Spellbook: Hypnotism

Following a string of posts comparing the sorcery of Dr. Strange to Magic-User spells from Dungeons & Dragons, here is example featuring Dr. Druid. Originally introduced as Dr. Droom, one of the character's earliest abilities closely matched the 1st Level spell Hypnotism that would become available to Illusionists (a subclass of Magic-Users) in Advanced D&D. After falling under this spell, a hypnotized subject would become susceptible to a verbal suggestion of the spellcaster.

This panel of Dr. Druid hypnotizing the extraterrestrial Zamu comes from Weird Wonder Tales #20 (Jan. 1977), reprinting a Dr. Droom tale from Amazing Adventures #3 (Aug. 1961).

Space Invaders

Unlike the other exploits featuring Dr. Droom, a story published in Amazing Adventures #4 (Sept. 1961) was not reprinted a decade later when the character was reintroduced as Dr. Druid. That tale's title ominously asked, "What Lurks Within?"

When a spacecraft resembling a jack-o'-lantern landed on Earth, Dr. Droom used his telepathy to intimidate the extraterrestrials into leaving by convincing them that Earthlings were cranes with wrecking balls.

Dr. Droom: They were our first invaders from outer space. But we defeated them by our wits! As long as we use the brains which destiny gave us, we will always be able to meet threats to our survival--no matter where they come from--or how strong the enemy may be!

That sentiment might have confused readers who had been following the adventures of Dr. Droom, as this was not his first encounter with extraterrestrials. Dr. Droom had previously thwarted the conniving Zemu from the planet Saturn in Amazing Adventures #3 (Aug. 1961).

When that story reprinted in Weird Wonder Tales #20 (Jan. 1977), Dr. Droom became Dr. Druid, Zemu became Zamu, and Saturn became the planet R'Zahn.

Dr. Druid and the Missing Link

Historically speaking, Weird Wonder Tales #21 (March 1977) contained the most unusual appearance of Dr. Druid. In the story, Dr. Druid led a scientific expedition in search of the missing link to prove that humans had evolved from apes.

In the mountains of Borneo, Dr. Druid got more than he bargained for when he encountered a giant primate called Gorgilla. After Gorgilla saved the explorers from a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Dr. Druid decided not to capture Gorgilla and instead let the creature live in peace.

Though pictured in costume on the cover, Dr. Druid did nothing superhuman within the issue. That's because the story initially ran in Tales to Astonish #12 (October 1960) and featured an ordinary scientist named Scotty—not a superhero. The reprint changed the character's appearance and name to Dr. Druid while keeping the other original material intact.

A flashback to a lecture he attended in college set Dr. Druid's expectations for how the missing link might look.

The Secret Origin of Dr. Druid

As Dr. Druid grew in prominence, the similarities between his origin story and the origin of Dr. Strange became hard to overlook. Avengers Spotlight #37 reconciled this coincidence while reinvigorating the character.

Within the issue, Dr. Druid learned that the lama who had sent for and trained him in the Himalayas some time ago was none other than the Ancient One who went on to train Dr. Strange. The world needed a magical protector before Dr. Strange was psychologically ready to learn the mystic arts, so the Ancient One selected Dr. Druid as a precursor to Dr. Strange—cultivating the powers of the ancient Britons that Dr. Druid inherited.

With this revelation, Dr. Druid felt repentant for his manipulative behavior as a member of the Avengers. Further, he underwent a physical transformation, appearing as he might have looked a few years before his initial meeting with the lama (a.k.a. the Ancient One). Dr. Druid retained this younger body, with a full head of hair, during his time with the Secret Defenders.

Avengers Spotlight. Vol. 1. No. 37. October 1990. "Interlude in a Peaceable Kingdom!" Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Bob Hall (penciler), Win Mortimer (inker), Rick Parker (letterer), R. Witterstaetter (colorist), Mark Gruenwald (editor), Tom DeFalco (editor in chief).

