The Crime Doctor is the name of two
fictional supervillains that appears in
American comic books published by
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
. The Crime Doctor is an underworld medical expert who caters exclusively to criminals, originally an enemy of
Batman.
Publication history
The first Crime Doctor first appeared in ''
Detective Comics'' #77 (July 1943), and was created by
Bill Finger
Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – January 18, 1974) was an American comic strip, comic book, film and television writer who was the co-creator (with Bob Kane) of the DC Comics character Batman. Despite making major (sometimes, signatur ...
and
Bob Kane
Robert Kane (born Robert Kahn ; October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book writer, animator and artist who co-created Batman (with Bill Finger) and most early related characters for DC comics. He was inducted into the comi ...
.
Fictional character biography
Matthew Thorne
The Crime Doctor is
surgeon Matthew Thorne, a renowned doctor. In
post-Crisis
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Ma ...
continuity, he is the brother of the
Gotham City
Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
gangster
Rupert Thorne under the name Bradford Thorne.
Earth-Two
On
Earth-Two, Matthew Thorne started out as a rogue physician in
Gotham City
Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
, setting up an illegal clinic and treating criminals for money. He was stopped and apprehended time and time again by the
Batman. Shortly after this, Thorne escaped prison and once again opened his crime clinic, but this time he traveled across the country. Batman and Robin learned of his escape and they chased Thorne all the way to California, where Thorne saved Robin's life after he was shot by one of the doctor's henchmen. In the end, Thorne was betrayed by one of his own men, who shot him in the back, killing the doctor almost instantly.
Post-Crisis
Bradford Thorne was a notorious physician who provided criminal services as the Crime Doctor. Thorne assisted criminals using his medical knowledge in return for a small percentage of the stolen loot. His modus operandi stumped the authorities of Gotham City and caused Batman to turn his attention on his crimes.
Thorne eventually learned Batman's secret identity when Bruce Wayne went to see him, seeking his medical support. When the underworld learned that Thorne knew Batman's secret, Thorne was kidnapped by businessman Sterling T. Silversmith, who poisoned Thorne to make him reveal the truth. Batman stopped Silversmith, but Thorne's body had been damaged by the mercury poisoning and the diagnosis given to him was not positive, as he was most likely to remain in a comatose state for life and in the case of an eventual recovery, his memory would be completely wiped out.
The Crime Doctor usually never took part in physical battles against
superheroes, but he was recruited by
Lex Luthor
Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: April ...
and
Brainiac into their
supervillain army during the ''
Crisis on Infinite Earths
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Mar ...
''. Initially, the Crime Doctor took his career as a doctor very seriously, and would not commit crimes that conflicted with his
Hippocratic Oath. In later appearances however, he seemed to abandon this principle.
The Crime Doctor's appearances in the 21st century have depicted him wearing star-shaped glasses. It was later revealed that those glasses were a trophy taken from his first victim, a young nurse named Katherine Wheyhall, who had suspected his sadistic inclination to murder and torture while witnessing him deliberately botching a surgery.
Later, the Crime Doctor paid a visit to the nurse and killed her, thus setting the basis of his newfound criminal career.
The Crime Doctor appears in ''
Villains United
''Villains United'' is a six-issue 2005 comic book limited series, published by DC Comics, written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Dale Eaglesham and Wade Von Grawbadger, and later by Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins.
Publication history
''Vil ...
'' (2006), where he tortures the
Secret Six
The so-called Secret Six, or the Secret Committee of Six, were a group of men who secretly funded the 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry by abolitionist John Brown.
Sometimes described as "wealthy," this was true of only two. The other four were in po ...
for the identity of
Mockingbird
Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. ...
. This fails in the case of the '
Mike the Parademon', who equates torture with love. Breaking his restraints,
Catman knocks him out with a metal tray table (where the Doctor had his medical equipment).
In the "Progeny" arc of ''
Birds of Prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...
