Dr. Death (Dr. Karl Hellfern) is a supervillain appearing in publications by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Bob Kane as an enemy of the superhero Batman, and first appeared in Detective Comics #29 (July 1939). He is notable as the first traditional supervillain to be encountered by the Batman, as well as his first recurring foe. Fictional character biography Golden Age In his first appearance in Detective Comics #29, Dr. Death develops a lethal chemical agent from pollen extract and enacts a plan to use the poison to extort money from wealthy Gotham City citizens. He is assisted by a large East Indian manservant, Jabah. He decides to eliminate Batman, and threatens to kill someone unless Batman stops him. Batman defeats his two henchmen, but is wounded when Jabah shoots him, though he escapes using a gas pellet. He then gets to Dr. Death's base, meeting him in his lab, and chases him around the building. To evade capture, Dr. Death ignites chemicals in his laboratory, presumably killing Jabah and himself in the resulting explosion. Dr. Death next appears the following month in Detective Comics #30. With a new accomplice, a Cossack named Mikhail, Dr. Death is this time successful in claiming a victim in his extortion scheme, but discovers from the widow that the poisoned man lost his fortune in the Great Depression. Batman intervenes in the plot, following Mikhail back to Dr. Death's base, and upon apprehending the doctor, discovers that his face had been horribly disfigured from the lab explosion, resulting in a brown, skeletal appearance. The scriptwriter for Detective Comics #29 and #30 is an issue of dispute, leaving the creator of Dr. Death uncertain. Batman creator Bob Kane is officially credited as scriptwriter of these issues, though later Gardner Fox, the scriptwriter of Detective Comics #31 and #32, claimed authorship. Bronze Age revival After several decades' absence, Dr. Death was reintroduced by writer Gerry Conway in Batman #345 and Detective Comics #512 (1982). Conway's story is an update of the original 1939 tale. In this version, Dr. Death is depicted as a paraplegic, but his deadly gas gimmick remains the same. He is assisted this time by a manservant named Togo. Modern Age Dr. Death was revived once again in Batgirl #42-44 and #50 (2003–2004) by writer Dylan Horrocks. The modern version of the character is a producer of biological