Professor Hughes (Prime Earth)

Doctor Elemental was The Flash and The Boom's arch-nemesis in the early 1960's. He was secretly Jay Garrick's former academic advisor Professor Hughes.

History

Professor Hughes is an obsessively meticulous and patient but egomaniacal scientist. In 1938, on the day he was granted tenure at Midwestern University, he saw a news report of America's first superhero Green Lantern. From that moment on he became obsessed with unlocking mankind's full potential. His initial attempts to find a formula that would enhance physical capabilities to godlike levels failed as his test animals all died. He came to the conclusion that the issue was not the formula but the subject, and decided to immediately jump to human trials.

Jay Garrick and Professor Hughes Prime Earth — Professor Hughes and Jay Garrick

Hughes went through the student files to find the ideal subject and eventually settled on Jay Garrick, who was intelligent and bold enough to be useful in the lab but also an underachiever dissatisfied with life who would be easy to manipulate. Hughes approached Jay and asked him to assist in his research, presenting himself as a kindly mentor figure; and Jay eagerly accepted, excited to receive recognition. Over the next three years they worked on the formula and had a breakthrough when Jay came up with the idea of using hard water as a catalyst, which Hughes maintained he would have thought of himself given time. When Hughes believed the formula was ready he tasked Jay to work on an experiment overnight and supposedly left him, but in fact he simply went into the next room. He used a hidden hydraulic piston to tip over the workbench and send the equipment to shatter on the ground, releasing the gases inside. The fumes knocked Jay unconscious and Hughes left him to breathe it in for three hours before going in and "finding" him. He drew some blood for further study in case Jay died and began calling for help. Jay was taken to hospital and made a quick recovery. His doctor revealed to Hughes that Jay's physiology had been enhanced and accelerated, making him the fastest man alive. Hughes murdered the doctor to keep his research being revealed and taken over by the government.

Jay Garrick graduated, married his girlfriend Joan Williams and became the costumed adventurer the Flash. Meanwhile Hughes tried to replicate the process that gave Jay his powers but every experiment failed and killed the test subject. A Nazi agent codenamed Parsifal approached Hughes with the evidence of the people he had killed and blackmailed him into working for the Axis. Hughes built powerful weapons for the Nazis, and created a cyborg bear henchman known as Ro-Bear, in exchange for a lab and unlimited supply of test subjects to continue his attempts to replicate the Flash's powers. He created a suit of armour that gave him power over the elements and assumed the codename "Doctor Elemental" to hide his true identity.^[1]

In 1941, the Justice Society broke into his lab in Germany, hunting for the Spear of Destiny. He initially easily fought them off with his powers over the elements. He planned to kill the others and capture Jay for further experiments, but suddenly the Boom ran out of a portal and punched him out. He heard her call Jay "dad" and realised that she was from the future. His armour was damaged and he decided to flee, running to a rocket ship and setting off the lab's self-destruct to cover his escape. The Flash and the Boom chased after him, with the Flash launching the Boom into the air to stop the rocket. She managed to break through the hull and destroy the controls but he cut her to collect a blood sample, ejected out and escaped. He realised that it may be possible to replicate the Flash's powers onto his daughter in the future and fled with Ro-Bear to a stronghold in the Alps that even his Nazi benefactors did not know about.^[2]^[1]

Hughes continued to experiment with the sample he took from the Boom and waited for her to be born. In 1949 Jay and Joan had a daughter named Judy Garrick. As Doctor Elemental, Hughes also repeatedly clashed with the Flash, becoming seen as his arch-enemy. Hughes came to believe that the formula had not given Jay his powers but had instead activated a latent Metagene, which he may have passed on to his daughter. In 1962, on Judy's thirteenth birthday, he tested his theory by staging another "accident" where a pipe burst and doused Judy in the hard water formula. Like Jay she survived and gained super-speed, proving that there was a genetic component to their powers. Judy became her father's sidekick "The Boom".^[1]

