Mad Hatter (comics)
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| Mad Hatter | |
 Coverart for Gotham Central #20. Art by Michael Lark. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Batman #49 (October-November 1948) |
| Created by | Bob Kane Bill Finger |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Jervis Tetch |
| Team affiliations | Secret Six The Society |
| Abilities | Technological mind-control devices |
The Mad Hatter is a fictional character in the Batman comics, published by DC Comics. He is modeled after The Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He made his first appearance in Batman #49 in October 1948. Like other Batman villains, he has become a darker character in recent years.
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[edit] Fictional character history
Jervis Tetch is fascinated with hats of all shapes and sizes, as well as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, particularly favoring the chapter 'A Mad Tea Party'. He is obsessive-compulsive, highly delusional, suffers from psychotic manic depression, and can even sometimes be a dangerous homicidal. He exhibits delusions and thought processes typical of schizophrenia. Not only is he often known to quote and reference Carroll's Wonderland novels, but he often fails to discern between these stories and reality. As shown in Secret Six, he won't eat a piece of food that doesn't have a hat on it. It has been hinted in recent years that he is a pedophile, kidnapping little girls with the name "Alice".
In his first appearance, the Mad Hatter attempted to steal a trophy from the Gotham Yacht Club, but was foiled by Batman while he tried to rob spectators from a high society horseshow. Tetch was subsequently sent to Arkham Asylum (although that was not revealed until Batman #400, 1986).
Later a different, moustached Mad Hatter appeared, claiming to be Jervis Tetch, but he was revealed as an impostor and subsequently disposed of once the real Tetch re-appeared.
The real Jervis Tetch came back in Detective Comics #510 in 1981. Tetch had with him a pet monkey (named Carroll Lewis, although the Hatter claimed the monkey refuses to tell him how it came to have the name), as well as a mind-erasing machine. Tetch claimed to have killed his impostor, but that turned out to be untrue when the impostor returned one last time in Detective Comics #573 in 1987.
It was in 1983's Detective Comics #526 that Tetch was first portrayed with the mind-controlling devices for which he is now best known. He even slipped one into Scarecrow's hat and took control of him for a short time. Tetch seemed to have died under the wheels of a train, but that turned out to have been another trick.
In the Knightfall saga, the Mad Hatter was the first to strike from the breakout of Arkham. He invited all criminals to a tea party to which Batman and Robin would come. One of the criminals was Film Freak, whom he sends to find the person who broke them out of Arkham. Batman and Robin come and defeat the Mad Hatter as Film Freak is killed by Bane.
Tetch had even kidnapped Lucius Fox of Wayne Enterprises and held him for ransom. Once again, Tetch was stopped by Batman, but not before using his advanced equipment to feed information from Fox's mind into his computer.
Tetch at one point became so obsessed with Alice in Wonderland that he began kidnapping assorted people in Gotham and dressing them up like characters from the story. He managed to kidnap Lt. Gordon's adopted daughter, Barbara Gordon, and cast her in the title role. The combined efforts of Batman and Gordon led to Tetch's defeat and Barbara's safe return.
In Robin: Year One, Tetch devised a plan to implant his mind control devices in Walkmen, which he gave out to young girls at Dick Grayson's school in order to sell the young girls to millionaire third-world dictator Generalissimo Lee. The young Robin managed to defeat the Mad Hatter, however.
One of Tetch's latest plans consisted of implanting his devices in "free coffee and donuts" tickets he handed out in front of the police stations in Gotham. That plan had him controlling most of the cops in the city. He even had Gotham police detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya break into a bank for him. Sasha Bordeaux helped Batman stop him this time around.
Tetch shows up in Gotham after it is rocked by a devastating earthquake. He adds to his body count, callously murdering a policeman. His goal is to unearth a trove of valuables, which in the end turn out to be classic hats.
More recently, in Gotham Central #21 (September 2004), Tetch tried to escape Arkham Asylum with the aid of a guard under mind control. The guard fired on police and died in return fire. Tetch was shot multiple times and left in critical condition. It was thought he might have died, but a small appearance in Detective Comics #800 (January 2005), in which he was working for Black Mask, proved otherwise.
