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    Dr. Polaris (Nichol)

    Character » Dr. Polaris (Nichol) appears in 39 issues.

    John Nichol, a follower of Neal Emerson's, became the second Doctor Polaris after the death of Neal Emerson. Having no mental defects, Nichol is able to use his powers much more effectively than Emerson and with deadly results.

    Short summary describing this character.

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    This page is for the second Dr. Polaris, John Nichol

    For the original Dr. Polaris, see Neal Emerson

    Origin

    John Nichol
    John Nichol

    John Nichol, as a person was never found of the rules of society. often finding them to be made up by the weak to control the strong. But ironically enough, Nichol wouldn't have gotten as far in life if he didn't act like an law-abiding citizen. As he finished business school the easy way Nichol soon attended a lecture given by Neal Emerson, about the untapped potential a man could gain through Magnetism, soon by all of Emerson's books & Cd's after 6 weeks, Nichol soon became to develop his own powers.

    Nichol soon began to use his powers in ways Emerson never dreamed of. Nichol accidentally killed a co-worker after an argument ensued, he caused a electrical current in the man's brain causing him to die from a stroke. Nichol than begun to use his powers to get get him farther in life, even killing the Sextant Industries board of directors when they tried firing him from his job. 6 years later, Nichol was living life well and soon moved his company down to Mexico where labor was cheaper and there were no environmental laws.

    Creation

    John Nichol created by Brad Meltzer and Gene Ha

    Character Evolution

    Modern Age: New Earth

    Dr. Polaris II (New Earth)
    Dr. Polaris II (New Earth)

    After the death of the Original Dr. Polaris aka Neal Emerson, a new one was mentioned in the Justice League title, having fought the two league members Vixen & Red Arrow. This fight occurs off-panel but Dr. Polaris reappears later on in different issue though the identity of this new Dr. Polaris remained a mystery. He was also present among the recruits for Libra's new Secret Society.

    Like Emerson, John Nichol is a ferrokinetic and is an enemy of Blue Beetle. John Nicol is a shady businessman who has a working relationship with Lex Luthor and he is an associate of Intergang. With the Crime Doctor's help. Nichol was able to design a virus that can enhance a subject's strength with magnetic properties. The virus uses human ribosomes to manufacture billions of tiny electromagents in the subject's body. Once this has taken affect, the subject's cell metabolism accelerates thus creating an excess of electrical currents throughout the body which causes the subject's body temperature to rise until the red blood cells just explode .Doctor Polaris was also among the group of super villains lead by Tapeworm to attack

    Major Story Arcs

    Modern Age: New Earth

    Dr. Polaris vs. The New Blue Beetle

    Dr. Polaris takes on Blue Beetle
    Dr. Polaris takes on Blue Beetle

    Nichol uses La Dama's underground travel routes to sneak his virus out of Mexico and into the states where his Intergang benefactors wait for the shipments. Fortunately, Peacemaker was helping the Vanguard border patrol in preventing any trigger happy Texans from shooting innocent immigrants when he came across a shipment of Nichol's virus. Esteban, the leader of the illegal caravan, tells his lackies to shoot themselves up with the virus. The only person who didn't do what Esteban asked was Mariposa Nichol, who was placed there by her father to supervise the shipment. Jaime arrives to help Peacemaker but Esteban's newly enhanced magnetic powers caused a disruption in his scarab's abilities. Esteban and his gang escape while Mariposa stayed behind pretending to be another illegal immigrant trying to get into the country. Mariposa tells her sad story to Jaime and Jaime takes Mariposa to his friend Paco because Paco's mother handles immigration cases.

    The next day, Jaime visits La Dama to get answers as to what happened at the border but her answers were very cryptic because if she told Jaime that she was working with Nichol or Intergang then this would put a further strain between her and her niece Brenda. La Dama calls Nichol after Jaime's visit and tells Nichol that after last night's fiasco, she refuses to help him ship anymore of the virus. Nichol threatens La Dama that if she refuses then she had better watch her back the next time she is alone. As for Jaime, he gets a call from Hector, the soon to be Black Beetle, and he tells Jaime that there has been some irregularities at the El Paso electric substation. Esteban and his gang hid at the substation because the electrical currents at the station could mask the magentic fields that their bodies were generating. Jaime stops the gang by using the electrical conduits at the station to paralyze them. The gang is then sent to the hospital where Jaime's mother works at and Doctor Mid-Nite arrives at the hospital in order to treat the gang.

    Jaime leaves the hospital because he has to attend a ceremony at City Hall where he is being congratulated for his service to the city in recent months. Unfortunately, District Attorney William Chacon works for John Nichol and Chacon puts Jaime on the spot by saying Blue Beetle is the poster boy for the new wave of border patrol. The latin residents and illegal immigrants of El Paso explode into an uproar demanding to know why a superhero has chosen to support such an disreputable cause. Nichol's plan is to distract Blue Beetle with a bad PR campaign thereby allowing him to complete his goals. Nichol then orders Mariposa to meet with La Dama for an assignment. Mariposa calls out to La Dama at a park bench where La Dama usually goes to getaway from her alternate lifestyle of being a criminal. La Dama is shocked by Mariposa's abrupt entrance but she soon realizes that Mariposa was not sent to kill her. La Dama tells Mariposa that Nichol intended for her to be so startled by Mariposa's greeting that she would have shot Mariposa thinking she was an assassin sent to kill La Dama. Mariposa is shocked by this revelation and decides to hide out at a motel.

