Worst Villain Ever

 

I've said it before on this blog, and I'll say it again, good villains in fiction need good criminal motivations. Good Batman villains need to be more than obsessed with beating Batman. The idea of a villain plotting and scheming to take down Batman, like some Western gunslinger kid looking to out shoot the most notorious outlaw, is only really good and compelling maybe one time. We had that one time in Batman comics, it was called Knightfall. After Bane's storyarc, we didn't need to revisit a personal crusade to tear down and ruin Batman for no other reason than bragging rights. However, comicbook writers continued to do just that. We got Bane, followed by Hush, followed by the worst character ever created, and then the Joker... multiple times? This is getting out of hand. 

Simon Hurt was created by Grant Morrison in 2008, based on an unnamed scientist character created by Sheldon Maldoff and Charles Paris for a one issue story in Batman #156 in 1963. His backstory is a bit of a crazy retcon, but stay with me for a second, and I'll try and explain...

Simon Hurt is an alias for Thomas Wayne. No, not Bruce Wayne's father, but Bruce Wayne's great great great great great uncle. Sounds dumb? There's more. 

Not only is Thomas Wayne a fifth generation ancestor, but he was a satanist, tried to conjure up the Bat Demon, Barbatos, but instead somehow got trapped in space time by Darkseid by mistake. Anyway, he ends up in in the 20th century, gets adopted (?) by Bruce Wayne's parents and sent to Arkham where he eventually takes part in psychological experiments with Batman and helps create "replacement Batmans". Time Travel almost never works out for comic books. 

Eventually, he decides to put together a secret cabal of rich people called the Black Glove to psychologically torment and break Batman. And he tries to convince everyone that he's probably also the Devil himself. The entire storyline seems like it was written by the kid who writes Axe Cop. 

In conclusion... this whole thing is terribly stupid. The character, the retconning, the plot. I can't even write in full sentences I'm so annoyed. The Black Glove is kind of a good idea, but I liked it even better when Scott Snyder did it and called it the Court of Owls. There is nothing about Simon Hurt or the Black Glove that should be kept in continuity.