Basic summary of The Straw Men in the Black Scare verse before I write up the big biography:
the #henchsquad consists of young, downtrodden Gothamites who listen to Crane preach about overcoming/becoming the things they fear and wreaking havoc on the big mean city. It’s really just a radical anarchist terrorist group with the pageantry of a religious cult.
They all formed close and personal connections with Crane prior to enlisting. Some of them are former students, patients, or lab assistants. Otto was one of his most passionate students, who still showed up to his lectures and handed in essays even after he had to drop out of GSU.
Appear as normal and unremarkable members of society. People you wouldn’t remember well enough to describe them to a sketch artist. Frequently go undercover as cab drivers, journalists, interns, group therapy patients, train conductors, subway operators, exterminators/repairmen, nurses…
^ That leads to some major paranoia and a quasi witch hunt in Gotham. The idea that anyone can be a Straw Man means everyone has to be a little suspicious. There’s a Crucible thing happening here. A lot of “I heard Colin Wilkes has ties to the Scarecrow” and “that Kristen Kringle girl always seemed kinda sketchy” etc. People are afraid to go to the hospital. They’re afraid to get onto buses. They don’t trust their neighbors. People are getting fired from their jobs over evidence that they could be a part of the Scarecrow’s Straw Men.
There’s probably a whole fancy ritual to swear their loyalty where they’re baptized in liquid Fear Toxin or something ridiculous like that and in their delirious state Crane really drives home the fact that he’s their Christ and savior now.
The reason The Straw Men’s secret identities are so hard to track down is because they all staged their deaths. It’s a rite of passage for the cult.
There’s only 12 Straw Men, but they use fancy parlor tricks to make it look like they’re an army.
Their terrorist attacks are called “Plagues” because they’re fucking extra.
Their activity is spread out. sometimes they leave people waiting in suspense for months, sometimes he waits a year until civilians believe they’re gone for good. Crane only has them attack when there’s other giant supervillain schemes going on to distract the capes. The gaps between Plagues make them harder to track.
They spend time between Plagues hiding out in the basement of Keeny Manor in Arlen, Georgia. They make mass amounts of Fear Toxin there.
Their bases in Gotham are usually abandoned churches or libraries.
Not a 100% male group. In fact, there’s only 2-4 boys, Raymond and Otto included. Crane doesn’t connect well with men.
When they’re on the job and not undercover, they must wear their specially-designed gas masks and full body costumes at all times. Crane takes extreme measures to protect their identities. The gas masks also come with nightvision and a communication system (microphone inside the respirator, earpiece in one ear so their hearing isn’t completely obscured.) Jervis and/or Eddie probably designed them, and they might know the identities of the Straw Men.
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