Batman #18 - Story 4
June 9, 1943
"The Crime Surgeon"
It's the return of the moral criminal, who loved the crime, but not the violence - the Crime Surgeon. It's a shame this is the last time we'll see this one as I like the way he's set up. Hopefully, he goes out in style.
The Crime Surgeon escapes from jail after saving the life of the warden who is shot during an earlier prison break. He makes his plans to get his Crime Clinic together. This time though, Thorne doesn't stay in one place. He opens clinics in cities for short times and then moves on.
Batman sees the pattern of his movement and he is able to work out the next city Thorne will set up shop. In that city, Dick goes undercover as a shoeshine boy and learns of the location of clinic.
That night, the Duo break up an attempt to rob a bank by the Doctor and his men. They make their escape via the old sewer system leading to a waiting stolen ambulance. The Doctor breaks up camp and moves on to the next city.
There, Thorne has his men bring a gangster, Slick Minder, to him. I had to wonder if it was Batman in disguise as they blindfold him and spend several panels having the distinctive sounds of the road as the car passes over various elements be apparent. And it is Batman, but he is revealed when Thorne's men capture Robin who was following them, so you have to wonder why bother with the panel.
A fight breaks out and in the course of it, Robin is shot. The doctor turns on his man, striking him in anger as he wanted no guns used. He can save Robin, but he needs Batman's help with the operation as Batman once helped him before. He removes the bullet and tells a surprised Batman to take Robin to the hospital.
Batman gets Robin to the hospital and leaves him behind and now we get a payoff for those panels. Batman was also counting his pulse as they travelled and in time with his pulse, he retraces his steps, stopping to note the sounds he heard once again. He reaches what he believes to be the location of the hideout, but there is nothing there save heavy tire tracks. And that's when Batman realizes the hideout is on a truck. He also finds an imprint of the license plate when it back up against a hillside and has the police trace the vehicle.
They find it in California. Batman leaves Robin behind while he follows the lead. There, Thorne plans to rob gold from a safe of a company. In the time he's been there though, he struck up a relationship with the owner of the place and promised to operate on the man's sick wife. The problem is, the timing of the two coincide. Thorne decides to go through with the robbery.
