Alias: The Dollmaker
Real Name: Gilbert Emmett Petto
Occupation: Toymaker, College Professor
Age: 69
Height: 5’6″
Hair: Gray and White
You can count on one hand the number of people in Metrobay who are able to boast that they have defied Max Indeks and lived to tell about it. Gilbert E. Petto is one of those brave few. Gilbert’s parents – hard working, salt of the earth types – moved to Metrobay when he was a child to make a new life for themselves and their only son. They scraped enough money together to send Gilbert off to the finest college in town, Metrobay University, to study the burgeoning field of electronics. Gilbert flourished, becoming the youngest doctoral recipient in school history and landing a position on the faculty in only his mid-20s.
Years later, Indeks took note of Gilbert’s proficiency in technology and robotics and repeatedly offered him a job at the fast-growing APEX Industries. Time and again Gilbert refused, happy to continue working and teaching at the university for a fraction of what he could make in the private sector, and during his tenure at the university Gilbert instructed many budding intellects, most notably young Ted Twiss and Belinda Giolla.
One day Gilbert was on campus testing a prototype security droid when he witnessed Ms. Metrobay battling a team of villains. Gilbert used his invention to help defeat the thugs, henchmen of ROPE, earning Ms. Metrobay’s gratitude and even more of Max’s wrath.
Satisfied with his academic career and looking to do something new, Gilbert opened a small business not far from campus and soon became famous for his realistic dolls and action figures, so much so that he was known publicly as simply “The Dollmaker”. To this day Gilbert spends long hours in his workshop creating his latest and greatest toy masterpieces, becoming a bit of a cult figure among children and adults alike.
One of Gilbert’s most infamous inventions, a lifelike android he named LISA, was closely modeled after the appearance of Ms. Metrobay. However, LISA was stolen by Max and turned into the villainous lackey MilkMaid, which angered Ms. Metrobay for his breach of trust. Depressed and desperate, Gilbert replaced his lost creation with a new one based on Brown Sugar, which he calls “MONA”.
Having been reclaimed from APEX, LISA now is under the supervision of Gilbert’s protege and close friend Ted Twiss. Sensing his loneliness, LISA used Gilbert’s technology to create a companion for him based on the physical characters of several lovely Metrobay ladies plus the visage of Gilbert’s deceased wife Lillian. This companion, named TORI, now resides with Gilbert in a three-story building which contains his apartment, toy store, and workshop.
In addition to Ted, Gilbert has become a mentor to some other young scientific minds in Metrobay. He entertained Tim Ingram and Jill Royal when they visited his toy store, and offered some advice and technical assistance in (unbeknownst to him) their quest for revenge against the I Eta Pi sorority.
He was instrumental in saving Crissy Tanner’s life by helping Ted transfer her mind into the SARA doll body, which was rechristened Surge. Crissy had previously come to Gilbert for help with her fantasy of being turned into a robot herself, a request which Gilbert could not fulfill exactly as she wanted. He also helped Ted infiltrate the Headlights restaurant operation and rescue several dolls based on his designs from Vic Reno’s illicit scheme.
Notable Appearances: Adult Toys, Tasty Treats, Forbidden Fantasy, The Lonely Man, An Acquired Taste, The Omega Mystery, Caught in the Headlights, Making Friends, Cell Block XXX