    At the hospital, Intergang members break into the hospital with Durlan weapons to kidnap the Esteban and his gang before they can be interrogated for answers. Jaime arrives to save his mother from Intergang but he fails to rescue Esteban's gang. Back at Sextant Industries, Nichol removes Intergang from his master plan by killing Mr. Smith. First Nichol wraps Mr. Smith in barb wire then he alters the magnetic field in Smith's brain thereby generating an electrical current which electrocutes Smith's mind. Paco receives a call from Mariposa stating that she needs to talk to him. Paco brings Brenda along with him and both of them end up as Mariposa's hostages. Mariposa thinks Paco is Blue Beetle due to his physique and by kidnapping Blue Beetle, this will impress her father. Jaime is joined by the Teen Titans who were called in by Traci 13 to stop a possible riot that might take place during the governor's speech on immigration. The governer speaks to the attending crowd about how illegal immigrants provide a vital as well as cultural aspect to El Paso.

    Nichol had his own associates pass the virus amongst the Vanguard demonstrators to start a riot. The Teen Titans stop the riot and Peacemaker puts a halt to another shipment of the virus which was leaving the border. However, the riot and the shipment were both distractions that were set up by Nichol. At the motel, Mariposa was followed by an associate of her father's named Bowers. Bowers was instructed by Nichol to eliminate Mariposa but Paco and Brenda overcame Bowers when he busted through Mariposa's motel room door. Mariposa arrives at the riot scene and tells Jaime that her father's true goal was to siphon the magnetic power from White Sands High Energy Testing Facility. Nichol intended to inject himself with militarized monopoles which are superconductive fluid like magnets with a single pole thereby giving him an invulnerable skin and the ability to catalyze fusion reactions. Nichol defeats Jaime and leaves him for dead then he heads toward San Paterno, Mexico to explore his newly enhanced magnetic powers. Jaime's scarab revives him and Mariposa rallies a couple of magnetically charged Vanguard members into helping Blue Beetle defeat her father because she informs them that the virus will kill them after a prolonged exposure.

    Mariposa arrives in San Paterno with the Vanguard members. The Vanguard distracts Nichol and Mariposa literally stabs her father in the back then Blue Beetle's scarab gathers enough energy to blast Nichol which negates his powers. Nichol is then carted of by the Federales for his crimes against Mexico. As for Mariposa, Jaime takes her to Mexico City where a friend of his has a grandmother that can look after her. After dropping off Mariposa, Jaime sets the record straight about his view on illegal immigration and he exposes DA Chacon's connection to Nichol.

    The Justice Society of America.

    JSA
    JSA

    Doctor Polaris is later seen as part of the group of villains hired by an unknown employer to attack the Justice Society of America. The villains are nearly successful in their attempt to destroy the society, and are only stopped and beaten back by the timely arrival of Doctor Fate. However, with the bounty on JSA still active, and the mysterious employer unwilling to release them of their deal, Polaris asserts himself as the leader of the group, using his wealth to pull the captured teammates out of jail, buying their loyalty and leading them to attack JSA once more. They are once again beaten by the intervention of Doctor Fate, and it is unknown what happens to them later on.

    Death

    During the Blackest Night event. During a conversation held by Calculator & Lex Luthor, Cheetah had verified that John Nichol had been killed by a Black Lantern version of Neal Emerson. The Calculator also noted that Nichol was his only informant on the new Blue Beetle.

    Powers & Abilities

    Magnetism

    John Nichol, just like Dr. Emerson or other ferrokinesis & Magnetism users was also capable of manipulating any form of metal to his whim, bending or breaking them with simple gestures. He could also make metal contrsucts explode and fly using his own powers. However Unlike Neal Emerson, whom had a fragile psyche. Nichol had no such weakness and was able to resist telepathy better and was able to use his abilities to a higher degree than his predecessor and with deadlier results. He could also use his powers to create localized magnetic storms inside a person's body killing them instantly and painfully.

    Other Version

    Other Media

    Television

    Batman: The Brave and the Bold

    Batman: The Brave and the Bold
    Batman: The Brave and the Bold

    Though not named on the show, Dr. Polaris first appeared robbing a mint with Batman & Blue Beetle showing up to stop him on an opening sequence on Batman The Brave & the Bold. Since Nichol was a enemy of the Blue Beetle, it's safe to assume this animated Dr. Polaris is in fact Nichol. He also reappeared later team up with Owlman to fight his good counterpart from Owlman's Earth whom took a resemblance to Marvel Comic's Magneto.

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