I know I said I was going to do a list of the greatest Batman villains of all time, in my opinion of course. I still might, however I feel that gets a bit overdone. So I thought I would a top 5 list of the lesser known/weird villains that Batman has faced. I wanted to give some love to the villains that really don’t see much screen time/page time in comics. I will only be giving brief descriptions of each villain. If you would like me to go into more detail with origin stories and story arcs they were involved in, please let me know.
Yes, homeboy shot Batman with mayo. I swear I am not making this up.
1. Ventriloquist & Scarface - First appearing in Detective Comics #583 Arnold Wesker aka Ventriloquist is a meek, quiet man who plans and executes crimes through a dummy named Scarface. Scarface has the dress and persona of a 1920’s gangster (complete with pinstripe suit, cigar and tommy gun). His name comes from the nickname of Al Capone, after whom Scarface is modeled. Ventriloquist and Scarface is probably my favorite of the lesser known villains of Batman. It’s a very interesting dynamic, here is this older man carrying around a dummy that is barking orders at goons and thugs and they listen to him. There are a couple of different origins to this character, but my favorite has to be that there was an old gangster named “Scarface” Scarelli who died and through supernatural means his soul was placed into the dummy.
2. Kite Man - Charles “Chuck” Brown first appeared in Batman #133. Basically he is a guy who uses different gimmick kites and weapons to commit crimes. Hey what can I say it was the 60’s, Batman fought a bunch of different weird villains. However Kite Man was used in a current storyline called the War of Jokes and Riddles. He was a main point of the entire story arc and it was very well done. If you’d like me to go into more detail, just let me know.
3. Calendar Man - Julian Gregory Day first appeared in Detective Comics #259. He committed crimes during certain holidays and significant dates. He was kind of a joke villain when he was first introduced, but through the years he evolved into more of a dark character, most notably in the story arc The Long Halloween. In the Long Halloween he is more of a Hannibal Lecter type serial killer that toys with Batman. It is an epic story and if you haven’t read, it is a must read for Batman fans. He was portrayed by Sean Gunn in the second Suicide Squad movie, so hopefully this is a sign that he is going to get more screen time.
4. Humpty Dumpty - They weren’t too creative with this one. His real name is Humphrey Dumpler. He first appeared in Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #3. He is an egg-shaped man who has a knack for repairing things that he feels are broken or need fixing. Yeah don’t know what else to say other than, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and when Batman punched him, he had a great fall.
5. Condiment King - So this guy was intended as a joke from the beginning, but I honestly don’t care. He was created for the animated series in the early 90’s to parody the old 60’s Batman show and the ridiculous characters that were on that show. He had a big pack on his back that was attached to guns that shot, yeah you guessed it condiments at Batman. Yes, homeboy shot Batman with mayo. I swear I am not making this up.
Thanks for going with me on this journey of lesser known Batman villains. I really hope you enjoyed it and if you would like to know more about these characters or stories they were involved in, let me know. I’d be more than happy to bring you further down the rabbit hole.
So there are my rankings. You can agree or disagree that is perfectly fine. See you next time; "Same Battime, Same Batblog!"
Kavan O'Reilley
Pro Wrestler started in 2013, 1/2 of the Irish Pub Army. I come from a very large family. I enjoy movies, comics, games, drinking and punching people in the face! OY!