Doctor Nemesis is the name of two fictional characters appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

and Ace Magazines. The first is James Bradley, a superhero and associate of the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

, while the second is Michael Stockton, a supervillain and enemy of

Ant-Man Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, his first appearance was in '' Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) as Dr. Henry ...

Publication history

The first version (James Bradley) was a derivative version of the eponymous

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

character, that originally appeared in Ace Magazines' ''Lightning Comics''. He is a co-creator of the original Human Torch android,''Uncanny X-Men'' #504 (January 2009) and appears in ''

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the List of X-Men comics, X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of super ...

'' as a member of the

X-Club The X Club was a dining club of nine men who supported the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism in Victorian era, late 19th-century England. Thomas Henry Huxley was the initiator; he called the first meeting for 3 November 186 ...

.''Uncanny X-Men'' #507 (May 2009) Doctor Nemesis appeared in ''

Cable and X-Force ''Cable and X-Force'' was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that began in February 2013, as part of Marvel NOW! The series finds Cable awakening after ''Avengers vs. X-Men'' and on the run with his new team of X-Force from t ...

'', a series by writer

Dennis Hopeless Dennis Hallum, known professionally as Dennis Hopeless and Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum, is an American comic book writer from Kansas City, Missouri, who has written for Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Boom! Studios, Arcana Studio and Oni Press. Hallum h ...

and artist

Salvador Larroca Salvador Larroca () is a Spanish comic book artist, primarily known for his American work on various ''X-Men'' titles for Marvel Comics. After starting his career as a Cartography, cartographer, Larroca transitioned to working as a comics artist ...

that debuted in December 2012. The second version (Michael Stockton) was unidentified in ''Marvel Feature'' #4, but officially debuted in ''Marvel Feature'' #9 and was created by

Mike Friedrich Mike Friedrich (; born March 27, 1949) is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series '' Star*Reach'', one of the first independent comics. He is also an ar ...

and Craig Russell.

Fictional character biography

James Bradley

James Bradley was born in San Francisco in 1906. Although primarily trained as a medical

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, he began working in the late 1930s with

Phineas Horton Haechi Haechi (Mark Sim) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Christopher Yost and Marcus To, he first appeared in ''New Warriors'' (vol. 5) #2 (March 2014). Sim is among the laten ...

in developing the original android

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and ar ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. While mostly a silent partner in this endeavor, Bradley began building a second android during this time. The two scientists did not correct the design flaw that causes their android to burst into flames upon exposure to oxygen. Bradley had preferred they resolve this issue before revealing their work to the public. Horton, eager for fame and further financial backing, held a press conference in late 1939 debuting their work. This turned into a public relations disaster, as Bradley had predicted, when the android caught on fire, causing the press to label it a menace. Bradley broke off their partnership thereafter and took his unfinished second android with him. Sometime before 1941, Bradley completed his work and the second android acted as the superhero Volton from late 1941 to early 1942. Unaware of its artificial origins, Bradley led Volton to believe it was a scientist named Guy Newton who had discovered how to generate electricity. Around this time, Bradley also decided to become a masked crimefighter, too. While working by day at Mercy Hospital in New York City, he would don a surgical mask to fight corruption and crime as Doctor Nemesis. According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', Bradley "uses his fighting ability and hypodermic needle full of truth serum to fight gangs and costumed madmen like the hypnotic Swami, the Surgeon (who unleashes plague-bearing rats on the city), and Dr. Quartz, the comic book version of the sociopathic vivisector who was

Nick Carter Nickolas Gene Carter (born January 28, 1980) is an American singer, the lead vocalist of the vocal group Backstreet Boys, and an alleged rapist. As of 2015, he has released three solo albums, '' Now or Never'', '' I'm Taking Off'' and '' All A ...

's arch-enemy in the dime novels." After a number of adventures, Doctor Nemesis was approached by agents of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

to form a group of costumed beings. Signifying a change in tactics, Bradley changed his alter-ego to Dr. Death and recruited Human Meteor, Spider Queen, Strongman, and Volton for the group Battle-Axis, which took extreme efforts to force the United States out of participating in World War II.''The Invaders'' (vol. 2) #2–4 (June–August 1993) After the war, Bradley reassumes the Doctor Nemesis persona and moves to

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

to hunt down

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

refugees. In ''

'', Bradley is revealed to be a

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...

with an enhanced intellect. He works with the

in an attempt to obtain mutant genetic samples from the past, but they are stopped by the

Dreaming Celestial Tiamut is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Eternals'' vol. 1 #18 (December 1977). He is a renegade member of the race of god-like Celestials. ...

as part of an unspecified cosmic plan.''Uncanny X-Men'' #508 (June 2009) Doctor Nemesis later appears as a member of

X-Force X-Force is a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #100 (April 1991 ...

and the Agents of Wakanda. He is also shown to be an inhabitant of

Krakoa Krakoa is a fictional living island appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in '' Giant-Size X-Men'' #1 and was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. While often depicted as an antagonist, Krakoa later fe ...

during the

Krakoan Age The Krakoan Age was a series of ''X-Men'' storylines published by Marvel Comics from 2019 to 2024. The Krakoan Age began with the Jonathan Hickman limited series ''House of X'' and ''Powers of X'' (July – October 2019) and it consists of fo ...

Michael Stockton

Michael Stockton was a scientist who was inventing a way to look into and study the subatomic worlds. He succeeded and stumbled onto one ruled by the monstrous tyrant Tim Boo Ba.''Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone'' one-shot (January 2006) At some point, Stockton becomes associated with A.I.M and stations in a laboratory near

Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, Pym debuted in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (Ja ...

's home. He plots to steal Pym's technology and allies with criminal M'Sieu Tete. Tete infects Pym with a virus that leaves him trapped at a small size, enabling Stockton to steal his size-changing technology and become Doctor Nemesis.''Marvel Feature'' #4 (July 1972)

Powers and abilities

The James Bradley incarnation of Doctor Nemesis is a mutant with a self-described "self-evolved" intellect, making him an instinctively-intuitive scientific and technological genius. He has delayed his own aging and enhanced his own immune system, leading to a prolonged lifespan. He has also enhanced his eyesight, allowing him to see genetic anomalies, including the Nazi clones he primarily hunted before joining the X-Club, over a distance of . Additionally, Nemesis is a polymath who has made major advances in handheld weaponry, medicine, chemistry, genetics, interdimensional travel, computer programming, and robotics. He arms himself with twin handguns that fire hypodermic projectiles containing dangerous narcotics. The projectiles were tailored to pierce body armor. He developed a sedating truth serum for use as an investigator. He created androids, including the sentient superhuman android Volton. He perfected a "dimension smasher" which teleported beings from other dimensions. His oscillotron device can trigger major earthquakes. He is an accomplished investigator and hand-to-hand combatant. The Michael Stockton incarnation of Doctor Nemesis can manipulate his size using

Pym Particles Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, Pym debuted in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (Ja ...

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of James Bradley / Doctor Nemesis appears in "

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'', is a 12-issue American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter ...

". This version is a servant of Dark Beast and

Mister Sinister Mister Sinister (Dr. Nathaniel Essex) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, the character was first mentioned as the employer behind the team ...

who is later killed by

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...

References

External links

* * * {{GoldenAge Characters created by Herb Trimpe Characters created by Mike Friedrich Characters created by Roy Thomas Comics characters introduced in 1941 Comics characters introduced in 1972 Comics characters introduced in 1973 Comics characters introduced in 1993 Fictional characters who can change size Fictional physicians Golden Age superheroes Marvel Comics characters with superhuman senses Marvel Comics male supervillains Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics mutants Marvel Comics scientists