Black Beetle

Not much is known about the man called the Black Beetle. Within the ranks of the Time Stealers he pretended to be a future Blue Beetle from the 27th century that offered Booster Gold a chance to save his friend Ted Kord. Whether the Time Stealers themselves were fooled by him is questionable as Mr. Mind assumed he was a man named Joshua. Whenever Black Beetle shows up deception can be assured as his supposed origin changes during each appearance, sometimes within a few minutes of the last telling. Even his goals are elusive as he mislead Rip Hunter and Booster Gold to gain more power with the mysterious Red Scarab. 

Since then he seems to be searching for more scarabs to make himself a greater force to be reckoned with.

Powers: Since the Black Beetles' origins aren't known whether he actually has a scarab from the Reach like the one Jaime Reyes has isn't clear. In one of the tales he spins he states that he murdered Hector, a former tech support friend of Jaimes' who had taken such a scarab named "Djo Zha." When Hector said that was his name a woman mistakenly referred to him as "Joshua." As Black Beetle was known to Mind by this name it suggest he knows the origin and perhaps has the scarab. So far he's only been shown flying, time traveling and blasting energy. It should be noted that the energy was enough to fry Beatriz da Costa (Fire) in one timeline. Without the Red Scarab he needs to leech constant chronal energy for time travel jumps. With it he claims that he won't have difficulties anymore.     

Identities Black Beetle has claimed: That he was a future Blue Beetle from the 27th century. "Joshua." "Jaime Reyes' greatest enemy" who vowed vengeance after Jaime took her away from him. Hector. Jaime' future self.

Allies: He has used associates he has worked with such as the Time Stealers, T.O. Morrow, Trigon and Lex Luthor to get what he wants. Black Beetle has shown loyalty to no one.

Enemies: Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle 3) and Booster Gold have fought against him. Neither one faired well as he managed to outmaneuver both of them. Although he blindsided Rip Hunter as well Hunter was the only one who was able to catch Black Beetle by surprise and stopped him from killing his intended victims. 

First Appearance: Booster Gold #4 Vol.2 (In silhouette) and BG #5 Vol. 2 (full view.)

Mr. Mind

 

The sole survivor of his race of Venus mind-worms Mr. Mind set his sight on Earth. Extremely intelligent the two inch alien usually was able to carry out his nefarious plans through his aptly named origination the Monster Society of Evil. Usually he is underestimated because of his small stature a trait that he capitalizes on. A small electronic device Mind uses makes it possible for his voice to be heard.

Through a series of experiments done by Dr. Sivana Minds' body began to change, a year long process that evolved him into a Hyperfly with the intent to feed off the 52 alternate Earths. Though he was stopped Mind harbored a grudge against those that defeated him forming a new band of allies to fight against his newest foes.

Abilities: Able to spin very fast and strong silk. Controls minds by entering a persons' ear. In his cocoon state he was able to absorb the Phantom Zone. As a Hyperfly he could feed off of time it's self. Can asexually reproduce in both forms. 

Enemies: Formally his greatest rivals were the Marvel Family, and Dr. Sivana. He's fought his fair share of heroes including the JSA. Now he fights against the Time Masters, specially Booster Gold.  

Where is he now?: Let's just say another bug didn't agree with him. Most of his childrens' status is uncertain at present. One of them showed it's self to Lex Luthor while trying to control him, explaining why it is and isn't Mr. Mind.

Per Degaton

Per Degaton has a complex backstory. Yes, I know that it's shocking to hear that a time traveler has a confusing origin so I'm going to attempt to make this as basic as I can. Degaton was an assistant in a group of scientists called the Time Trust during World War 2 that were attempting to find a means for bomb defenses in the future to help the war effort in their time. The Justice Society of America went 500 years into the future and returned with the formula to produce such defenses. Enraged and jealous of the JSA Degaton sabotaged the formula before abandoning the Time Trust. 

Obsessed with time travel Degaton had many run ins with heroes before coming in contact with a robot from the future named Mekanique. She helped him learn more of his passion. During their first five years together her body was crushed leaving only her head. Spending time together the two fell in love. (Don't you love comics?) Professor Malachi Zee, like Degaton a former member of the Time Trust, worked with the two to create a time machine. In one of the many ironic twists in his life Degaton aims to kill Zee unintentionally sending him 40 years into the future in a time machine he intended to use for his own purposes. Mekanique suggested they wait for it to reappear which drove Degaton over the edge to the point where he buried her head. 

The moment that's retconned: Originally Degaton carries on with his dastardly plans living out most of the next 40 years behind bars. Once he's out he reconstructs Mekanique and he battles the Infinity Inc. in the same spot that the Zee time machine disappeared where it soon reappears. A dying Zee comes out along with a Chronal Duplicate of Degaton made when he attempted to stop the time machine from leaving. The old Degaton commits suicide rather than return to jail and Mekanique gets her revenge by killing the double. In the retconned version the duplicate tries to change his fate prior to these events only to return to relive the same moment in a time loop when he is defeated. He recalls all these failures each time he returns to the same moment.

