Steve Gerber

Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber was an American comic book and television script writer who co-wrote the  episode. Commander Steven Gerber of the starship USS Yamato, listed in an okudagram seen in "Contagion", is an in-joke reference to Gerber.

As a prolific comic book artist and editor, Gerber spent the majority of his career working at Marvel Comics. He is perhaps best known as the creator of the satiric Marvel character,. He also created the character of Man-Thing for Marvel. He had long runs on the Marvel books Daredevil and Sub-Mariner and worked on such titles as Marvel Spotlight, Shanna the She-Devil, Omega the Unknown and The Defenders.

Following his career at Marvel, Gerber began writing for television. He wrote for a number of animated series, most notably G.I. Joe and Transformers. More recently, he worked on animated shows for Batman and Superman as well as the popular Japanese-made cartoon Yu-Gi-Oh! He also continued to work in comics, including assignments for DC Comics.

In 2007, Gerber was diagnosed with. He continued to work while undergoing various medical procedures and waiting for a lung transplant. He ultimately succumbed of his illness in a Las Vegas hospital at the age of 60. At the time of his death, he was writing Countdown to Mystery: Doctor Fate for DC Comics.