While working with Black Mask, Tetch implanted a mind control chip directly into Killer Croc's brain, which caused him to mutate again due to the virus he was injected with by Hush and the Riddler. Croc embarked on a quest to get revenge on those responsible for his mutation, and started with Tetch. Batman arrived in time to save Tetch, but Croc escaped.
During Infinite Crisis, Tetch was seen, first fighting Argus, then fighting with the Secret Society of Super Villains during the Battle of Metropolis.
[edit] One Year Later
Tetch was revealed to have been involved in the plot by The Great White Shark to frame Harvey Dent for murdering various Gotham criminals in the Detective Comics storyline "Face The Face". The capacity in which he was involved is left vague, however.
Tetch's base of operations in Gotham City was destroyed following a search for an atomic weapon, by the current Robin, Tim Drake, and the current Captain Boomerang, Owen Mercer. A recording of Tetch appeared on a monitor screen and told them that the roof would be the final hat they will ever wear as it fell down on them. Robin and Boomerang narrowly make it out of the building.
He was later approached by Catman, and he joined the members of the Secret Six to oppose the Secret Society of Super Villains; they have recruited him in hopes of a defense against Doctor Psycho's mind control abilities.
When Ragdoll attacked the Secret Six under Dr. Psycho's control, Tetch put on what he called his "thinking cap" and went into a seizure. After the Six crash-landed, they were attacked by the Doom Patrol, who came close to apprehending the Six until Mad Hatter stepped in and used his mind control abilities to subdue the Doom Patrol singlehandedly, going so far as to almost make Elasti-Girl eat Beast Boy before Scandal stopped him. The Six commented to themselves afterwards that even they had no idea Jervis could do this.
In a later issue of Secret Six, Tetch revealed that he designed a hat to make him happy beyond the measures of what illegal drugs can. He also stated that he had planted miniature listening devices around the House of Secrets to keep tabs on his fellow members. After revealing the true motives of Scandal to leave the team, the Secret Six go after her, finding themselves at Vandal Savage's temple in the mountains, where Doctor Psycho starts attacking the team. Tetch is about to get the upper hand on Doctor Psycho when Cheshire appears and stabs him in the back with a poisoned dagger.
Scandal tended to Hatter's wound, and Catman administered an antidote to Tetch. While the Six faced off against Cheshire and Vandal Savage, Hatter took on Doctor Psycho one on one, and emerged victorious despite his injuries, gravely injuring Dr. Psycho with Cheshire's dagger.
At the end of the mini-series, Hatter saved Scandal from falling to her death, and the Six befriended him, which no one had ever done for him before. As Hatter stood atop Savage's destroyed base with Ragdoll, he promised to be a very good friend in return. Ragdoll then pushed Hatter off the roof, seemingly to his death, saying there was "only room for one dandy freak on the team".
On the final page, it was revealed that Tetch survived the fall. Heartbroken, he vowed revenge on the rest of the Six.
Prior to the events of "Gotham Underground", Tetch recently fell victim to his own mind control devices at the hands of Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The two forced him to "lead" a gang of wonderland - related criminals through various gimicky heists before Batman deduced the Tweedles to be the true masterminds. Once the three were returned to Arkham, the Hatter quickly exacted revenge on the two, manipulating them into a bloody brawl with his mind control chips.
[edit] Gotham Underground & Salvation Run
More recently, Mad Hatter showed up in "Gotham Underground" #1 (August 2007), alongside the Scarecrow, Hugo Strange, the Penguin, and Two-Face, who had gathered together to assist him in escaping Gotham in light of the disappearance of other villains due to the Suicide Squad and Amanda Waller kidnapping and deporting villains offworld in Countdown to Final Crisis. During their meeting, however, the Suicide Squad breaks into the building and arrests them. He is later seen on the Hell World in Salvation Run #2 (January 2008), confirming that he has indeed been deported off-world. The story is ongoing.
[edit] DC Infinite Halloween Special
In the first issue of DC Infinite Halloween Special, Hatter recounts a first-person perspective story of a small boy whose parents are murdered before his eyes by a blood-sucking humanoid bat. The story follows closely the actual origin story of the Batman, and is a close approximation of the Red Rain 'universe' (noted in the Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer series as Earth-43), wherein Batman is in fact a vampire.