Accepting that on some level that he will never win against the JSA Degaton existed as a non-linear ghost like being that repeatedly watched his enemies dying taking pleasure in witnessing their pain. He lives "between the seconds" as an ageless eternal being thanks to his Time Disk which he sometimes uses to travel. Tachyons like the ones found in Hourmans' hourglass are able to get him out of his intangible state. Degaton has been able to break the pattern of the time loop since aquiring the time disk to watch more of his foes suffering.

Team Ups: The original worked with the Time Trust, and Mekanique. The duplicate has genetically advanced soldiers from the year 2666 called the Red Morgue that he uses as his own personal assassins. He has also teamed up with other time displaced villains to form the Time Stealers.

Enemies: He has an intense hatred for the JSA and his biggest rival in time travel appears to be Rip Hunter who Mr. Mind promised he could personally kill.

A/N: Because of the long history involved I have decided to only write about the Time Stealers that have previous history in time travel, i.e. Mr. Mind and Black Beetle. 

The Time Stealers

To bring about the end of the Time Masters so they can truly command the time line Mr. Mind joined forces with other villains to form a group called the Time Stealers. Taking matters into their own hands they destroy anyone that gets in their way and do anything they can to get Booster Gold to quit his role as Time Master. Mind informed them that their usual method of killing enemies won't work with Gold. The reason for this was never told only that he could not realize his destiny or that of his line.

The members of the Time Stealers are: 

Mr. Mind: (Not Shown) A two inch Venus worm that previous became a Hyperfly only to have his plans for the 52 stopped by Booster Gold, Rip Hunter and Daniel Carter.

Despero: Plucked from time shortly after his first battle with the Justice League, before he mutated.

Supernova 3: Taking the uniform Rip Hunter created from it's newest user (Daniel Carter), Jon Carter the father of Booster Gold became the third Supernova. Acting the part of a villain instead of a hero, Jon a con man through and through,attempted to disillusion his son.   

Maximillon: A vastly upgraded version of Booster Golds' robot buddy Skeets, the self proclaimed enemy of the droid. 

Degaton: A time traveler that fights the Justice Society of America hailing from the 1940s'. 

Ultra-Humanite: taken from his days fighting Infinity Inc. when he was in the form of an ape.

Black Beetle: Not much is known about the Black Beetle. His own tales of his origin change with each telling. Thus far he has claimed to be a Blue Beetle from the 27th century,Hector (a former friend of Blue Beetle 3/Jaime Reyes), Jaimes' greatest enemy and a future version of Jaime Reyes. Needless to say he's not the most trustworthy of guys. 

Jason Goldstein/Rex Hunter:(Not shown)A former member that the rest of the team decided posed too much of a risk once he was captured by Rip Hunter.

Rex Hunter Version 1

When Booster Gold #4 Vol 2. was released the character of Rex Hunter was first introduced claiming to be a former Time Master. This left more than a few readers looking on wikipedia to see if Geoff Johns was putting in an obscure character from the Silver Age. But no, we find out everything there is to know about him from Rip Hunter himself when Booster asks if the two are related. His real name is in fact Jason Goldstein, a man that never thought much of the rules of time travel claiming he could do a better job. Rex was kicked out of the Time Masters after attempting to push a ten year old Lex Luthor onto the railroad tracks. The butterfly effect of the act made certain that billions of lives were later lost since Connor Kent/Superboy wasn't cloned. 

Impatient, Rex isn't one to think of his actions in the greater scheme of things more focused on a short sighted end goal. He doesn't see things that way claiming that Rip isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is. To enact his revenge Rex got rid of the Time Masters (stating that he killed Bonnie himself) except Rip Hunter whos' true identity he could never discover. Unfortunately for Rex bragging was yet another rule he broke. This would later prove how he overestimated his value to the rest of the Time Stealers once he was captured by Rip. They decided to kill his infant self in his crib to prevent him from talking. The results weren't what they were expecting. 

My take: Personally I liked the addition of Rex to the Time Masters mythos. He shows how important it is that you have the right people in charge of such an important mission. While he doesn't think of himself as a bad guy his stubborn refusal to listen to his teacher feels very true to life. I'm an art student so I've come across (and been a little) like this myself. There are little things about the character that aren't revealed but are hinted at in the story. Jason seemed to be more than a little obsessed with Rip to the point that he chose for his new identity to be as close to his as possible. Rip refers to him as a kid though it's apparent that Rex is an adult. I don't see Rip as the sort to randomly call people kid that aren't as well versed in something as him. This leads me to assume that Rex was a younger age (likely a teen like Corky) when he was a student.

First Appearance: Booster Gold Vol. 2 #4