Timothy Lionel Mason is a brilliant chemist of British descent. He is of slight build and shorter than average height, with light olive skin and dark hair. Mason is generally shy and quiet, preferring to observe than to participate, to smile rather than laugh, to listen rather than talk, and to dream rather than plan. While he has learned to lead, plan and execute, these are not his instinctive responses.
Mason was working on his doctorate, studying room temperature gaseous phase reactions at Columbia University just prior to the Third World War. During the Battle of Morningside Park, the eonic radiation bursts from the Shadow Knight Company’s opening barrage severely distorted electromagnetic fields across the Columbia campus, seriously damaging buildings facing 120th street. Because of its location on Broadway, Chandler Hall was spared major physical damage, but its occupants suffered severely following the interaction of the eonic radiation and the wide variety of chemistry and molecular biology experiments. Pupin Hall, housing Physics, was destroyed, but similar EM distortions occurred, similarly affecting researchers. When some of the occupants of the affected buildings recovered from physical injuries, they discovered that the combination of the stress of the event and the eonic radiation had imparted specific aptitudes.
For Mason, the eonic radiation had imbued him with an ability to control gas reactions. He discovered this when trying to recreate some successful research from just before the battle, when reactions that should not have taken place occurred anyway. Mason soon learned that the effect was a result of his concentration – gasses reacting by sheer force of will. Experimenting further, Mason learned that making dinitrogen oxide – laughing gas – was the simplest reaction he could create, and the starting materials, being present in atmosphere, were the most prevalent. In addition to its apparent recreational uses, Mason learned to create the gas both at a distance and in sufficient quantities to subdue others. Because there always seems to be some N2O around Mason, he frequently breaks into fits of giggles. This has earned him the nickname “The Laughing Man,” also a play on his initials - courtesy of his CURVES team-mate Red Ronin. When Mason condenses laughing gas, atmospheric water also condenses as a light mist.
Mason, and others who were also affected, gravitated towards each other during the campus reconstruction, and they eventually agreed to join the War as their own squad – the Columbia University Research Victims Enhanced Squad, or CURVES. Their combination of physical, athletic and mental abilities almost made up for their total lack of experience in fighting super-powered foes, and the end of the war mercifully ended the unit’s service. Mason completed his formal emigration from the United Kingdom at the close of major hostilities.
As part of his service in CURVES, Mason built a glove that used liquid nitrogen to remove heat. The Cryo-Glove allows Mason to chill most normal material to a point of incredible fragility, and the achievable temperatures were so cold that Mason could cause frostbite. In combination with water, Mason can use the glove to create ice. The glove covers Mason's left arm to the shoulder. Silver fabric covers the arm, which insulates the glove and also increases efficiency by reflecting atmospheric heat away. The hand is covered in flexible metalastic micro-coils, and a small console of electronic status readouts sits at the wrist, along with an old, analog Timex watch. Naturally, the Cryo-Glove is constantly shedding condensation, as well as emitting heat from the expansion and compression cycles through the heat sink near the shoulder.
Mason later moved with several of the key figures in CURVES to Anchorage, Alaska, and there spent time fighting post-War crime. After his arrival in Anchorage, and in response to a long series of chemical terrorism threats, Mason developed a suit that allowed him to deactivate these attacks. Mason can use the chemicals in his HazMan suit against opponents, but the suit prevents him from using his innate ability to control gas phase reactions. The HazMan suit is incompatible with the Cryo-Glove, and Mason must frequently choose what equipment to bring to an event.
Mason's chemical suit sprays liquids of various compositions to create the effect he seeks. Mason does not fly. The HazMan suit is canary yellow, covers his whole body except the face. Mason keeps vials of concentrated chemical components on twin bandoliers. When wearing the suit, Mason always wears brown chemical-resistant boots, green chemical-resistant gloves, an air-purifying respirator, and sleek, tinted goggles (because you gotta be careful with this stuff). Mason's environmental ethic requires him to neutralize the residues of whatever chemical attacks he uses, though this takes extra time - often to the chagrin of his teammates.
While in Anchorage, Mason met the man we know as Phantasm, and the two became fast friends.
Back to Zarcon