Mike W Barr brings back the Crime Doctor in Detective 579 (Oct. 87), but the more significant thing about this issue is that it marks the first with Norm Breyfogle as the artist.
The last time the Crime Doctor had appeared his mind had been fried by Sterling Silversmith. He appears completely healed from that, but no longer seems to be aware that Batman is Bruce Wayne. Crisis on Infinite Earths provides an easy explanation for all that. Two-Face appears briefly, using Dr. Matthew Thorne’s services for reasons not clear until the following issue.
The Crime Doctor is given an entertaining sidekick, the aggressive Nurse Rench, who serves as his muscle.
Right from his first story, Norm Breyfogle shows his ability to blend real and surreal together in the same panel. His two-dimensional Batman seems far more threatening than a fully rendered image might.
Matthew Thorne has his hands crushed at the climax of this story, once again ending the career of the Crime Doctor.
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