The Lost City of Atlantis

While investigating the disappearance of the S.S. Luxuria in the pages of Amazing Adventures #2 (June 1961), Dr. Droom discovered that the people of Atlantis had captured the ship as a first step in launching an all-out invasion of the surface world.

At the end of the story, Dr. Droom successfully hypnotized the green, fish-like Atlanteans into believing the surface world was an uninhabited wasteland. Concerned that knowledge of Atlantis would make humans too apprehensive to travel the seas, Dr. Droom also hypnotized the Luxuria passengers to forget their experience.

Perhaps coincidentally, the events in this story were compatible in a roundabout way with Sub-Mariner suffering from amnesia in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962), his first published appearance in years.

When Weird Wonder Tales #22 (May 1977) reprinted this Dr. Droom tale, changing the character's name to Dr. Druid, an additional change occurred. The title of the story remained "The World Below!" But the underwater civilization changed from Atlantis to Aquatica, with no discernible ties to Sub-Mariner.

Weird Wonder Tales. Vol. 1. No. 22. May 1977. "The World Below!" A Stan Lee • Jack Kirby Masterwork. Inks by Dick Ayers.

The Discreet Debut of Dr. Druid

An earlier post on this blog noted how the first few appearances of Dr. Droom in Amazing Adventures appeared years later in Weird Wonder Tales … prominently reintroducing the mystical hero as Dr. Druid.

Interestingly, Dr. Droom had returned for a fifth appearance in Amazing Adventures #6 (Nov. 1961), which had the same publication cover date as Fantastic Four #1. But while the Fantastic Four would enjoy lasting success, launching a new generation of heroes in Marvel Comics, the character of Dr. Droom fell into obscurity.

In that fifth and final Dr. Droom adventure, an extraterrestrial menace named Krogg used advanced technology to send houses in the town of Greenbirch to another dimension. That five-page story was reprinted as a back-up feature in Giant-Size Man-Thing #3 (Feb. 1975), changing the name Dr. Droom to Dr. Druid two years before Weird Wonder Tales #19 (Feb. 1977) … and effectively making the last published appearance of Dr. Droom the first published appearance of Dr. Druid.

This image of Dr. Droom/Druid comes from the final page of the story "Krogg!"

Deadpool: The Postmodern Poster Boy

Deadpool was hard to ignore during his appearances in Secret Defenders #15-17. With constant quips and unrelenting references to pop culture, the anti-hero's dialogue had a stream-of-consciousness quality about it.

As a temporary member of the Secret Defenders, Deadpool accompanied Dr. Druid (now leading the covert team), the mysterious Shadowoman (not to be mistaken for Spider-Woman), and Luke Cage (billed simply as Cage instead of Power Man). Fittingly, Deadpool complained that Heroes for Hire like Cage gave mercenaries like himself a bad name.

For all his insufferable banter, however, Deadpool had a semblance of self-awareness. Consider his opening words from #15.

Deadpool: Now up ahead, on our left … we see a stunning example of post-modernist expressionism! And when it comes to expressionism, you ain't never had a friend like me!

Deadpool's identification with postmodernism made sense. This was the Copper Age of superhero comics, after all, when cosmic-level continuity shifts became commonplace and deceased characters routinely resurrected from the dead. Within this storytelling framework, the stakes weren't as permanent or lasting as they seemed been in the past, and Deadpool's facetiousness reflected that.

Secret Defenders #15 included an insert with three detachable Marvel Cards for the villain Venom, another popular character to emerge during Copper Age of comic books.

Secret Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 15. May 1994. "Strange Changes, Part the First: Strangers and Other Lovers." Tim Brevoort & Mike Kanterovich (writers), Jerry DeCaire (penciler), Tony DeZuniga (inker), John Costanza (letterer), John Kalisz (colorist), Craig Anderson (editor), Tom DeFalco (mystic harbinger in chief).

Discerning Dr. Druid

Previous posts on this site have looked at several members of the Defenders, and even Man-Thing, in context of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Given his name, Dr. Druid is another character worth considering from this perspective.

