Detective Comics #30

July 13, 1939

"The Return of Doctor Death"

You can't keep a good foil down and that was the case as Bruce is reading a newspaper on a mysterious death where the victim turned purple. For some reason, Bruce determines that Doctor Death, thought dead at the end of last issue, is alive and well and causing havoc in our, at this point, unnamed city.

Bruce goes undercover as a reporter and speaks to the man's widow. She reveals that her husband was threatened with death unless he turned over 500,000 which he failed to do as he lost most of his money in the Great Depression. But the widow reveals she has some diamonds in storage which she plans to cash in.

This, of course, comes to the attention of Death, who is in need of revenue to reestablish himself. He has a new assistant, Mikhail, who he sends out to retrieve the diamonds from the widow's safe. One thing that confuses me in this story is that Batman breaks into the safe without any explanation for his actions. He is stopped when he hears Mikhail approach. A fight ensues during which the widow walks in. Batman is able to distance the two and then follow Mikhail back to his apartment.

There, Batman thinks he has knocked the henchmen out with one of his gas vials, but Mikhail gets the better of him and they fight again. Batman falls out a window, but is able to set himself up to deliver a death blow to Mikhail by breaking his neck with a kick. It is here we learn that Jabah died in the previous issue at the hands of Batman's lasso around his neck. A very different Batman here who feels nothing when he takes a life in pursuit of justice.

Batman's showdown with Death takes place when he visits the fence Mikhail was supposed to pawn the diamonds to for the needed funds. The fence was Death in disguise. The now disfigured person tries to escape, but is captured by Batman's lasso.

Sadly, this is the last appearance of the villain, who could have made a great foil for Batman with his skills at creating chemical death. What's next for the Caped Crusader (a phrase not yet used)? Stay tuned, Citizens!