Pygmalism

It seems like the biggest challenge for contemporary comic writers is creating new characters that are as interesting and potentially as longlasting as the more classic characters. How do you create a villain for Batman, for example, that is as terrifying and dangerous an adversary as say... the Joker?

Grant Morrison had a run on Batman and Robin that not only had to create an interesting storyline without using Bruce Wayne as Batman, but also had to develop a new Robin (Damian Wayne) who initially wasn't very popular (the test tube son of Batman and Talia? Really?). Morrison did pretty well, and created some new interesting villains in the process. Professor Pyg is one of these new characters, and perhaps the most interesting, most twisted, original Batman character in the last 30 years.

His first appearance is in Batman #666 (2007), created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. Professor Pyg doesn't really become developed though until 2009 when he appears in Batman and Robin #1. With ties to Simon Hurt's Black Glove, and Talia Al Ghul's Leviathan, Professor Pyg operates in Gotham with his own gang called the Circus of the Strange.

Professor Pyg, Lazlo Valentin, is something of a surgeon. His obsession with perfection leads him to conclude that any deviation from his ideal is less than perfect, and individuality leads to deviation. So he creates a serum that destroys identity. He also operates on his kidnapped victims, turning them into identical, emotionless soldiers, called Dollotrons, complete with permanently attached masks. All the same. All identical. All "perfect".

The obvious connection to the Greek myth, and the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion can be seen in the character's name. The themes of Hubris and perfection, possession, and adoration/obsession for one's own creation can be easily warped and twisted into something dark. The band Momus wrote a song called Pygmalism, and Morrison has said from that came the inspiration for this character. In addition to classic retellings of Greek myths, the connections to splatter and torture porn horror films is unmistakable. It wouldn't be a stretch to fit Professor Pyg into a Saw, Hostel, or Human Centipede related plot.

This character is a great addition to Batman's group of villains. Pyg is terrifying, preying on our fears of doctors and hospitals and losing our individuality and ability to express ourselves. He embodies the Dr. Frankenstein/Dr. Moreau archetype with psychotic brutality. I really hope he is revisited by other writers and becomes a bigger, scarier part of the Batman mythos.