'', the Crime Doctor tries to "defect" from the
Secret Society of Super Villains. The Society sends
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...
to repay the Crime Doctor by torturing and killing his daughter as he had done to his victims. After a gruesome battle, the Birds of Prey almost manage to subdue Prometheus, but the Crime Doctor decides to kill himself, thus ensuring his own punishment, and sparing his daughter Bethany, who, alone and outcast by the other children, subsequently falls prey to the ambition of
Lady Shiva
Lady Shiva (real name Sandra San or more recently Sandra Wu-San) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was co-created by Dennis O'Neil and Ric Estrada, and first appeared in '' Richard ...
to have a young apprentice to mold in her image.
Anica Balcescu
A new, female Crime Doctor appeared in ''
Manhunter'' (vol. 4) #32 (2008), a
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
widow and survivor of the
Nicolae Ceauşescu Nicolae may refer to:
* Nicolae (name), a Romanian name
* ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel
See also
*Nicolai (disambiguation) Nicolai may refer to:
*Nicolai (given name) people with the forename ''Nicolai''
*Nicolai (surname) people with the s ...
regime named Anica Balcescu.
[''Manhunter'' (vol. 4) #32. DC Comics.]
Following the ''
Final Crisis'', Anica Balcescu was seen as a member of
Cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
's
Secret Society of Super Villains as she grafted Wonder Woman's lasso to
Genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
.
Powers and abilities
The original Crime Doctor had no super human powers, but was a skilled physician and an expert torturer. He sometimes carried an injector gun which could gas opponents to sleep. He also sometimes used a
scalpel
A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various arts and crafts (either called a hobby knife or an X-acto knife.). Scalpels may be single-use dispos ...
to assault his opponents.
In other media
The Crime Doctor appears in the ''
Batman: The Animated Series'' episode "Paging The Crime Doctor", voiced by
Joseph Campanella
Joseph Anthony Campanella (November 21, 1924 – May 16, 2018) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 television and film roles from the early 1950s to 2009. Campanella was best remembered for his roles as Joe Turino on ' ...
. This version is made into a sympathetic character. In this portrayal, Matthew Thorne's brother Rupert pushed him into the role. He attended medical school with
Thomas Wayne
Thomas Alan Wayne, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the father of Bruce Wayne ( Batman), and husband of Martha Wayne as well as the paternal grandfather of Damian Wayne. Wayne was int ...
and
Leslie Thompkins
Leslie Maurin Thompkins (sometimes spelled Tompkins) is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, usually as a supporting character in stories featuring Batman, of whom she is an ally. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil a ...
, the three becoming close friends, but Matthew later lost his
medical license
A medical license is an occupational license that permits a person to legally practice medicine. In most countries, a person must have a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a governme ...
after failing to file a report about his brother's gunshot wound to his superiors. With his license gone, he now worked as "The Crime Doctor" for Rupert and his men in hopes that Rupert would one day use his influence in
Gotham City
Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
to get Matthew his license back. In the episode, Rupert needed surgery and since he was paranoid that his enemies would attack him during his moment of "weakness", he asked Matthew to perform it. Needing an assistant, Rupert had his men abduct Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Rupert Thorne wanted for Thompkins to be killed after the surgery to prevent her from telling anything to the police, but Matthew ultimately went against his brother's orders and helped Leslie escape from Rupert and both were aided by Batman. Afterwards, Matthew turned himself over to the police. He was later visited by Bruce Wayne who paid his bail. Although Matthew thought Bruce would try to exploit him like Rupert had, Matthew found that Bruce only wanted him to tell him about his father and gladly obliged.
In ''
Batman: Arkham Knight'', a lab coat within an office in Elliot Memorial Hospital bears an ID badge with Bradford Thorne's name and face hanging from the breast pocket.
References
External links
Unofficial Guide to DC Comics entry''The DC Database's'' summary of the Crime Doctor's debut
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crime Doctor (Comics)
Comics characters introduced in 1943
DC Comics supervillains
DC Comics male supervillains
Fictional physicians
Fictional murderers
Characters created by Bob Kane
Characters created by Bill Finger
Fictional Romanian people