| Doctor Poison | |
|---|---|
 Doctor Poison as depicted inWonder Woman (vol. 2) #151 (December 1999); art by Matthew Clark (penciler), Tom Simmons (inker), andPatricia Mulvihill (colorist). | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Sensation Comics #2 (February 1942) |
| Created by | William Moulton Marston Harry G. Peter |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Princess Maru Marina Maru |
| Team affiliations | Villainy Inc. Secret Society of Super-Villains Godwatch |
| Abilities |
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Doctor Poison is a fictional character appearing inDC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superheroWonder Woman. A sadistic bioterrorist with a ghoulish face, she first appeared in 1942’sSensation Comics #2, written by Wonder Woman creatorWilliam Moulton Marston and illustrated byHarry G. Peter, and holds a distinction as Wonder Woman’s first costumed supervillain.[1]
As the narrative continuity of Wonder Woman comics has been adjusted by different writers and artists throughout the years, various versions of Doctor Poison have been presented, usually as perversely cruel toxicologists of Japanese descent. There have been at least four different incarnations of the character since her debut: (1) theGolden Age Doctor PoisonPrincess Maru; (2) the unnamedPost-Crisis Doctor Poison and Maru’s granddaughter, first appearing in 1999’sWonder Woman (vol. 2) #151; (3) the short-livedNew 52 Doctor Poison, a Russian scientist known only asDr. Maru, first appearing in 2016’sWonder Woman (vol. 4) #48; and (4)Colonel Marina Maru, aPost-Rebirth reformulation of the character who heads an elite team of mercenaries known as "Poison", first appearing in 2017’sWonder Woman (vol. 5) #13.
Elena Anaya portrayed the character in the 2017DC Extended Universe filmWonder Woman.
In her first appearance, Doctor Poison is presented as an ostensibly male figure in a hooded green surgical gown and black domino mask. Depicted with an eerie wide-eyed gaze and unsettling grimace, the character was an Axis scientist and mastermind who headed both the fictional Nazi Poison Division and the chemical research branch of the Japanese army.[2] Apprehended by Wonder Woman after commanding a bio-attack on an Allied military base, Doctor Poison is unmasked as a young woman named Princess Maru, a Japanese royal who disguised herself as a male supervillain to better protect her identity – a genderplay trope her creator William Moulton Marston incorporated into several other foes he conceived to battle Wonder Woman,[3] including theBlue Snowman andHypnota. Princess Maru made subsequent Golden Age appearances disguised as Doctor Poison even after her true identity had been revealed. After several clashes with Wonder Woman, she became a member ofVillainy Inc., a team of supervillains consisting of several of Wonder Woman's foes, including theCheetah,Giganta andQueen Clea.
After DC Comics rebooted its continuity in 1985 (in a publication event known as theCrisis on Infinite Earths), Wonder Woman, her supporting characters and many of her foes were re-imagined and reintroduced. A retooled Doctor Poison made her first appearance in this continuity in 1999. Now the unstable granddaughter of the original Princess Maru, she is attired in a still-androgynous dark green leather trench and cowl, paying homage to her grandmother's Golden Age surgical gown. "[The Post-Crisis] Dr. Poison presents a deliberately ghoulish face to the world. Molecularly bonded appliqués peel back her eyelids to achieve a permanent stare. Dental hooks pull her lips into a rictus of revulsion".[4] After several clashes with Wonder Woman, Doctor Poison joined Villainy Inc. and attempted to abet Queen Clea, and later the sentient computer virus Trinity, in taking over the other-dimensional realm ofSkartaris. She subsequently joined theSecret Society of Super Villains and, under the guidance ofAres and in collaboration with fellow Society members the Cheetah,Felix Faust andT.O. Morrow, created the powerful golemGenocide as part of a plot to kill Wonder Woman.[5]
In 2016, a new version of Doctor Poison, a vengeful Russian scientist known only as Dr. Maru, was introduced and briefly battled Wonder Woman before being apprehended. A year later, as part of DC Comics'Rebirth continuity reboot, yet another version of the character was introduced, this time as the Japanese-American mercenary Colonel Marina Maru, a for-hire operative ofVeronica Cale.
