Professor Milo

Professor Achilles Milo is a fictional character in DC Comics.

Publication history

Professor Achilles Milo first appeared in Detective Comics #247 and was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff.

Fictional character biography

A renowned chemist who turned to crime,^[1] Achilles Milo used a variety of chemical and medical-related schemes to kill Batman involving subjecting Batman to a drug that made him afraid of anything bat-shaped, gassing Batman with a compound that made him lose his will to live, and manipulating the werewolf-like Anthony Lupus into doing his bidding. At one time, Milo took control of Arkham Asylum and attempted to make Batman insane with yet another gas. When Batman tried to apprehend him, Milo was overpowered by the mad inmates, who had sided with Batman, and exposed to his own gas which drove him insane, and he spent some time in Arkham Asylum as a patient himself.^[2]

Batman consulted Milo on at least one occasion when he needed chemical expertise given to him by The Joker. After that, Dr. Milo retired from criminal activity. He appeared in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, where the gas had apparently worn off, but he couldn't convince anyone he was actually sane.^[3]

In 52 week 41, Ralph Dibny confronts an emaciated Doctor Milo, who appears without his lower legs and in a wheelchair, which is actually used to disguise the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath.^[4]

In "Batman R.I.P.", a past hallucination induced by Professor Milo's gas is revealed to have inspired Bruce Wayne to create the 'back-up' personality of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, a more ruthless Batman personality designed to take over in the event of Bruce Wayne being psychologically attacked in such a manner as to render Batman out of action.

An apparently healed Professor Milo appears as the chief henchman of a returned General Immortus. Professor Milo is now in charge of granting artificial superpowers to Immortus' minions. In this quality, he's able to internalize the Human Flame powers, removing his need for a special suit by embedding miniature flamethrowers into his skin. However, Milo is instructed by General Immortus himself to tamper with the pain receptors of his subject, making his boss able to inflict his creatures pain at will,^[5] and, eventually, shut them down at all.^[6] His masterplan meets a major failure when his last subject Human Flame overcomes his control by sheer will, injures General Immortus and tortures Milo to get an even more powerful body. Milo is spared since he redirects the Human Flame to S.T.A.R. Labs for experimental treatments. General Immortus asks him to rethink their new strategy for the future.^[7]

A still at large Milo (having severed his ties with General Immortus) returns to freelancing, offering his enhancement procedures for a hefty fee. He's contacted by Arthur Pemberton to heal the brain damage earlier inflicted in a fight against the JSA to his daughter Lorna.^[8][9]

Powers and abilities

Professor Milo is an expert at chemistry and alchemy.

In other media

Television

Milo as depicted in Batman: The Animated Series.

• Dr. Achilles Milo first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Cat Scratch Fever", voiced by Treat Williams. He engineered a plague to infect Gotham's stray pet population for Roland Daggett. This plague also affected Catwoman when her cat Isis attacked her. When Batman stumbled onto this plot to look for the antidote, Milo unleashed an infected dog to attack Batman. Daggett tells Dr. Milo to make sure Batman is done for, otherwise Milo had best get out of Gotham. Batman ultimately stops Roland Daggett's plot and cures Catwoman. Dr. Milo later reappeared in "Moon of the Wolf" where he was the one responsible for making an untraceable steroid/wolf hormone derivative for athlete Anthony Romulus, which not only enhanced his athletic abilities, but also turned him into a living werewolf. When Romulus turned into the wolf in the climax, Milo realized too late that he had unleashed a monster he could not control. Dr. Milo was knocked out by Romulus and was later seen being loaded into the ambulance. When Dr. Milo states that they can't convict him of anything, Commissioner Gordon quotes "Don't bet on it."

Dr. Milo as a member of Project Cadmus, in Justice League Unlimited.

• Dr. Achilles Milo later resurfaced in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Doomsday Sanction", now voiced by Armin Shimerman. He is seen as a member of Project Cadmus. Amanda Waller demoted him to a lower position after a failed super-powered common warthog experiment in his research of Dr. Kirk Langstrom trashed the lab. Dr. Milo briefly imagines drawing a weapon and shooting the other members of the meeting. In revenge, Milo frees Doomsday from where Cadmus was holding him with the intent of sending it to kill Waller after recapping his creation to him. However, Doomsday killed a horrified Milo off-screen. When Amanda Waller learns that Dr. Milo had released Doomsday and vowed to have his hide for this, a Cadmus operative told her that Doomsday "beat her to it." Waller was shocked by that info.
• Dr. Achilles Milo appears in the teaser of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Gorillas in Our Midst" voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He uses his trained rats to steal some diamonds to continue his work only for Batman and Spectre to arrive. When Dr. Milo drinks a potion and becomes a super-strong version of himself, Batman ends up fighting him. Batman manages to knock Dr. Milo into some wires shocking him enough to return him to normal. Batman tells Spectre to let the police deal with him and both of them leave. Unfortunately, Spectre returns where he transforms Dr. Milo into cheese and releases the trained rats.

See also

• List of Batman Family adversaries

References

External links

• Professor Milo at DC Comics Wiki
• Professor Milo at Comic Vine