Thorne started out as a rogue physician in Gotham City, setting up an illegal clinic and treating criminals for money. He was stopped and apprehended time and 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.
Earth-One Crime Doctor
Post Crisis Bradford Thorne was a notorious physician who provided criminal services as the Crime Doctor. Thorne assisted criminals using his medical knowledgein 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 and Brainiac into their supervillain army during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. 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.
Later appearances
The Crime Doctor's recent appearances have all 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, where he tortures the Secret Six for the identity of Mockingbird. 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. In the "Progeny" arc of Birds of Prey, the Crime Doctor tries to 'defect' from the Secret Society of Super Villains. The Society sends Prometheus 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 to have a young apprentice to mold in her image.
Anica Balcescu
A new, female Crime Doctor appeared in Manhunter vol. 4 #32, a Romanian widow and survivor of the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime named Anica Balcescu. Following the Final Crisis, Anica Balcescu was seen as a member of Cheetah's Secret Society of Super Villains as she grafted Wonder Woman's lasso to Genocide.
Powers and abilities
The original Crime Doctor had no super human powers. However, he 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 to assault his opponents.
In other media
Television
The Crime Doctor appears in the episode "Paging The Crime Doctor" voiced by Joseph Campanella. 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 and Leslie Thompkins, the three becoming close friends, but Matthew later lost his medical license 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 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.
Video games
In , a lab coat within an office in Elliot Memorial Hospital bears an ID badge with Matthew Thorne's name and face hanging from the breast pocket.