Doctor Poison first appeared as the chief of the poison division for aNazi spy band who had planned to contaminate the United States Army's water with "Reverso", a drug that compels whoever takes it to "do the exact opposite of what they are told". She disguised her sex by wearing a bulky hooded costume and a mask. Doctor Poison's underlings capturedSteve Trevor and brought him to their base in America where he was questioned by Doctor Poison.Wonder Woman, disguised as a nurse, aided Steve Trevor but was forced to flee the scene after a lengthy battle. Meanwhile, the Reverso drug was successful in turning thousands of American soldiers against their superiors. Wonder Woman recruitedEtta Candy to help her create a diversion for Doctor Poison's troops, which led to the defeat of the villain. When Wonder Woman pulled her disguise off, she discovered Doctor Poison to be Maru, aJapanese princess. Maru made one more attempt to defeat the amazon, but was tackled by Etta Candy and coerced into giving up the antidote. She was later taken into police custody.[6]
Later, Princess Maru escaped imprisonment and disguised herself as Mei Sing, a "princess" who worked in a Chinese nightclub. She once again captured Steve Trevor, who couldn't see through her disguise. This led to another encounter with Wonder Woman, whom Maru defeated with an anesthetic gas grenade. Maru had been perfecting a green gas which would clog the carburetors of the US planes. This plan was foiled once again by Wonder Woman.[7]
Instead of placing Maru back in prison, Wonder Woman sentenced her to Transformation Island, the Amazon penal colony where many female criminals were sent to reform. Although the majority of inmates have reformed with loving submission, Maru and seven other women refused to change their ways. The Saturnian slaverEviless banded these rebellious super-villains together under the nameVillainy Inc. Maru returned to her Doctor Poison disguise and trickedQueen Hippolyta into believing men had invadedParadise Island. The villains were able to capture Hippolyta's girdle, which they used to defeat Wonder Woman. Doctor Poison then joined Eviless,Blue Snowman, andCheetah on a boat with the captive Wonder Woman, plotting to imprison the Amazon on Transformation Island for revenge. Wonder Woman attempted to escape by turning over the boat, but the four members of Villainy Inc. defeated her once again. After traveling to Transformation Island, Eviless tortured Wonder Woman until the reformed criminal Irene led a mutiny against Villainy Inc. In the ensuing chaos, Wonder Woman and Hippolyta broke free of their chains and managed to defeat Doctor Poison and her three companions.[8]
After the events ofCrisis on Infinite Earths, Doctor Poison was a founding member of Villainy Inc., but the team was created byQueen Clea instead of Eviless. As part of Villainy Inc., Doctor Poison battled Hippolyta, the first Wonder Woman, in the 1940s.[9] It was later revealed by her granddaughter that she had died after creating the Reverso drug, as she accidentally reversed her own growth patterns and had forgotten the antidote by becoming too young too fast, eventually reverting to a fetus and then nothing.[10]
The grandchild of the original Doctor Poison, this second incarnation appears in league with the demi-goddessDevastation. Doctor Poison's sex remains ambiguous, the only clues being long fingernails and a lipsticked grimace. She also joined the second Villainy Inc. and once again battled Wonder Woman. This incarnation of Doctor Poison confirmed that her grandmother battledHippolyta as Wonder Woman during World War II before being killed by the "Reverso" drug.
Doctor Poison is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell free card from theSecret Six.
Doctor Poison is later recruited into theSecret Society of Super Villains and helps gather soil to createGenocide.
InThe New 52 continuity reboot, Maru is re-introduced as the Caucasian daughter of a Russian pair of scientists renowned for their knowledge of poisons. American spies had approached her parents as they thought the doctors' expertise could lead to the United States' domination in biological weaponry. When they refused, the Russian government discovered their practices. Her parents were branded terrorists by Russia, and imprisoned nearSiberia where they died during interrogations. Doctor Poison blamed the United States for her parents' deaths and planned to take revenge through chemical attacks.[11]
After the events ofDC Rebirth, Doctor Poison's history had been altered. In the current continuity, she is Colonel Marina Maru, a Japanese soldier working for her family's Poison organization.[12] During Wonder Woman's first few months in the United States, she discovers a group of men infected with the Maru Virus, a poison that drives its victims to rage-induced murder.[13] Ten years later, after Wonder Woman discovers that she has been living a lie for several years,Veronica Cale sends Poison to attack her.
InDoomsday Clock, Doctor Poison is among the villains who meet with theRiddler to discuss the Superman Theory.[14]
Doctor Poison is exceptionally intelligent, which mainly extends to her considerablechemistry,toxicology,fluid dynamics, and lingual skills and knowledge. Her primary invention was a new and deadlier version ofmustard gas, based on hydrogen instead of sulfur that she kept contained in pellets.
In the DC Rebirth universe, in addition to her scientific expertise, Doctor Poison is a trained soldier.
The Princess Maru incarnation of Doctor Poison makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in theBatman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Joker: The Vile and the Villainous!" as the bartender for a supervillain tavern.
An unidentified incarnation of Doctor Poison appears inDC Super Friends #24.[20]
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