Doctor Occult - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

Doctor Occult is resurrected nearly fifty years later in All-Star Squadron, a World War II-set title written in 1985. His given origin was that on New Year's Eve, 1899, Occult and Rose Psychic had been rescued by a shadowy group called "The Seven" from ritual murder at the hands of a Satanic cult. The two were later trained in the use of occult magics themselves. Thirty-six years later, Doctor Occult opened up his own detective agency, specializing in crimes of a mystical nature, and during World War II he joined the All-Star Squadron. At some point, he and Rose become fused into one being. Doctor Occult has used sorcery to halt or greatly slow the aging process, so that he appears in modern comics to still be a man in his late thirties or early forties, even though he was born at the end of the 19th century.

Unlike some of the other Golden Age characters Roy Thomas resurrected in that book, this did not lead to a renaissance for the character, possibly because he joined around the time the book was being affected by the Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which he played a significant role. In his current look, Doctor Occult wears a trenchcoat and fedora and wields a magic multi-faceted disc, the Symbol of Seven, as his primary magic weapon.

In 1991, Neil Gaiman brought the character back into the spotlight, when he featured him in the miniseries The Books of Magic. In the third issue he acts as Tim Hunter's guide to otherworlds. When visiting Faerie, he transforms into Rose. Tim learns many important things from Dr. Occult, while nearly being trapped in the realm of the fae. This is all to guide Timothy on the role to him becoming the most powerful magician of the current era. The other guides on this mission are Mister E, the Phantom Stranger, and John Constantine, who nicknames the group the Trenchcoat Brigade. The four would return later at a summons from Timothy, who having lost everything at that point, needs a new direction in life.

Later stories would continue the idea of Occult and Rose Psychic being one. There were two origin stories given, by DC, to explain how they became one person. The first was in Superman Annual #7, this was a 'year one' story to explain how Superman and Dr. Occult met. In the story Dr. Occult explained that Rose had been severely injured battling a creature named Thahn. Occult leads Superman, and the reader, to believe that Rose had been killed. So Superman is very shocked to later come in contact with Rose alive, and wonders where Occult is. When the story concludes Superman and Occult defeat Thahn but Superman did not see the two switch back, although the reader does. It is then revealed that the Seven who trained them saved Rose by allowing them to "time-share". Later, in the miniseries The Justice Society Returns, a new version explained that Doctor Occult was killed in battle with an otherworldly entity, and Rose bonded their souls together to restore him.