Doctor Bedlam
{{Infobox comics character
| image = Doctor Bedlam.jpg
| caption = Doctor Bedlam as depicted in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #6 (August 1985). Art by Jack Kirby and Mike Machlan.
| character_name = Doctor Bedlam
| real_name = Doctor Bedlam
| publisher = DC Comics
| debut = Mister Miracle #2 (May–June 1971)
| creators = Jack Kirby
| species = New God
| alliances = Darkseid's Elite
| aliases = Baron Bedlam, Macro-Man
| powers =
- Immortality
- Being of pure psionic energy, making him virtually invulnerable
- Master scientist
- Can control several powerful androids known as Animates
- Powers of mental manipulation and paranoia
- Paranoid Pill
}}
Doctor Bedlam is a DC Comics supervillain created by Jack Kirby as part of his Fourth World comic series of the 1970s. He is part of Darkseid's Elite on the planet Apokolips.{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Korte |first3=Steve |last4=Manning |first4=Matt |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |last6=Wilson |first6=Sven |title=The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe |date=2016 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-5357-0 |page=92}}
His name comes from the Bethlem Royal Hospital insane asylum, and is a reference to his madness-inducing "paranoid pill".
Publication history
Doctor Bedlam first appeared in Mister Miracle #3 (July–August 1971) and was created by Jack Kirby.{{Citation | last = Greenberger | first = Robert | author-link = Robert Greenberger | contribution = Doctor Bedlam | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The DC Comics Encyclopedia | pages = 102 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7566-4119-1 | oclc = 213309017}}
Fictional character biography
Doctor Bedlam's early life is unknown, save that he once possessed a physical body that was transformed into psychic energy. His primary foe is Mister Miracle, whom he has never defeated.
Following the destruction of Apokolips and New Genesis, Bedlam relocates to Earth, where he attracts the second Mister Miracle's attention by becoming an escape artist under the name Baron Bedlam.
Bedlam is featured in the Underworld Unleashed tie-in one-shot Apokolips - Dark Uprising, where Granny Goodness attempts to kill him.
Doctor Bedlam makes a minor appearance in Death of the New Gods, where Infinity-Man damages one of his Animates while hunting the New Gods.
In The New 52, Doctor Bedlam joins Steppenwolf's Hunger Dogs.Earth 2 #15 (October 2013)
Powers and abilities
Doctor Bedlam exists as a being of psychic energy and commands powerful constructs that he can project into. Furthermore, he is a skilled scientist who specializes in inducing terror via mental manipulation.
In other media
- A Halloween costume of Doctor Bedlam appears in the Justice League episode "A Knight of Shadows".
- Doctor Bedlam and his Animates appear as character summons in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.{{Cite web |last=Eisen |first=Andrew |date=October 2, 2013 |title=DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/scribblenauts-unmasked/DC_Characters_and_Objects |access-date=November 20, 2024 |website=IGN |language=en}}
- Doctor Bedlam appears in All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #15.All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #15
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.dcuguide.com/chronology.php?name=doctorbedlam Doctor Bedlam at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe]
{{New Gods}}
{{Jack Kirby}}
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1971
Category:Characters created by Jack Kirby
Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
Category:Fictional characters who can turn invisible