Top 100 Batman VILLAINS

83 - Clayface (Sondra Fuller)

#83 - Clayface (Sondra Fuller)
First Appearance: Outsiders #21 (Jul 1987)

"How many of these things are there?" ~Halo

Introduced originally as a villain to the Outsiders, Sondra Fuller, sometimes referred to as Lady Clay, is the only female Clayface of the now 8 (!) Clayfaces that menace Batman and his cronies. Fuller is the most interesting one for a variety of reasons; on the surface, she can not only change her shape but also can change color and even duplicate powers on a limited scale, making her a much bigger threat than any of the other Clayfaces, and I always love a good challenge. Lady Clay also has a very different modus operandi than her Mud Pack pals - she just wants to be left alone. Similar to Man-Bat in a lot of ways, Lady Clay is primarily concerned with keeping her child - Cassius Clay - safe. After somehow giving birth to a child between herself and another Clayface, she's mostly been seen doing the maternal thing. She even has teamed up with the Bat to help track down her child's kidnappers in one issue.

I really like Lady Clay (probably more than I should). I tend to have a soft spot for the gentle monsters and the unwilling freaks. Sondra is human at heart, but burdened with her abilities that keep her apart from society. I think this is a common feeling for people that's been exemplified with characters like Frankenstein's Monster and the X-Men, but Sondra Fuller is a character that also succeeds at building sympathy while menacing Batman and the gang, and that's a mission accomplished in my book.

The Greatest Lady Clay Story Ever Told:"The Mud Pack" (Detective Comics #604-607) - An interesting little story featuring all four Clayfaces at the time (including the deceased Matt Hagen), I think it does a great job differentiating each of them while still being true to their overall common thread.