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Dr. H. Robinson
 

Religion: indeterminate

Name: Dr. H. Robinson

Classification: supporting character supporting character  

Publisher(s): DC

First Appearance: Batman (vol. 1) #3 (Fall 1940): "The Ugliest Man in the World"

Creators: Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson, George Roussos

Number of Appearances: 2

Occupation: dentist

Gender: male

In panel 5 on page 5 in the story "The Ugliest Man In the World" in Batman #3 (Fall 1940), a car carrying bad guys (members of the "Ugly Horde") flees from police. The car speeds by a commercial building. One of the windows is labeled "Dr. H. Robinson: Dentist." Other than this, Dr. Robinson is never actually mentioned or seen in this story.

In a surprising bit of continuity, Dr. H. Robinson the dentist was actually "mentioned" again a few months later. In the Batman story published in Detective Comics #46 (Dec 1940), a sign for "Dr. H. Robinson, Dentist" is clearly seen in three separate panels on pages 10 and 11. While Robin is downtown confronting criminals hired by Professor Strange, the acrobatic hero swings on Dr. H. Robinson's sign in order to get up onto a movie marquee and take out a gunman.

At this time in Batman's publishing history, it was rare for any character (aside from Batman, Robin, and Commissioner Gordon) to be used in more than one story. The only recurring villains were the Joker, Catwoman, and Professor Hugo Strange. So the re-use of "Dr. H. Robinson, dentist" is quite unusual. Both stories that feature this dentist's sign were by the same writer and artists. Clearly the re-use of this name was not a coincidence. What was the inspiration for this name? The inker's name for these stories was Jerry Robinson. Did the artists know an actual "H. Robinson," perhaps through their association with him?


This character is in the following 2 stories which have been indexed by this website:
Batman (vol. 1) #3 (Fall 1940): "The Ugliest Man in the World" (business/store name)
Detective Comics (vol. 1) #46 (Dec. 1940): "Professor Strange's Fear Dust" (business/store name)


Suggested links for further research about this character:
  - https://www.comics.org/issue/1039/
  - http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=29238