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Quote1 With this Philosopher's Stone I can transmute any element into any other. I bet your heart wouldn't work so good, if it was... oh, say... coal! Quote2
Doctor Alchemy src

Albert Desmond was a CCPD forensic scientist. He 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 and using the Philosopher's Stone, Desmond worked under the guise of Mister Element and later Doctor Alchemy.

Rogues

After being sent to jail by Flash, Desmond somehow found the Philosopher's Stone, which had 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.

Keystone Kops

Albert Desmond setup a lab in Gotham City that was discovered by officers Andrew Kelly and Donald Peak during a regular check-up on two children reported for suspicious behavior. When the chemicals spilled and mixed when attempting to remove the children from the hidden lab, a chemical fire set Andrew Kelly on fire. Donald Peak reported the flames emitted no heat. It was discovered the trap was set as an experiment by Albert Desmond to transform someone into a grotesque and powerful creature. The creature was eventually stopped by the GCPD and Batman.[3]


Abilities

Weaknesses

Equipment

As Doctor Alchemy:

As Mister Element:

  • Various gimmicks related to chemistry, as gold lines, sodium and magnesium capsules, a special liquid which dissolve ferrous metals, etc.[5]

Weapons

  • Element Gun (As Mister Element only)[6]


  • Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
  • Other characters have also used Desmond's gimmick. A S.T.A.R. Labs scientist named Doctor Curtis Engstrom briefly used the Philosopher's Stone as The Alchemist during the period Desmond was cured.
  • More recently, Alexander Petrov, a Keystone City police scientist, became the new Mister 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.[7]
  • Al's father Professor Peter Desmond was an astronomer investigating a star known as the Dragon's Eye. Al Desmond's wife Rita believed the star's instability affected her husband's sanity.[1]
  • A fake Dr. Alchemy claimed Al's father's name was Herman Desmond.[2]

Related

External Links

Footnotes


Robin - Burt Ward
Holy anachronisms, Batman!
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