Doctor Alchemy

Doctor Alchemy is the name of several characters in the DC Universe.

Doctor Alchemy (Albert Desmond)

Main Article: Albert Desmond

Pre-Crisis

Whilst in prison, he had a cellmate by the name of Ben Sniper who told him of a wonder stone. Examining his fellow in-mates room, he found the stone and determined it was the fabled Philosopher's Stone. Taking it with him, he escaped to subterranean lair where he abandoned his old criminal persona as Mr. Element and took on the name of Doctor Alchemy. (Showcase v1 #14)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

Desmond later came to be possessed by the former owners of the Philosopher's Stone with among them being Simon Magus. They attempted to wrest control of his body and took over his role of Doctor Alchemy. Using Magus's future knowledge, they became aware of the fact that Barry Allen was the Flash. They then orchestrated a plan to acquire the powers of the Stone by making it a part of their body. This saw them breaking out of Iron Heights and looking to use the abilities of a Responsometer. (Flash v1 #765)

Doctor Alchemy (Alvin Desmond)

Main Article: Alvin Desmond

Alvin Desmond was a male human born as the son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Desmond in Tampa Florida on the same day as well as moment as Albert Desmond. Whilst growing up, Alvin had developed an obsessive passion for chemistry and the world of elements just like his astral twin Albert. At this time, Albert had developed his Doctor Alchemy criminal persona and began to use the Philosopher's Stone to become a costumed supervillain. In this moment, Alvin Desmond began to struggle to contain his own evil impulses but claimed to have had the fortitude of mind to resist them. Upon learning of Doctor Alchemy, Alvin saw that his own evil impulses began to waiver whenever his astral twin fell into his own villainous persona. Meanwhile, when Albert's evil impulses were in remission then Alvin's began to grow with this developing when his astral twin began to seek therapy as well as change his life around. This resulted in Alvin succumbing to his evil nature and he decided to become a supervillain where he took on the identity of Doctor Alchemy. (The Flash v1 #288)

Alchemist (Curtis Engstrom)

Main Article: Curtis Engstrom

Dr. Curtis Engstrom was a human scientist who specialised as a biochemist where he came to be employed by S.T.A.R. Labs. He was part of a project that came to acquire the Philosopher's Stone from Doctor Alchemy where they shaved off a microscopic fragment of the object. This was then used as part of a key ingredient in a prototype microminiature medical computer with the intention that this would be used to navigate the bloodstream and transmute free radicals into iron to fortify a body's blood cells and eliminate blood diseases. Enstrom was present as an outside advisor but ended up stealing the invention where he intended to ransom the computer. In the process, he also stole the Philosopher's Stone but was captured before he could uncover its capabilities. He was sent to prison but after escaping he took the Philosopher's Stone and set himself as a supervillain going by the name of the Alchemist. (The Flash v2 #71)

Doctor Alchemy (Alexander Petrov)

Main Article: Alexander Petrov

Overview

Central to the Doctor Alchemy role was the use of the Philosopher's Stone of medieval times that was a wondrous stone said to be capable of changing one substance into another. By pressing a certain point on the stone, the bearer found that they could change different substances in different ways. (Showcase v1 #14) It could also change the chemicals within the human body and was capable of altering the DNA of the user. This meant it could change the bearer into one of the many former bearers of the stone that included Simon Magus. Some of these personalities were capable of taking possession of the person's body with all sharing a collective knowledge of any of the users. (Flash v1 #765)

Notes

• The concept of Doctor Alchemy was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino where it made its first appearance in Showcase v1 #14 (June, 1958).

Appearances

• Showcase v1: (1958)
• The Flash v1:
• The Flash v2:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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