Professor Milo

Professor Milo
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #247 (September 1957)
Created by	Bill Finger (writer) Sheldon Moldoff (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Achilles Milo
Abilities	Renowned expert in chemistry and alchemy.

Professor Achilles Milo is a fictional character in the DC Universe.

Fictional character biography

A renowned chemist who turned to crime, he 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.

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.

52

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.

Batman R.I.P.

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 Zurr-Enn-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.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!

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 Immortus himself to tamper with the pain receptors of his subject, making his boss able to inflict his creatures pain at will ^[1], and, eventually, shut them down at all.^[2] His masterplan meets a major failure when his last subject, the Human Flame, overcomes his control by sheer will, injures 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, but Immortus asks him to rethink their new strategy for the future.^[3]

JSA: All Stars

A still at large Milo, having severed his ties with Immortus, returns to freelancing, offering his enhancement procedures for an 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.^[4]

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 who got away with the antidote and managed to use some of it on the dog during mid-chase. Dr. Milo was later seen about to drive a truck that will distribute the antidotes. Roland Daggett tells Dr. Milo that he'd better make sure that dog did away with Batman cause if Batman evaded it, Roland instructs Dr. Milo to keep driving as far away from Gotham as the truck he's in will take him. Dr. Milo later reappeared in "Moon of the Wolf" where he was the one responsible for making an untraceable steroid/wolf hormone (when he got the Alaskan Timber Wolves from zookeeper John Hamner) derivative for an athlete named Anthony Romulus, which not only enhanced his athletic abilities, but also turned him into a living werewolf. When Anthony Romulus turned into a werewolf in the climax, Milo then realized too late that he had unleashed a monster he could not control. Milo (who was really a coward at heart) screamed at Romulus that would give him whatever he wanted, but Romulus lost his human reasoning during the transformation and beat up Milo mercilessly like the animal he was transforming into. Dr. Milo was knocked out by Anthony and was later seen being loaded into the ambulance. When he 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" voiced by Armin Shimerman. He is seen as a member of Project Cadmus. Amanda Waller demoted him to a lower position after a failed warthog experiment in his research of Dr. Kirk Langstrom (the former Man-Bat) trashed the lab. Angered at his, he pulled out a laser gun and shot the table six times—then a fade cut revealed that was just in Milo's imagination. Amanda Waller then tells him that he can go now, but Milo instead proceeded to where Cadmus was holding Doomsday. After explaining his creation and his fight with Superman, Milo set Doomsday free to take revenge on Waller, saying that he'll "solve both our problems". However, Doomsday killed Milo offscreen upon release, telling him that his problem was now "solved".

• 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 being, 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 and transforms Dr. Milo into cheese and then releases his rats.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

References

1. ^ Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #2
2. ^ Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #3
3. ^ Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #4
4. ^ JSA: All Stars #7