Doctor Spectrum

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Doctor Spectrum

The first villainous Doctor Spectrum (Kenji Obatu) in Iron Man vol. 1, #63.
Art by Gil Kane.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Villain:
Avengers vol. 1, #70 (November 1969)
Hero: Avengers vol. 1, #85 (February 1971)
Created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema
In story information
Team affiliations Squadron Sinister, Squadron Supreme (Earth-712), Squadron Supreme (Earth-31916)
Abilities Via Power Prism:
Flight
Energy projection and manipulation
Ability to survive in space
Intangibility (first Doctor Spectrum)
Marvel Comics Alternate Universes
Marvel stories take place primarily in a mainstream continuity called the Marvel Universe. Some stories are set in various parallel, or alternate, realities, called the Marvel Multiverse.

The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Worlds 2005 designates the mainstream continuity as "Earth-616", and assigns another Earth-numbers to each specific alternate reality.

In this article the following characters, or teams, and realities are referred to:
Character/Team Universe
Kenji Obatu Earth-616
Billy Roberts Earth-616
Alice Nugent Earth-616
Joseph Ledger Earth-712
Joseph Ledger Earth-31916

Doctor Spectrum is the name of five different fictional comic-book characters in the Marvel Comics multiverse.[1] There have been five versions of the character to date - three supervillains from the mainstream Marvel Universe belonging to the team Squadron Sinister (Earth-616) and two heroes from different alternate universes. The two heroes each belong to a version of the team Squadron Supreme (the Squadron Supreme of Earth-712 and the Squadron Supreme of Earth-31916 respectively).

Contents

[edit] Publication history

The Doctor Spectrum (Joseph Ledger) from Earth-31916 has featured in a limited series.[2]

[edit] Fictional character biography

To avoid confusion, the biography is separated into two sections that describe both the villainous and heroic versions of Doctor Spectrum.

[edit] Doctor Spectrum - the supervillains

[edit] Kenji Obatu

The first Doctor Spectrum appears as a member of the Squadron Sinister, a group of supervillains assembled by the cosmic entity the Grandmaster to battle the champions of the time-travelling Kang - the superhero team the Avengers.[3] In this first encounter, the hero Iron Man defeats Doctor Spectrum by exposing him to ultra-violet light, which neutralizes the abilities of his Power Prism (see Powers and abilities).[4] This version of Doctor Spectrum later seeks revenge against Iron Man, but is defeated once again after a lengthy battle. On this occasion Iron Man crushes the Power Prism, leaving the Obatu Doctor Spectrum powerless, who is subsequently arrested and deported back to his native Africa.[5]

[edit] Billy Roberts

Unknown to Iron Man, the Power Prism reforms and is found by a sanitation worker, who eventually brings it to evangelist Billy Roberts, who after learning of the Prism's abilities becomes the second Doctor Spectrum.[6] The second Doctor Spectrum then assists the original members of the Squadron Sinister, who together with the alien Nebulon attempt to flood the Earth, but are stopped by the superhero team the Defenders.[7] After this defeat the Squadron Sinister are teleported off world by Nebulon, but are later returned to Earth. Having acquired an energy-draining weapon, the Squadron Sinister plan to threaten the Earth once more but are defeated by the Defenders and the Avenger Yellowjacket.[8]

After this defeat, the Power Prism is kept by Yellowjacket, who decides to modify the gem and present it to his wife Janet Van Dyne (also the Avenger known as the Wasp). The Power Prism seizes control of the Wasp and transforms her into a mind-controlled female Dr. Spectrum, who battles several Avengers but is then defeated. The Power Prism bonds to the Wasp in an attempt to save itself, but is eventually removed by Billy Roberts after he is located by the Avengers. Roberts becomes Doctor Spectrum once more, although on this occasion the Power Prism is in control and seeks to bond with the most powerful Avenger, the Thunder God Thor. The Power Prism succeeds in doing so, but fails to take into account that to wield the mystic hammer Mjolnir, Thor must be "worthy". Thor drops Mjolnir and reverts back to his mortal alter-ego Donald Blake, which results in the Power Prism losing control and becoming inert, apparently forever. [9]

