Doctor Spektor is a fictional

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

" occult detective" that appeared in

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and ...

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

.Plowright, Frank ''The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide''. Great Britain : Slings & Arrows, 2003 (p.189) Created by writer

Donald F. Glut Donald F. Glut (; born February 19, 1944) is an American writer, motion picture film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the novelization of the second ''Star Wars'' film, ''The Empire Strikes Back''. Filmmaker Amateur car ...

and artist Dan Spiegle, he first appeared in ''Mystery Comics Digest'' #5 (July 1972).

Publication history

After his first appearance in a 10-page story in '' Mystery Comics Digest'' #5, Dr. Spektor was spun off into his own title, ''The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor''. The series ran for 24 issues (May 1973 - February 1977). His final original story appeared in one issue of ''Gold Key Spotlight'' (#8, August 1977).

Jesse Santos Jesse Santos (June 24, 1928 – April 27, 2013) was a Filipino comic-book artist. He is best known as the co-creator of ''Dagar the Invincible'' and ''Tragg and the Sky Gods'' with writer Donald F. Glut. Biography Jesse Santos was born in Ter ...

replaced Spiegle as artist on the series, and remained there for the entire run. Dr. Spektor appeared in all four issues of Gold Key's ''Spine-Tingling Tales'' (1975–76), where he provided linking narration for some of the stories within (these stories were reprints from ''Mystery Comics Digest'' that dealt with characters who later appeared in his title). He also had stories he narrated in ''Mystery Comics Digest'' #10, #11, #12, and #21, and articles in '' Golden Comics Digest'' #25, #26, and #33. Under the Whitman Comics name, issue #25 was released in May 1982. It reprinted issue #1, but with a line-art cover instead of the original painted cover. In 2014,

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of '' The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptations ...

released a new version of ''Doctor Spektor'', written by

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', '' Fantastic Four'' and ''Da ...

and drawn by Neil Edwards, as part of the company's revival of several Gold Key characters which also included Magnus, Robot Fighter, Dr. Solar and Turok.

Fictional character biography

Doctor Adam Spektor is an

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

investigator, dealing with various occult menaces, such as

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

(Ra-Ka-Tep),

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

s (Baron Tibor,

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

, and more. He is aided by Lakota Rainflower, his

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...

secretary (until issue #22), along with several semi-recurring assistants (Elliot Kane in issue #4 and #10, future love interest Lu-Sai in issues #12 and #24, his cousin Anne Sara in issue #17). Several of the monsters he encounters return in subsequent issues, and for three issues, Spektor became a werewolf (#11-13). Issues #2–11 contain short stories in the back 'from the occult files of Doctor Spektor' and narrated by Spektor, which many times include creatures and characters from the main series such as Durak (or at least his knife), Elliot Kane, and others. Don Glut had Dr. Spektor crossover with several of his other Gold Key characters such as Tragg and Dagar. Tragg and Lorn make cameo appearances in issue #19. Ostellon, Master of the Living Bones (from ''Dagar the Invincible'' #1), appears in issue #7; issue #15 concludes a story begun in ''Dagar'' #13, and Durak from ''Dagar'' appears in #16.

Doctor Solar Solar is an American fictional comic book superhero created by writer Paul S. Newman, editor Matt Murphy, and artist Bob Fujitani. The character first appeared in ''Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom'' #1 in 1962 by Gold Key Comics and has since appeare ...

appears in several issues (#14, #18, #23), and Gold Key's the Owl appears in #22. Spektor also made a brief one-page appearance administering "Dr. Spektor's Creature Quiz" in Glut's children's book ''Monsters: Fiendish Facts, Quivery Quizzes and Other Grisly Goings-on'', also from Golden Press.

Powers and abilities

Dr. Spektor is a skilled investigator of the occult, and very knowledgeable about the lore of the paranormal. During issues #11-13 Dr. Spektor became a werewolf. During that time he possessed, while in werewolf form, increased strength, stamina, and invulnerability (except to silver weapons).

References

External links

* {{Gold Key Comics 1973 comics debuts Spektor, Doctor Adam Spektor, Doctor Adam Detective comics Fantasy comics Occult detective fiction Spektor, Doctor Adam Spektor, Doctor Adam Gold Key Comics titles

Publication history

Fictional character biography

Powers and abilities

Further reading

References

External links