Doctor Alchemy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Doctor Alchemy | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Doctor Alchemy is a DC Comics supervillain and a rogue to the Flash (Barry Allen). He first appeared in Showcase #13 (April 1958).
Contents |
[edit] History
Albert Desmond suffered from multiple personality disorder where, like Two-Face, one side was a harmless citizen, the other personality was a dark criminal. Utilizing his knowledge of chemistry, Desmond began his criminal debut under the guise of Mr. Element. After being sent to jail by Flash, Desmond somehow found the Philosopher's Stone, which has the ability to transmute one element to another. After using the Stone to escape, Desmond restarted his criminal career under the new moniker of Doctor Alchemy and clashed with Flash many times, but was defeated every time.
Eventually, Desmond's good personality resurfaced and he quit crime and hid the Stone. However, a new Doctor Alchemy appeared, who turned out to be Alvin Desmond, Albert's identical twin whom he shares a psychic link with. It was later revealed that the "twin" was a construct of Albert's evil by the Stone itself. The construct was eliminated, though Albert became Doctor Alchemy again and joined the rogues.
[edit] Other versions
Other characters have also utilized Desmond's gimmick. A S.T.A.R. Labs scientist named Dr. Curtis Engstrom briefly used the Philosopher's Stone as The Alchemist during the period Desmond was cured. More recently, Alexander Petrov, a Central City police scientist, became the new Mr. Element. Although he used Desmond's original element-gun, and a variant of the costume, he attempted to confuse things by using the gun to freeze things, thereby implicating Captain Cold. He was killed by the real Cold.
[edit] Other media
Doctor Alchemy and Mr. Element have appeared in the Justice League Unlimited episode Flash and Substance as TWO background characters at the bar where Flash's enemies hang out.
[edit] External link
- Alan Kistler's Profile On: THE FLASH - A detailed analysis of the history of the Flash by comic book historian Alan Kistler. Covers information all the way from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to today, as well as discussions on the various villains and Rogues who fought the Flash. Various art scans.
