Mother Night (Susan Scarbo) 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

Mother Night first appeared in ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

'' #123 (March 1970), and was created by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

and

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

Fictional character biography

Susan Scarbo was born in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

. Susan and her brother, Melvin Scarbo, formed a sibling hypnosis stage act for profit. They quickly became professional criminals, hypnotizing innocent people into doing their bidding. Under the name Suprema, Susan soon attracted the attention of the

Red Skull The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...

who hired Susan as a nanny for his daughter, Synthia Schmidt. Under Susan's tutelage, Synthia later became

Sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

. After a successful infiltration of the original

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...

organization and an attempt at stealing a Wolverine Jet from them, Suprema became an enemy of

. After some time, Susan was revealed as an aide to the Red Skull, and his daughter Sin's tutor, nanny, and instructor. Changing her name to Mother Night, she became the headmistress of the

Sisters of Sin Sin (Sinthea Shmidt) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is the daughter of the Red Skull and an enemy of Captain America. Publication history Sin first appeared in ''Captain America'' #2 ...

team for a short while, and was revealed to be running the Red Skull's youth indoctrination hate camp. When

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

captured the Red Skull, Mother Night became a member of the

Skeleton Crew A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...

in an attempt to rescue the Red Skull. She battled the Black Queen and her

Hellfire Club Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs, ...

mercenaries. She aided the Crew in the rescue of the Red Skull, and it was insinuated that she has or had a personal relationship with the Red Skull. Mother Night, with the

Machinesmith Machinesmith (Samuel "Starr" Saxon) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably as a regular enemy of Captain America. He specializes in robotics, and is able to make convincing robotic doubles of ...

and Minster Blood (her brother Melvin), then brainwashed the Avengers' support crew. She attacked the

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

by forcing them to relive their greatest nightmares, but she was captured by

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

. After this Red Skull replaced Mother Night with

Viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

as his lover. She then betrayed him for his actions toward Captain America and received a severe beating from Red Skull for it.''Captain America'' #398 Wishing to die at her ex-lover's hand, she asked Red Skull to kill her, to which he said no. Pitying her, teammate Cutthroat began an affair with Mother Night. This relationship ended when he was seemingly killed by Crossbones. She and her team were eventually killed by The Winter Soldier.

Other versions

Marvel Max

She moved into a trailer park in Las Vegas, Nevada, in Wolverine Max. She meets Wolverine after watching him in an unsanctioned MMA fight. They have sex, and during pillow talk, she mentions that she is from Teaneck, New Jersey. It is later revealed that she is not a psychic, but a hypnotist. She obtained her black sapphire from Brazil, and works as an independent hypnotist by "appointment only." As she is talking, Wolverine suddenly becomes ill, and passes out. Wolverine, initially perplexed, gets into a fight, only to discover that his claws will not pop out. He storms back to her trailer, to find out what she did to him. He is under Mother Night's control. She orders him to hate and kill a man named Max Fisher with rage and anguish. After his last fight in the ring, he takes Sean's van and heads to confront Max Fisher. It turns out Mother Night was married to Max Fisher, and used Wolverine to kill him to get a hold of his fortune. It's also revealed that Sean and Mother Night were working together. Wolverine managed to get his memory back by shooting his head with a double-barreled shotgun. He then meets up with Mother Night, while he is pretending to be hypnotized. He confronts her and slices her jugular, effectively killing her.''Wolverine MAX'' #13

Powers and abilities

Mother Night has developed a mastery of hypnotism. Mother Night has to get a person to look at her for her hypnotic abilities to work. Certain individuals are not susceptible to hypnotism. Mother Night has limited knowledge of street-fighting techniques and karate. Mother Night's necklace contains a special suggestibility gas as well as a "dark light" casting mechanism and she also uses various brainwashing drugs and paraphernalia.

References

External links

Mother Night
at Marvel.com * {{Stan Lee Characters created by Gene Colan Characters created by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1970 Fictional characters from New Jersey Fictional hypnotists and indoctrinators Marvel Comics female supervillains Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics neo-Nazis