Sure, there are a lot of Doctors in the ranks of the supernature, but what about those who are still working for their degrees?  Welcome to Ten Things: Ten Super Graduate Students!

Whooshman-Bicarbonate Films, in conjunction with An Amateur Comics Historian and Iceman’s brief foray in accounting, Presents:

TEN SUPER GRADUATE STUDENTS!

10) THE WHITE TIGER

After discovering the mystical amulets used by the Sons of the Tiger, Hector Ayala discovered that the complete set gave him incredible martial arts skill, agility and strength.  A Puerto Rican immigrant, Hector spent his days studying alongside Peter “Spider-Man” Parker at Empire State University in an unspecified grad program.  Hector’s career ended when his secret identity was exposed and his family killed by a vengeful former foe.

9) RECON

A longtime comics fan, Daniel Jacobs had the great luck to be present at Mile High Comics the day that a young man named Zach opened up a “magic box” that empowered a number of patrons.  Given not only the powers of flight but incredible vision powers, he served as the team’s eye in the sky during their short career, crushing on fellow Good Guy Flex and sort of ignoring his academic career.

I can relate…

8) KOMODO

After losing her legs in a car accident, Melati Kusuma’s life was changed by an internship with Doctor Curt Connors.  Those of you who recognize him as Spider-Man’s foe, The Lizard, give yourself a gold star.  As for Melati, she modified his serum to work for her, but found her post-grad biology studies interrupted by Iron Man’s proto-fascist Initiative, a program that forced all superhumans to register with the government and train with their powers at Camp Hammond.

7) THE FOOLKILLER

After hearing from his cellmate about the original Foolkiller, Greg Salinger took up the role himself with the intention of making the world a better place by convincing/forcing others to “live a poem.”  He later enrolled in Empire State University, studying advanced something something science with TA Peter Parker.  This led to a confrontation between Spider-Man and Foolkiller that ended with Greg hearing someone opine that “only a fool would fight Spider-Man”, leading him to nearly kill himself to complete his bizarre mission.

6) CAPTAIN BRITAIN

A prodigy in the field of physics, Brian Braddock was studying at Thames University in London when an attempt to kidnap his parents led to a near-fatal motorcycle accident.  Awakened by Merlin himself, Brian was empowered as the protector of the British Isles.  As with many of the entries on this list, he ended up at Empire State University working with Spider-Man and eventually became a close confidante of the X-Men when his twin sister became one of their members as Psylocke.

5) DOCTOR BOB DOOM

Fifth cousin of the more famous Victor, Robert Von Doom emigrated from Latveria to upstate New York, where he began a secret plan to control the rich through implants in their dental work.  (He has since gone straight and reinvented himself as a dentist to the superhumans of the Marvel U.)  As a dentist (though it’s unclear if he is a DDS or a DMD), Bob is required to participate in continuing education even post-graduation to keep up on new dental techniques and changes in the field, making him a perpetual grad student.

4) STELLA STARLIGHT

A grad student in mathematics, Stella Maxwell always had a soft spot for astronomy, which is how she was struck by an interstellar beam during a trip to the observatory.  Saved from certain death by Hardware, she was nonetheless empowered by the event, turning her into a walking pulsar.  Thanks to the help of (and a little gadgetry assistance from) Hardware, she became a superhero of Dakota, working as a member of the Shadow Cabinet and, later, the group called Heroes.

3) EMPOWERED

After getting her degree in Metahuman Studies, Elyssa Megan Powers continued her studies until she received her hypermembrane super-suit.  Giving her incredible super-powers, the suit also has its downside: It is skintight, showing off any and all perceived flaws in her figure, as well as incredibly fragile, tearing at the slightest provocation and leaving her exposed.  It’s more than a little bit of a problem, though seeing her overcome those flaws (and the her origins in fetishy sketches) is half the fun.

2) THE ATOM

As the teaching assistant to Ray Palmer, Ryan Choi got to learn from one of the most brilliant men in whatever it is Ray Palmer teaches.  Physics?  Shrinking?  I dunno.  In any case, he was also the inheritor of Ray’s Atom technology when he went on “sabbatical”, making grad student Ryan the newest Atom, who served in Batman’s Justice League of America and struck up a strange friendship with the alien bruiser known as Lobo.

1) SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN

Among the many changes that Otto Octavius made in Peter Parker’s life while he had control of Pete’s body (long story) was the completion of Peter’s post-graduate work.  For all his evil intentions and general bastardry, Otto/Pete was remarkably effective, burning through his classwork and thesis and making it possible for Peter to return to life as DOCTOR Spider-Man, which would be a pretty cool title, now that I think of it.

Thanks to Faithful Spoilerite Leanne (@woolyleanne) for this week’s topic, Ten Super Graduate Students!  Feel free to follow along @MightyKingCobra for more Ten Things madness on Twitter or check out the full Twitter archive here!  As with any set of like items, these aren’t meant to be hard and fast or absolutely complete, if only because college aged super-types hit a real sweet spot for drama.  Either way, the comments section is Below for just such an emergency, but, as always: Please, no wagering!

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