Supervillain Origins: Clayface
Clayface, Batman, DC, Comic, Comics, Comic Book, Origin, Bio, Biography, Super Villain, Gotham City, Basil Karlo, Hagen, Payne, Fuller, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Arkham, Bruce Wayne, Dark Knight, Shape Shifter,Supervillain Origins: Clayface
This shape-shifting criminal always plays dirty. Welcome to Watchmojo.com, and today we will explore the origins of Clayface.
As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline that unfolded in 1940’s Detective Comics #40 and was expanded upon in issues 298, 478 and 604.
A Batman villain whose identity has been inhabited by several characters over the years, the original Clayface was introduced as Basil Karlo, a legendary actor who fell out of the lime light. When the film studio decided to remake his horror classic “Dread Castle” without his involvement, he was driven insane.
In response, he decided to sabotage the production and make the deaths that occur in the film really happen in his own monster costume, taking on the name Clayface.
When the horror film’s murder scene was about to shoot, Karlo turned off the lights, and slayed the actress in question before the actor playing the film’s monster could complete the scene.
Though the police shut down the set following the death, their investigation come up dry. This prompted panic from Bruce Wayne’s fiancé Julie, who as it turns out, was an actress in the film whose character was slated to be killed off as well.
Wasting no time, Bruce suited up as Batman and traveled to investigate. Following a lead, Batman paid a visit to the slain actress’s boyfriend, one of the few prime suspects, only to find him hanging from a hook in his closet. Barely alive, the man muttered “Clayface” before dying.
Meanwhile, Robin investigated the “Dread Castle” set. Discovering the light on, he grabbed a lamp and entered the castle, where Clayface lay in waiting ready to stab him.
Reacting suddenly, Robin threw Clayface over his shoulder. Despite this, Robin tripped over his fallen lamp, and Clayface dropped the unconscious hero in the fake moat below. Luckily, Batman arrived just in time to save Robin from drowning.
The next day, as Bruce’s fiancé was about to shoot her death scene, Clayface prepared to strike. However, Batman was ready and tackled him before Robin knocked him out.
Batman unmasked the killer as the director realized that he had seen the costume before in another horror picture starring Basil Karlo. Sure enough, the actor was revealed to be behind the murders.
Years later, in 1961, the monstrous character was rebooted and given another identity, that of shape shifting criminal Matt Hagen.
As it turned out, this Clayface had acquired his powers while scuba diving and looking for hidden treasure, only to discover an underwater cavern. There, he came into contact with a pool of body altering protoplasm. Able to shape shift for a limited time before re-submerging himself in the pool, he used the ability to carry out heists until batman caught him.
In 1978, Preston Payne became the third character to inhabit the identity. A deformed scientist, he stole a sample of blood from Matt Hagen and used it to alter his own DNA. Instead of fixing his deformity, the procedure made him take on the permanent look of a clay monster and made his touch deadly to others, causing him to go mad and date a mannequin. This Clayface hid his monstrous appearance inside a special containment suit.
In 1989, the series came full circle as all the incarnations of Clayface, including a 4th female version, were all united against the Dark Knight in a group calling themselves the Mud Pack. This showcased the return of Basil Karlo, the original Clayface.
Betraying his team, Karlo stole all of their blood, took it to a lab and used it to make himself the most powerful of the shape shifters, becoming a major threat to the citizens of Gotham and the caped crusader.
A popular Batman villain, this shape-shifting blob of dirt has continued to appear in various media, including the animated series and the Batman Arkham series of videogames.
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