DOCTOR SINGH
Real Name: Doctor Singh (first name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Sentient automaton (robot)
Occupation: Science professor at Liddleville
College
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Liddleville College university staff
(Reed Richards, Vincent Vaughn/Doctor Victor von Doom, unnamed others)
Enemies: None
Known Relatives: Inapplicable (created by Doctor
Victor von Doom)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Liddleville
First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#236 (November,
1981)
Powers/Abilities: Doctor Singh is a miniature robot
resembling a human being of Asian descent. He possesses extensive
knowledge of scientific subjects and is well versed enough in particle
physics to operate a particle
accelerator. Singh seems unaware of the fact he is a robot.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 1'57")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 0.11 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Fantastic Four I#236 (fb) - BTS) - When Doctor Doom and the Puppet
Master joined forces to create the tiny town of Liddleville, they
designed, built and programmed hundreds of miniaturized, interactive
robots who all acted like citizens of Liddleville. One of them was
Doctor Singh, a science professor at Liddleville College.
(Fantastic Four I#236 (fb) - BTS) - Singh met and befriended Reed
Richards (actually a syntheclone with the mind of an unsuspecting
Mr. Fantastic). Singh was the single member of the university
staff that was kind enough for Reed to consider him a friend.
(Fantastic Four I#236 - BTS) - Liddleville College dean Vincent Vaughn (actually
Doctor Doom in a syntheclone body) enjoyed tormenting Reed
Richards. For that reason, he gifted Singh with the use of a state of
the art LeSalle-Devaney particle accelerator, which believed was the
only one in the state.
(Fantastic Four I#236) - Singh
couldn't wait to show his new 'toy' to his colleague Reed Richards who
was over the moon excited about the possibilities this expensive piece
of technology offered. Both Singh and Reed were happily inspecting the
device when Vincent Vaughn interrupted their conversation. Singh kept
quiet while Vaughn chastised Reed for going against his standing orders:
he was not allowed to toy around with valuable university equipment.
(Fantastic Four I#236 - BTS) - When Reed Richards figured
out the true nature of Liddleville and his actual identity as part of
the Fantastic Four, all the Liddleville robots were shut down by Doctor
Doom who taunted his enemies from their miniaturized prison.
(Fantastic Four I#236) - Looking for a way to escape Liddleville, Reed
took Sue, Johnny, Ben, Alicia and Franklin to Liddleville College. For a
brief moment he was taken aback when he came across the now inert form
of Singh in the hallways. Though he had trouble coming to terms with the
fact his only personal friend on campus had been a robot all along, Reed
pressed. Using Singh's lab facilities, he started to work on a way to
restore the Fantastic Four's powers by exposing them to the particle
accelerator.
(Fantastic Four I#236 - BTS) - Furious he had been betrayed and
abandoned by Doom, the Puppet Master used his knowledge of Liddleville's
operating systems to reactivate and reprogram all the robots to do his
bidding. When the Fantastic Four succeeded in escaping Liddleville by
inadvertently trapping Doom inside the Vaugh syntheclone, Philip Masters
sent the population after his enemy.
Comments: Created by John Byrne.
It's never been revealed just how Doom manufactured Singh and the other
robotic citizens of Liddleville, which is a pity because they represent
a magnificent feat of robotics and micro-engineering. To be able to
create the equivalent of long term, self sustaining Life Model Decoys
barely the size of half a matchstick? Robots that look and act like
normal people, complete with memories and personalities? That is beyond
fantastic. Singh and the other Liddlevillains had to be able to simulate
all types of behavior, including eating and sleeping.
The amount of detail to make Liddleville work as an actual
town is staggering and the implications boggle the mind. Doom even went
to the trouble to create a functioning particle accelerator, but the
more mundane elements had to work too. You can have robots 'eat' food,
but do you make them expel the waste like humans do? Does it have a
hospital or medical facility and how do you simulate injury? Or the
weather? And how do you stock miniaturized grocery stores? My guess
would be that Doom built Singh and the others at lifesize and then used
Pym particles to shrink it all down (along with the groceries!).
Doctor Singh presumably got reactivated when the
Puppet Master rallied the inhabitants of Liddleville to chase Victor von
Doom at the end of Fantastic Four I#236, which is an ending
straight out of the Twilight Zone. He hasn't been seen since,
but that doesn't mean he can't still be active.
This profile was completed 8/15/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Doctor Singh should not be confused with:
- Any other "Singh" characters
Singh's
particle accelerator
Liddleville College dean Vincent Vaughn (actually
Doctor Doom in a syntheclone body) enjoyed tormenting Reed
Richards. For that reason, he gifted Singh with the use of a state of
the art LeSalle-Devaney particle accelerator, the only one in the state.
Unable to risk Reed Richards seeing through the ruse of Liddleville,
Doom made sure the miniaturized device actually worked. The particle
accelerator was later used by Reed Richards to expose the Fantastic
Four's syntheclone bodies to the type of cosmic radiation that
originally gave them their powers.
- Fantastic Four I#236
images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#236, p12, pan1 (main image)
Fantastic Four I#236, p11, pan5 (Singh's new toy)
Fantastic Four I#236 p21, pan2 (deactivated)
Fantastic Four I#236, p11, pan6 (Singh's particle accelerator)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#236 (November, 1981) - John Byrne (writer, pencils,
inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
First Posted: 09/17/2021
Last updated: 09/16/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
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Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com
for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
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