| Doctor Thirteen | |
|---|---|
Doctor Thirteen art by Cliff Chiang. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics/Vertigo |
| First appearance | Star Spangled Comics #122, (November 1951) |
| Created by | Unknown (writer) Leonard Starr (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Terrence Thirteen |
| Notable aliases | Ghost-Breaker |
| Abilities | His skepticism makes him somewhat resistant to magical effects. |
Dr. Terrence Thirteen, known simply as Doctor Thirteen or Dr. 13, is a fictional character in comic books set in the DC Universe. The character's first published appearance is in Star Spangled Comics #122, (November 1951).[1]
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Dr. Thirteen is a parapsychologist who investigates reports of possible supernatural activity with the goal of proving them to be hoaxes.
Dr. Thirteen debuted in his own feature within the pages of Star Spangled Comics, from issue #122 (November, 1951) through issue #130 (July, 1952). The character next appeared in Showcase #80 in 1969 as a supporting character in the Phantom Stranger story and then as a regular character in the Phantom Stranger series that began later that year. Early issues featured a few new pages of story and art that framed reprints of the two characters' old stories.[1]
Dr. Thirteen also appeared in Batman #341-342 (November-December 1981) to research a mystery in the abandoned Wayne Manor involving the Man-Bat. And he reappears in Gotham City in Batman #354 (December 1982) to reluctantly aid Rupert Thorne, who believes he is being haunted by Hugo Strange.
Dr. Thirteen's stories are set in the DC Universe, where many stories involving the supernatural also are set.
In the limited series The Books of Magic, John Constantine explains to Timothy Hunter that because Dr. Thirteen does not believe, magic and the supernatural truly do not work for him.[2] His daughter, Traci Thirteen, is a sorceress, a fact he finds most upsetting.[3]
In the first issue of Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers Zatanna limited series, Dr. Thirteen is said to have been dating the title character, believing her to be just a very talented stage magician. After she attends his book signing, he agrees to go with her to obtain proof that magic is real. Joined by Ibis the Invincible, his wife Taia, Swamp Thing supporting character Timothy Ravenwind, the group journey to many mystical realms. The purpose is to hunt for an approaching magical threat. Thirteen and the other three mystics are skeletonized by an entity called Gwdion. Zatanna blames her lack of preparation for the mystical journey, along with her addiction to using magic for selfish purposes. [4]
Post-Infinite Crisis, Dr. Thirteen lives with Traci in Doomsbury Mansion,[1] still working as a paranormal investigator.[5] In the eight issue limited series Tales of the Unexpected, Dr. Thirteen unites with other characters from canceled series, including Genius Jones, I...Vampire, Anthro, the Primate Patrol,[6] Infectious Lass from the Legion of Substitute-Heroes, Captain Fear[7] from a 1970s feature within the pages of Adventure Comics, and the Haunted Tank in a story that repeatedly breaks the fourth wall and comments on the then-current state of DC Comics and its continuity. Dr. Thirteen's group fights the Architects, the four writers who were heavily involved in the direction of the DC Universe titles at the time — Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid — to convince them to include them in the new Universe. The story ends with Thirteen warning his companions and the readers of a new danger. [8] [9]
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Doctor Thirteen was rescued from Paris before its destruction by his daughter, and is a member of the H.I.V.E., who vote on using nuclear weapons to end the Atlantean/Amazonian threat in Western Europe. When Traci tries to stop this, he injects her with a drug and proceeds to start the countdown.[10] Traci teleports to find help. When she returns to face her father after without desired help, an apparently possessed Doctor Thirteen who now uses magic to attack her.[11] During the battle, Traci telports herself to Paris, showing her father if the nuclear weapons are used she will die, along with 118 million people. She becomes badly injured from an Amazon spear. This snaps Doctor Thirteen out of his rampage. The two reconcile and Doctor Thirteen uses his remaining magic to stop the satellite, less than two minutes before it attacks. Traci then saves him, and it is revealed they have both used up all their magic.[12]
In the Vertigo Comics one-shot Vertigo Visions: Doctor 13 - Do AIs Dream of Electric Sheep?, Doctor Terrence Thirteen and his wife Marie go to marriage counseling, as Marie is becoming increasingly alienated from Terrence due to his overbearing behavior and the fact that he refuses to take payment for his services and therefore lives off her bank account. Doctor Thirteen becomes trapped in a virtual reality and embroiled in a conflict between benign and malicious artificial intelligences with the ability to manipulate media and sensory perceptions on a global scale. At the conclusion of the comic, Thirteen is seen in a mental institution, having apparently suffered a mental breakdown during the visit to the marriage counselor and hallucinated everything, although the AIs are also seen to be real.[13]