Dr. Ebeneezer Darrk AKA Doctor Darrk is a villainous enemy to Batman and a high-ranking member of the League of Assassins. He is notable as being the first indivisual in publication to be portrayed as the League's leader, having been depicted as its president. Unlike his fellow Leaguers, Darrk was not often portrayed as a skilled martial-artist but rather through using planning, strategy and death-traps.
History[]
Earth One (Silver/Bronze Age)[]
Origins[]
Ebeneezer Darrk was a high-ranking member of the League of Assassins who had a fallout withRa's al Ghul. Due to their falling out, Darrk would go rogue with his own faction of the League and kidnap al Ghul's daughter, Talia outside of Cairo.
Batman[]
Darrk's first appearance was behind the scenes in Detective Comics #405, as the unnamed and unseen leader of the League of Assassins. Here he leads the League as they murder shipping magnates around Gotham City before being stopped by Batman during his first outing with the League.
Ebeneezer was first officially introduced Darrk kidnapped one Count Orsoni, a friend of Bruce Wayne's. When Batman investigated the case, Darrk attempted to thwart his plans only to learn that Darrk was the apparent president of the League of Assassins who used his abilities to try and execute Batman. Batman escaped but failed to capture Darrk.
Batman would later climb the Statue of Freedom to listen to a secret meeting in its torch to try and infiltrate the League. While the informant in the torch was killed, Batman would hear his last words which told him that Darrk accessed his lair from Gotham's Soom Express. Batman used this information to infiltrate Darrk's lair only to be rendered unconscious and imprisoned alongside Talia, marking their first meeting in publication.
Darrk attempted to kill the Caped Crusader and the Daughter of the Demon with a bull only for Batman to save them both. After getting her hands on a gun, Talia shot Ebeneezer in the chest and backwards onto the Soom Express where he was killed by a train.
Prime Earth (New 52)[]
Darrk's history in Prime Earth continuity mirrored that of his original variant exactly, with the exception of the train not killing him. Darrk was saved by Ra's al Ghul through the use of cybernetics so that he could force the doctor to make a refined Lazarus formula from the blood of the meta-human, Lord Death Man. This lead to Darrk becoming an enemy to the rogue Talon, Calvin Rose.
Powers and Abilities[]
Paraphernalia[]
Apparances in Other Media[]
- Batman: The Animated Series: In the episode Off Balance, Darrk's original story was adapted albeit with the Green Arrow villain Count Vertigo replacing his role in it.