Calendar Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Calendar Man | |
 Calendar Man Tim Sale, artist. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #259 (September 1958) |
| Created by | Bill Finger Sheldon Moldoff(credited as bob kane) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Julian Day |
| Team affiliations | The Misfits |
Calendar Man (real name: Julian Gregory Day) is a DC Comics supervillain. His main enemy is Batman. He first appeared in Detective Comics #259 (September 1958). He was created by Bill Finger.
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[edit] Character overview
Calendar Man is fascinated by dates and calendars – even his real name is a pun on the Julian and Gregorian calendars. His crimes always have a relationship to the date that they are committed. The theme may be related to what day of the week it is or to a holiday or to a special anniversary on that date; he will plan his crime around that day. He often wears different costumes which correspond to the significance of the date, though he does have a main costume which has various numbers (meant to represent days on a calendar) sprouting from the shoulders.
[edit] Reception
Because his crimes are generally petty and often ridiculous in nature, he is notorious among both heroes and villains alike for being something of a joke, particularly in the grittier Post-Silver Age era. No one really takes him seriously, including the fans themselves. IGN went so far as to call him the worst Batman villain of all time, noting that his "name, appearance and modus operandi... command no respect."[1] Consequently, his post-Crisis appearances have been few and far between. He was once recruited by Killer Moth to form the villain team known as "The Misfits".
[edit] Appearances Post-Crisis
His best-known latter day appearance is in the mini-series Batman: The Long Halloween, where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure, offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a serial killer who uses holidays as his M.O. Like Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Calendar Man knows who the killer is and keeps this information to himself, choosing instead to taunt the heroes with cryptic clues. He returns in that story's sequel, Batman: Dark Victory. In both stories, he is bitter that the new murderous rogues has taken the attention from him; Day fears that he is being forgotten. He is seriously harmed by Sofia Falcone near the end of Dark Victory, described as being barely alive and having his jaw broken.
Calendar Man is also known for teaming up with Catman and Killer Moth as part of The Misfits, a group of third-rate villains trying to prove themselves, in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #7-9 (1992-1993). Also, he is among the Arkham Asylum inmates freed by Bane in "Knightfall", but he is easily recaptured by Power Girl shortly after his escape.
He appears in Team Titans #14 (Nov '93). He and several other time-based villains, including Time Commander, fight the title's heroes over a valuable hourglass.
[edit] Update
In recent years, comic book writers have tried to make Calendar Man a greater threat to Batman as told in a story in the third issue of the 80 Page Giant Batman Special Edition (July 2000) entitled "All the Deadly Days". In this story, Day appears in a new high-tech costume, and moves up to more grandiose crimes.
Day appears in Harley Quinn's series, as an inside informant to the fugitive.
[edit] References in other media
- A female variation of the character named Calendar Girl appears in The New Batman Adventures. She wears a mask and plans her crimes around the Four Seasons, with a different costume corresponding to each season.
- A parody of Calendar Man named Mister Monday appears on the Adult Swim animated series The Venture Bros..
[edit] References
- ^ Hilary Goldstein, "The Best & Worst Batman Villains," IGN, June 3, 2005, URL accessed 12 January 2006.
