#67 - Killer Moth
First Appearance: Batman #63 (Feb 1951)
" The Bat watches over citizens, he does what cops can't do. What about the crooks? Who do they turn to in order to get the job done for them?" ~Killer Moth
It's easy to be conflicted about Killer Moth, but it's hard to ignore the impact Killer Moth has had on Batman's career. After all, Killer Moth is the villain that brought Barbara Gordon into the mantle of Batgirl; you can't neglect that. Even so, Killer Moth is both likable and unlikable at the same time. His goofy-ass costume and ridiculous gear makes him a joke among villains, and not the kind readers like, either. At the same time, he just doesn't get it; he complains when he gets caught, as if that's somehow a personal affront against him and he's not, you know, committing a crime. I kind of love that in him.
Drury Walker was a low-level D-list villain for a longtime with no powers to speak of, so in only the way a comic book can do, after like 35 years of failing he sold his soul to a new Devil (the old one retired to Los Angeles... and you think I'm kidding, don't you?). In return the new Devil, Neron, gave him enhanced powers, turning him into Charaxes, a literal killer moth:
Welcome to the 90s.
Such a 90s thing; now he ran around Gotham like Man-Bat as a creature out-of-control, except instead of just being a territorial creature, he ate people. Yup. So THAT happened. Eventually Superboy-Prime ripped his head off.
You know, it's characters with a history like that which make me love comics. Seriously; the more ridiculous and hilarious a character's life is, the better it gets. I love getting to make a write-up where the villain turns into a giant mutant thanks to the Devil and gets his head ripped off by an alternate Clark Kent. How much fun is that? It's what comics are made for; and Killer Moth wasn't a bad villain to begin with, so it's fun to see a nobody-failure of a villain just get put through the wringer with a corpse spat out on the other side.
Greatest Killer Moth Story Ever Told:Lego Batman - Say WHAH? Yup, Killer Moth's best story has got to be his scenes in the Lego Batman videogame, where they make him more like a literal moth, attracted to light bulbs and the like. It had me laughing pretty heartily.
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Top 100 Batman VILLAINS
RandomName basically describes it. It's a list of the top 100 Batman villains. (Note: This isn't MY list. So, if you don't agree with it, don't freak out and rant in the comments)
