William Wright
William Wright
A minor pest that Superboy encounters in a 1983 chronicle.
William Wright is a meek and mild schoolteacher who discovers that he possesses vast mental abilities which enable him to perform virtually any feat as long as he believes he can. These powers are fueled by psychic energies that he draws from other people, specifically teenagers, who fit some unknown criteria. Wright, who believes that throughout his life he has been treated as a doormat by the world, hatches a plan to become the world's master by coming to Smallville upon discovering his abilities.
Once in Smallville, he sets about his plan by first administering a weird test to the students of Smallville High. Wright states that this test is "...a special one of my own devising--designed not to test your knowledge of on a specific supject, but to measure certain other, more general abilities! Actually, there really are no wrong answers on this test, just your interpretations of the questions." Superboy, in his identity as Clark Kent, is among the small group of students to take the test, and is one of the only students who notices the peculiarity of the questions it contains.
Shortly after, Wright, having graded his test, assembles a group of students who fit his unknown criteria, which includes Bash Bashford, Lana Lang, and Pete Ross, who he uses to take control of Police Chief Parker and bank manager Wallach. After this, Wright sets about to rob the Smallville Savings and Loan. Superboy, seeing what is going on, opposes Wright, but is ineffective against the schoolteacher, who draws upon the power of the students to make himself physically more powerful than the Boy of Steel.
The next day, Wright, surrounded by his "student psychic battery" uses his powers to clear the streets of Smallville and prevent anyone from leaving the buildings. Again, Superboy attempts to stop him, and is again stopped by Wright, at least temporarily.
Superboy, with the help of Pa Kent, realizes that Wright's power is fueled by a combination of the energy drained from the students and Wright's own will power, and uses the man's belief against him. Encountering the teacher at the top of Maynard's Hill just outside Smallville, Superboy, after using a form of super-hypnosis to tell himself that he doesn't believe that Wright's powers can affect him, is able to break the schoolteacher's concentration and his belief in his abilities. With Wright thus defeated, Superboy is able to free his friends (NSB No. 36, Dec 1982: "Menace of the Mind's Eye!"; NSB No. 37, Jan 1983: "Wright Makes Might!").
