Doctor Phosphorus

Doctor Phosphorus
Doctor Phosphorus Art by Marcos Marz
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #469 (May 1977)
Created by	Steve Englehart
In-story information
Alter ego	Dr. Alex Sartorius
Abilities	Burning skin Toxic fume emission Radiation manipulation

Doctor Phosphorus (real name Dr. Alexander Sartorius) is a fictional character who has appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. Primarily an enemy of Batman, the supervillain exists in DC's main shared universe, known as the DC Universe. He first appeared in Detective Comics #469, and was created by Steve Englehart.^[1]

Fictional character biography

A crack in a reactor core causes Alex Sartorius to get "five million slivers of (radioactive) red-hot sand" into his body. Burning forever, he starts a quest for revenge against the people he blames for his terrible fate.

During the Underworld Unleashed storyline, he is one of many villains to sell his soul to the demon Neron. In exchange for his soul, he is granted greater power and more control; for example, he can now wear normal clothing without it bursting into flame.^[1]

In James Robinson's series Starman he is initially hired by the Mist to kill the original Starman, Ted Knight, but is defeated by the retired hero. However, they face each other a second time; this time, Phosphorus has given Knight a significant dose of radiation, which gave him terminal cancer. In a third and final confrontation, Knight is determined to ensure that Phosphorus would harm no one else. During the battle, he uses his cosmic rod to tear the pavement from beneath Phosphorus and drive him into the earth, apparently killing him.^[1]

Phosphorus returns in Detective Comics #825, where he is being held in Cadmus Research laboratories. When one of the scientists examining him says he heard Sartorius had died, the other replies, "From being crushed? Hardly. Everything human in Sartorius was consumed by fire long ago. We believe his powers manifested a fusion reaction that completely sublimated his central nervous system — creating functional facsimiles of his heart, his lungs, his kidneys — all working in concert to produce a near-endless supply of clean energy."

Phosphorus escapes from Cadmus, and once again seeks revenge on those responsible for his condition. He is defeated by Batman during an attack on Rupert Thorne, and he is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum.^[1]

During Batman's absence after his presumed death, Phosphorus escapes custody along with the other Arkham inmates. He kidnaps both Kirk Langstrom and his wife Francine for information about Langstrom's research.

During the Brightest Day crossover event, Phosphorus is freed from Arkham when Deathstroke and the Titans attack the facility. However, before Phosphorus can escape, he is attacked by Arsenal.^[2]

Powers and abilities

Doctor Phosphorus has burning skin, toxic emissions, and can manipulate radiation. When he sells his soul to Neron, he is granted better control of his powers so his clothes won't burn off.

Other versions

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Doctor Phosphorus was invited by Lt. Matthew Shrieve to be the new member of Creature Commandos, but Doctor Phosphorus then betrays him and kills his family.^[3] It is revealed that Doctor Phosphorus had been working by General Sam Lane who is responsible for the deaths of Miranda's family.^[4]

In other media

Television

• The character Blight from the animated series Batman Beyond has a design that strongly resembles Doctor Phosphorus, along with similar radioactive powers. In an interview with Timm in the Modern Masters volume profiling him, Timm, a professed fan of the Englehart/Rogers Batman run, readily admits to the similarities between Blight and Phosphorus. in Batgirl #6 (2010), Roulette refers to Phosphorus as 'the Baron of Blight'.

• In The Batman, Firefly's mutation from the Phosphorus Isotope causes him to become Phosphorus, who is somewhat based on Doctor Phosphorus. He has the same radioactive powers of Doctor Phosphorus, but he burns orange flame instead of white. Phosphorus also shares his comic book counterpart's insanity.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Wallace, Dan (2008), "Doctor Phosphorus", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 105, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017 
2. ^ Titans (vol. 2) #28
3. ^ Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #2 (July 2011)
4. ^ Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3 (August 2011)