Bird-Brain is a fictional character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

Publication history

Bird-Brain first appeared in ''

The New Mutants ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' #55 (Sept. 1987), and was first fully seen in ''The New Mutants'' #56 (Oct. 1987). The character was created by

Louise Simonson Louise Simonson (née Mary Louise Alexander; born September 26, 1946) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as ''Conan the Barbarian'', ''Power Pack'', ''X-Factor'', ''New Mutants'', ...

and

June Brigman June Brigman (born October 25, 1960) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed January 1, 2011WebCitation archive is an American comic book artist and illustrator. She is best known for cr ...

Fictional character biography

Bird-Brain is one of a number of "Ani-Mates", creatures created by an insane geneticist named the

Ani-Mator "The Fall of the Mutants" was a comic book crossover event by Marvel Comics spanning January to March 1988. It spanned three issues each of ''Uncanny X-Men'' #225-227, ''X-Factor'' #24-26, and ''New Mutants'' #59-61; unlike most crossovers howev ...

, combining the characteristics of human beings and other animals. The Ani-Mator subjected his creations to a number of cruel and deadly experiments, but Bird-Brain escapes the Ani-Mator's island and befriends the

New Mutants The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically us ...

. They try to acclimate him to regular society, which fails miserably time and again, mainly because Bird-Brain would eat all the food he saw.''The New Mutants'' #57 For the most part, Bird-Brain is unable to communicate with the New Mutants, despite the language powers of the New Mutant

Cypher Cypher is an alternative spelling for cipher. Cypher may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Cypher (French Group), a Goa trance music group * Cypher (band), an Australian instrumental band * Cypher (film), ''Cypher'' (film), a 2002 film * C ...

, because of how simplistic Bird-Brain's language is. In his first conversation with Cypher, Bird-Brain explains that he has been trained with food by starving him and using food as a reward. Bird-Brain develops relatively close relationships with Cypher (who is fascinated by Bird-Brain's language) and Wolfsbane for her changeling ability, through which he sees her as a kindred spirit, and her general kindness to him.''The New Mutants'' #58 Feeling he had abandoned the other mutated creatures on the island, Bird-Brain eventually returns with the New Mutants to free them. The Ani-Mator, attempting to shoot Wolfsbane, instead kills Cypher, and Magik exiles the Ani-Mator to the dimension of

Limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...

in retaliation. Once freed from the Ani-Mator's tyranny, Bird-Brain decides to remain on the island with the other Ani-Mates.''The New Mutants'' #61

References

External links

Bird-Brain
at the Marvel Database Project
Bird-Brain
at UncannyXmen.net {{New Mutants Characters created by Louise Simonson Comics characters introduced in 1987 Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics superheroes New Mutants