[edit] Changes in physical appearance
The Mad Hatter has gone through many changes in his physical appearance over the years, but the basic look remains the same. In his debut, he was a very short brunette--or auburn--haired man. When he reappeared in the early 1980s, he was depicted as of average height, with blond hair. In later years, he was short again but with white hair. Today, Tetch has red hair much like his impostor did, but his size and height still seem to vary. Constants throughout his depictions are a slightly overlarge head and (more recently) very large teeth. In the recent Secret Six #6 (December, 2006), Tetch claims to suffer from macrocephaly.
[edit] Powers and abilities
While the Mad Hatter has no inherent superpowers, he is a brilliant neurotechnician with considerable knowledge on how to dominate and control the human mind, either through hypnosis or direct technological means. Usually, the Hatter places his mind control devices in the brims of hats, but has been known to utilize other devices as well. More recently, he has been able to directly influence the minds of others at a distance without any apparent equipment. However, this is most likely not a newly-emerging metahuman ability; more likely, his skill at miniaturizing and concealing technology, and advances upon his original technology, have probably allowed him to develop technology that permits him to use a device hidden upon his person (such as in his hat) to project mindcontrolling powers in the manner of a meta-human ability such as telepathic powers.
The Mad Hatter is not above using his own inventions on himself, such as creating a hat that can cause him both extreme bliss, as well as return him to lucidity when he deems it necessary.
[edit] Impostor Mad Hatter
After the real Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter had been sent to Arkham following his debut, a very different Mad Hatter appeared, who claimed to be Jervis Tetch. This Mad Hatter first appeared in Detective Comics #230 in April 1956, and, unlike the original, was sane and sported a gaudy mustache. He was primarily a thief, apparently obsessed with completing his private collection of hats from all nations, cultures, and historical periods. He often constructed various weaponry concealed inside his hats like flame-throwers and buzzsaws.
The headgear he wanted most was, of course, Batman's cowl. In numerous attempts, he tried to de-cowl Batman. After many tries, he was successful, after spraying the cowl with a radioactive substance causing Batman to remove it. No sooner did the Mad Hatter put it in his collection than Batman and Robin arrive. They had traced the cowl with their "super sensitive Geiger counter" in the Batplane.
Later on, in Batman #297 (March 1978), "Tetch" claimed to have gone straight, but that turned out to be a lie. In 1981, it was revealed that he was in fact an imposter when the real Jervis Tetch returned. The real Hatter claimed to have killed his imposter, but the fake Mad Hatter appeared one last time in 1987 in Detective Comics #573, where he ended up being beaten by Batman and has never appeared since.
[edit] Other versions
Mad Hatter has appeared in the Justice League Unlimited spin-off comic book, specifically #8.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television appearances
[edit] Batman series of the 1960s
In this series, Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter was played by actor David Wayne. He was based on the Mad Hatter from the comics at the time, who had not yet been revealed to be an imposter. He appeared in four episodes: "The Thirteenth Hat," "Batman Stands Pat," "The Contaminated Cowl," and "The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul."
In "The Thirteenth Hat" and "Batman Stands Pat", Tetch kidnapped the jurors that had previously incarcerated him, along with their hats. He was also after Batman's cowl, his "thirteenth hat." He had a female accomplice named Lisa, who worked at a hat boutique. She helped Tetch kidnap her boss, who was one of the jurors who had helped put him away, and aided in the rest of his scheme to foil Batman and Robin. In the end though, he was defeated and sent back to prison.
In "The Contaminated Cowl" and "The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul", Tetch tried to get at Batman's cowl with the use of radiation. He sprayed the Dark Knight's cowl with radioactive material, assuming that he would take it off for fear of being contaminated. The radiation turned the cowl pink, but Batman (having previously taken an Anti-Radiation Bat-pill) did not remove it, and Tetch was again defeated.
Jervis Tetch was one of the only main villains who was known by his real name (as well as his criminal name) in the 1960s Batman series.
