Supervillain Origins: Calendar Man
Calendar Man, Batman, Comic, Comics, DC, DC Comics, Comic Book, Supervillain, Bio, Origins, Gotham, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, The Dark Knight, The Long Halloween, Julian Gregory Day, Detective Comics, Bill Finger, Bob Kane,
*Script written by Craig Butler
This guy may be a dollar short but he's never a day late. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origin of the Calendar Man.
As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen primarily to follow the storyline which unfolded in 1958's Detective Comics #259, which was expanded upon in 1997's Batman: The Long Halloween #3, and 2000's 80-Page Giant Batman.
The time was ripe for Calendar Man when he debuted in 1958. Like so many supervillains, he was determined to both make his fortune and make a fool of Batman – and he planned to do so by committing crimes related to the seasons. But rather than focusing on just the traditional four seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter – he included a special fifth season. This was a hidden clue to his true identity, which he foolishly believed that Batman could not decipher.
In this debut story, Calendar Man even sported a different costume for each of his seasonal crimes. The fifth costume turned out to be one he wore as part of his day job – as a magician. Batman realized that the fifth season was a reference to the monsoon season of India. Using that information, he deduced the Calendar Man had a south Asian connection – his stage name Maharajah.
Not much was learned about the Calendar Man's background in that story, or from his next appearance 20 years later – although the latter story did provide him with a colorful costume.
But by the time of the Batman: The Long Halloween mini-series in 1997, the Calendar Man had started getting fleshed out a bit more. Set during the early days of Batman's career, the series detailed Batman's hunt for a killer who used holidays as the theme for his murders. In order to catch him, Batman visited the Calendar Man in Arkham Asylum, trying to get insight into the holiday killer's mind. Along the way, readers learned that Calendar Man's real name is Julian Gregory Day; his first and middle name referring to the Julian and Gregorian calendar.
In 2000, readers got to know a little more about Day. According to his defense attorney, Day suffered from a compulsive mania connected to the calendar, and this mental disorder drove him to commit crimes. His reaction when he was told he would spend the turnover to a new millennium in jail confirmed his lawyer's analysis of his mental state.
Matters were worsened when Day was sentenced to spend time in a bizarre form of solitary confinement, one in which he was robbed of the ability to know night from day. This sent him completely over the edge and made him into a maniacally dangerous criminal.
The Calendar Man has never been one of Batman's top tier foes, but he has become a darker and more threatening villain as his career has lengthened. And while he doesn't have the exposure of a Joker or a Catwoman, he has made some appearances on TV and in video games. He's probably just counting the days until the right starring vehicle comes along.
Are you a fan of the Calendar Man? For more comic book origins, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
Supervillain Origins: Calendar Man
This guy may be a dollar short but he's never a day late. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origin of the Calendar Man.
As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen primarily to follow the storyline which unfolded in 1958's Detective Comics #259, which was expanded upon in 1997's Batman: The Long Halloween #3, and 2000's 80-Page Giant Batman.
The time was ripe for Calendar Man when he debuted in 1958. Like so many supervillains, he was determined to both make his fortune and make a fool of Batman – and he planned to do so by committing crimes related to the seasons. But rather than focusing on just the traditional four seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter – he included a special fifth season. This was a hidden clue to his true identity, which he foolishly believed that Batman could not decipher.
In this debut story, Calendar Man even sported a different costume for each of his seasonal crimes. The fifth costume turned out to be one he wore as part of his day job – as a magician. Batman realized that the fifth season was a reference to the monsoon season of India. Using that information, he deduced the Calendar Man had a south Asian connection – his stage name Maharajah.
Not much was learned about the Calendar Man's background in that story, or from his next appearance 20 years later – although the latter story did provide him with a colorful costume.
But by the time of the Batman: The Long Halloween mini-series in 1997, the Calendar Man had started getting fleshed out a bit more. Set during the early days of Batman's career, the series detailed Batman's hunt for a killer who used holidays as the theme for his murders. In order to catch him, Batman visited the Calendar Man in Arkham Asylum, trying to get insight into the holiday killer's mind. Along the way, readers learned that Calendar Man's real name is Julian Gregory Day; his first and middle name referring to the Julian and Gregorian calendar.
In 2000, readers got to know a little more about Day. According to his defense attorney, Day suffered from a compulsive mania connected to the calendar, and this mental disorder drove him to commit crimes. His reaction when he was told he would spend the turnover to a new millennium in jail confirmed his lawyer's analysis of his mental state.
Matters were worsened when Day was sentenced to spend time in a bizarre form of solitary confinement, one in which he was robbed of the ability to know night from day. This sent him completely over the edge and made him into a maniacally dangerous criminal.
The Calendar Man has never been one of Batman's top tier foes, but he has become a darker and more threatening villain as his career has lengthened. And while he doesn't have the exposure of a Joker or a Catwoman, he has made some appearances on TV and in video games. He's probably just counting the days until the right starring vehicle comes along.
Are you a fan of the Calendar Man? For more comic book origins, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
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