Having determined that the metagene was the key, his next step was to find a way to introduce the metagene to someone who was not born with it, so they too would be given powers by his formula. In 1963, Doctor Elemental kidnapped Joan Garrick and took her to an abandoned water treatment plant on the outskirts of Keystone City. Just as he was dousing Joan in a liquid which he believed would mutate her and grant her the metagene, the Boom burst in to save her. He once again set off a bomb to allow himself to escape, but in the process he knocked off his mask and allowed the Boom to see his face. The Boom freed her mother, but then faded from existence. The Flash ran in just as she disappeared and Doctor Elemental, watching from the shadows, realised that they had forgotten that the Boom existed.^[3]^[1]

All memory of Judy Garrick was erased, with Hughes being the only person who remembered her. His identity as Doctor Elemental was inextricably tied to the Boom, as she had been present for every fight he had had with her father. Therefore when the Boom was erased, the Flash and the superhero community at large forgot that a villain called Doctor Elemental had ever existed as well. However, Jay Garrick still remembered Professor Hughes as his mentor in college.^[2]

Needing further test subjects, Hughes came up with the idea of creating an institute where metahumans would willingly go for help, giving him an unlimited supply of test subjects. He approached a young Garrison Slate with the idea and seed money for S.T.A.R. Labs, which Garrison eagerly agreed to, unaware of what he was really getting himself into.^[1] Hughes installed machines on the roof of every S.T.A.R. Labs building which, when charged with energy from a Flash, would transform all the world's water into the heavy water formula. This would kill 90% of the world's population and grant superspeed to the survivors.^[4]

In 2023, The Boom was rescued from Orphan Island and reunited with her father, restoring his memories of her.^[5] Jay Garrick's memories of Doctor Elemental also started to return, beginning with their first encounter in Germany.^[3]^[6] As The Boom could remember seeing Doctor Elemental's face, but not what he looked like, Mister Terrific took them to Terrifictech; where Fairplay and Quiz Kid were able to extract the memory from her brain and project Doctor Elemental's face on a screen. The Flash recognised him as Professor Hughes.^[2]

As S.T.A.R. was listed as Hughes' last known place of employment, Jay and Judy went to their headquarters in Detroit to look for information on his current whereabouts. Garrison Slate was waiting for them and told them the truth about Professor Hughes, even giving them his old diary detailing everything he had done to them. Hughes sent the receptionist, an android under his control, into the office to attack them.^[1] The receptionist killed Slate and attempted to kidnap Judy, who Hughes needed as the catalyst for his final experiment: a worldwide transformation. Jay was able to destroy the android and Hughes spoke to him through it, telling him that he had only ever seen Jay as a lab rate, before detonating a bomb built into the robot.

Jay and Judy were able to outrun the blast and went to Brazil, hoping to draw Hughes out. Hughes sent Ro-Bear and an army of robots to assault their location, but while his force fought the flash and his ally Doctor Mid-Nite on the surface, Hughes used his powers to tunnel through the Earth to the underground bunker where Judy was sheltering. He knocked her out with a tranquiliser dart and dragged her away.^[7]

Doctor Elemental took Judy to his secret base, an uncharted island in the Atlantic Ocean. He strapped her into a machine which acted as a focal point for the machines on the S.T.A.R. Labs facilities around the world and they beamed energy into her, turning her into a battery for the global transformation. Jay tracked him to the island and easily broke through his defences, but by the time he got there Judy was fully charged and he activated the second phase, beaming the energy out of her back to the S.T.A.R. buildings. The Flash was able to outrun the energy and destroy all the machines in turn, preventing the global transformation. Although Jay foiled his plan Hughes took the opportunity to sneak away through tunnels under the island. He was met in the caverns by a shadowy figure who said they had a proposition for him.^[4]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Decelerated Aging: Hughes developed a method to slow the aging process based on Jay Garrick's metagene.^[4] He did not visibly age between 1938 and 2024.^[1]

Abilities

Other Characteristics

Obsession

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Armor:
- Elemental Control: Doctor Elemental's armor grants him power over the elements.^[1]
  - Aerokinesis
  - Chlorokinesis
  - Geokinesis
  - Hydrokinesis
  - Pyrokinesis
    - Thermal-Blast

Notes

Professor Hughes was created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert, first appearing in Flash Comics #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Professor Hughes first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in The New Golden Age: Special Edition #1 by Jeremy Adams and Diego Olortegui.
His costume somewhat resembles the Marvel Comics villain Doctor Doom.

Professor Hughes (Prime Earth)

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