General Awfulness

After several strange encounters were reported to the GCPD of a caped figure with glowing eyes and what has been described as either a hood or mask with what have been thought of as either satanic horns or pointed ears (Earning him the moniker we now associate with him, "The Batman") over the course of the past month, many gothamites have become concerned over the possible intentions of this black-clad prowler, prompting widespread police investigation. Searches for this figure have as of yet come to no avail, as this mad nightstalker continues to prowl the shadows of our noble city. Yet, in this mania sweeping the city, some residents actually approve of this creature of the night. There have been several reports from petty thieves citing harassment and physical assault by the batman, with even some wanted criminals being restrained and left at GCPD stations across the city, claiming that it was the work of none other than the batman himself, making citizens arrests as a form of vigilante justice. With the rampant scandals faced by our city's police and allegations of political corruption from all sides, some can't help but root for this shadowy phantom and his would be crusade against crime in our city, if that truly is his intention that is. As it stands, most are highly concerned by the escapades of this disturbed individual, and it remains to be seen whether or not the GCPD will tolerate his presence as a possible tool to fight the rampant crime in our city, or will crack down on his shenanigans and restore Gotham back to its status quo. How do you feel about Gotham's Batman? Make sure to write our readers column and let us know. - The Gotham Examiner

Gotham is one hell of a city.

Unbeknownst to her employers at Arkham State Hospital, Dr. Molly Cooper was a fanatical follower of popular criminology, especially of the cases of well known criminals within Gotham city, her main motivation for earning her degree being the opportunity to meet and interact with the people behind some of these cases. At first, she may have thought that she could remain professional in proximity to these personalities, but this became extra difficult when she was assigned to work with one of the most strangely charismatic patients housed in the facility, Arthur "Joker" Hoffman. After meeting with Joker several times, Molly gradually became infatuated with him and his performance art movement, leading to her intentionally causing a massive security incident where she escaped with Joker and several other dangerous patients. A guard was found unconscious after being concussed by what authorities believe was a croquet mallet. Searching Dr. Cooper's apartment, several pieces of Joker related paraphernalia were discovered along with the cut up remains of red and blue women's jumpsuits. Citizens are cautioned to be on the lookout for a blonde woman with blue eyes and an average build, likely wearing blue and red and possibly with her face painted like a clown.

When clayface won the poll (or tied rather) for the next rogue for me to draw, I was kind of surprised. I also honestly felt a bit of dread. I don't dislike the character, and I actually find the characters history pretty interesting given all the vastly different iterations there have been over the years, but I never really had much of a fascination with any of those incarnations in particular. As a kid I thought he was kind of cool since I loved playing with silly putty and working with clay and he reminded me of those things, but I never developed much of an attachment to the character. Apparently this character is still quite popular though, enough to even get his own solo movie (which I am actually excited to see) and enough to almost win my poll. So, I hope my vision of the character isn't too disappointing, but I'm more drawn to his golden age version, the one without any powers. I think my concept is a little more developed given that I also incorporated some traits from Preston Payne and False Face from the 60s show what with him still being a master of disguise, along with some other inspirations, namely Vincent Price's roles in The Abominable Dr Phibes and House of Wax. I like the idea of his disguises not being perfect per se but being good enough that whatever witnesses there are to his crimes always give a different description. After all, how often do you really remember a strangers face?

