DEEP DISH THEMES:
By The Slice:

ORIGIN: When Hector Hammond first appeared, he was a normal, but genius, man who became an astrophysicist and specialized in alternative fuel sources. He utilized his expertise as a theoretical science consultant for Ferris Aircraft and the United States Air Force . Hector eventually grew to have a crush on Carol Ferris, although this feeling wasn't mutual as Carol doesn't date the employees. When Abin Sur 's ship crashed, Hector was notified to investigate the incident. Hector sent a unit led by Jonathan Stone to recover anything significant from the crash site.

Hector’s crew was put in charge of opening the ship's fuel chambers while he had a discussion with Carol. Hector became infuriated by Carol’s lack of affection towards him and when his crew informed him that they couldn’t open the chamber, Hector decided to take the initiative. Hector’s anger clouded his sense of caution and when he opened the fuel chamber abruptly, he got a face full of radiation. Hector is immediately taken to the infirmary for examination and recuperation.

After a few hours had passed, Hector begins to realize he can telepathically hear other peoples’ thoughts. Like people ridiculing him for his lack of safety when it came to Abin’s ship. Hector figures that the meteorite fuel core of Abin’s ship must have exposed him to radiation which can not only expand the human mind’s potential but it can also enhance his evolution. However, Hector’s train of thought was disturbed by an overwhelming rush of thoughts from several people at the base. This agitated Hector to the point where he killed six men with his new found power: telekinesis.

Afterwards, Hammond left the infirmary to show off his new powers to Carol but instead he finds her with Hal Jordan . Hector retaliates by using his telekinesis to torture Carol and Hal. Unfortunately, Hector peers into Hal’s mind and discovers that Hal is the Green Lantern. Hector decides to kill Hal because the Green Lantern poses a threat for Hector’s future intentions. Hector telepathically throws a jet fighter at Hal but his concentration is broken by Sinestro .

Sinestro used his ring to form an air tight bubble around Hector’s head thereby cutting off his air supply. Hal asked Sinestro not to suffocate Hector but instead show him mercy. Sinestro humbly agrees with Jordan’s request. Hector’s brain was temporarily shut down with the lack of air to his lungs. The government eventually gets involved and places a neural barrier on Hammond in order to suppress his abilities while at the same time analyze his brain activity. Hector was kept at Hangar 44 at Edwards Air Force Base until he could be moved to a secured facility at Belle Reve.

When Hammond was being transferred to Belle Reve, he managed to surpass the neural barrier and gain control of four scientists who were observing him. Hammond fell under the delusion that if he could use the scientists’ collective knowledge to develop technology for the future then his notoriety would gain the attention of Carol Ferris. Fortunately, Hal was watching Hector’s transit carrier and jumped into action. Hector’s telepathic abilities seemed almost relentless. At one point during the fight, one of the mind controlled scientists steals Hal’s power ring and gives it to Hector. Hector tries to use it but the ring only recognizes Hal as its bearer so the energy discharge from the ring backfires on Hammond thus knocking him out for the remainder of the transfer.

During his time at Belle Reve, Hammond managed to tap into certain areas of his brain that no other human could. Hammond discovered a peculiar method of telepathy that would enable him to become immortal in the sense he can’t die from any natural death like getting sick or having an aneurysm. Unfortunately, when Hector began to stretch the boundaries of the human mind, his head grew in size and his body became immobile as well as insufficient for physical support. Hammond lost control over all his muscles including his vocal cords which meant he could only speak through telepathy.



PROS: Though the rust is very evident on this figure, I still love him. I don't know what it is, but I have a special place in my heart for all those figures in this game that have those Crazy Craniums...I put them all on a special team that I call "Head Force" and run as many of them as I can. I use alliteration as much as possible when doing it, too. There's Head Force Four, Head Force Five, Skull Squad Six, and Skull Squad Seven. Gallius Zed, Zillius Zox, MODOK, MODAME, the Deadpool MODOK, Supreme Intelligence....I JUST LOVE THEM. Despite that previously mentioned rust, Hector here is great for being a character that can help me position his large cranium bretheren and act as a supporting character to them. He can get a shot off now and again with his large range and Psychic Blast or by using an object in a Telekinesis Object Attack, but usually he just takes that support role. His points may be a little high for what he does in the only version they've ever made of him, but he's also alive and kicking for seven clicks of life and can help out on every one of those clicks with SOMETHING that is valuable to your team. I'd still pay 88 points for him, but I patiently wait for the next version hoping to see something a little better thought out and is more character accurate than what we have now.

