Doctor Know

Doctor Know
A.K.A.	Doctor Know-It-All
Character Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Sorcerer Mayor
Behind the Scenes
First seen in	COMIC: Nighthawks
Also seen in	See list
Copyright	Open Source

Doctor Know-It-All, often referred to as simply Doctor Know, was the mayor of the pocket dimension known as Knowheresville, and was notorious for having access to vast knowledge, including things that were meant to be secret. He also described himself as a “sorcerer supreme”.

Description

Physical appearance

The version of the Doctor met by Jenny Over-There was a dark-skinned man with curly hair, wearing an oversized scarf, a purple overcoat with a stick of broccoli hanging out of one of the breast pockets, trousers which “seemed to belong to a pair of pajamas”. He also wore a pair of large glasses. (PROSE: Open Sourcing) Jenny Over-There later thought of Doctor Know as wearing outfits having something in common with Doctor Omega's and Professor Helvetius's. (PROSE: A Series of Queer Events)

Biography

Meeting RagBoy and Hands McGee

When RagBoy and Hands McGee found themselves trapped in a Limbo-like dimension during a battle with some goblins, Doctor Know helped them escape, leading them back to reality through the Otherside. (COMIC: Nighthawks)

Observing them through the Otherside once they had returned to reality, Doctor Know commented that they would remember the knowledge he'd shared when the time was right, and until then they would have other guides on their quest. He then returned home (presumably to Knowheresville); the narration declared that "The further adventures of Doctor Know belong to you." (COMIC: Second story arc (Strange Encounters))

With the M.F.S.

A version of Doctor Know-It-All was one of the applicants to join the Multidimensional Finders Service when the Man in Grey conducted job interviews. As the Great Higher-Ups had demanded characters free of copyright, he was initially reluctant to accept him due to his resemblance to “the time-traveller guy”. However, he blackmailed the Man in Grey with photographs of the Man in Black, another being who was surprisingly similar to the Man in Grey, a connection the Man in Grey was apparently keen to keep secret from the Higher-Ups. Doctor Know ended up as one of the finalists, being sent to Scotland to set up the new branch of the M.F.S. alongside Talbot Molossus, the Hydrant and 0000-8888888. (PROSE: Open Sourcing)

Behind the scenes

Doctor Know-It-All debuted in the story Nighthawks as part of the webcomic Strange Encounters by Johnny Splendor. From the start, the character was presented as an open-source character, explicitly inspired by Jenny Everywhere. As such, he had his own variation of the Paragraph:

The character of Doctor Know is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Doctor Know, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.

—Johnny Splendor

Notably, the version used in Strange Encounters appears to have been a distinct variant from the one used by Callum Phillpott in Open Sourcing, which differed from some parts of the original open-source description as well as the Strange Encounters artwork: the original Doctor Know did not wear glasses, and his coat was gray instead of purple.

Phillpott's Doctor Know-It-All is also conflated with the preexisting public-domain Oz character of Professor Nowitall, responsible for the enlargement of the Woggle-Bug, as revealed in Good Crieff - The Tribulations of the Scottish Division when he mentions that Ozma once referred to him as “the Veritable Virtuoso of Macrology”.

In the opening story arcs of Strange Encounters, an owl appears to guide the heroes to battle the Jersey Devil; the same owl is later seen standing over a diner where Hands McGee finds the watch that leads him to the goblins. Hands McGee states that the owl is "a sign of Athena" (the Greek goddess of wisdom) and that "owls guide and protect." While not explicitly stated, it is strongly implied that this owl is a manifestation of Doctor Know.

External links

• Doctor Know on the Public Domain Super-Heroes Wiki
• Archive of the original Strange Encounters comic

Incarnations of Doctor Know
925th Universe