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 MENTO (Steve Dayton)BIOGRAPHY
Created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani



PERSONAL DATA


Real Name: Steve Dayton
Occupation: CEO, Dayton Industries
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Separated
Known Relatives: Rita Farr Dayton (estranged wife), Garfield Logan (adopted son); John Dayton (founder of Dayton Industries, deceased)
Base of Operation: Formerly Midway City; later New York; later Oolong Island
Group Affiliation(s): Hybrid; Doom Patrol
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 178 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
First Appearance: Doom Patrol #91 (November 1964): "Mento - The Man Who Split the Doom Patrol"
Creators: Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani


OVERVIEW

Billionaire Steve Dayton created the superhero identity of Mento in order to win the heart of Elasti-Girl (Rita Farr) of the Doom Patrol. After marrying, the couple adopted Gar Logan, later known as Beast Boy. When Rita Farr died, Daytons mental health deteriorated to the point where he repeatedly tried to kill his adoptive son and his team mates in the Titans. Mento is for the moment in good mental health.

HISTORY

Steve Dayton, psychologist and head of Dayton Industries, was once the fifth richest man in the world. He invented the Mento helmet to win the heart of actress Rita Farr, also known as Elasti-Girl of the Doom Patrol. Farr eventually married him and the couple adopted young Garfield Logan, who served alongside his parents in the Doom Patrol under the alias Beast Boy.

When Elasti-Girl was killed, Mento went into seclusion using his monies to search down the people responsible: General Zahl and Madame Rouge fron the Brotherhood of Evil. Aiding John Constantine during the events known as the "Crisis on Infinite Earths", he taxed his abilities to their theoretical peak, witnessing the battle between Heaven and Hell. He then grew steadily less sane and created the Hybrid, a metahuman team containing several disaster victims with powers, powers which he was responsible for, having caused the disasters that bestowed the powers on them.

After being defeated time and again, he entered his computer and infiltrated the Internet. Recently, however, he was brought back into the Doom Patrol by Chief (Niles Caulder) and re-united with his wife, who had somehow cheated death along with her colleagues. The Chief attempted to manipulate him as he had manipulated the rest of the team, but Dayton has now come to his senses and briefly took control of the group, but ultimately ceding control back to Caulder.

After the team relocated to Oolong Island, it was discovered that Dayton had used his telepathy to make Rita more pliable to his will, even to the point of having her love him. The couple has now separated.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

Originally, it was believed that all of Mento's psionic abilities emanated from his helmet, but Dr. Caulder recently revealed that Dayton's telepathic, telekinetic and other powers were his all along, only using the helmet as a crutch.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Mento in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #15 (May 1986)