BARRY WITHERSPOON
Real Name: Barry Witherspoon
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Scientific test-subject
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Dr. Oliver Broadhurst, Dr. Hiram R. Goldsmith, Machine Man (X-51/Aaron Stack), Peter Spaulding
Enemies: Archie Goldsmith, Fred Greenfield
Known Relatives: Gloria Witherspoon (wife), unidentified son, unidentified daughter
Aliases: Impersonated Machine Man; "The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls" (in story title [see comments])
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York
First Appearance: Machine Man I#14 (April, 1980)
Powers/Abilities: As a result of a laboratory experiment, Barry Witherspoon formerly possessed superhuman strength, and the ability to draw upon excess mass from another dimension (see comments)--by doing so, he became practically impervious to harm, including gunfire and electrocution.
While in this super-dense condition, Barry was left in a near-mindless catatonic state, and his sensory perceptions were negligible; but via sonic amplifiers, Fred Greenfield and Archie Goldsmith could remotely transmit orders to him, which he would unquestionably obey.
Witherspoon was eventually cured of this condition, and presumably returned to a normal life.
Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Blond
History:
(Machine Man I#14 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Barry
Witherspoon is largely unrevealed, but the married father of two was
unemployed for nearly a year, and desperate to find work.
(Machine Man I#14) - Barry found a job opportunity by serving as a test-subject for Dr. Hiram R. Goldsmith's experiment, much to his wife's displeasure, despite Goldsmith's assurance that it wouldn't be dangerous. In a test to bombard the human body with excess mass from another dimension, Barry gained superhuman density powers, but became blank-minded, with little willpower. Political opportunists Fred Greenfield and Archie Goldsmith used sonic amplifiers to take control of Barry, and realized that he could be a useful pawn in their campaign for Senator Brickman, to turn the public against Machine Man.
To begin their scheme, Fred and Archie dressed Barry to resemble Machine Man, then sent him out that night to rob a bank on Wall Street; unaware of the crime he was committing, the near-mindless Barry obeyed and smashed into the bank. When the costumed Barry burst out of the vault with a suitcase filled with money, a pair of police officers--understandably mistaking the robber for Machine Man--attempted to stop him, but their bullets merely bounced off Barry's super-dense body. After knocking the cops unconscious, Barry took the loot back to Fred and Archie, and soon the media--including TV reporter Dorothy Mayson--was buzzing with the news that Machine Man had gone bad.
Shortly afterward, during his next robbery at Tower's Jewelry Store, Barry encountered the real Machine Man (who was able to locate Barry because of the high-frequency wail of the sonic amplifiers). After Barry proved to be unharmed by physical attacks, Machine Man made contact with an overhead high-tension wire and hit him with thirty thousand volts of electricity, but Barry proved to be immune to it, and he knocked the living robot "unconscious".
The next morning, to prove to the public that he was not the robber, Machine Man surrendered himself to police custody, and he was locked in a jail cell. But when Barry robbed another bank that evening and was filmed by a security camera, the photographic evidence proved Machine Man's innocence, so the living robot was released.
Meanwhile, Archie became skittish and wanted to end the crime-wave, so Fred sent Barry to kill him; but Archie fled to Machine Man for protection. Realizing that Barry was being victimized by Fred, Machine Man took the sonic amplifiers from Fred and used it to halt Barry, then took Fred prisoner.
Later, Machine Man had his friend Dr. Oliver Broadhurst reverse the effects of Hiram Goldsmith's experiment; consequently, Barry lost his powers and regained his full mental faculties, then he thanked Broadhurst and returned to his family.
Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman and Steve Ditko.
Perhaps that extradimensional mass that Witherspoon absorbed was some form of "Growth Pollen" from Kosmos that only increased his mass, but not his size.
