#bootface

[bitsofbats]

Batman and Robin #39, 2015 Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, and John Kalisz

[swaines-attempt]

Hey who wants an essay about obscure Batman villains no one cares about

Recently I've read two arcs of different Batman comics that introduced similar villains with similar theming.

Batman and Robin (2011) #10 through #12 introduces Terminus (left) and his gang of Bat-Freaks, a team of ordinary criminals who have suffered at the hands of Batman and plan to smear his name in revenge. Terminus, their leader, is a sci-fi body horror effigy of a man, whose identity and reasons for hating Batman go unexplained.

Meanwhile, Detective Comics (2016) #943-947 introduces the Victim Syndicate, a team of former hostages to Batman's villains whom he failed to save. They are led by the First Victim (right), a mysterious BDSM freak covered in the literal blood that is metaphorically on Batman's hands. He claims he was the first person who Batman failed to save, but again, the details and his identity go unexplained.

The Terminus gang and the Victim Syndicate are both, in concept, a really interesting bunch to me. The concept of Batman "creating" his villains has already been widely explored, but these cases feel grounded in a way I find refreshing. They have none of the larger-than-life mystique of Joker or Two-Face, they're just ordinary people lashing out at the symbol that has failed them.

The problem is in the implementation of both groups. The members of the Victim Syndicate are just kind of weird, and not in a good way. Characters like the Noxious Man and Mudface have potential in isolation, but in the wider Batman lore they just feel like diet versions of the established villains who created them. Some of them have potential to be explored. The idea of following a long-term Poison Ivy thrall is legitimately intriguing, and the Victim Syndicate arc wrings a lot out of Mudface's emotional history with Clayface. But it bothers me that these people have somehow gained superpowers from the villains’ attacks. Why did Noxious Man and Mute gain powers from their chemical weapon exposure when none of the thousands of other victims have? How do you explain Mudface's powers without making it completely contrived (Clayface just happened to have the same chemicals that created him on hand)? It takes me out of what is otherwise a really interesting gang of characters.

Terminus' gang, despite not having a proper team name, has a much stronger concept direction. Bootface, Bat-Head, and Scallop all have distinct, recognizable designs that the Victim Syndicate doesn't match, though Smush and… unnamed rope guy… are a little goofy. Their backstories are all much more grounded as well. In fact I admire how the first issue they appear in sets them up in so few panels. All of these people were criminals already, and now they're blaming Batman for the consequences of their actions (more on the implications of that in a bit). But again, there are no grand Joker schemes here. Terminus' gang tries to smear Batman's reputation by branding people with the bat symbol. It's brutal, it's messy, it's ordinary people lashing out, and it is delicious. It definitely outdoes the Victim Syndicate’s initial plan, which seems to be undefined beyond targeted mayhem (although teaming up the First Victim with Anarky to make a social movement against Batman is an inspired choice, as is the later falling out between the two over the Victim’s lack of true sympathy).

And that brings us to the respective leaders of the two gangs, Terminus and the First Victim. Unlike their lackeys, these characters do hold that larger-than-life supervillain quality, but the First Victim executes on it much more effectively than Terminus. Neither of them ever actually explain their beef with Batman, and I think that ambiguity is good, but Terminus just feels implausible. Why is a supervillain with access to mech suits and missiles teaming up with frickin Bootface? I’ve already talked about how the actions of Terminus’ gang are brutal and crude, which is a large part of their appeal to me. But surely someone with the resources to make a bat-mech could do so much more. It makes not getting to find out what Terminus’ deal is feel like a failure on the part of the writing. Cool body horror though. The First Victim, on the other hand, matches the vibe of the other characters much better. His force-field is definitely in the realm of science fiction, but it feels more restrained than Terminus’ military depot clearance sale. It fits his vibe as well. Punching him accomplishes nothing, because you can’t get him out of your head, and you can’t wash the blood from your hands. And that is exactly why the First Victim is the scarier of the two. He's psychological in a way that actually feels threatening, and has palpable impacts on Batman and his family dynamics. It makes his ambiguous backstory intriguing, where Terminus' feels like a plot hole.

To tie in a common theme with Batman, it's worth examining who the writers choose to be a villain. These characters are all villains, but, well, they're also victims. The Bat-Freaks in particular are written with a tone that suggests their predicament is their own fault for being criminals in the first place. Again, Batman comics (and crime media in general) tend to ignore the legitimate grievances and brutality that drive people to crime in real life, and that aspect is on show here even more than it usually is. Comic book demonization of disability is also on full display here, with Bat-Head's comedic tics probably being the worst offender. This is a larger problem that exists far beyond these two arcs, but it's so front and center here that I can't analyze them without making note of that.

For all my criticisms of these characters and arcs, there is a lot to like here. I specifically read these arcs for the villains, but I was surprised to find a lot of well-written Bat-family content as well. The Terminus arc includes a great exploration of Damian's early insecurity within the Bat-family. If you've been on the Batfam side of Tumblr, you've probably seen the sequence where Damian steals one of Jason's helmets. That's from this arc. You may have seen the sequence where Dick gifts Damian one of his escrima sticks and points out he's already Robin, so he has nothing more to prove. That's from this arc. And in the Victim Syndicate arc, the First Victim's grievances against Batman push Stephanie, herself repeatedly victimized by Batman, to fight back and reclaim her identity as Spoiler.

(Note that I haven't read the full runs of these comics. I like what I saw of Damian and Stephanie, but I recognize that I have no idea if that good characterization holds up when put in context).

Batman villains fascinate me as an exploration of the extremes in life, how a concept or symbol can fully take over and tinge everything you see and do. Even poorly-written supervillains can have an undeniable magnetism. I think it's worth exploring, defining, and redefining the villains that slip under the radar.

[thingsbatmanvillianswouldsay]

Please don't arrest me

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[youngearthmusic]

#bootFace #dontmovecreep