First things first: the mystical hero bears almost no resemblance to a Druid as described in D&D or other literature. The incongruency arose when the character's name changed from the original (albeit vague) Dr. Droom to Dr. Druid.

If not a Druid then, where might he fall within the game? Dr. Druid's power of hypnosis and cerebral school of magic map closely to the spells available to an Illusionist, a Magic-User sub-class from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. In his earliest adventures, Dr. Druid demonstrated the exceptional intelligence and dexterity required of Illusionist characters.

Although an Illusionist could follow any philosophical alignment within the game, Druid characters would automatically identify as Neutral, seeing good/evil, law/chaos as balancing forces in nature. With regard to his own moral compass, the shadowy Dr. Druid could be hard to pin down.

This image of Dr. Druid comes from The Office Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Droom Patrol

Defenders #27 (Sept. 1975) took the non-team to the year 3015 A.D. In that future timeline, Dr. Strange, Hulk, Nighthawk and Valkyrie teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to battle the Badoon, a species of green-skinned extraterrestrials that had conquered the Earth. Leading the Badoon was a despot named Droom.

That character's name caught my attention for historical reasons.

Amazing Adventures #1 (June 1961) introduced Dr. Droom, a physician from the United States who learned magic in Tibet. The magician's amazing adventures continued each month through issue #4 (Sept. 1961), but Dr. Droom did not become part of the extended superhero universe that cemented with Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961).

That changed, in a way, with the publication of Weird Wonder Tales #19 (Dec. 1976), which reprinted that tale from Amazing Adventures #1 with minor revisions.

The original story depicted Dr. Droom as gaining a stereotypical Asian mustache and slanted eyes as a result of learning magic. The reprint, on the other hand, inked over the original artwork and gave the character a beard and consistent facial features throughout the story.

The reprint also changed the hero's surname from Droom to Druid. Revised versions of other Dr. Droom stories appeared with the renamed Dr. Druid each month through Weird Wonder Tales #22 (March 1977). That issue included an introductory paragraph that gave more cohesion to the eclectic character:

My name is Anthony Druid, and in my time I have been many things. I have the skills of a Yogi—the wisdom of a Lama—and the powers of the ancient Britons! I dwell in a dark, shadowy world—destroying evil, protecting the innocent. Danger is my task … Justice, my goal! DR. DRUID. MASTER of the UNKNOWN!

Against the Swarm

A string of fatal insect attacks against leading entomologists prompted the national Department of Covert Extranormal Investigation and Disinformation to enlist the help of Dr. Druid (Secret Defenders #18-19).

At Dr. Druid's recommendation, Henry Pym received orders from the highest levels of government to investigate conspicuous insect infestations at the Rand-Meachum Technology Facility in Houston.

Though back to his Giant-Man powers at the time, Dr. Pym brought along a cybernetic helmet from his days as Ant-Man. Accompanied by Iron Fist—who was already on site as Daniel Rand, chairman and CEO of Rand-Meachum Inc.—Pym concluded that a singular consciousness was controlling the army of insects that stormed the facility.

Meanwhile, Dr. Druid, Shadowoman, and Cadaver of the Secret Defenders worked behind the scenes to battle Swarm, the collective intelligence responsible for the attacks.

During the encounter, Dr. Druid sensed that Iceman and Angel had previously faced Swarm (Champions #14-15). For backup, Dr. Druid cast an illusion in the minds of Iceman and Archangel that Professor Xavier wanted them to report to the facility. The two mutants arrived at the tail end of this latest conflict.

Secret Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 18. August 1994. "A Tiny Little War." Tom Brevroot & Mike Kanterovich (writers), Bill Wylie (penciler), Hudson + Dezuniga (inkers), John Costanza (letterer), Jim Hoston (colorist), Craig Anderson (editor), Tom DeFalco (editor in chief).

Secret Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 19. September 1994. "Survival of the Fittest." Tom Brevroot & Mike Kanterovich (writers), Bill Wylie (breakdowns), Tony Dezuniga (finishes), John Costanza (letterer), John Kausz (colorist), Craig Anderson (editor), Tom DeFalco (bee-hind it all).