And despite what he was called in the story's somewhat deceptive title, Witherspoon did not pass through walls by becoming immaterial, or teleporting (...like "The Burglar who walked thru walls"); but rather he passed through walls by simply plowing through them with his incredibly dense body.--Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Barry Witherspoon has no known connections to:
Hiram and Archie Goldsmith have no known connections to:
Fred Greenfield has no known connections to:
Dorothy Mayson has no known connections to:
The sonic amplifiers have no known connections to:
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The wife of Barry Witherspoon and the mother of his son and daughter (both unidentified), Gloria did not approve of her husband being used as a "guinea pig" in Dr. Goldsmith's experiment, so she took the children and left while the experiment was being conducted. The experiment endowed Barry with superhuman abilities, but left him in a catatonic state; when Barry was finally cured by Dr. Broadhurst, Gloria and her children were pleased to have him home. --Machine Man I#14 |
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Known to his brother Archie as "Ham," Dr. Goldsmith was a scientist conducting experiments with mass. He developed a device that could siphon excess mass from another dimension (see comments) and saturate a human being with it. He hired Barry Witherspoon as his test-subject for the device, and assured him it wouldn't be dangerous; Archie and Fred Greenfield visited Hiram's lab while the experiment was being conducted. |
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When Barry became super-dense, it caused an explosion that would knock Hiram into a coma; but before passing out, Hiram gave Archie and Fred sonic amplifiers, which they used to command the super-powered Barry. (Comment: Hiram was not seen again after the disastrous experiment, and the dialogue on page 14 implied that he was killed by Fred Greenfield.) --Machine Man I#14 |
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The brother of scientist Hiram R. Goldsmith, Archie was a member of Senator Brickman's campaign team alongside Fred Greenfield. They came up with the idea of Brickman using Machine Man as a scapegoat, claiming the living robot would take jobs away from humans (...although Brickman took all of the credit for the idea). While they brainstormed ways to help Brickman win an election, Archie and Fred attended an experiment conducted by Archie's brother Hiram, in which Barry Witherspoon gained superhuman density powers. After determining how to control Barry with sonic amplifiers, Archie and Fred dressed Barry to resemble Machine Man and had him commit robberies, then bring them the loot. When Archie later became skittish and tried to end the crime-wave, Fred disagreed and sent Barry to kill Archie; but Machine Man saved Archie, captured Fred, and returned Barry to normal. Afterward, Archie testified against Fred. --Machine Man I#14 |
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Fred was a member of Senator Brickman's campaign team alongside Archie Goldsmith. They came up with the idea of Brickman using Machine Man as a scapegoat, claiming the living robot would take jobs away from humans (...although Brickman took all of the credit for the idea). While they brainstormed ways to help Brickman win an election, Fred and Archie attended an experiment conducted by Archie's scientist brother Hiram, in which Barry Witherspoon gained superhuman density powers. After determining how to control Barry with sonic amplifiers, Fred and Archie dressed Barry to resemble Machine Man and had him commit robberies, then bring them the loot. When Archie later became skittish and tried to end the crime-wave, Fred disagreed and sent Barry to kill Archie; but Machine Man saved Archie, captured Fred, and returned Barry to normal. Afterward, Archie testified against Fred. --Machine Man I#14 |
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She was a TV reporter who investigated Machine Man, as well as the robberies committed by his imposter. She also followed Senator Brickman's speeches as he used anti-Machine Man rhetoric to aid him in his political campaign. (Comment: At one point, Peter Spaulding addressed her as Mrs. Mayson, so she was apparently married; and while Machine Man was outside the city jail, she snapped a photograph of him that appeared in the Daily Bugle, so possibly she was also affiliated with that newspaper.) --Machine Man I#14 |
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Presumably created by Dr. Hiram R. Goldsmith, they resembled a headset of dual earphones with an attached microphone. After Dr. Goldsmith's experiment caused Barry Witherspoon's body to absorb great quantities of borrowed mass from another dimension, the super-dense Barry became nearly mindless and began crashing through walls. The injured Dr. Goldsmith gave the sonic amplifiers to his brother Archie and Fred Greenfield, so they could cut through Barry's excessive density and command him to stop. |
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Afterward, Archie and Fred used the sonic amplifiers to command the super-powered Barry to commit a series of robberies while impersonating Machine Man. Eventually, the real Machine Man confiscated the microphone from Fred and commanded Barry to stop. --Machine Man I#14 |
images: (without ads)
Machine Man I#14, p7, pan1 (main image - Barry Witherspoon, impersonating Machine Man)
Machine Man I#14, p9, pan2 (headshot - Barry Witherspoon, impersonating Machine Man)
Machine Man I#14, p3, pan5 (Barry Witherspoon, bombarded by extradimensional energy during experiment)
Machine Man I#14, p18, pan5 (cured Barry Witherspoon thanks Dr. Broadhurst [left]; Gloria Witherspoon and children [background])
Machine Man I#14, p4, pan3 (after experiment, Barry Witherspoon crashes through wall)
Machine Man I#14, p3, pan2 (Gloria Witherspoon and children around Barry Witherspoon)
Machine Man I#14, p3, pan3 (Gloria Witherspoon and children; Barry Witherspoon, Dr. Goldsmith [background])
Machine Man I#14, p3, pan1 (Dr. Goldsmith)
Machine Man I#14, p3, pan4 (Dr. Goldsmith [left] activates device; Barry Witherspoon [foreground], Fred Greenfield, Archie Goldsmith [background])
Machine Man I#14, p4, pan4 (after experiment, Dr. Goldsmith explains Witherspoon's condition to Fred Greenfield and Archie Goldsmith)
Machine Man I#14, p2, pan6 (Archie Goldsmith)
Machine Man I#14, p7, pan4 (Archie Goldsmith)
Machine Man I#14, p2, pan2 (Fred Greenfield)
Machine Man I#14, p14, pan5 (Fred Greenfield, holding microphone of sonic amplifiers)
Machine Man I#14, p5, pan3 (Dorothy Mayson)
Machine Man I#14, p12, pan6 (Dorothy Mayson)
Machine Man I#14, p4, pan5 (Dr. Goldsmith gives sonic amplifiers to Fred Greenfield and Archie Goldsmith)
Machine Man I#14, p4, pan7 (Fred Greenfield uses sonic amplifiers to stop Barry Witherspoon; Archie Goldsmith [foreground])
Machine Man I#14, p17, pan4 (Machine Man grabs microphone of sonic amplifiers from Fred Greenfield; Barry Witherspoon [background])
Appearances:
Machine Man I#14 (April, 1980) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (pencils/inks), Roger Slifer (colors), John Costanza (letters)
First posted: 08/06/2006
Last updated: 04/25/2024
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