Creating Composite Counterparts

An endeavor in our research of the DC Multiverse is to explore the various facets of the parallel planets known as Earths One and Two, and this includes locating all doppelgängers on each world. For several, this is straightforward for virtual carbon copies, for heroes such as the Batmen, and villains such as the Jokers. For some, this is still relatively easy, for those such as the Hawkmen and Hawkwomen who have different appearances. For others, this is based upon powers and aliases such as the Flashes aka Barry Allen and Jay Garrick.

Then there are the few prominent protagonists and amoral antagonists on Earth-One who initially seem unique, with no direct comparisons on Earth-Two. However, upon further examination, we can ascertain a few upon deeper analysis. Consider, for example, Matt Hagen. The second man to use the alias of Clayface, his predecessor was former movie star turned criminal Basil Karlo. In fact, there was a Karlo/Clayface on both Earths... yet Matt only existed on Earth-One.

However, a crook named Bart Megan existing on Earth-Two adopted the alter ego of Doctor No-Face. Having a similar modus operandi, along with appearance altering abilities, it seemed this one-hit wonder could be his world's version of the second Clayface. His placement on Earth-Two was verified in the Batman Encyclopedia, published as an authoritative work on the characters related to the Batman mythos. 

And decades later, another man with similar criminal intent using the alias of Graham Peake had... like Megan... adopted a profession as a doctor, and also like Matt had sought to synthetically alter his body mass into different shapes. When encountering Batman's daughter, the Huntress, Peake in fact was transformed into a form similar to Hagen when he was Clayface II. And so, we connect the dots, and hypothesize that Bart "Doctor No-Face" Megan and Graham Peake are one in the same person... and his world's version of the second Clayface.

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Another specimen for consideration Toby "Terra Man" Manning, a time-displaced outlaw cowboy from the 1800s who arrived in 20th century Metropolis on Earth-One to repeatedly battle Superman. Employing a variety of advanced weaponry, which Manning inherited from the alien criminal who adopted him after slaying his father, Terra-Man posed a serious threat to the Man of Steel. During one adventure, Toby encountered a counterpart from another universe, a Terra-Man from a world without a Superman.

Yet prior to this, Superman found himself at odds on Earth-One with another time-lost (and universe displaced) rogue, pirate captain Ezra Hawkins... the ancestor of Inza Nelson of Earth-Two! This man appeared similar to Manning, and also using a variety of special weaponry against the Kryptonian caped crusader.

Decades earlier, another man named Sir Traytor battled Shining Knight. This was a immortal villains from the days of Camelot, and in fact during that ancient period the Superman of Earth-Two had battled a Dark Knight who bore a striking resemblance to both Ezra Hawkins... and the sinister Sir Oswald Bane who had opposed Clark "Superman" Kent's ancestor, Brian "Silent Knight" Kent! And so, we connect the dots that Sir Bane gained immortality as Sir Traytor, assumed the alias of Ezra Hawkins in the 1500s, and reappeared in the 1940s to battling Shining Knight!

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Then there was the benevolent Professor Potter, the inventive absent minds uncle of the Earth-One Lana Lang. He had developed a wide range of technologies and gadgets, including a version of the imperfect duplicator that could transform Bizarro clones into humans. He even spawned a Bizarro version of himself. On Earth-Two, the failed cartoonist Funny Face developed the bio-ray, which could animate comic strip characters bringing them to life. Both attempts at defeating his world's Superman with various fabricated foes... including a duplicate of the Man of Steel named Flying Tiger... met with defeat.

Decades later, a kindly physician who developed a duplication ray saved Jimmy Olsen's life, by cloning an organ provided to him by Jimmy's Earth-One counterpart. Connecting these two individuals with the similar bio-ray... Funny Face who wanted to bring cartoons to life and the physician who saved lives... we hypothesize that this former criminal turned doctor was the Phineas Potter of Earth-Two!

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Finally, we consider the counterpart to the most persistent foe the Justice League ever faced. That adversary, Doctor Destiny, was originally a sinister scientist who developed a device that could fabricate dreams into reality called the Materiopikon. After four failed forays versus the League, the Doctor was incarcerated for a number of years, before finally being released from prison in his skeletal state. Caused by his lack of dreams, taken from him by a psychologist employed by the League to strip Destiny of his deadly device, this left him criminally insane.

His doppelgänger was Doctor Elba, a rogue researcher mentally manipulated by fellow felonious scientist Doctor Henry “Brain Wave” King. Using his Solution K, which corrupted those injected with the chemical concoction, Elba hatched a criminal scheme that was ultimately thwarted by the Justice Society. However, soon after, another insane man garbed as Mister Ghool used a similar chemical cocktail to manipulate the minds of his victims. This criminal, who battled Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. had the same modus operandi as had Doctor Elba.

These are but a few examples of tying together lose ends throughout the history of Earth-Two, and seemingly one-time characters, to form a more complete picture given a modern lens. A persistent belief had been that this world, in contrast to its contemporary Earth-One, was devoid of many key characters. Upon further examination, there is a richer legacy to be drawn from carefully dissecting tales from the various decades of publishing within the DC Comics Multiverse!