First Appearance: World’s Finest Comics #3 (Fall, 1941)
Real Name: Dr. Jonathan Crane
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Blue
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Every day of Jonathan Crane’s childhood was spent in fear. Constantly tormented and brutalized because of his thin, gawky frame, Crane decided he would one day show his tormentors true fear, devoting his life to studying the nature of fear and phobia, both psychological and biochemical. As a professor at Gotham University his unorthodox teaching methods—and refusal to follow safety code—got him fired.
Suffering a psychotic break, Crane dressed as a Scarecrow and, using a “fear gas” of his own design, went on a murder spree, killing the university regents by literally scaring them to death. Batman tracked down the Scarecrow and ended his reign of terror.
A frequent resident of Arkham Asylum, Scarecrow has escaped over and over, clashing with Batman and his allies, and constantly improving his dear toxins. Sometime ago, Penguin hired Scarecrow to develop a new “fear dust,” ostensibly to help the crimelord control his subordinates. His real plan, however, involved rogue geneticist Linda Friitawa blending her work with Scarecrow’s, and testing the result on an unsuspecting Crane.
Transformed into a monstrous “Scarebeast” with enormous size, speed, strength and ability to secrete fear gas, he slaughtered Penguin’s underlings. Batman and Robin stopped the Scarebeast and thwarted Penguin’s plans. Dr. Friitawa, however, calling herself “Fright,” gave herself a refined dose of the serum and escaped.
Years ago, Scarecrow obtained severe injuries when Black Mask (Roman Sionis) set him ablaze during the Gotham City gang wars. He has since recovered. How much control Crane has over his Scarebeast transformations, however, is still unclear to the majority of the public and Gotham underground alike.