A
comic book supervillain, owned by
DC Comics. Hammond made his first appearance in "
Green Lantern #5" in 1961. He was created by writer
John Broome and artist
Gil Kane.
After finding a
mysterious meteorite that appeared to have caused surrounding
vegetation to
evolve at an accelerated rate, Hammond
kidnapped four
scientists and exposed them to the meteorite. While they evolved faster and faster, Hammond used their superior
brains to create incredible new
inventions and turn himself into a
wealthy celebrity. When Green Lantern noticed that Hammond's specialties matched with the specialties of the four missing scientists, it set up a
confrontation that resulted in Hammond's
defeat and
imprisonment.
After Hammond escaped from
jail, he used the meteorite to evolve himself, emerging as a
short skinny guy with a
pencil-thin mustache, a really oversized
cranium, and
powerful psionic abilities. After tangling with and getting stomped by the
Justice League of America, Hammond altered the meteorite so that it would make him
immortal -- however, in exchange, Hammond would become almost completely
paralyzed. He had to travel around in a fancy
floating
chair. He spent most of his career as one of Green Lantern's
archenemies, trying in vain to get his hands on either more samples of the meteorite or Green Lantern's
power ring. He has also taken on
Green Arrow,
the Flash,
Black Canary, the
Elongated Man,
Firestorm, and other members of the Justice League. He often worked in
secret, using his vast
mental powers to attack his enemies from afar.
When
Hal Jordan became the supervillain
Parallax and later died, Hammond's interest in supervillainy seemed to
diminish. He is currently
incarcerated under heavy
security and powerful psionic dampeners. He occasionally participates in a supervillainous
scheme, but he hasn't been a real
threat to anyone in years.
Research: http://www.glcorps.org/hecthamm.html