Just Another Batman Blog

  Batman's 2nd ever villain in the comics, the Mad Monk, was created by Gardener Fox and Bob Kane for Detective Comics #31 in 1939. The first super natural character, predating Ra's Al Ghul by 30 years, the unnamed monk is a vampire, the Dracula kind. He wears a red robe and hooded mask, depicted above, looking eerily similar to a klansman. The monk has hypnotism powers, and can turn himself into a wolf.  The original character is a Hungarian lord with a plan to dominate the world with an army of female werewolves. The Monk kidnaps women and turns them into monsters. He is assisted by Dala, the first female sidekick, starting a trend in DC comics that gave us Talia , Query and Echo, March Harriet , Dollhouse , Harley Quinn , and Punchline .  The Monk and Dala attempt to kidnap and turn Bruce Wayne's girlfriend. Obviously this was a mistake, and Batman rescues the girlfriend, and kills both vampires with silver bullets.  In 1982, Gerry Conway brough the character back...

I just finished an excellent 3 part podcast about rats. The Radiolab talked all about New York City rats, the history of people's perception of rats, rat control, rats as pets, etc. We have been studying rats and rat behavior for quite some time. Rats can remember, make decisions, and have pattern recognition. They also display empathy. While it has been inconclusive whether they can pass the mirror test, recognizing themselves in a mirror, they do show abstract and emotional intelligence. This includes responding to their own name, learning tricks, and learning how to find things, like drugs, and cadavers. In fact, cadaver rats are cheaper to train than dogs and have a better success rate. The downside, rats have a lifespan of 12-24 months. Most wild rats don't survive past a year with a 95% mortality rate.  On the other side, rats have a terrible reputation in urban areas. They reproduce at a high rate. Five litters a year per female can produce around seven pups each totalin...

   Comics as a medium have always reflected the time period in which they are created, like all other artforms, really. In the 1940s, comicbook heroes were pitted against fascist Nazi adversaries. In DC Comics this included Doctor Poison, The Baroness, Captain Nazi, and a pelethora of Nazi soldiers, generals, and of course Hitler himself. However, as time goes on, American sentiments change. Nazis are still a favorite villain. Even alternate versions of our heroes have had Nazification treatments. I've written about Nazi Batman before. The deeper into the Cold War we get though, comic book villains shift from Nazis and Fascists to Communists, and Soviet spies.  Aside from breaking up a Nazi spy ring in Batman #14, the caped crusader seemed to stay out of international conflicts. But, as the real Cold War goes on, Batman's storylines expand out of Gotham and into other spaces. By the 1980s, Batman is ready to move from Nazi spy rings, to Soviet spy rings. In 1988, late in...

  Blockbuster is not a very compelling character on his own. A lot of this character and his themes are better used on other characters. However, I did bring him up in my first post ever , and just never got around to writing about him. So, here it is, the Blockbuster post.  Created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino, Blockbuster's first appearance is in Detective Comics # 345, in 1965. One of many scientist Batman villains, Mark Desmond is a chemist who develops a serum to boost his physical attributes. Predictably, the experiment goes horribly wrong, and Mark Desmond turns himself into a giant, rage filled monster with limited intelligence. His Blockbuster persona is manipulated by his brother, Roland Desmond. The two brothers go on a crime spree, and are eventually stopped by Batman and Robin.  After this initial appearance, Blockbuster returns a few times, butts heads with Solomon Grundy , is manipulated by the Outsider, and then turns anti-hero and rescues trapped ...

Recently, the new Bruce Timm Batman animated series dropped. There is so much to like about this new Batman series. It takes place in a noir setting somewhere in 1930s to 40s America, but without the systemic racism and misogyny. Its packed with Batman Universe easter eggs, like a Killer Croc cameo and a Carrie Kelly appearance. Most of the show seems to be a carefully crafted universe with an adult noir theme. However, one episode stands out as a little off... The first episode introduces this new Gotham City universe. Reeking of corruption, full of intrigue ready to be uncovered by a detective, this Gotham seems to be grounded in a sense of modernity despite its obvious homages to a gritty past. And then... super weapons and overt terrorism? Given the rest of the show's detective noir mystery feel, the first episode is more Batman 60s Camp, than Prohibition-era gangster Batman.  The episode, however, is the premier, and events in this episode set the stage for the rest of the se...

  This is probably the most obscure villain to be featured yet here. With only a handful of appearances, and only two being more than a cameo, this guy is for the weirdo diehards. First appearing in 1966, The Monarch of Menace was created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff. He had only one other full appearance in a Batman story in 1981, 15 years later. Mark Russell brought him back as a cameo in 2020, and he's made 2 other cameos since.  Introduced in Detective Comics #350, Batman describes the Monarch of Menace as the only criminal to elude him and escape into presumed retirement. However, the Monarch's son gets caught committing crimes using his father's alias. Batman and Robin use the son as bait to lure the Monarch back to Gotham and have him arrested. When Batman goes missing after a battle with Ra's al Ghul , the Monarch resurfaces again. He capitalizes on Batman's disappearance and claims he has captured the Batman, using that lie to defraud other crimin...