[edit] Alice Nugent

Years later, another Power Prism appears and bonds itself to Alice Nugent, a former lab assistant of Henry Pym (also known as the Avenger Yellowjacket).[10] Becoming the third Doctor Spectrum, Nugent is coerced by the Grandmaster into joining a revamped Squadron Sinister, which battles the superhero team the New Thunderbolts. [11]

[edit] Doctor Spectrum - the superheroes

[edit] Joseph Ledger (Earth-712)

Joseph "Joe" Ledger is a former astronaut, who during a mission in space saves the life of an alien called the Skrullian Skymaster. The grateful Skrull gives Joe Ledger the Power Prism, a gem capable of synthesizing energy. Ledger becomes the hero Doctor Spectrum and eventually joins the team the Squadron Supreme. Dr. Spectrum and the other members of the team are first encountered by four Avengers, who accidentally cross into the Earth-712 universe. The Avengers first battle, then assist the Squadron Supreme against the global threat of Brain-Child before returning to their own universe.[12] Doctor Spectrum and the Squadron Supreme, while under control of the Serpent Cartel, later battle the Avengers once again. The Avengers help the Squadron turn against the Cartel, and help to free the Squadron's Earth from the influence of the artifact the Serpent Crown.[13]

Doctor Spectrum and the Squadron fall under the mind-control of the Over-Mind, and are eventually freed by the Defenders. Spectrum and the Squadron battle alongside the Defenders against the Over-Mind and his ally Null, the Living Darkness.[14] Doctor Spectrum goes on to play a significant role when the Squadron Supreme decide to take over their Earth and fashion it into a utopia, but after a deadly battle with several dissenting team members learns the error of his ways. The Black Archer shatters Spectrum's power prism wheh he refuses to fight. [15] Doctor Spectrum and the surviving members of the Squadron Supreme later cross over into the Earth-616 universe and assist the Avengers against the villain the Nth Man.[16]

After their mission against the Nth Man, Doctor Spectrum and the Squadron Supreme find themselves unable to return to the Earth-712 universe, and become stranded in the Earth-616 universe. They encountered the hero Quasar, and then relocate to the government facility Project Pegasus for a time. The team fall under the Over-Mind's control again, although the Squadron later regain their will when on the laboratory world of the Stranger [17] Doctor Strange later attempts to return the Squadron to their world, but is unable to do so. [18] Doctor Spectrum, and fellow Squadron members Hyperion and Whizzer then battle Deathurge. [19]

The Squadron later assists the Avengers against the villain Imus Champion and discover the means to return to their universe.[20] The team disband on returning home, then reunite to stop corporate corruption, with Doctor Spectrum being the first to assist fellow hero Hyperion.[21] Soon after this Doctor Spectrum and the team also aid the team the Exiles.[22]

[edit] Joseph Ledger (Earth-31916)

The Doctor Spectrum (Joseph Ledger) from the Earth-31916 universe in Doctor Spectrum #2 (2004). Art by Dale Keown
The Doctor Spectrum (Joseph Ledger) from the Earth-31916 universe in Doctor Spectrum #2 (2004). Art by Dale Keown

Joseph Ledger is a soldier in the United States Army who accidentally bonds with a crystal found in the vessel that brought Hyperion to Earth.[23] The experience places Ledger in a coma, and after reliving his life in his mind for the benefit of the apparently sentient crystal, Ledger awakens and adopts the codename of Doctor Spectrum.[24] Operating in a military-style uniform as opposed to a prismatic costume, Doctor Spectrum encounters and battles Hyperion, and later forms a truce with him to hunt down a super-powered serial killer. It is at this time that Doctor Spectrum also begins a tentative romance with fellow superhuman Amphibian [25] Both eventually join the US-backed Squadron Supreme.[26]

