Doctor Bedlam

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Doctor Bedlam
Art by Jack Kirby.
Publisher DC Comics First appearance Mister Miracle #2 (May-June 1971) Created by Jack Kirby
Characteristics Alter ego Doctor Bedlam Affiliations Minion of Darkseid Notable aliases Baron Bedlam Abilities Exists in a noncorporeal energy form, making him virtually immortal and invulnerable.

Doctor Bedlam is a DC Comics supervillain created by Jack Kirby as part of his Fourth World comic series of the 1970s. He is part of Darkseid's Elite on the planet Apokolips.

His name comes from the Bethlem Royal Hospital insane asylum, and is a reference to his madness-inducing "paranoid pill".

[edit] History

Doctor Bedlam's early life is unknown, save for he once possessed a physical body that was somehow transformed into pure psionic energy. His primary foe is Mister Miracle whom he has never defeated.

Following the destruction of Apokalips and New Genesis, Doctor Bedlam relocated to Earth, where he attracted the new Mister Miracle's attention by becoming an escape artist under the name Baron Bedlam. He wears a costume which is a negative copy of the new Mister Miracle's outfit. He is not, in fact, a good escape artist, but does not need to be; one android body is destroyed by the traps, and he relocates to another one, which then appears from backstage.

[edit] Powers and abilities

Doctor Bedlam exists as a being of pure energy and is typically invisible but can make himself appear as the face of his former self. He can also command up to six of his androids, known as animates, or inhabit one of their bodies. However, in the JLA/JSA storyline 'Virtue & Vice,' it appears that he can command countless animates while simultaneously inhabiting one of them. No explanation has been given yet about this ability increase. Inhabiting an animate causes the android to take on Bedlam's former physical features. He cannot be destroyed in the traditional sense.

As one of Darkseid's scientists, Doctor Bedlam specializes in inducing terror within his victims' minds. His "paranoid pill" can release a large quantity of gas capable of inducing temporary insanity.