Happy 4th birthday, Dr. Herbert!!

On this day in 2011, he premiered in "I Am Science!", Episode #1.

So, let's recap those episodes here...

• I am science!!
• "I am science!", Episode #1.
• "I am science!", Episode #2.
• "I am science!", Episode #3.
• "I am science!", Episode #4.
• "I am science!", Episode #5.
• "I am science!", Episode #6.
• "I am science!", with Dr. Logan W. Herbert. (Episode #7)
• "Dear Dr. Herbert" #8.

...which were collected before here.

Then, he had his premiere in the JS-verse in Quantum Dissolve: Chapter 24.

Then, some of his origin was fleshed out in chapter 29.5, he was looped back to the original "I am science!", skits in chapter 31/38, and his complete origin was told in season 2 chapter 3.


So, as with Eidolon, now his RL origin.

Winding it all the way back, since I was a kid, I've dug mad scientists, going back to Creature-Feature flicks, and such.
In the 80's, there was even a Mad Scientist line of toys (referenced here).

So, it's no surprise or accident several mad scientist characters ended up in my cartoons over the years, and from the start.

Can't recall the names of 'em all.

Few if any survived into the Harry-verse.

Then, the internet age comes along, and for one post on a board, I played a character called "World-Wide Doktor", and I got a kick out of the "Doktor", part in the name, and always wanted to do something with that character.

It got back-shelved for almost 20 damned years.

Then, two events kind of intersected.

One, "The Human Centipede", came out, and that was the ultimate mad scientist, as far as the mad part goes.

And that got my gears turning on prior mad scientists in horror films that I'd loved.

Two, my first blog buddy, Steve Zara had/has a running hate-on for Michio Kaku, thinks he's a hack scientist, thinks what he does is "science porn", and that always got my gears turning on ways to tease him about it. That he was getting a stack of Kaku books for his birthday, I was gonna get him his autograph, and shit like that.

With my gears already turning on mad scientist stuff from "Centipede", I wrote some dumb skit where Steve gets a golden ticket and has to be taken on a tour of a science museum by Michio Kaku putting on a Willy Wonka persona, and singing "pure imagination".

Well, that was the final piece, I needed to change the name, and make that character come to life.

So, I mooshed together the names of some favorite movie mads, and "I am science!", was born.

...and then it fizzled out.

It needed real friend questions, and they just weren't into it.

They were at first, but it got old for them, or something.

Ah, well.

So, then Jade-Shade rolls around, and I make my big character list for future guests/crossovers, and Dr. Herbert ends up on it.

And I planted the seeds of his arrival on the scene as far back as chapter 7.5.

So, yeah, it was a frustrating wait for me getting stuck on the intervening chapters to finally fucking get to him.

In that intervening time, I planned for how he was gonna integrate into the larger plot that was slowly forming, and somehow, he evolved into Eidolon's dad.

I think it was as simple as someone had to be her guardian until JS & Chokie could meet her, and I couldn't come up with some generic disposable parents, and Frank Miller had already kinda done exactly that with Carrie Kelly in "The Dark Knight Returns", so I skimmed down my list of other characters, and Dr. Herbert just clicked.

They were gonna meet him anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone?

So, JS & Chokie finally meet him in chapter 24, finally meet Eidolon in chapter 29, and I finally looped it back to the original skits in chapter 31/38.

Then for the final handful of sprinkles, I linked him all the way back to World-Wide Doktor in season 2 chapter 3.

So, he's World-Wide Doktor too.

But, the post with that incarnation is lost in electronic oblivion, and I decided his origin with the Dr. Herbert name is what counts.

Then Paladin drew him, then this anniversary came around, and there you have it.

Here's to his future adventures with Jadie & Chokie, and Eidie.

Stay tuned.