CONS: He's Sloooooooooow. Not surprisingly, his giant melon head can't really get to far on the battlefield. His top speed is a four and it drops down to a zero before the end of his dial. There are not too many characters in this game that reach points on their dials with NO movement whatsoever. Luckily he can still be placed via Telekinesis or carried into combat. At the same time, his place is as far away from the battlefield as he can possibly be. He (Also not surprisingly) isn't exactly the most stout of pieces. He has some great powers, but a fighter he is not. His defense tops out at a 16 and that might actually be generous for what he is physically capable of in the comics. SURELY they have factored in some of his mental prowess into his defense here. I would have designed him with a power that helps protect him from harm that would represent his mental powers while leaving his actual printed defense VERY low. He also doesn't have much in the way of damage potential to speak of, and I just don't think that's accurate of the character. The powers are there on this figure, but the stats certainly aren't. He was made in the dawning of special powers, though...they hadn't really gotten past inventing the wheel to handle a super-evolved mental being and his immense power.

Other Players' Comments/Reviews: Using the Inline dial system, just click on the word bubble next to the character's name and it will take you to the units section comments!

KEYWORD THEMES: (Named Keywords are in bold)

Psychic: It's a keyword that doesn't really get used these days. It surprised the heck out of me when I saw that they gave it to Grodd in the Flash set. I hadn't really seen it in years. Before that we hadn't seen the keyword since Hammer of Thor! As such, there are not many newer pieces on this team. They are mostly pieces that I love though...except Ring Master. I threw him on there because his points worked out and who has ever REALLY used Ringmaster? I needed a somewhat goofy Psychic Super-Villain to fill the points and he fit the bill.

Force Build 8845083 0
Set	#	Name	Team	Pts	Value
JL	040	Hector Hammond		88	$0.49
FL	056	Gorilla Grodd		175	$16.99
OR	088	Mister Mind		68	$3.52
SI	049	Ringmaster		68	$1.08
Force Total:				399	$22.08

NON-KEYWORD THEMES:

Orange Lantern Corps
Royal Flush Gang
Secret Society of Super-Villains

DEEP DISH DO-IT-YOURSELF:

In this section, I share with you my own homemade dials for these poor characters that have only ever had one or two versions of themselves realized. I'll try not to get too fanboyish with them, but I'm not making any promises! I also invite any of you who like to make fan dials to please share your versions of these characters as well by using the DIAL GENERATOR in the units section on HCRealms.

#056 Limited Edition Hector Hammond
Real Name: Hector Hammond
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 9
Points: 100
Keywords: Orange Lantern Corps, Psychic, Secret Society of Super-Villains

0 11 15 0

0 11 15 0

0 10 15 0

0 10 15 0

10 10 17 4

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Telekinetic Levitation: Hector Hammond can use Sidestep
Possessed by Ophidian: STOP. Hector Hammond can use Flight, Barrier, Plasticity, and the Quintessence team ability. If Hector Hammond is equipped with wol063p Ophidian, he gains +1 to all combat values.
Mental Maelstrom: Hector Hammond can use Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Telekinesis. When he uses Penetrating/Psychic Blast, he can use the Sharpshooter ability and his damage value becomes a three and is locked
Mind Invasion: Hector Hammond can use Outwit. When he does he can use the countered power or ability for as long as it's countered.

This wraps it up for this installment of Deep Dish Themes: By the Slice. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to read it and thank you to for nominating this character! Feel free to post what you think about the article and just like regular Deep Dish Themes, feel free to nominate a character for an upcoming edition of Deep Dish Themes: By the Slice! Join me on 5/17 when I join the fraternity of Raptors in Deep Dish Themes: By the Slice: Darkhawk! (Why so long between articles? Stay Tuned to find out!!!)

Nice!
This guy wasn't on my radar since he's older and has only one weird keyword.
We need more Hal Jordan villains. They're usually lots of fun.

If I were remaking him, I would give him the Triumvirate of Terror keyword. This was a three person group consisting of three of the most evil Green Lantern villains: Hector Hammond, Star Sapphire (Carol Ferris), and Guy Gardner, who left Hal Jordan to die (without a power ring) in the vacuum of space.

I played him on a team recently, and he definitely did good work for me tossing his teammates into battle. My team was Hector here, MODOK, GL Galius Zed, 50 point Uatu... and Booster Gold.

Quite a head-force you had going there until you threw in BG

Because Booster Gold has a big head?

I like the idea of the Cranial Combatants, I may have to take that one off you sometime.

I do like this guy. Aside from his crummy defenses he really is pretty dang useful.

That's a really perfect do-it-yourself dial. I can't believe we've only gotten this guy once.

I played a team once I called the Big Head Squad that was Hammond, MODAM, the Captain America MODOK, and Chang Tzu. It was a fun team to play.

See, I would think Hector would warrant Shape Change, even if that tacks a little on to his cost.

I felt like I already gave him so much. I'd like to see your interpretation, though.

Gargantua had it right, they were all characters with big heads. My friends laughed all through our game.

Pretty sure this guy got his own movie a few years ago.