Welcome back to another of Demanded Characters. Last week we took a look at a second villain for Aquaman, so this week let’s continue the theme of second villains, with a Green Lantern bad guy. A brilliant doctor with a split personality and the powers of Magneto, Dr. Polaris has been a thorn in many of the Earth’s Green Lanterns.
Last week, though the red sting ray won the poll, it seemed like the consensus is that most fans want some version of the Ocean Master.
Like most villains, John Emerson’s whole reason for becoming a villain can be traced to his abusive childhood. He was abused by his family members, and it led to a growing dark side in John’s mind. As an adult he left home to study abroad, and over time he became a brilliant doctor. During his medical studies he had a fascination with magnets and their powers. As his popularity grew he started to give lectures, and to add a little flair to them he wore a costume and took on the name Dr. Polaris. Little did Emerson know that by doing this he gave his dark side an outlet, and the villain Dr. Polaris was born. Like most other villains he keeps trying to both increase his powers and make money out of the deal, but a Green Lantern, or one of the JLA is always around to stop him. Inside his mind another battle rages though, between Polaris and Emerson, that is until is stopped by Neron, giving Polaris full control over Emerson’s body. Dr. Polaris met his end during Infinite Crisis at the hands of the Human Bomb. Though Emerson died, the mantel has been carried on by John Nichol, who has found a new hero to pester, the new Blue Beetle.
Now lets take a look at his two most memorable costumes.
The first costume he had was, well, goofy. It almost seemed to be metal and for someone who draws in metal, I don’t think wearing metal is a great idea. Nonetheless, Dr. Polaris made sure everyone knew his power by wearing a magnet symbol on his chest. There are a lot of little details that would make this a very cool figure, and he would fit in with the look from the time period that Mattel is choosing its heroes.
Our second choice is something more modern, and has the kind of details on it that we all want to see what the Horsemen can do with it. This version seems to be much more in tune with the identity of the character. The armored look where the face is hidden and you can only see the eyes, makes it look like the evil side of Emerson peeking out at you. With the different textures and maybe magnetic ring-like attachments for his hands, like Firestorm, he would be a great addition to the DCUC line. Not to mention that he could double for Emerson, and with some minor tweaks Nichol as well.
So there you have it what version of Dr. Polaris would you rather have?
