#sionis

"Wait a minute…Who let you into my club? Give me a good reason not to kill you for this audacity…"

things i drew this year that i forgot to post

Are there any birds of prey fanfics with roman as the top and victor as the bottom?

Now to decide whether to tell Edward.

Now we’re getting into the more well-known baddies in Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Roman Sionis, a.k.a. Black Mask, has been bedeviling Batman since the 80s…actually, even longer than that. Most fans don’t know this, but back in the 50s, there was a story where Batman and Catwoman took down a mobster called “Mr. X,” who I swear to goodness was the spitting image of Black Mask in his earliest appearances. I can’t help but think that the design of Black Mask was inspired by Mr. X…but I can’t prove it. Regardless, the character of Black Mask himself has become increasingly popular in recent years. Originally, the character was set up as a more or less direct supervillain, who was obsessed with the philosophy of masks: the idea that no one ever shows their true face, wearing both literal and metaphorical masks to hide who they really are. He also held a personal vendetta against the Wayne Family, and thus repeatedly attempted to ruin Bruce Wayne with his wretched schemes. Over the years, the character transformed, becoming a sadistic mobster who ruled through intimidation and had a flair for torture. In some incarnations, the Mask is a little more sympathetic, as he wants to take over all organized crime in Gotham as a sort of twisted way of “cleaning up the city”: it’s a classic gangster goal, but it is one that you can sort of understand. In other cases, he’s more of a pure evil monster: an unhinged devil of a man who does what he does for money and power, nothing more complex than that. Typically, regardless of interpretation, Roman is seen as something of a callback to past roots: his crimes are modern, but his manner of style and dress is frequently like something from the 1940s. He feels like a callback to the old-fashioned mobsters of yore, but with a bit of “panache” to him that takes him out of the ranks of someone like Carmine Falcone or Sal Maroni, and puts him more in the leagues of characters like Penguin or The Ventriloquist & Scarface. There’s really not a whole lot to him, and I think that’s why I sometimes feel he’s a little overrated…but when people get right – both in and out of comics – he can be a genuinely fun and intimidating antagonist, especially given his design. The countdown continues tomorrow, where I’ll be covering my 22nd Favorite Batman Villain…or rather, Villains. Yep! Another Group! HINT: They Make the Illuminati Look Like Wimps.

!coming soon!