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Old 03-25-2018, 02:48 PM   #1
MikeandRaph87
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Underrated Bat Rogues

I have a liking to the colorful characters who scrooge Batman and see quite a few can be dismissed or not given proper care or continued care. What villains in the deep depths of Batman' Rogues Gallery do you appreciate?

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Of all of the well-known villains I would say Mr. Freeze. I love the concept and his origin given by Paul Dini. This character owes a lot to television as he was a one-shot named Mr. Zero who was cured at the end of his first story. However, William Dozier must have picked up this comic when looking for samples and he appeared in Batman'66 three times. Watching his episode which he kidnaps Ms. Iceland in attempt to make her Mrs. Fries does not feel like the character due to later developments not to mention a moll he had feelings for that used him in a 1979 story. Then twenty-six years later his three Batman: TAS episodes solidified him as a first string villain. The problem is he had a downturn in his story-line. It could have ended with Subzero and given a villain what looked to be a happy ending. However, he literally fell apart and his wife remarried with him declared dead. The comics incorporated the origin and shattered Nora only to make her a villain who spites Victor, Lazara. Mr. Freeze needs to find a way to maintain his Batman: TAS origin yet have more than a limited story-line. Further use has proven to derail the character's arc. He needs either a happy ending or work needs to be done to allow him to continue while incorporating the animated series given origin. So far no dice.

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Another character I enjoy reading in The Spook, a criminally underrated threat that had early success and well done stories between 1973 to 1980. Afterwards he appeared in the first of two villain gathers, Detective Comics#526 (1983). He made Batman think himself to be dead among other darker ploys villains have pulled. Val Kaliban had done enough to be put on death row, but his escape artist mastery allowed him to avoid the sentence. How many of Batman's rogues were a threat enough for death row? There is also the problem of the two times he was dusted off (late 2003) as unable to adapt to life in Gotham of today and used as a sacrificial lamb to the debuting Damian Wayne which he is unceremoniously beheaded by the child after holding up city hall. This character needs further use and respect. A lot of directions can be taken with him becoming a true spook or true to his skill set escape the fate and getting revenge. He did get a cameo in the Scooby Doo team up title alongside a Bamtan '66 villain, False Face since, but that is not nearly what the villain needs.
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Third and finally, Boss Rupert Thorne. Batman's rogues really lack a pure mafia villain. Batman's tend to crossover to mafia, but are primarily costumed super villains. The likes of Penguin, Two Face, Ventriolquist, even Killer Croc early on was, are underworld factions, but not true mob. Black Mask and maybe Ventriloquist are the only mafia characters that interact with the super-kind. Spider-Man's rogues with Kingpin, Silvermane,Hammerhead, Tombstone, and The Owl are primarily mafia characters who interact with the super-kind. Thorne is a creation of the Englehart run, but his reign was short-lived and only had two arcs in '77 and '83,but Rupert Thorne gave the role of The Kingpin that he would take on in Spider-Man:TAS when Thorne controlled most of crime and city council in Batman:TAS. He has so much potential to scrooge Batman politically long-term and have a hold on Gotham to rival The Penguin,but never got time to shine. Aside from that Dr. Phosphorous went after he him yet again years later in 2006 and he was in the debut scene of The Batman as a generic mafia character. This guy needs the creators attention!

Any thoughts on my choices or do you have your own favorites who are overlooked or under utilized?
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