[edit] Powers and abilities

All versions of Doctor Spectrum derive their abilities from an alien gem called the Power Prism. The original prism, used by the Kenji Obatu and Billy Roberts versions of Doctor Spectrum, is in fact sentient. The Power Prism had previously been a Skrull called Krimonn, who after failing to usurp the Skrull Emperor was transformed into a prism.[27] When the Grandmaster requires champions to battle the Avengers, he retrieves the prism, and after granting Krimonn several energy-based powers that can be used in conjunction with a host, unites the prism with Kenji Obatu, who first uses the term "Power Prism." Although trapped in prism form, Krimonn remains aggressive and asserts his will via telepathy over Kenji Obatu, but is later "muted" by Nebulon when Billy Roberts is in possession of the Power Prism. Krimonn reasserts himself during his quest to find and use Thor, but when the plan fails and the gem is shattered, his consciousness apparently dissipated forever.

The powers bestowed on Krimonn in prism form include flight; energy projection and manipulation; protection from the rigors of space and in the case of the original Doctor Spectrum - Kenji Obatu - an ability to pass through solid objects. The Power Prisms of Earth-616 and Earth-712 have one weakness: being vulnerable to ultra-violet light. The alien Prism from Earth-31916 apparently does not have this weakness.

The Earth-712 Doctor Spectrum gains his power from tiny fragments of the Skrullian Power Prism, given to him by the Skrullian Skymaster, which have bonded to his skin and imbedded within his body. When the Power Prism exploded, his skin, hair, and costume were bleached chalk-white. He is capable of generating and emitting beams of an unknown form of energy in a variety of ways. The spectral energy can be emitted as concussive force, heat, light, and quasi-solid constructs. These constructs can take any shape he can fully visualize. Various forms of energy are emitted in different colors. He can control the shape, form, duration, and intensity of his spectral emanations. Mental fatigue will eventually impair his performance. Objects that he creates from spectral energy only remain in existence as long as he consciously wills them to be.

The Joe Ledger of Earth-712 has a college degree in aeronautics, and has also received astronaut training. He has a high aptitude for understanding and utilizing technology, and the ability to pilot various jets and spacecraft.

[edit] References

  1. ^ This numbering is confirmed by the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Worlds 2005
  2. ^ Doctor Spectrum: Full Spectrum #1 - 6 (2004 - 2005)
  3. ^ NOTE - It was revealed years later that the Grandmaster created the Squadron Sinister based on the already existing Squadron Supreme. The Avengers simply met the "copies" first. What adds to the confusion for readers is the fact that the covers of Avengers vol. 1, #85 and 141 promote the Squadron Sinister, when in fact it is the Squadron Supreme that appear on both occasions.
  4. ^ Avengers vol. 1, #69
  5. ^ Iron Man vol. 1, #63 - 66
  6. ^ Seen in flashback in Avengers Annual #8 (1978)
  7. ^ Defenders vol. 1, #13 - 14
  8. ^ Giant-Size Defenders #4 (1974)
  9. ^ Avengers Annual #8 (1978)
  10. ^ Iron Man vol. 1, #191
  11. ^ New Thunderbolts #15 - 16 + Thunderbolts #102 - 108
  12. ^ Avengers vol. 1, #85 - 86
  13. ^ Avengers vol. 1, #141 - 144, 147 - 149
  14. ^ Defenders #112-115
  15. ^ Squadron Supreme #1 - 12 (1985 - 1986)
  16. ^ Squadron Supreme:Death of a Universe (1989)
  17. ^ Quasar #13 - 16
  18. ^ Quasar #19
  19. ^ Quasar #25
  20. ^ Avengers vol. 3, #5 - 6 + Annual 1998
  21. ^ Squadron Supreme: New World Order (1998)
  22. ^ Exiles #77 - 78
  23. ^ Supreme Power #1 - 6 (2003 - 2004)
  24. ^ Doctor Spectrum: Full Spectrum #1 - 6 (2004 - 2005)
  25. ^ Supreme Power #7 - 18 (2005 - 2006)
  26. ^ Squadron Supreme vol. 2, #1 (2006)
  27. ^ Shown in flashback in Iron Man vol. 1, #63 - 66

[edit] External links