Doctor Alchemy is a name used by three different

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are of ...

s appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

. The most notable was Albert Desmond, who originally used the name of Mister Element.

Publication history

The character of Albert Desmond, created by John Broome and

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are ...

, 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 Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', '' Fantastic Four'' and ''Da ...

and artist

Greg LaRocque Greg LaRocque (born February 24, 1954) is an American comics artist best known for his work on the ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''The Flash''. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, LaRocque worked as an assistant teacher at the Professional I ...

. The character of Alexander Petrov made his first appearance in ''The Flash'' (vol. 2) #202 (Nov. 2003) and was created by

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash and Superman, has drawn critical acclaim. He serv ...

and Alberto Dose.

Fictional character biography

Albert Desmond

Albert Desmond is a lowly chemist who suffers from

dissociative identity disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

. Desmond has two distinct personalities: one major driving 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 The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", ...

from his cellmate. He escapes jail, finds the Philosopher's Stone, and uses its power to transmute elements to restart his criminal career under a new identity - Doctor Alchemy. Eventually his good personality resurfaces, causing him to quit crime and hide the Philosopher's 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 identity of Doctor Alchemy.''Who's Who in the DC Universe'' #6 (Aug. 1985) While he was 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

Dr. Curtis Engstrom is an advisor on the project when S.T.A.R. Labs acquired the Philosopher's Stone with intentions of using one of its fragments in their microscopic medical computer. He stole the computer with the help of a small-time crook, Moe "Mouthpiece" Miglian, but he was later arrested. After escaping from prison, Engstrom donned his own Dr. Alchemy costume and set out to retrieve the microchip that had been taken from him by Miglian, calling himself the Alchemist. After being defeated, Engstrom and Miglian were both sent to prison.

Alexander Petrov

Alexander Petrov is a

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and ...

working for the

Keystone City This page list the locations in the DC Universe, the shared universe setting of DC Comics. Sites * the Arrowcave – The former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Speedy. * Avernus Cemetery – A burial ground located in Central City for ...

Police Department. But in order to advance his career, he uses one of Albert Desmond's weapons 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 Captain Cold (Leonard Snart) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the leader of the Rogues, a loose criminal association, as well as the older brother of Golden Glider. An adversary of the various su ...

. 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 Zolomon, but Captain Cold interrupts them before the Flash can take him into custody. Captain Cold kills Petrov for breaking one of the rules of the

Rogues A rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior. Rogue or rogues may also refer to: Companies * Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon * Rogue Arts, a film production company * Rogue Entertainment, a software com ...

' code of "ethics" - never frame another Rogue for your own crimes.

Powers and abilities

As Mister Element, Desmond dons a suit equipped with an

oxygen mask An oxygen mask provides a method to transfer breathing oxygen gas from a storage tank to the lungs. Oxygen masks may cover only the nose and mouth (oral nasal mask) or the entire face (full-face mask). They may be made of plastic, silicone, or r ...

and selects the model of

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon ma ...

as his suit emblem. Doctor Alchemy possesses the Philosopher's Stone which once belonged to

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and leg ...

. 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. Albert Desmond can also control the Philosopher's Stone from a distance via telekinesis.

Other versions

''Flashpoint''

In the '' Flashpoint'' reality, Mr. Element's gun, among others, is used by

Oliver Queen Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

, who runs Green Arrow Industries, to combat

Vixen Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's daughter.

In other media

* Doctor Alchemy and Mister Element make non-speaking cameo appearances in the ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics univers ...

'' episode "Flash and Substance". * Doctor Alchemy appears in the third season of ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

'', portrayed by Tom Felton and voiced by Tobin Bell. This version is Julian Albert Desmond, a forensic scientist, Barry Allen's rival in the Central City Police Department (CCPD), and the result of a time aberration due to the " Flashpoint" timeline that Allen created then erased. In the past, Albert led an archeologist team to track down an artifact he researched called the

philosopher's stone The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", ...

so he could bring back his dead sister. While he finds the stone, his team is killed and he began to experience blackouts, during which he was called upon by the "god of speed"

Savitar Savitar may refer to: *Savitr, or Savitar, a Vedic solar deity associated with the Aditya class of divinities *Savitar (comics), a supervillain published by DC Comics *Savitar, a character from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series *''Savitar'', th ...

to become his servant "Alchemy" and use the stone to restore

metahuman In DC Comics' DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with both ''mutant'' and ''mutate'' in the Marvel Universe and '' posthuman'' in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In DC Comics, the t ...

s from the "Flashpoint" timeline. Eventually, Albert is apprehended by Allen and

Jay Garrick Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first superhero known as the Flash. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. He first appeared in ''Flas ...

, who discover Albert's identity and use him to contact Savitar via the stone. After saving his life from Savitar, Albert makes amends with Allen and briefly joins Team Flash to defeat Savitar before moving back to the United Kingdom.

References

External links

* Doctor Alchemy/Mister Element I at DC Database * Mister Element II at DC Database * Alchemist at DC Database
Doctor Alchemy
at Comic Vine {{Flash Articles about multiple fictional characters Characters created by Carmine Infantino Characters created by Geoff Johns Characters created by John Broome Characters created by Mark Waid Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1992 Comics characters introduced in 2003 DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics metahumans DC Comics police officers DC Comics telekinetics Fictional alchemists Fictional avatars Fictional British people Fictional characters with dissociative identity disorder Fictional characters with elemental transmutation abilities Fictional chemists Fictional criminologists Fictional murderers Flash (comics) characters