Just a brain without a body. It's a creepy concept, I've seen it used on the Wild Wild West and Wonder Woman tv shows (John Caradine did the voice in the WW show, in the WWW show I don't think that they spoke) and in the comics I recall Dr. Sun and Brain Drain. but the only supervillain brain I can think of first is the Brain from the DP.
There's also the Ultra-Humanite, who kept moving his brain from body to body. He didn't engage anyone when is brain wasn't in some body or other, but it was clear the brain was where the villainy was.
The Eternal Brain" was one of the features in Red Raven Comics #1 (Marvel, 1940). He was a brain in a jar with psychic powers. There's an image of the first page of the story here at the now-inactive Simon and Kirby blog. (The blogger sometimes posted material under copyright and asked that images not be copied from his site.) He, however, was sympathetic rather than a villain.
Google Images led me to a villain called the Deathless Brain, who appeared in the "Flying Dutchman" feature in Air Fighters Comics. v.1 #6 (Hillman, 1943), and the Giant Red Brain from a story in The Marvel Family #80 (Fawcett, 1952).
Via the GCD I've also found an Angel story titled "The Brain of Professor Donaire" from Marvel Mystery Comics #15 (Marvel, 1940), described here, the Brain Monster from a story in The Human Torch #34 (Marvel, 1948), who can be seen here (and might not qualify as he apparently had a face), and a brain in a jar story called "The Brain!" in Marvel Tales #99 (Marvel, 1950), which was subordinate-box cover-featured. The story I was looking for was "The Brain!" from Adventures Into Terror #4 (Marvel, 1951), which got a sequel in #6 (also 1951). But these stories were also subordinate-box cover-featured, and the boxes indicate their critter was rather a disembodied head.
A story called "The Cosmic Brain", about a brain which is transformed into a malignant radioactive cloud form, appeared in Amazing Adventures #3 (Ziff Davis, 1951). It was drawn by Leonard Starr. Google Images also reminded me of another one-off story with an evil brain, "The Brain that Wouldn't Die", from Web of Evil #10 (Quality, 1953).
Outside of comics, one of the best-known disembodied brain stories is Donovan's Brain (1942) by Curt Siodmak, which has been filmed several times. A radio adaptation starring Orson Welles from the series Suspense, and a parody of the same also starring Welles, can be found here. If Wikipedia's summary of the novel is accurate the Suspense version changes the end. The GCD tells me Captain America Comics #41 (Marvel, 1944) had a story titled "The Murder Brain", which the indexer says was "swiped from Siodmak's Donovan's Brain".
Replies
Depends on what you mean by "disembodied." There was Starman's villain, The Mist, from Adventure Comics.
Then there's this guy (more of a victim than a villain):
Just a brain without a body. It's a creepy concept, I've seen it used on the Wild Wild West and Wonder Woman tv shows (John Caradine did the voice in the WW show, in the WWW show I don't think that they spoke) and in the comics I recall Dr. Sun and Brain Drain. but the only supervillain brain I can think of first is the Brain from the DP.
There's also the Ultra-Humanite, who kept moving his brain from body to body. He didn't engage anyone when is brain wasn't in some body or other, but it was clear the brain was where the villainy was.
The Eternal Brain" was one of the features in Red Raven Comics #1 (Marvel, 1940). He was a brain in a jar with psychic powers. There's an image of the first page of the story here at the now-inactive Simon and Kirby blog. (The blogger sometimes posted material under copyright and asked that images not be copied from his site.) He, however, was sympathetic rather than a villain.
Google Images led me to a villain called the Deathless Brain, who appeared in the "Flying Dutchman" feature in Air Fighters Comics. v.1 #6 (Hillman, 1943), and the Giant Red Brain from a story in The Marvel Family #80 (Fawcett, 1952).
Via the GCD I've also found an Angel story titled "The Brain of Professor Donaire" from Marvel Mystery Comics #15 (Marvel, 1940), described here, the Brain Monster from a story in The Human Torch #34 (Marvel, 1948), who can be seen here (and might not qualify as he apparently had a face), and a brain in a jar story called "The Brain!" in Marvel Tales #99 (Marvel, 1950), which was subordinate-box cover-featured. The story I was looking for was "The Brain!" from Adventures Into Terror #4 (Marvel, 1951), which got a sequel in #6 (also 1951). But these stories were also subordinate-box cover-featured, and the boxes indicate their critter was rather a disembodied head.
A story called "The Cosmic Brain", about a brain which is transformed into a malignant radioactive cloud form, appeared in Amazing Adventures #3 (Ziff Davis, 1951). It was drawn by Leonard Starr. Google Images also reminded me of another one-off story with an evil brain, "The Brain that Wouldn't Die", from Web of Evil #10 (Quality, 1953).
Outside of comics, one of the best-known disembodied brain stories is Donovan's Brain (1942) by Curt Siodmak, which has been filmed several times. A radio adaptation starring Orson Welles from the series Suspense, and a parody of the same also starring Welles, can be found here. If Wikipedia's summary of the novel is accurate the Suspense version changes the end. The GCD tells me Captain America Comics #41 (Marvel, 1944) had a story titled "The Murder Brain", which the indexer says was "swiped from Siodmak's Donovan's Brain".
I'm sure this isn't everything.