Polite Dissent

Just as psychiatrist is used by comic book writers as as a kind of shorthand (denoting a doctor who may be a little nefarious or have an ulterior motive), surgeon is also comic book writer shorthand. It is used to describe any doctor who is supposed to be a cut above (pun intended) and particularly brilliant.

(On the other hand, some writers seem to be lazy and use the terms surgeon and doctor interchangeably. The phrases may have meant the same thing once — in the 19th century for instance — but surgeons have been considered a specialty for a long time now.)

It requires a minimum of 5 years of surgical residency to become a General Surgeon (some residencies require a sixth research year). Surgical subspecialties (such as Vascular Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery and Orthopedics) require even longer residencies. In contrast, most primary residencies (including Family Practice) take 3 years.

Comic Book Surgeons:
The Good Guys:
Dr. Mid-Nite Charles McNider; the original. Surgeon and Golden Age super-hero. JSA member.
Dr. Midnight Beth Chapel. A surgical intern, and student of the Charles McNider. Member of Infinity Inc. The Comic Treadmill sums Dr. Midnight up well in this description of her first appearance in Infinity Inc. There is also a picture of her painful-to-look-at costume (yep, she definitely was blind).
Dr. Mid-Nite II Pietr Cross. A surgeon who also had been a student of McNider. A frequent target of my posts.
Dr. Strange Stephen Strange was a succesful surgeon before a car accident led to alcoholism and mysticism.

The Bad Guys:
Cardiac Eli Wirtham, criminal “vigilante”. (Why are so many comic book doctors named some variationof Wertham?)
Hush Thomas Elliot…not just a surgeon, a neurosurgeon! And he’s the “best neurosurgeon in the world!” (The phrase “best neurosurgeon in the world” is ? and ™ 2004 by Polite Dissent)