Super Sunday: Dr. Vedzax

There is a pandemic in the galaxy. Something, some virus-like alien lifeform, is spreading from world to world, bringing death and chaos with it. It adapts itself to any form of life it encounters, breeding and spreading, apparently unstoppable. And now it has come to the Earth.

The symptoms: Usually the infected experience cold sensations and itchy skin, followed by hallucinations scripted by the virus to make the victim unknowingly do the virus’s bidding. When the virus’s bidding is more complex, it can also cause mutations in its hosts, giving them otherworldly powers. And it is not limited to humans, it can also infect animals, plants, even Earth-viruses. Humanity needs an expert. That expert is: Dr. Vedzax.

Dr. Vedzax is a member of the League of Space Doctors, the most highly-trained medical minds in the Cosmos. He has devoted his life to eradicating this disease.

So anyway, Dr. Vedzax is an alien. I’m always annoyed when alien characters look just like humans, so Vedzax here does not. Real alien life is probably going to be astoundingly different, and science fiction should be preparing us for that (after all, if fiction teaches us to relate to inhuman beings, we’ll probably even get better at relating to other humans). Even Vedzax here has eyes and a mouth on his face, which is on his head and all that. Vedzax has limbs in the basic configuration we’re used to (though notice the small extra set of arms under his coat). But I figure, it’s less humanoid than a lot of aliens in comics, so it is a step in the right direction.

Also, having the hero be a doctor means that I don’t have to have every story solved by violence. I will grant you, that there have been excellent comics starring doctors who solve problems with violence, but a bit less of that would not hurt superhero comics at all. For real.

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