#46 - Mad Hatter
First Appearance: Batman #49 (Oct 1948)
"You are trying to understand madness with logic. This is not unlike searching for darkness with a torch." ~Mad Hatter
Mad Hatter... God, it's so hard to rate you.
On the one hand, there are so many terrible, terrible, terrible Mad Hatter stories, where he goes from being a decent villain to pretty much an outright pedophile with no abilities other than to simply lust after small girls. Not unlike PokeWars. ZING!
Sorry, that was low.
Yet, despite a ton, and I do mean a literal TON of terrible appearances, I have a soft spot for the guy because conceptually, he's quite an amazing character. The mix of low level villainy with an unusual form of mind control and wrapped into a creepy usage of a well-known piece of literature works extremely well in the Batman universe, as it just enhances that side of the rogues gallery that's all about the circus sideshow freak aspect of Gotham. And the stories that nail Hatter, they real nail Hatter. I loved his appearance in the comic Arkham Asylum, and his turn as a Secret Six member was extremely underrated. Neal Adams did a great Hatter story, and his usage on BTAS was also fantastic; Hatter gets a bad rap for bad stories, yet there are a lot of hidden gems out there that show that a GOOD Hatter can be just as riveting, insane and evil as a Joker or a Two-Face.
Greatest Mad Hatter Story Ever Told:Detective Comics #758-760 - One of the first stories after No Man's Land also contains one of my personal favorite covers of all time and it's a Hatter cover (check out Detective Comics #759). Honestly, Unknowing is one of if not the greatest story no one ever remembers; it does a great job helping to set up a new Gotham City status quo by utilizing the GCPD extremely well in this story that takes Hatter and uses him as an excellent allegorical representation of Starbucks. Amazing stuff.
YOU ARE READING
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)
