OLIVER CLEMENTS

Real Name: Oliver Clements

Identity/Class: Extradimensional human (1950s era) (see comments)

Occupation: Scientist; former university professor

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Mankind (in general), wind-blown tree

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "M'sieu le docteur" (as called by Professor Tourneau)

Base of Operations: His isolated laboratory, somewhere in America

First Appearance: Spellbound#19/1 (February, 1954)

Powers/Abilities: Clements was an inventive genius with the reputation of being the foremost authority in the field of electronics; he displayed no paranormal physical abilities.

Clements created a powerful interplanetary transmitter which unexpectedly emitted a radioactive shock (see comments) that was powerful enough to destroy all life within the Earth's atmosphere; consequently, he later built an "immunizer ray" to protect himself from his transmitter's deadly output.

A misanthropic megalomaniac, Clements used the power of his transmitter to apparently destroy every living thing on Earth, with only himself left alive due to the "immunizer ray". But after becoming a victim of his own paranoid and irrational fear, Clements used his handgun to commit suicide.

Height: 5'10" (by approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Bald

History:
(Spellbound#19/1 (fb)) - The past of Dr. Oliver Clements is largely unrevealed, but the award-winning electronics expert was employed as a professor at an unspecified university.

   One day, representatives of the World Science Committee visited Clements' isolated laboratory with surprising news--one of their members (Professor Tourneau) had conclusive proof that a highly cultured and developed race lived on the planet Mars! Because they regarded Clements as the only man capable of working out the details, the Committee members wanted him to build a transmitter powerful enough so they could establish contact with the Martians--seeing their request as his one chance at limitless fame, Clements canceled his professorship at the university and began work on the project. But as he was designing the transmitter, Clements had second thoughts and wondered what the nature of the Martian race was like--perhaps they'd resent the intrusion, and an interplanetary war might break out.

   Clements finished the transmitter sooner than anticipated, so one night he decided to test it before informing the Committee. But just as he activated the device, he suddenly realized he neglected to set the directional knob, even as he was struck down by a radioactive shock from the transmitter that rendered him unconscious. When he revived later, Clements heard a radio news bulletin announcing that although the source of the radioactive shock was unknown, the effects were widespread throughout the area, and although there were no casualties, several persons fell to the ground, and some were actually knocked unconscious.

   Because of this unexpected outcome of his transmitter test, Clements considered telling the Committee that his project was a failure...but then he thought someone else was bound to build a similar transmitter sooner or later that actually would contact Mars, and he didn't want his own life sacrificed in an interplanetary war for the benefit of progress.

   Then an idea struck Clements: He realized that if he were to build up more power in the transmitter, he could send out a shock that would encircle the planet--with the flick of a switch, he could destroy all life, and the world would belong to him! Clements justified his mad thoughts to himself--surely if such a thing weren't meant to be used, the powers that exist never would have permitted him to discover it.

   In order to protect his own life, Clements set about constructing an "immunizer ray" to give himself resistance to the deadly effects of the transmitter's radioactive shock; after the "immunizer ray" was completed, Clements connected a timer mechanism to activate the transmitter so he could safely be under the beam of the immunizer when the radioactive shock was broadcast.

(Spellbound#19/1) - At 10 PM, Clements was under his "immunizer ray" when the transmitter activated and its lethal radioactive shock circled around the globe. Clements waited three minutes for the shock to wear off, and when it was over, he switched off the "immunizer ray" and laughed in triumph, for he had accomplished his goal: Every living thing on Earth was dead!

   To ensure that his planet-destroying scheme had worked, Clements first turned on the radio--he heard nothing but static; he next picked up the telephone and dialed everyone he knew--he heard only ringing, with no answers, and he couldn't even reach an operator or information. With his curiosity satisfied, Clements was now convinced that everyone on the planet was dead, and he cackled madly as he thought about how the whole world--and everything on it--now belonged to him alone!

   But suddenly, to his surprise, Clements heard a persistent knocking at his front door. Reaching for his handgun, Clements asked who it was, but he got no response. As the knocking continued, Clements thought over all the details of his scheme--there couldn't have been any slip-ups, and everyone else on Earth was dead, so he concluded that his unknown visitor had to be from Mars!