A well respected actor known for starring in fourteen feature films, Basil Karlo's career was cut short when his face was disfigured by a major car accident. Even after extensive plastic surgery was done to save his face, very little could be done to reconstruct his photogenic features. It's been said that this affected him psychologically in a big way, to the point that he became a recluse in his home, which he had converted into a makeup studio in an attempt to reconstruct his face on his own. Using a special brand of Daggett Industries nose putty, he practiced rescuplting his old face over and over again until he could recreate it nearly perfectly. In the process, he learned to replicate the faces of others quite accurately as well, enough to pass as someone else from a short distance. With his access to a wide variety of makeup and costuming supplies, he was able to impersonate a wide variety of people, a skill which came handy to him in his new line of work. Since he could no longer act and was in debt for his medical treatments, he ended up taking loans from gangster Roman Sionis, known better as Black Mask. Unable to pay back the mob, they enlisted him to perform assassinations, a job that Basil found he was quite good at and allowed him to continue "acting" in his own way. Basil was eventually apprehended by the Batman at his home, where he had been living with a stolen mannequin that he had named Helena, under the delusion that it was his wife. Karlo now lives in Arkham State Hospital, where he is being treated for his delusions and crisis of identity.

I found it to be a shame how a lot of iterations of killer croc have been trending less and less human. In a vacuum, a giant reptilian monster makes for a pretty cool villain, but poor Waylon is supposed to be all human, or at least he used to be, before whatever skin condition he had became more and more mutated and exaggerated over the years, to the point where sometimes he's indistinguishable from an actual crocodile. Every vision of the character has it's purpose and can be used well in a story, but for my money I prefer the classic original Croc. Human, but with a medical condition that's caused him to be villainized and ostracized by those around him, leaving him feeling lost and looking for acceptance. Ironically, some of Killer Croc's classic character traits have been applied to other characters at times, such as The Penguin in Batman Returns, a deformed misfit living in the sewers who sees himself as an animal. It's because of this I thought it would be appropriate for there to be a sort of kinship between the two, considering the fact that my Penguin also sees himself in a somewhat similar light thanks to his own condition and the treatment he received from his family. As far as the cannibalism character trait goes for Killer Croc, I wanted to incorporate it into his character more subtly, it's a rumor about him that's sort of an open question due to his mental state. Could it be true? Possibly, but probably not in a way that's been seen before.

The medical condition responsible for Waylon Jones' unique reptilian appearance is poorly understood and considered exceptionally rare, but is thought to be some form of ichthyosis or hyperkeratosis forming thick scales across his entire body. Raised in foster care, Jones was often mocked and shunned for his appearance and ended up running away to join a traveling freak show as a teenager, eventually settling in Gotham hoping for a fresh start. He fell upon hard times and was considered unemployable due to his condition, resulting in him living on the streets. Or rather, under the streets. He ended up living with a community of homeless people inhabiting the Gotham sewer system, stealing to help his newfound family get by and becoming a subject of urban legend in the process. This came to an ugly end when this encampment was eventually discovered and broken up by the police, who beat Jones brutally when he fought back. This caused a traumatic brain injury which would affect Jones from here on, causing him to come under the delusion that he really was part crocodile, even craving raw meat during more intense episodes. Rumor has it that he even indulged in cannibalism from time to time, though this is unsubstantiated. Jones has been admitted to Arkham State Hospital several times since for a litiny of violent incidents, but has most notably come to work under suspected crime lord Oswald Cobblepot, who has reportedly taken the misunderstood mad man under his wing. What lies in the future for this intriguing medical marvel remains unknown, though he has certainly become a fascinating case study of Gotham's underbelly.

I used to not be quite as into poison ivy as a lot of other batman villains but I've grown to appreciate her a lot more over the years. She's iconic for good reason, some of iterations of the character just lack personality unfortunately. This might be a controversial take but in my opinion she has much more dramatic potential as a psychopathic ecoterrorist who thinks plants are talking to her than as a green mutant who can control plants with her mind or whatever. Characters with poorly defined abilities can get kinda boring if you don't do them right, cause it just feels like they can kinda do anything. An Ivy who's part plant can still be cool, especially if she's noticeably less human like Tim Sale's design, but my take is closer to her original appearances and her btas iteration. I had a couple ideas I ended up scrapping out of convenience though, like originally she was gonna have a bunch of plant tattoos and her overalls were going to be camo, but that level of design might be a little bit above my skill level for now and those elements can be difficult to reproduce depending on how often I might draw the design in the future. Also I don't think there's a very strong resemblance but her appearance was primarily inspired by model/actress Adwoa Aboah.

