The Crime Doctor is the name of different fictional supervillains that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. 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 and Bob Kane.
Fictional character biography
Crime Doctor I
On Earth-Two, a rogue unnamed physician in Gotham City sets up an illegal clinic and treating criminals for money. He was stopped and apprehended time and time again by the Batman. Shortly after this, the Crime Doctor 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 the Crime Doctor all the way to California, where the Crime Doctor saved Robin's life after he was shot by one of the doctor's henchmen. In the end, the Crime Doctor was betrayed by one of his own men, who shot him in the back. Before succumbing to the bullet wound, the Crime Doctor apologized to Batman for his criminal actions.
Matthew Thorne
Comics character| Crime Doctor | |
|---|---|
 The Crime Doctor as depicted on the cover of Detective Comics #77 (July 1943). Art by Bob Kane. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #77 (July 1943) |
| Created by | Bill Finger (writer) Bob Kane (artist)(writer) Michael Gaydos (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Matthew Thorne |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Team affiliations | Secret Society of Super Villains |
| Abilities | Skilled surgeon Expert torturer Use of injector gun and scalpel |
On Earth-Two, Matthew Thorne is a doctor who started treating criminals. His consultation with his patients have attracted the attention of Batman and Robin. Thanks to Batman's tracer invention, they were able to find his hideout. Because of an injured man showing up during the confrontation. Batman and the Crime Doctor had to work together to save the man's life. Afterwards, the Crime Doctor traps Batman and Robin where he has them tied up. He and his assistant target a formula that can change the atomic order of objects. Upon obtaining it, the Crime Doctor heads to Eastington Atom Smasher to turn the base metal there into gold. After escaping from their bondage, Batman and Robin were able to catch up to the Crime Doctor. They defeated the Crime Doctor and his assistant where they were arrested by the police.
Bradford Thorne
Earth-One
On Earth-One, 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.
During the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline, the Crime Doctor was among the villains assembled by Brainiac.
Post-Crisis
Sometime after the "Crisis on Infinite Earths", Bradford Thorne took his career as a doctor 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 was later used by Two-Face to help disfigure Paul Sloan leading to his transformation into Charlatan.
Crime Doctor later targeted a child in Portsmouth City and ends up defeated by Doctor Mid-Nite.
The Crime Doctor appears in Villains United where he tortures the Secret Six for the identity of Mockingbird. After escaping, Catman knocks him out with a metal tray.
In Birds of Prey, the Crime Doctor attempts to leave the Secret Society of Super Villains. In response, the Society sends Prometheus to torture his daughter Bethany. After a battle, the Birds of Prey subdue Prometheus while the Crime Doctor kills himself.
Infinite Frontier
In the pages of "Infinite Frontier", the Crime Doctor appears as a member of Deathstroke's Secret Society of Super Villains.
Anica Balcescu
Comics character| Crime Doctor | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Manhunter (vol. 3) #32 (September 2008) |
| Created by | Marc Andreyko (writer) Michael Gaydos (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Anica Balcescu |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Team affiliations | Secret Society of Super Villains |
| Abilities | Skilled surgeon Expert torturer Use of injector gun and scalpel |
Following Bradford Thorne's death, a new Crime Doctor named Anica Balcescu, is introduced. She is a Romanian widow and a survivor of Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime who later joins the Secret Society.
When working for Cheetah's Secret Society of Super Villains, Crime Doctor grafted the Lasso of Truth that was stolen from Wonder Woman onto Genocide.
Powers and abilities
The original Crime Doctor had no superhuman abilities, but was a skilled physician and expert torturer. He sometimes wielded an injector gun or scalpel.
In other media
- The Matthew Thorne incarnation of the Crime Doctor appears in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Paging the Crime Doctor", voiced by Joseph Campanella. This version is the brother of Rupert Thorne. He previously attended medical school with Thomas Wayne and Leslie Thompkins, but lost his medical license after failing to file a report about his brother Rupert Thorne's gunshot wound. Subsequently, Matthew worked under Rupert as the Crime Doctor in hopes of regaining his license. Matthew later assists Batman in defeating Rupert before turning himself in to the police. Bruce later visited Matthew in prison and asked him to tell him about how he knows Thomas Wayne.
- A variation of Matthew Thorne appears in the Batman: Caped Crusader episode "The Killer Inside Me", voiced by Josh Keaton. This version is the teenage son of Rupert Thorne.
References
- Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 180. ISBN 978-1605490892.
- Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 99–101. ISBN 9780345501066.
- Batman #18 (September 1943). DC Comics.
- Fleisher, Michael L. (1976). The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume 1: Batman. Macmillan Publishing Co. pp. 353–355. ISBN 0-02-538700-6. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- Detective Comics #77 (July 1943). DC Comics.
- Detective Comics #494 - 495 (September - October 1980). DC Comics.
- Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 (December 1985). DC Comics.
- Detective Comics #579 (October 1987). DC Comics.
- Detective Comics #581 (December 1987). DC Comics.
- JSA #59 (2004). DC Comics.
- Villains United #3 (September 2005). DC Comics.
- Birds of Prey #92 - 95 (May–August 2006). DC Comics.
- Deathstroke Inc. #6 (July 2022). DC Comics.
- Manhunter (vol. 3) #32 (September 2008). DC Comics.
- Wonder Woman Vol. 3 #28. DC Comics.
- ^ "Matthew Thorne Voices (Batman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 4, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
