Sleepy Eyes

History: The mentalist known only as “Sleepy Eyes” was manipulated by the world-conquering mastermind known as The Yellow Claw into hypnotizing the entire population of Central City (five million citizens). Sleepy Eyes broadcasted his hypnotic commands through a local TV station and commanded the citizens to loot the city. It was later revealed that Sleepy Eyes (who was working with the FBI) had actually hypnotized the Yellow Claw himself into thinking the looting had occurred.

Height: 5 ft. 7 in.
Demonstrated Powers: Sleepy Eyes had the psychic ability to mentally dominate others through his powers of hypnotism. Although he was never actually shown controlling five million people at once, the fact that he could overpower and mentally dominate the great mind of the Yellow Claw with his illusions proves his powers were formidable, indeed.

Comment: In Amazing Adult Fantasy # 8, in the story “The Eyes of Edward Morgo” (art by Steve Ditko), hypnotist Edward Morgo tried to commit robbery via mass hypnotism by mesmerizing a movie theater audience with a film of himself. Morgo made the mistake of looking at his image on the movie screen and was hypnotized. Does Sleepy Eyes have some connection to Morgo?

An earlier story, “Beware the Eyes of Igor” from Tales of Suspense # 11 (art by Paul Reinman) tells of hypnotist Igor trying a similar crime with the same results as Morgo. Did Sleepy Eyes have some connection to Igor?

Comment: Speculation - For some reason, Sleepy Eyes’ aristocratic manner and extraordinary powers reminds me of the mutant Lucius Farnsworth (see The Man In The Beehive). Could Sleepy Eyes perhaps be a member of the Farnsworth family?

Comment: Speculation - Whatever happened to Sleepy Eyes? Could he have actually been the alien psychologist who, years later, would hypnotize and unlock the mental potential of plumber Griffin Gogol, giving Gogol the power to become…(dramatic pause) Captain Ultra? (as seen in Marvel Comics Presents # 50)

Comment: Central City appears next in Fantastic Four # 1, where it is the birthplace of the Fantastic Four (as seen on a billboard in Incredible Hulk # 235).
(Central City should not be confused with the Central City that is the home of The Flash from DC Comics)

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