Alice Nugent

Origin

Alice Nugent first appeared working as Hank Pym‘s lab assistant when the then current Iron Man turned to Pym in hopes of him being able to help with his headaches. Decades later she received the Power Prism from the former Doctor Spectrum Martha Gomes.

Creation

Alice Nugent was created by Denny o’Neil and Luke McDonnell in Iron Man Vol.1 issue 194 as a minor background character.

Character Evolution

Although utterly obscure, she resurfaced much later on in the pages of Avengers by Kurt Busiek and George Perez during the Ultron Unlimited storyline again filling the role of Pym’s assistant. She returned a few years later and ultimately became Doctor Spectrum in New Thunderbolts by Fabian Nicieza and Tom Grummett.

Major Story Arcs

Squadron Sinister

The Grandmaster had recreated Doctor Spectrum‘s Power Prism on Earth-616. Initially it bonded to a factory worker who used it to commit robberies. After her defeat by the Thunderbolts, the prism was removed from her and sent to be studied by scientists. Alice was among the scientists chosen to study the object but she became fascinated with the Prism which in turn bonded with her during the experiments.

Becoming the new Doctor Spectrum she wished to use her new-found power take over the world in order to enforce her own values on everyone to make it a better place. She soon joined and helped reunite the Squadron Sinister on behalf of the Grandmaster and they came into direct conflict with the Thunderbolts over the Wellspring of Power. She, the Squadron and Grandmaster were eventually defeated by the Thunderbolts and Nugent hasn’t been seen since.