Doctor Druid
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Doctor Druid, also known as Doctor Droom and Druid, is a fictional character, a supernatural monster-hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. He starred in his own continuing feature that debuted in Amazing Adventures Vol. 1, #1 (June 1961). Co-created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, he predates The Fantastic Four #1, establishing him as Marvel's first Silver Age superhero.
Doctor Druid's real name is Dr. Anthony Ludgate Druid, although he usually refers to himself as Dr. Anthony Druid for effect. He is a psychiatrist, as well as a minor telepath and magician, specializing mostly in hypnosis and other feats of mesmerism. He has minor magical abilities that have varied over the years. He is also an expert on the occult, having been trained by a Tibetan lama who'd come to the U.S. for medical attention (later retconned as the Ancient One, the same sorcerer who trained Doctor Strange). Ludgate was later revealed to be a distant descendant of the real-life Amergin the Druid.
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[edit] Introduction as Doctor Droom
In his earliest appearances, in the first six issues of 1961's Amazing Adventures, Doctor Druid was introduced as Doctor Droom. More a monster-story appendage than a serious attempt at creating a three-dimensional character in the manner of the upcoming Spider-Man or Fantastic Four, Doctor Droom vanished into obscurity for years after the series was retitled and reformatted as Amazing Adult Fantasy with #7. He resurfaced in the 1970s as a guest character in The Incredible Hulk, where he was retitled Doctor Druid to avoid confusion with the far more recognizable Doctor Doom.
[edit] Revival as Doctor Druid
Doctor Druid remained on the sidelines for years, but eventually joined the ranks of The Avengers after helping them defeat Baron Zemo's attack on Avengers Mansion by telepathically convincing Blackout to rebel against Zemo. His membership in that team was tainted when he was mind controlled by the supervillainess called the Terminatrix (at the time impersonating the space pirate Nebula) into manipulating the team on her behalf. Her control on the team was weakened during a time travel adventure, and when "Nebula" was cast into Limbo, Druid followed, as he was still under her thrall. He eventually regained control of his own mind and returned to present-day Earth.
Due to his actions as the villain's thrall, Druid was disgraced. He was briefly reunited with his former teammates while working with Doctor Strange during the Infinity War crossover, and later became leader of the Secret Defenders. In that role, he was once again victimized by a villain's mind control, this time by a demon named Slorioth. Doctor Druid and the demon were defeated, Druid faked his own death, and the team disbanded.
Restyling himself as a straightforward magician called "Druid", he went insane, was betrayed by his allies, and was finally killed by Daimon Hellstrom, the putative Son of Satan, in the final issue of the four-issue Druid miniseries (May-Aug. 1995). Druid's ghost appeared later alongside the spirits of other dead ex-Avengers, confirming that Druid had in fact died this time. A memorial statue was later placed in the garden of the Avengers Mansion.
Druid also appeared in the flashback and retcon title Marvel Universe, as a member of the group Monster Hunters at the crux between Marvel's "Age of Monsters" and "Age of Heroes".
[edit] Original Doctor Droom appearances
Amazing Adventures
Reprints edited to reflect name-change to "Dr. Druid" plus other retcon
- #1 (June 1961) — "I Am the Fantastic Dr. Droom"
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- Reprinted in Weird Wonder Tales #19 (Dec. 1976)
- #2 (July 1961) — "The World Below"
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- Reprinted in Weird Wonder Tales #22 (May 1977)
- #3 (Aug. 1961) — "Dr. Droom Meets Zemu"
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- Reprinted in Weird Wonder Tales #7 (Dec. 1974)
- #4 (Sept. 1961) — "What Lurks Within?"
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- Never reprinted
- #6 (Nov. 1961) — "Dr. Droom Defies the Menace Called ... Krogg"
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- Reprinted in Giant-Size Man-Thing #3 (Feb. 1975)