[edit] The Batman/Superman Hour
The Mad Hatter also made an appearance in a 1968 episode of The Batman/Superman Hour entitled "A Mad, Mad Tea Party". Though the series was inspired by the 1960s show, the Mad Hatter is indeed a very different character than the one David Wayne portrayed. The Mad Hatter no longer brands a mustache and is more Alice in Wonderland obsessed than hat obsessed. In the episode the Mad Hatter schemes to steal a priceless antique teapot from a museum so he can use it for his 'mad, mad tea party'. He also has trained white rabbits and henchmen dressed as various Wonderland characters, as well as a top-hat-shaped getaway car.
[edit] Batman: The Animated Series
In Batman: The Animated Series the Mad Hatter was voiced by the late Roddy McDowall. He was animated as an average height/sized man with blonde hair. He appeared in the following episodes: "Mad as a Hatter", "Perchance to Dream", "The Trial", "The Worry Men", and (in a non-speaking cameo) "Make 'Em Laugh" and "Joker's Wild."
A technical and electronic genius, Jervis Tetch experimented with animals using mind controlling microchips stored within hats to stimulate brain waves. His love for Alice in Wonderland, as well as his infatuation for his secretary, Alice, embittered and obsessed him to the point of insanity. Donning the guise of The Mad Hatter, he attempted to win her affection by taking her out on the town after her boyfriend dumped her. She misinterpreted the gesture, however, as simply a way to cheer her up, and unwittingly spurned his affections. Driven over the edge, Tetch used his mind controlling microchips to turn Alice into his robot-like puppet as well as other people who filled in as Alice in Wonderland characters, including Alice's boyfriend as one of the card guards. After Batman captured him, Tetch realized the futility of pursuing Alice's love and instead pursued a life of crime while nursing a vendetta against Batman.
Paul Dini, writer of this episode, once claimed that it was inspired by a true story[1] involving a shy technical designer who had unrequited feelings for someone at work, so he shot his workplace up.
During his second appearance, Tetch trapped Batman and put him in a virtual reality realm which gave Batman his greatest desires, described as Batman's "own private Wonderland". When Batman finally freed himself from the equipment, he demanded to know why Tetch had used the machine rather than simply kill him. Sobbing, Tetch replies, "You, of all people, have the gall to ask me that?!! You ruined my life! I was willing to give you any life you wanted, just to keep you out of mine!"
His third major appearance had him tracking down a wealthy explorer in South America, using the local superstitions to create a series of "Worry Men" (miniature dolls presumably meant to take away the worries of a person during the night and ensure them a peaceful sleep) implanted with his mind-control chips, knowing that fellow Bruce Wayne socialite, Veronica Vreeland would hand them out as gifts to her friends as souvenirs from her trip to South America. Mad Hatter had disguised himself as a local merchant. Through those chips, he then sent subliminal orders directing his "Worry Men's" owners into leaving out huge sums of money for his henchmen (brainwashed riffraff dressed as Aztec warriors). With this money, Tetch claimed a desire to buy a private island and retire, but Batman manages to stop him.
Tetch uses his mind controlling chip to induce his victims into a trance, which either extracts information from their minds or makes them highly subjective to doing his bidding. This chip can also tap into an unused potential of the mind which can increase the subjects strength and stamina, turning them into the ultimate henchmen. He is a prominent member of the rogues gallery, who occasionally conspires with the others to destroy Batman and Robin.
[edit] The New Batman Adventures
In The New Batman Adventures, the Mad Hatter was once again voiced by Roddy McDowall. This time around, though, he was animated as a very short, thin, rodent-like man; the blond hair was changed to a more white/greyish color. He appeared in the episodes "Over the Edge" and "Animal Act". He also made an appearance in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Knight Time", where his expertise in nanotechnology allowed him to unwittingly save Batman from Brainiac.
[edit] Video game appearances
The Mad Hatter was a boss in the video game The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega Genesis and Sega CD. He was the master of a virtual reality world filled with mechanical rabbits and psychedelic imagery. His appearance, while based on that of the character from Batman: The Animated Series, also bore elongated eyelashes on his left eye; a direct reference to Alex DeLarge from the film version of A Clockwork Orange.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Mad Hatter at the Comic Book DB
[edit] External links
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