Doctor Death (magazine) - First Doctor Death

First Doctor Death

The character of Doctor Death first appeared in a short story "Doctor Death" in the July 1934 issue of All Detective. That first story was written by Edward P. Norris, who went on to produce three more Doctor Death stories: "Cargo of Death", "Death’s I.O.U." and "Thirteen Pearls", which appeared in the September 1934, October 1934 and January 1935 issues of All Detective respectively. In these stories, the hero is Nibs Holloway, who works for a jewelry company. Nibs appeared in 2 stories without Doctor Death: "The Death Gambler" (Rapid-Fire Detective Stories, 5/33, published by Rapid-Fire Pubs) and "A Deal in Phonies" (All Detective, 8/34, Dell). Obviously, Doctor Death was meant to only appear in the second Nibs story, but was instead brought back in the fourth and subsequent stories. At the end of each story, he was seemingly killed off, only to reappear in the next story.

In these stories, Doctor Death is a dangerous mastermind of a foreign crime syndicate. No information is given as to his real identity or motives.