women who could survive the breeding process long enough to give birth.

(MCP#155/4 - BTS) - Mother Matrix sent out a remote controlled helicopter to capture Kymaera. When the helicopter was destroyed, Mother Matrix sent two of her men in "Maxi" armor after her target. The guys in "Maxi" armors defeated Kymaera and brought her to Mother Matrix.

(MCP#156/1) - Mother Matrix welcomed Kymaera and warned her not to remove her air supplying hose because she was kept in a tank full of Hydro-P. She told Kymaera that she was a geneticist and that she would use the changes in Kymaera that left her DNA structure temporarily malleable to her advantage. She explained her plans of world domination with her breed of super beings to Kymaera. She told her that the fetuses needed an organic womb and that they would break through normal mothers at four months. There were only a handful of women on Earth she could use for the breeding process and Kymaera was one of them. She left the room telling Kymaera that she didn't have to worry about motherhood because she would never see that day.

(MCP#157/2) - Mother Matrix was angry when she returned and Kymaera was gone. She ordered Zandroff to send out Max in a "Mini" armor before Kymaera could find out that they were undersea.

(MCP#158/2) - Matrix realized that her plan had failed when Kymaera left the submarine. She ordered her second mate O'Donald to evade the returning Kymaera, who saw a chance to return to normal with the knowledge of Mother Matrix. Meanwhile Matrix also ordered Zandroff to ready her escape craft. Kymaera used the rudder of the submarine to force it to the surface. Matrix armed the auto destruct and knocked out the crew with gas. She departed with Zandroff in her escape craft while the submarine was crippled by explosions. Kymaera brought the submarine to the surface and saved the lives of Matrix's crew. The crew was arrested by the Navy. They tried to track down Mother Matrix too, but their sonar didn't find her anymore. Kymaera lost hope that she would ever return to the way she used to be.

Comments: Created by Ed Lazellari & Joe Rosas

Originally she was an East German citizen. Problem with her past is once again Marvel's sliding timescale. The Cold War and the youth of Babsi are sliding apart.

Among the women on Matrix's list were also Meggan, Dagger, Rogue, She-Hulk, Storm, Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura), Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Psylocke and three others on the side of the screen (probably Susan Richards, Moondragon and the Wasp).

The "Maxi" Armor got that name because the other was called "Mini". It was far bigger than it looks on the picture I took. It reached to the first floor of a skyscraper.

John DeWeese informed us that the design of the "Maxi" armor is a slightly modified version of the Mecha "Scopedog" from the anime series "Votoms" with a different head and possibly feet.

Profile by Markus Raymond

Clarifications:

Mother Matrix has no known connections to

Zandroff has no known connections to

The "Maxi" and "Mini" Armors have no known connections to

Zandroff

He was the right hand of Mother Matrix. He explained Kymaera that she wouldn't survive the experiments as the child would rip through her abdomen at nine months. He then told her the background of Mother Matrix. After that he left for a cup of coffee. She was gone when he returned and Mother Matrix ordered Zandroff to find her again before she could find out that they were in the sea. Everything went wrong and Zandroff got the order to ready Mother Matrix's escape craft. He did as ordered and fled together with Mother Matrix.

--Marvel Comics Presents#156/1 (157/2, 158/2

"Maxi" Armor

The "Maxi" armor was around 15 feet high with antenna. It had the ability of flight and a powerful blast from the gloves as its weapon. Two of those armors were used to catch Kymaera in New York City after the remote controlled helicopter failed.

--Marvel Comics Presents#155/4

 

 

 

 

"Mini" Armor

The "Mini" armor was around 7 feet high and made for underwater usage. Weapon systems included tentacles from the chest and a shoulder cannon. One was used to recapture Kymaera when she fled her prison on Matrix's submarine. She defeated the wearer and brought him to the surface because she broke his air supply by accident.

--Marvel Comics Presents#157/2 (158/2

 

 

 

 

images:

Mother Matrix body shot: Marvel Comics Presents#156, p1, pan5

Mother Matrix head shot: Marvel Comics Presents#156, p6, pan6

Zandroff head shot: Marvel Comics Presents#156, p5, pan5

"Maxi" Armor: Marvel Comics Presents#155, barcode side, p15, pan1

"Mini" Armor: Marvel Comics Presents#157, p11, pan6

Marvel Comics Presents#156-157 (June, 1994) - Ed Lazellari (writer/pencils), Joe Rosas (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)

Marvel Comics Presents#158 (July, 1994) - Ed Lazellari (writer/pencils), Joe Rosas (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)

First Posted: 09/19/2004
Last updated: 09/22/2004

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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