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[Evart Keenan]
Full Name: Evart Keenan
Occupation: Inventor
Base of Operations: The planet Karma
Hair: White
Eyes: Blue
First Appearance: All-Flash #11 (July–August 1943)

Super-genius inventor Evart Keenan was born a million years before his time. His brain kept working on solving problems, even when he wanted to stop. In 1943, as a trio of would-be conquerors from the planet Karma arrived at his laboratory, he was on the verge of a discovery so profound, it could grant dominion over the universe.

The conquerors, hiding their true nature, took him to Karma and set up a state-of-the-art lab for him. He continued working, ultimately using the secret he discovered to aid the original Flash and his allies in defeating the conquerors. Keenan chose to remain on Karma, fearing his inventions would be even more dangerous on Earth. (All-Flash #11, 1943)

Whenever Keenan wanted to contact someone on his home world (usually the Flash), he would contact fellow scientist Jay Garrick.*

His many inventions included a device which would temporarily bestow Superman-like powers on people, a voice-activated computer (which he called a “mechanical brain”) with incredible data storage, a long-distance two-way projection television, and a space warp for traveling across space.

In 1956, he invented a weapon that fought off aliens invading his adopted world. After Karma (and a time-traveling Flash) drove off the attackers, Keenan was at the forefront of rebuilding their civilization. (All-Flash #23, 1946)

Text by Kelson Vibber. Do not copy without permission.

Top of Page Art

  • All-Flash #11 (July–August 1943) - E.E. Hibbard

Golden-Age Appearances**

  • All-Flash #11 (July–August 1943): “Troubles Come In Doubles,” Gardner Fox
  • Flash Comics #52 (April 1944): “The Machine That Thinks Like a Man,” Gardner Fox
  • All-Flash #23 (June–July 1946): “A World with Two Futures,” Gardner Fox

No known post-Golden Age appearances.

Notes

* For a super-genius, you’d think he might notice that Jay and the Flash are the same person. Then again, he might be aware of the Flash’s identity and just playing along.

** Evart Keenan may have made further appearances in Flash Comics, All-Flash, or Comic Cavalcade. None of his stories have yet been reprinted. I stumbled on two of them by accident, then worked out his most likely first appearance and tracked it down. (See the statement on Golden Age accuracy.)

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