Doctor Alchemy

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). 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.

Albert Desmond

Albert Desmond is a chemist who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. Desmond has two distinct 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.

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. 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.

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. 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 is a criminologist working for the Keystone City Police Department, but in order to advance his career, he uses one of weapons that Albert Desmond used as Mister Element to freeze the lab supervisor solid. Petrov is promoted to replace the dead supervisor and discovers he likes the thrill of killing. He continues to eliminate members of the department he sees as "threats" to his position, using the weapon and ice-based effects. He uses the effects and his position as head of the crime lab to shift suspicion to Captain Cold. His plan comes undone when profiler Ashley Zolomon enters his office as he is putting on his mask. The Flash is able to stop him from killing her, but Captain Cold interrupts them before the Flash can take him into custody. Cold kills Petrov for breaking the Rogues' code of "ethics" - framing another Rogue for your own crimes.

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. Desmond can also control the Stone from a distance via telekinesis. He can also restore abilities to other people from different timelines or worlds.

Television

Film