Mento (person)

Steve Dayton was a wealthy industrialist who fell in love with former actress Rita Farr. Farr had been exposed to mysterious gases released from the Earth while on location shooting a film and gained the ability to control her size, becoming both very small or very large. These new found abilities had ended Farr's acting career and she became a member of Niles Caulder's Doom Patrol under the name Elasti-Girl. Dayton wanted to be part of Farr's life and to that end used his considerable inventive talents to create a helmet that gave him mental powers like telekinesis and telepathy. Donning the helmet and a costume, Dayton began to assist the Doom Patrol in some of their adventures under the name Mento.

Though never considered a member of the team, Dayton worked with the Doom Patrol on a number of adventures. He and Farr eventually married and adopted the orphaned child Garfield Logan who was then known as Beast Boy. The two's happiness was short-lived however because the Doom Patrol soon sacrificed themselves to save an innocent town from destruction.

Crushed, Dayton quit adventuring, instead deciding to raise Garfield as best he could. When Garfield, who now went by the name Changeling joined the Teen Titans, Dayton used part of his considerable fortune to aid with the team's work. With the help of former Doom Patrol member Robotman, Garfield and the Teen Titans tracked down General Immortus and Madame Rogue, the two villains responsible for the death of the Doom Patrol, bringing them to justice.

Dayton was inactive for many years until all of the multiverse's heroes were called upon to battle an unimaginable evil in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Dayton, with his Mento helmet, joined some of the Earth's most powerful magicians to battle another enemy, one that threatened all of creation. With the help of the magicians lead by John Constantine, Mento was able to view the battle in the mystic realms and report back to the others what transpired. With the help of such mystical heavyweights as the Spectre, Doctor Fate, and the Phantom Stranger, the heroes attempted to sway the tide of the battle, but only through the timely intervention of the Swamp Thing was the crisis averted. Dayton however was driven mad by the experience and all he saw.

Dayton is next encountered in his maddened state using the resources of his company to create a group of super-powered lackeys to destroy his adopted son Changeling and the other Teen Titans. These new villains were changed using the element promethium and were eventually defeated with the help of the hero, the Blue Beetle.

When the Titans headquarters was destroyed during the Titan Hunt, the group relocated to one of Dayton's mansions, which brought him into more contact with the group of young heroes. He often times was in conflict with the group, but ultimately supported the group and their work.