Mindy Williams

Origin

Mindy Williams was born in a family of modest means. She managed to enroll in Grayburn University. There she met Kyle Richmond (Nighthawk), a fellow student. Kyle was handsome and managed to charm Mindy. But it was the wealth of the Richmond family which truly impressed her. She started hoping for a brighter future as Mrs. Richmond. Her hopes ended abruptly and violently. She was offered a car ride by Kyle and gladly accepted. But Kyle was drunk and the car crashed. She was believed killed. Kyle would later (" Defenders #32" - February, 1976) reminisce about killing his own girlfriend.

Major Story Arcs

A seeming return from the dead

It turned out that Mindy was not actually deceased. She returned in " Marvel Team-Up" #101 (January, 1981). Her fate since the accident was explained. She survived the crash but her spine was shattered. She was confined to a wheelchair for life. Arthur Richmond, Kyle's father, wanted the incident hushed up and this gold-digger out of his son's life. He offered her a small fortune to move to Europe and severe all ties with her old life. He let Kyle believe Mindy was dead.

Mindy wisely invested her money and over the twelve (sic) following years became a fabulously wealthy woman. Her teenage dreams come true ... with the twist of being unable to walk again. She blamed Kyle for ruining her life and eventually became obsessed with returning the favor. She kept surveillance on Kyle for years and followed his exploits as both a supervillain and a superhero. She started hiring out electronic experts among AIM's operatives and purchased robotics technology from Latveria (apparently doing business with Doctor Doom.). She purchased the abandoned facilities of Grayburn University and also the wreck of Kyle's old car. Which she restored to the way it looked on the night of the accident. Her plans for revenge were set.

For a period of months Kyle was receiving photos depicting himself and Mindy, along with notes blaming him for her death. During a press conference of the famous businessman, a robot looking exactly like Mindy made an attempt on his life. It was stopped by Spider-Man who happened to be among the press members attending. The robot left directions to Grayburn University. Which Nighthawk and Spider-Man followed. To their surprise the supposedly abandoned location was packed with what seemed to be protesting students. Exactly how it was during Kyle's years in the college. Approaching the students, actually robots, both heroes were knocked out by gas.

When Nighthawk regained consciousness, he found himself within his old car. Only this time he was chained. Mindy revealed herself and explained her story to him. She then sent the car plummeting down the road where Mindy had been "killed". She wanted Kyle to have the same experience. But Mindy's obsession with Nighthawk had extended itself to paying no attention to his companion. Spider-Man, who Mindy had forgotten about, helped Kyle get out of the car before it crushed again.

Mindy's anger manifested in two ways: she was able to stand up for the first time in over a decade and her latent telepathic powers emerged for the first time. (A telepath confined to a wheelchair. Shades of Professor Xavier.) She sent a psychic shock directly to Spider-Man. Her telepathy somehow allowed her a sort of clarity after years consumed with insanity. She was horrified at what she had done. She surrendered to Kyle and asked for his help to deal with her mental problems. He did "help"... by confining her to a New England sanitarium, Carriwhite Acres. He was paying the bills for her treatment.

In "Defenders" #102 (December, 1981), Carriwhite Acres was revealed to be a front operation of the Secret Empire. August Masters, the resident psychiatrist, was actually performing research on people with psychic powers. They were looking for ways to use said powers in actual warfare. Mindy was added to their research subjects. She now appeared consumed with insanity. She spend most of her time painting pictures of herself with Kyle. Her emotional responses to anything to do with Kyle varied between genuine love and obsessive hatred, all within a single day. Masters soon realized that Mindy had the most powerful powers among the psychics in his custody. He started considering capturing Kyle in order to better control her. Meanwhile, he had the other subjects start feeding Mindy with their own energies. Further increasing her powers. Masters continued testing her.

During a test, Mindy had a "schizo fit", resulting in a powerful attack directed at Kyle. That was supposedly the reason for Kyle stuck in a wheelchair of his own ("Defenders" #93 - 102). Kyle eventually decided to visit Mindy. Seeing him in the own crippled state as herself, Mindy was strangely somber. Then expressed concern, amusement and finally anger. She had to be restrained. Masters later had Mindy and the other subjects strapped to a machine. He directed her new psychic attack on Kyle. Only this time Clea managed to contact Mindy telepathically, attempting to soothe her. The result was Mindy realizing how Masters was using her. She redirected her attack towards the psychiatrist and his operatives. The attack was strong enough to kill some of them and incapacitate the others. Mindy and Kyle escaped together.

The Secret Empire were determined to not loose this living weapon. They managed to recapture shortly after. She was moved to a secret facility at Mount Charteris, Colorado. Unfortunately ,she now appeared lashing out at all times. She had to be kept in restraints. The psychiatrists were trying to soothe her by having her think about the happiest time of her life, dating Kyle in college. In " Captain America" #268 (April, 1982), the Secret Empire managed to calm Mindy by bringing to her a captive Kyle. But Kyle had her telepathically summon Doctor Strange for him.

In Defenders #106 (April, 1982), Doctor Strange arrived at Mount Charteris with three other Defenders, Beast, Daredevil and the Son of Satan. They managed to release other Defenders held captive there (Gargoyle, Hellcat, Valkyrie and new recruit Captain America). All eight of them were involved in combat with the Secret Empire operatives. Meanwhile Mindy and five other psychics combined their minds to find a way to end their suffering. They possessed Kyle's body and had him initiate the self-destruct sequence of the facility. The resulting explosion was presumed to have killed all seven of them.

According to Defenders #115 (March, 1983), the six Psychics were surprised to find themselves alive following the death of their bodies. They had merged into a single astral being (the Chorus) with no body and six personalities. Experiencing Mindy's love for Kyle, their first act was attempting to rescue Kyle. They would have transported across dimensions to have him escape the explosion. By poor coordination they left Kyle to die and sent Masters to Earth-712 (Home of Squadron Supreme) instead. They followed him there. There they found another Kyle Richmond, formerly a member of the Squadron Supreme. He had been President of the United States until Null the Living Darkness and Overmind attended to mind control him and accidentally shattered his mind. Since this Kyle was effectively mindless, the Chorus transferred the memories of their own (Earth-616) Kyle to him.

In Defenders #112 (December, 1982), the Chorus manifested itself in the form of Mindy Williams. In #113-114 (January-February, 1983), they joined the dimension-traveling Defenders against Null, Overmind and the mind-controlled Squadron Supreme. They helped the Defenders and the Squadron Supreme temporarily merge their consciousness into a single astral being, allowing them to defeat Null. They then occupied Overmind's body for themselves. To their disappointment "their" Kyle had regained his original memories. In #115, they followed the Defenders back to Earth.

The Chorus joined the Defenders as Overmind. Mindy manifested herself for the last time in Defenders #117 (May, 1983). Each of the six members decided to seek closure with their past before fully merging. The individual personalities were lost. The new single-personality Chorus being remained in control of Overmind for the rest of his 1980s appearances. In Quasar #16 (November, 1990), the original persona of Overmind re-emerged and fully absorbed the Chorus.