PROFESSOR BALDWIN

Real Name: Baldwin (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Bio-engineer

Group Membership: Davidson University faculty

Affiliations: Brock, "Hobbes", "Two-Head Dog-Man"

Enemies: Illuminator

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Science Building, Davidson University, Nashville, Tennessee

First Appearance: Illuminator#2 (1993)

Powers/Abilities: Professor Baldwin possesses no powers, but is a highly intelligent scientist well-versed in genetics. He had some unspecified birth defect that confined him to a wheelchair.

History:
(Illuminator#2/1 (fb) - BTS) - Professor Baldwin accepted football player Brock as a volunteer for his genetic experiments, which he passed off as being strength-enhancing.

(Illuminator#2/1) - Baldwin became enraged when he learned his funding was being cut due to the controversial nature of his experiments. He went on television to promote his views that by using his methods, humans would one day possess the physical attributes of animals and would be "perfect." His rantings caught the attention of the hero known as the Illuminator, who went to Davidson University in his regular identity of Andrew Prentiss to look into the situation. Shortly after arriving, he confronted a strange tiger-man in the library, and used his light powers to drive the creature off, revealing that it was in fact two different creatures (man and tiger) merged into one. After that, Andy met up with his sister, Diane, who was an undergraduate at the school. Under the pretense of being interested in bio-engineering, Andrew convinced Diane to take him to the Science Building, where he met Professor Baldwin. While there, Andrew and Baldwin got into an argument over the differences between theology and science in the role of man.

Leaving Baldwin’s, the Illuminator flew over the university’s football stadium, where he saw an alligator-man attacking football players on the field. The Illuminator then tried to use the same light power to combat this creature. When the two original forms of the now-merged creature began to painfully split, a woman recognized the human part as her boyfriend Brock, and knocked the Illuminator out to protect him. She then apologized and explained that Brock had gone to Baldwin to help him get back on the football team.

Returning to Baldwin’s lab, the Illuminator was attacked by a two-headed dog-man, Baldwin’s first successful experiment that did not involve humans. Brock and "Hobbes" joined in the fight, and it led to a construction site. When the Illuminator attempted to use his light powers against the Dog-Man, he accidentally killed it. Arriving, Baldwin was devastated to learn his prized project was dead. The other two creatures, in great pain, decided to end their suffering. They took a remorseful Baldwin under the construction site, and tore the building structure down, letting it collapse on all three of them.

Comments: Created by Glenn Herdling, E. Craig Brasfield and Frank Turner.

Illuminator was a series that Marvel published in a partnership with Nelson Publishers, a Christian books company. The series was aimed at the Christian youth market, and all stories were driven by these themes. As far as I know, only three issues of the series ever came out. Apparently, a fourth issue was solicited, but never arrived.

One panel showed that Baldwin had at least three more man/animal hybrid creatures, but they never left the lab table. These included a goat-man, an owl-man and a female who was either a monkey-woman or a porcupine-woman.

Another panel alludes to Baldwin being behind numerous missing homeless people, obviously his subjects for his experiments.

About the "Two-Headed Dog-Man": There is a possibility there was some gorilla (or other ape) in this creature, as it’s body certainly resembled one. However, both heads were those of canines. When the Illuminator killed it by pulling the creatures apart, there was a smaller dog, another dog’s head, and the body, which again, by itself, resembled a gorilla. However, since Brock and "Hobbes" had muscular anthropomorphic attributes, it’s not unseemly for a dog-creature to have them too.

"Hobbes" is thus named here as that’s what the Illuminator referred to him as, referring, of course, to the classic comic strip character from Calvin & Hobbes.


Profile by Madison Carter

Clarifications:

PROFESSOR BALDWIN has no known connections to

BROCK has no known connections to

"HOBBES" has no known connections to

"Two-Headed Dog-Man" has no known connections to

Brock

Brock was a football player who got cut from the Davidson Dynamos football team. Looking to enhance his strength to get back on the team, he volunteered for Baldwin’s experiments, and was merged with an alligator. The combined creature then crashed a football game, attacking the players.

--Illuminator#2/1 (fb)/[BTS], Illuminator#2/1



"Hobbes"

The first of the creatures the Illuminator encountered, he was most likely a vagrant that Baldwin used for his experiments. He apparently was killed along with Baldwin and Brock in the collapse of the building structure.

--Illuminator#2/1



"Two-Headed Dog-Man"

Baldwin’s first successful experiment using only two animals, and no humans. He/it was killed when the Illuminator attempted to use his light powers on it, separating the merged creatures.

--Illuminator#2/1






images:

All images taken from Illuminator#2/1

(Professor Baldwin): page 11, panel 2
(unused animal-men): page 16, panel 3
(Brock): page 13, panel 4
("Hobbes"): page 6, panel 2
("Two-Headed Dog-Man"): page 3, panel 1

Illuminator#2 (1993) - Glenn Herdling (writer), E. Craig Brasfield (penciler), Frank Turner (inker), Christian F. Cooper (editor)

Last updated: 05/17/05

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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