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Background:
Alan Knight was born in 1937 in a small town in Missouri. He was a bright child and a good student. After graduating high school in 1955, he backpacked around Europe for a year before going to medical school in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1957. Four years later, while working as an intern during the graveyard shift at the hospital, his life would take an interesting turn. A costumed criminal named Live Wire was stealing some drugs when Alan came upon him. The villain hurled a barrage of electric bolts at Alan who could only evade them for so long before he was struck by a bolt. He was thrown into a rack of chemicals and left for dead. Luckily security arrived and got him seen by the doctors on duty.
Alan was bedridden for a week or so but miraculously suffered no serious physical injury. The combination of the electricity and the chemicals, though, had a very strange effect on his body's nervous and muscular systems. Soon, he discovered that he could move at a much faster rate than most normal people. In fact, he could even run so fast that he could be barely seen. Not long after he returned to work, fate would have his path cross once more with Live Wire. This time, however, Alan wasn't about to be the victim. Disguising his face with a surgical mask, he confronted the villain. This time, with the help of his super-speed, he was able to subdue Live Wire. Some nurses and orderlies witnessed the tail end of the fight and dubbed the mysterious hero 'Dr. Speed'. Alan enjoyed his little extracurricular activity and decided to keep it up. Devising a costume, he soon made his official public debut as Dr. Speed. The speedster made a name for himself battling all sorts of costumed criminals and aiding those in need. His activities were covered quite extensively in the local papers, and one reporter in particular developed an interest in him. Rosaline Carver scored many one-on-one interviews with the new hero. In 1966, Dr. Speed joined other heroes of Earth and beyond as the Justice Gang. In 1974, Alan married reporter Rosaline Carver and shared his secret identity with her. It helped him a lot to have a confidant, especially one in the news media. A few months shy of his 50th birthday in 1987, their son Brian was born. In 1999, Alan officially retired from being Dr. Speed. He felt that after 38 years it was time to let the younger generation take up the next leg of the hero-race. Motivation: Dr. Speed's first priority in life is to help others and to ease suffering. Both in costume and out of it, he is a dedicated professional. When faced with a choice that involved the lives of others, he always chooses the solution that would prevent folks from harm. He realized early on that meant he would have to be creative, but when one moves and thinks as fast as he does - creativity is always an option. He did his best to juggle his professional lives and his family life, but sometimes that later took the backseat. Rosaline understood - having chosen to marry a doctor and having known his dual-identity prior to the wedding. However, Alan worries that Brian never completely accepted this. |
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