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    Metal Men #53

    Metal Men » Metal Men #53 - The Hand That Shocks the Cradle Rules the World released by DC Comics on September 1, 1977.

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    Doctor William Magnus, Platinum and Iron arrive at the site of "Babylab". Magnus spies the other Metal Men waving at him. Platinum, though, sees through the illusion. The "Metal Men" are really the Brain Children. Under their telepathic assault, Magnus first becomes irrational, then suicidal. Platinum prevents Magnus from killing himself, then leads the Brain Children away from him. While the majority of the Brain Children chase Platinum, the one in charge, Albert, reports their failure to take down the Metal Men, to Doctor Strangeglove. While Albert is being berated by Doctor Strangeglove for his incompetency, Magnus, still acting irrationally, charges Albert. With a simple thought, Albert renders Magnus unconscious. Platinum leads the Brain Children to Iron, who imprisons them all. Doctor Strangeglove comes out of hiding to collect Magnus, nearly getting run over by Iron.

    Doctor Strangeglove levels his bizarre typewriter-hand prosthetic at the two Metal Men. Hitting the shift-lock key, Doctor Strangeglove paralyzes Iron and Platinum. Magnus awakens, in a cell with Platinum. The other Metal Men are similarly caged, along with General Henry Caspar and Johanna Rome. The Brain Children have used their telepathic abilities to regress Caspar and Rome's minds to the level of infancy. The electrified cages render the Metal Men's responsometers inoperative, preventing them from using their shape-changing abilities to escape. Addressing Magnus, Doctor Strangeglove introduces himself as Doctor Norman Techno, the self styled "Father of Babylab". Techno ran experiments on pregnant women designed to boost the intellect of their unborn children. Upon birth, these infants would already possess the stored knowledge of the most learned of men.

    An unforeseen side effect of Techno's treatment also bestowed upon the infants an array of psychic abilities. Techno's motivation has been to create the next generation of scientists immediately, so that they might save an Earth slowly dying from man-made pollutants. Not far away, Albert, sulking over Doctor Strangeglove's cruel treatment of him, tampers with Doctor Strageglove's cannon, the Helix Ray. Techno planned a minor nuclear "accident" to kill all of the Brain Children's mothers. When the explosion went off, Techno was in his office, hooked up to a brain stimulating machine, while also typing up some reports. The explosion fused the typewriter, along with parts of the brain stimulater, to Techno's hand, giving him a method for controlling the Brain Children. Techno's narrative is interrupted by the Brain Children, who have taken Albert captive for tampering with the Helix Ray.

    As punishment for his insubordination, Doctor Strangeglove turns the Helix Ray on Albert. The Helix Ray reduces Albert's intellect to infant levels again, while also causing him to grow to gigantic proportions. Albert immediately begins throwing a temper tantrum, which results in the Metal Men being accidentally freed from their cages. Doctor Strangeglove is taken aback by Albert's transformation, and quickly realizes that it's the result of Albert's tampering with the Helix Ray. Gold and Platinum bind the rampaging infant, giving Doctor Strangeglove the opportunity to bring his bizarre prosthetic into play. Hitting the Half-Space key on his hand reduces Albert to half his gargantuan size. While still oversized, Albert is much more manageable now. Lead encases the other Brain Children within his body, blocking their telepathic abilities. Iron and Tin engage Doctor Strangeglove.

    Tin encases Doctor Strangeglove's prosthetic hand, but proves too fragile to stop it's emissions. Using the Back-Space key, Doctor Strangeglove repels Iron. Regaining coherency with his reduction in size, a much calmer Albert rails in frustration over Doctor Strangeglove's enslavement of the Brain Children. Magnus convinces Albert to talk the other Brain Children into turning on Doctor Strangeglove. Gold re-enforces Tin's action in disabling the "Strangeglove", giving Iron the chance to get in close and belt Doctor Strangeglove into the next room. Tin molds himself into a baby's bottle and plants himself in Doctor Strangeglove's mouth, to prevent him from giving orders to the Brain Children. Mercury trips Doctor Strangeglove, who falls into the imprisoning arms of Iron. The Brain Children restore Caspar and Rome's minds, then telepathically ruin Doctor Strangeglove's mind, leaving him a gibbering idiot.

    The army takes possession of the Brain Children, much to Platinum's chagrin. Platinum wants her and Magnus to adopt the Brain Children, and raise them as their own. When Magnus refuses such a ludicrous idea, Platinum quits the Metal Men, and storms out of their laboratory complex.

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