Doctor Sin

Real Name: Sin (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Retired (original occupation unrevealed - may be a medical doctor, or

Affiliations: Harry Ellis

Enemies: Satanists, Arnot le Gros/Mr. Morden

Known Relatives: "Sin Tax" (grandson, Dr. Sin)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: U.K.

First Appearance: 2000A.D. Annual 1979 (IPC, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Dr. Sin has no powers, but his deep understanding of the occult has taught him how to ward off demons and disrupt satanic rituals. He carries holy water to use against his foes, as well as a solid walking cane, which he is reasonably adept with.

History: (2000AD Annual 1979) After retiring, Dr. Sin made a study of the occult, and learned the true evil power of demons and devils. When a family friend Tony Ellis was murdered by satanists seeking to claim the land he owned for their rites, Dr. Sin teamed up with Tony's sceptical brother Harry to investigate, soon witnessing the Satanists mid-sabbat, about to commit a human sacrifice. Unwilling to stand by, Harry stormed into the ceremony and snatched the victim away from them, while Sin kept the cultists back long enough for them all to escape. However, the victim had already been possessed by an elemental, which burned him to death from the inside. By posing as a neighbouring landlord, the Satanist leader Arnot le Gros lured Harry into a trap, intending to slay him, but Sin had seen through the ruse. With a priest to back him up, he burst in on the ambush at the critical moment and destroyed the villains by dousing them with a bucket of holy water.

(Scream and Misty Special 2017) Sin went on to fight further unspecified demons until his demise, but his spirit remained active and contacted his grandson, the rapper Sin Tax, enlisting the reluctant lad to take up his monster hunting mission.

Comments: Created by Pat Mills and Horacio Lalia.

Doctor Sin was originally intended to be called Judge Dredd, and appear in a strip titled Black Magic, but the Dredd name got used elsewhere, forcing the occult fighter to change his name.

The 2000A.D. Annual 1979 was seemingly this character's only outing until he was brought back in the Scream and Misty Special 1979. However, an apparently different Doctor Sin (visibly younger, with hair and a beard) appeared in the 2000A.D. Action Special, which otherwise only featured new stories of pre-existing, and pretty iconic, characters. I think that the newer Doctor Sin was intended to be a revamped version of this one. Certainly, not only was the name identical, but his overall schtick matches pretty perfectly too - plus both stories state "Since his retirement Dr. Sin had made a study of the occult." Apart from "had" becoming "has" the comments are word for word identical. Why change his appearance so much? Purely as a speculation, it might be because the special also included Cursitor Doom, another foe of the supernatural who visually resembles the annual's Doctor Sin with his bald head and cloak.

For those who, like me, want to link things up "in universe," the Action Special's Doctor Sin could be either a younger version of the one covered in this entry, or, given that it has now been established in the Scream and Misty Special 2017 that the original has a grandson who inherited the title and demon-hunting role, the one from the special could be the original's son, and uncle or father of the one who debuted in 2017. Sin Tax's adventure will continue in the forthcoming The Vigilant special in 2018.


Cursitor Doom in the Action Special


Doctor Sin in 2000A.D. Annual 1979.

Yeah, I'd be hard pressed to tell these guys apart in a line-up.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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