Black Mask is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake, he made his first appearance in Batman #386. The character is commonly depicted as a brutal and ruthless crime lord in Gotham City who has a fixation with masks and derives sadistic pleasure from the act of torture. Black Mask is one of the most enduring enemies of the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.