Doc Savage and the Case of the Erroneous Head Mirror

scene from Doc Savage #8This panel is a nearly perfect example of how not to use a head mirror:

1. It’s in the wrong position: way too far off to the side.

2. It’s facing the wrong way: the shiny mirrored surface should be facing inward until flipped down over the eye.

3. Doc Savage is scrubbed in and sterile, so he can’t reach up and flip down the mirror without becoming contaminated.

4. For a head mirror to work, there must be light coming from behind (or above and behind) the patient. In this case, the light source is above Doc, so there’s no light to reflect in the mirror.

(It’s not all bad: the mirror is positioned on the headband correctly so that it could be flipped down. And no, Doc isn’t wearing any eye protection, but this is long before OSHA, and no eye protection was a common practice back then.)

3 Responses to “ Doc Savage and the Case of the Erroneous Head Mirror ”

  1. I was watching the Legends two-parter from the first season of Justice League the other day, and I noticed that Dr. Cold was wearing his head mirror correctly at least part of the time.

  2. Is Doc about to Lobotomize the patient?

  3. Doc Savage maintained a “college” where criminals were taken for rehabilitation, and by rehabilitation, we mean a surgical procedure that removed their criminal nature and left them as law-abiding, contributing members of society.
    Nothing fascist about that, huh?

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