The Mad Mechanic

MAD MECHANIC

Real Name: Otto Briefer

Identity/Class: Human technology user (German, WWII era)

OccupationNazi scientist and inventor

Group Membership: Leader of a small contingent of German soldiers

Affiliations: German Third Reich

Enemies: Young Allies (Bucky, Jeff, Knuckles, Toro, Tubby and Whitewash), Allied Armies of the USA, England and Russia

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Master of Evil

Base of Operations: Hidden base in Switzerland (WWII era)

First Appearance: Young Allies#12/3 (spring, 1944)

Powers/Abilities: The Mad Mechanic was a scientific genius gifted with creating weapons and robots. He carried a specially designed handgun that was able to shoot a strong cable wire that could be used to ensnare people. He created booby-trapped Swiss watches that could detonate explosively, a sonic gun, a huge war machine dubbed the Spiked Chariot and a robot army to be used against the Allied Armies in Europe and Russia. He had a low level of fighting skills.

History:

(Young Allies#12/3 - BTS) - Working from a secret laboratory in Switzerland, the Mad Mechanic created a vast arsenal of deadly weapons to be used to destroy the Allied forces in Europe and on the Russian Front. As a novelty, he sent a shipment of explosive booby-trapped Swiss watches to the USA.

(Young Allies#12/3) - At a port in New York, the shipment of watches was inspected by two customs officers; the two were killed as a watch exploded. Alerted, the Young Allies discovered the remaining lethal watches and destroyed them, sending them into the ocean.

The Young Allies were spotted by the Mad Mechanic near his base in Switzerland, so he activated a sonic weapon that buried them beneath an avalanche. He sent a contingent of soldiers to deal with the recovered Young Allies as they entered his base but they were swiftly defeated. Taking the Young Allies by surprise, the Mad Mechanic entangled them with a gun that fired a strong steel cable and placed them in a cell. He revealed to the captive Young Allies his plans to destroy the Allied forces using his Spiked Chariot and activated it so that it rolled down the mountain, destroying anything in its path. Meeting the Allied Army, it proved to be resistant to cannon shells and other defensive attacks. However, Bucky and Knuckles were able to sneak on board and force it over a cliff into the ocean. Infuriated, the Mad Mechanic clubbed them over the head and returned them to his laboratory base. He next activated remote-controlled robots to deal with the Young Allies and sent an army of them to destroy the Russians at the Russian Front. When the Young Allies commandeered the remote controlled robots, the Mad Mechanic was seemingly killed when fleeing from them.

Comments: Created by Otto Binder (writer), Mike Sekowsky, Dan Barry, Dick Briefer and Al Gabriele (pencils) & Al Bellman (inks).

The Mad Mechanic's real name was revealed in Marvel Atlas#1.

The MAD MECHANIC's Robot Army is called "THE STEEL MONSTERS" in the title of Chapter 4 of that YOUNG ALLIES story.
--John Holstein

In the context of the story, the robots were only referred to as the Robot Army. The "Steel Monsters" is the name of the chapter and does not appear anywhere else in the story. To me this is only a description and not an actual name.
--AvatarWarlord72

Maybe the Mad Mechanic created the Wire-Gun used by Shark-Man. Maybe he created Shark-Man's undersea city base too.
--John Holstein.

Profile by AvatarWarlord72.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Mad Mechanic has no known connections to:


The Spiked Chariot crushes enemy troops

Spiked Chariot

Developed by the Mad Mechanic, the Spiked Chariot was a massive war machine in the shape of an enormous spiked ball sent to destroy the Allied forces in Europe. It was highly resistant to damage and was able to crush almost anything in its path. The vehicle was forced over a cliff and crashed into the ocean by Bucky and Knuckles of the Young Allies.

 

 

--Young Allies#12/3

 


The Robot Army marches to war

Robot Army

The Mad Mechanic had a huge army of robots that were being sent to the Russian Front to relieve the German forces and defeat the Russian army. They stood about 6' tall with metal tentacled arms and a swastika emblem on the front of their barrelled chests. They possessed superhuman strength and durability but could only be controlled by voice command. Because of this flaw, they were easily dealt with when the Young Allies commandeered the voice command device from the Mad Mechanic.

 

--Young Allies#12/3

 


images: (without ads)
Young Allies#12/3, p41, panel 3 (Mad Mechanic)

p45, panel 5 (Spiked Chariot)
p50, panel 3 (robot army)


Appearances:
Young Allies#12 (spring, 1944) - Otto Binder (writer), Frank Giacoia & Charles Nicholas (pencils), Dan Barry & Al Bellman (inks), Vince Fago (editor)


Last updated: 01/29/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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