Though a successful botanist and biochemist, Lillian Rose hid a dark secret. After losing both of her parents, she grew up in an orphanage where she felt isolated from other humans due to mistreatment from other kids and staff alike, causing her to become more and more misanthropic as she aged, her only solace coming from her studies and time spent in the orphanage greenhouse where she tended to the plants. As an adult, she became increasingly radicalized towards environmental issues and came to see nature and especially plant life as overall superior to human lives. These feelings intensified to a dangerous degree once she started hearing voices in her head, coming under the delusion that her plants were speaking to her. In secret, she developed several deadly poisons from the plant specimens that she worked with, exposing herself to them more and more incrementally as her work progressed until her body was immune to nearly every type of plant derived poison on record. After poisoning a litany of industrialists, businessmen, CEOs and influential people who she had linked to harmful environmental practices, she racked up a body count of eleven and became subject of an intensive manhunt by the GCPD. though the police would not end up identifying and tracking her down on their own, and she would eventually be apprehended by the infamous Batman. It was determined that she suffered from borderline personality disorder as well as schizophrenia, and she was admitted to Arkham State Hospital for life internment. Along with several other inmates she is currently unaccounted for and is likely a danger to herself and others. Be on the lookout for a redheaded woman of indeterminate ethnicity with extensive freckling, likely wearing the color green.

Despite having a great, iconic design across all his incarnations and generally being a really great character, I can't help but feel like Two-Face is still kind of underrated. He's of course brought out from the comics beautifully in the animated series, but he's also been notably absent or mishandled by a lot of other adaptations. My take on the character isn't too original or anything, but with such a great character background it's hard to improve on all that. As far as inspiration the only outside source I can really name is actor Michael Shannon as a potential faceclaim. Aside from that, there's of course btas and the iconic comic it partially adapts, Eye of The Beholder.

Former district attorney Harvey Dent is seen by many as a symbol of Gotham's fall from grace. Once a highly regarded man of law and order fighting for justice on behalf of the good people of this city, he was one of Gotham's most well regarded public figures. Unbeknownst to the general public and even some loved ones of his such as his wife and daughter, he suffered horrific physical and psychological abuse as a child at the hands of his single father, Christopher Dent, and as a result developed a violent and malevolent alternate personality. Though he seemed to be able to control these personal demons of his with intensive therapy, it was later revealed by former classmates of his that throughout law school he was known for occasional outbursts that seemed wildly out of character. After the death of his father, Dent discovered a two headed coin in his father's belongings that his father used to flip compulsively, sometimes even taunting Harvey that if it landed on heads, he would be struck across the face. Dent began carrying this coin around with him everywhere and consequently began deteriorating mentally, eventually even reportedly striking his wife, Gilda Dent, and taking the law in his own hands to try to hunt down and kill the elusive gangster Salvatore Maroni. After confronting Maroni in a factory building owned by the gangster, Dent fell victim to a horrific accident where a leaking tank of acidic chemicals sprayed half of his face and disfigured him horribly. The vigilante known as Batman was able to save Dent by rushing him to the hospital, but after only a brief stay, he left voluntarily and went into hiding, never to return to his family or his duties as DA again. Now presumably almost entirely under the control of his alternate personality, Dent used his wealth and influence to enter the world of organized crime that he had once worked to try to dismantle. Reportedly, he flips his father's coin to make decisions that his split personality makes impossible. Harvey Dent is now a wanted criminal and can be recognized easily by his half scarred face, heterochromia, partially white hair, untrimmed fingernails on his right hand, and split clothing.

I realized I haven't really drawn pre joker Arthur before (except maybe a couple of small sketches here and there) so I thought I'd remedy that.

That's a little better. Too dark on the shirt though, I couldn't find the right teal this time.

I missed this fella

Probably more book accurate portrayal of a mugwump from naked lunch than my previous interpretation