Doctor Spectro

Doctor Spectro
Doctor Spectro (right) fighting Captain Atom, on the cover of Captain Atom #79 Art by Steve Ditko.
Publication information
Publisher	Charlton Comics DC Comics
First appearance	Captain Atom #79 (February-March 1966)
Created by	Steve Ditko (plot, art) Joe Gill (script)
In-story information
Alter ego	Tom Emery
Species	Human
Abilities	Ability to control emotions using light-based powers

Doctor Spectro is a fictional supervillain that appears in comics published by Charlton Comics and DC Comics.

Doctor Spectro first appeared in Captain Atom #79 and was created by Steve Ditko and Joe Gill.

After inventing a series of prisms that could alter human emotions, a scientist was kidnapped by a gang of criminals and forced to use his invention to commit a bank robbery. When the scientist refused to help, the criminals pushed him into his experimental machinery. The strange energies of the machine reacted with the prisms, giving the scientist the ability to control emotions directly. The energy also affected his mind, causing the scientist to embark on a crime spree as Doctor Spectro. The superhero Captain Atom confronted Doctor Spectro, who was disintegrated when he came into contact with a high tension wire.

Doctor Spectro managed to survive and returned to fight Captain Atom.

Doctor Spectro became part of the DC Universe after DC Comics purchased the rights to Captain Atom and other characters. He appeared in issues #9 and 10 of Crisis on Infinite Earths (December 1985 and January 1986, respectively).

Post-Crisis, Doctor Spectro was re-introduced in Captain Atom Vol. 3, #5 (July 1987), in a story written by Cary Bates and drawn by Pat Broderick. In the new version Doctor Spectro was really Tom Emery. A newspaper reporter discovered that "Doctor Spectro" was the creation of General Wade Eiling to act as a fake supervillain whose exploits were used to provide a cover story for the Captain Atom project. Once Captain Atom went missing, Doctor Spectro reverted to the life of a small-time super-crook.

Doctor Spectro has made guest appearances in other DC titles, including Underworld Unleashed (November 1995), JLA #34 (October 1999), Action Comics #760 (December 1999), JSA #28 (November 2001), and Superman/Batman #3 (December 2003).