Besides the monsters themselves, one of the most well-used characters in monster movies is the mad scientist (aka mad doctor). It stands to reason as these maniacal men of science are many times the ones who are responsible for creating the monsters in the first place; the most famous example of course, is Doc Frankenstein, whose crazy idea to create a man out of pieces of corpses got him in some pretty hot water.
Uncountable other films have featured mad scientists, from the likes of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Basil Rathbone, Vincent Price, Lionel Atwill and dozens more. Even Forry Ackerman threw the switch in the lab to offer readers a glimpse at these crazy and oftentimes tragic personages. "Mad Labs" is from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #7 (June 1960) an "Son of Mad Labs" is from FM #10. (January 1961).
I don't know why people get down on "mad scientists" so much. It's not like they will likely invent devices which can evaporate civilization. (Oh. Wait. Never mind.)
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