   Clements figured that the Martians had come for him--the only existing form of life left on Earth--and they were going to use him for their study, or else they'd put him on display in their zoo as a strange form of animal life. Not wanting such a horrible fate to befall him, Clements realized there was only one way out, so he placed his gun against his temple, pulled the trigger, and committed suicide.

   Dr. Oliver Clements would never know that the mysterious "visitor" knocking at the door was only the branch of a gnarled old wind-blown tree.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Cal Massey (artist).

Shazam! That Oliver Clements looks a lot like Doctor Sivana!

The "scientific principles" used in this 5-page story--Who's Knocking At My Door?--were from a simpler time, when "radioactivity" could pretty much do anything the story's writer required for the plot.

Assuming Clements' transmitter really worked and he killed the entire population of the planet, then obviously this story had to take place on some alternate world rather than Earth-616 (the mainstream Marvel Universe).

Or maybe this story could have taken place on Earth-616--perhaps the first time Clements activated the transmitter, its effects were only a fluke, and the second activation only caused radio and telephone communications to be disrupted, but no deaths.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Dr. Oliver Clements has no known connections to:

Oliver Clements transmitter has no known connections to:

The World Science Committee has no known connections to:

The wind-blown tree has no known connections to:

Oliver Clements' transmitter

Built by Clements at the request of the World Science Committee, its intended purpose was to send a signal to the planet Mars.

When Clements initially tested it, he neglected to set the directional knob, and he discovered that the transmitter emitted a radioactive shock which knocked him (and several people in the surrounding area) unconscious.

After creating an "immunizer ray" to protect himself from the radioactive shock, Clements built up more power in the transmitter and used it to apparently destroy all life on Earth, with the exception of himself (see comments).

(These were the closest things to any images of the transmitter available in the story)

--Spellbound#19/1

Oliver Clements' "immunizer ray"

After discovering that his transmitter emitted a deadly radioactive shock, Clements schemed to use it to destroy all life on Earth so the entire world would belong to him.

Clements built the "immunizer ray" to counteract the lethal effects of the transmitter on himself.  While the transmitter's deadly radioactive shock circled the planet, Clements was safely laying under the protective beam of the "immunizer ray".

--Spellbound#19/1

World Science Committee representatives

A trio of scientists (only Professor Tourneau identified), they visited Oliver Clements' isolated lab with startling news: Professor Tourneau had discovered evidence that a highly cultured and developed race lived on the planet Mars. 

They requested that Clements build a transmitter powerful enough to send a signal to Mars so they could establish contact with the Martians.

Clements built the transmitter, but he found that the device emitted a deadly radioactive shock.  With only himself protected by his "immunizer ray", Clements later used the power of the transmitter to apparently destroy all life on Earth (the trio of representatives presumably included).

--Spellbound#19/1

Wind-blown tree

Oliver Clements had just used the power of his transmitter to destroy all life on Earth.  But when he heard persistent knocking at the door of his lab, he irrationally thought his "visitor" was a Martian, so he committed suicide.

But the knocking had only been caused by a gnarled old tree outside Clements' lab--the strong wind had caused one of its branches to continuously hit against the door.

--Spellbound#19/1

images: (without ads)
Spellbound#19/1, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Oliver Clements laying under "immunizer ray")
Spellbound#19/1, p2, pan1 (Headshot - Oliver Clements turns on radio, finds only static)
Spellbound#19/1, p2, pan3 (Clements cackles madly after he realizes the whole world belongs to him)
Spellbound#19/1, p5, pan2 (Clements holding handgun, thinks unknown visitor knocking at door must be from Mars)
Spellbound#19/1, p4, pan1 (Clements gets knocked unconscious by radioactive shock from transmitter (Clements narrating caption in flashback))
Spellbound#19/1, p4, pan2 (Clements revives and hears about effects of his transmitter's radioactive shock on radio announcement (Clements narrating caption in flashback))
Spellbound#19/1, p4, pan7 (Clements stands by "immunizer ray" after completing it)
Spellbound#19/1, p3, pan4 (silhouettes of Clements (left) and three representatives from World Science Committee)
Spellbound#19/1, p3, pan5 (unidentified representative (left), Professor Tourneau)
Spellbound#19/1, p5, pan7 (wind-blown tree branch knocks against door of Clements' lab)

Appearances:
Spellbound#19/1 (February, 1954) - unidentified writer, Cal Massey (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 11/06/2018
Last updated: 11/06/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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