Doctor Alchemy

Doctor Alchemy
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance (Desmond)
Showcase #13 (April 1958)
(as Mr. Element)
Showcase #14 (June 1958)
(as Dr. Alchemy)
(Engstrom)
The Flash (vol. 2) #71 (Feb. 1992)
(Petrov)
The Flash (vol. 2) #202 (Nov. 2003)
Created by (Desmond)
John Broome
Carmine Infantino
(Engstrom)
Mark Waid
Greg LaRocque
(Petrov)
Geoff Johns
Alberto Dose
In-story information
Full name Albert Desmond
Dr. Curtis Engstrom
Alexander Petrov
Notable aliases (Desmond and Petrov)
Mr. Element
(Engstrom)
Alchemist

Doctor Alchemy is a name used by different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The most famously notable for characters such as Albert Desmond.

Publication history

The character of Albert Desmond, created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, first appeared in Showcase #13 (April 1958) as Mister Element. His second and more frequently used identity of Doctor Alchemy first appeared in Showcase #14 (June 1958).[1]:92 The Alchemist made his first appearance in The Flash (vol. 2) #71 (Feb. 1992) and was created by writer Mark Waid and artist Greg LaRocque. The character of Alexander Petrov made his first appearance in The Flash (vol. 2) #202 (Nov. 2003) and was created by Geoff Johns and Alberto Dose.

Character biography

Albert Desmond

Albert Desmond is a chemist who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. Desmond has two disctinct personalities: one law-abiding personality and another criminally inclined one. Under his darker personality, he applies his knowledge of chemistry to create the identity of Mister Element. He creates elemental weapons such as bulletproof silicon to shield his cars, and discovers a new element, Elemento, a magnetic light, with which he sent the Flash into space.[1]:92

After being sent to jail as a result of his first encounter with the Flash, he learns of the Philosopher's Stone from his band mate. He escapes jail, finds the Stone, and uses its power to transmute elements to restart his criminal career as Doctor Alchemy. Eventually his good personality resurfaces, causing him to quit crime and hide the Stone. Shortly after, a new Doctor Alchemy appears and is revealed to be his astral twin "Alvin" Desmond with whom he shares a psychic link. It was later revealed that Alvin was a construct of the Stone created by Albert's criminal personality. When Albert confronts and defeats "Alvin" he resumes the role of Doctor Alchemy.[2] While incarcerated, both of his costumed identities were used by others: Curtis Engstrom using the Philosopher's Stone as the Alchemist and Alexander Petrov using the Mister Element identity.[1]:92

Curtis Engstrom

After Desmond eliminated his personality as Dr. Alchemy, S.T.A.R. Labs acquired the Philosopher Stone with intentions of using one of its fragments in their microscopic medical computer.[3] The computer and fragment were then stolen by Dr. Curtis Engstrom, an advisor on the project. Engstrom was later arrested and after escaping from prison he donned a costume (similar to that of Dr. Alchemy's) and set out to retrieve the microchip that had been taken from him by his former cellmate where he became the Alchemist. After being defeated, Engstrom was never seen again.

Alexander Petrov

Alexander Petrov, a lab assistant in the Keystone City Police crime lab, took on the mantle of Mr. Element in a scheme to promote himself in the crime lab.[4] Petrov stole the Mr. Element weapons from the police evidence lockers and then used them to kill his mentor by freezing him in ice. Afterward, he was promoted to the head of the lab and continued to kill police officers. Though he wore the costume of Mr. Element, Petrov tried his best to frame his killings on the villain Captain Cold and was eventually confronted by both Captain Cold and Flash as he was attempting to kill rogue profiler Ashley Zolomon. During the fight Cold froze the Flash in place and killed Petrov as an act of revenge for framing him.[1]:59

Powers and abilities

Doctor Alchemy possesses the Philosopher's Stone, which once belonged to Merlin. By pressing the stone in various points, he has the ability to transmute any substance into any other substance (e.g., steel into rubber, or oxygen into carbon monoxide) and also possesses the power to transform the molecular structure of the human body, having once turned the Flash into a being of water vapor.[1][2] Desmond can also control the Stone from a distance via telekinesis. He can also restore abilities to other people from different timelines or worlds.

In other media

Television

Film

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Beatty, Scott (2008). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley Publishing. ISBN 0-7566-4119-5.
  2. 1 2 Who's Who in the DC Universe #6 (Aug. 1985)
  3. ↑ The Flash (vol. 2) #71 (Feb. 1992)
  4. ↑ The Flash (vol. 2) #202-206 (Nov. 2003 – March 2004)
  5. ↑ Bucksbaum, Sydney (July 23, 2016). "Comic-Con: Flashpoint Debuts in First Trailer for 'The Flash' Season 3". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-11-02.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.