Calendar Man

Calendar Man
Calendar Man in Batman: The Long Halloween. Art by Tim Sale
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Detective Comics #259 (September 1958)
Created by Bill Finger (writer)
Sheldon Moldoff (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego Julian Gregory Day
Team affiliations The Misfits
Notable aliases Calendar Killer
Abilities Genius-level intellect
Obsession with quirks of calendar
Successful inventor
Skilled hand-to-hand combatant
Expert manipulator
Ages and rejuvenates according to season

Calendar Man (real name Julian Gregory Day) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, as an enemy of the superhero Batman. Calendar Man is known for committing crimes that correspond with holidays and significant dates. He often wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. In his first debut, many readers found the character as a joke villain, but in later years, writers developed Calendar Man as a more dark, disturbed serial killer that toys with Batman.

Publication history

Calendar Man first appeared in Detective Comics #259 (Sept. 1958) and was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff.[1]

Fictional character biography

Calendar Man is fascinated by dates and 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.[1]

He next appears in Batman #312 (June 1979), in which his crimes are based on the days of the week, and his costumes reflect the Norse and Roman gods they were named for, e.g. Saturn. Calendar Man fires an ultrasonic sound weapon at Batman, nearly killing him. While Batman recuperates, Calendar Man commits crimes on Friday and Saturday. He plans to leave Gotham City on a train called the Western Sun Express on Sunday, knowing that the police would be waiting for him to attempt to steal an artifact of the Egyptian God of the Sun, Ra. Batman captures him at the train station before he boards.

This issue also marked the first appearance of his most commonly known "calendar cape" costume. His next appearance in Batman #384-385 (June–July 1985) and Detective Comics #551 (June 1985), sees the Calendar Man at the onset of the Crisis being used as a pawn of the Monitor in an attempt to find an assassin to eliminate Batman. In this instance, the Calendar Man's theme is holidays, and he attempts to use the young Jason Todd, as Robin, as the Batman's Achilles' heel, with the promise of his demise on the first day of Spring. Ultimately, however, Robin himself captures the villain.

His best-known modern 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 modus operandi.[2][3] Like Hannibal Lecter in the novels of Thomas Harris, 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 which he impersonates deceased mobster Carmine Falcone in an effort to drive his children, Alberto and Mario, insane. When Calendar Man (as Carmine) tries to get Alberto to kill himself, however, the younger Falcone detects the ruse; Alberto knows that his father abhorred suicide, and thus figures out that Calendar Man is manipulating him. At the end of the story arc, Falcone's daughter Sofia Gigante beats him to a pulp as revenge for his role in her father's death. In both stories, Calendar Man is bitter that the new murderous rogues have taken the attention off him; he fears that he is being forgotten.

Calendar Man teams up with Catman and Killer Moth as part of The Misfits, a group of villains trying to prove themselves in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #7-9 (1992–1993).[1] Also, he is among the Arkham Asylum inmates freed by Bane in Batman: Knightfall, but he is easily recaptured by Power Girl shortly after his escape.

In Team Titans #14 (Nov 1993) Calendar Man and several other villains whose crimes center around time-based motifs, including Time Commander, fight the title's heroes over a valued hourglass.

Calendar Man appears in "All the Deadly Days", a story in 80 Page Giant Batman Special Edition #3 (July 2000), in which he has acquired a new high-tech costume, and moves up to more grandiose crimes.

He makes an appearance in the alternate reality story "Superman: Arkham" (beginning in Superman Vol. 2 #160)., which was also written by Jeph Loeb.

Calendar Man appears in the series Harley Quinn, as an inside informant to the title character.

In Week 20 of the weekly series 52, a radio broadcasts a message saying that Calendar Man was left tied up for the cops in Gotham City, even though there is no Batman. It is revealed the new heroine, Batwoman, was responsible for his capture.[4]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the character appears as a lifestyle reporter in a series of backup stories called "Channel 52". In one, he claims to have kept up a video diary out of scavenged materials because basic human civilization has fallen.[5]

In the books of DC Rebirth, Calendar Man's body ages and rejuvenates according to the seasons.[6]

Powers and abilities

Calendar Man is a successful inventor, capable of designing the machinery needed to deploy his various schemes. His talents aid him as he pursues his obsession with quirks of the calendar, carefully planning and theming his crimes around holidays, weekdays and the seasons. Calendar Man is also an experienced hand-to-hand combatant, although his main reason for his success is his intelligence. In his latest incarnation, as written by Scott Snyder and Tom King in the pages of the Batman Rebirth special (June 2016), the Calendar Man now ages with the seasonal weather of Gotham City. Every spring he is reborn, with his DNA altered, but retains his memories, and then ages rapidly until winter when he dies, only to be reborn again the next spring by crawling from the husk of his own corpse.

Other versions

Batman: Brave and the Bold

The Batman: Brave and the Bold version of Calendar Man appears in the story "Last Christmas!" He plans a Christmas crime, only to encounter Batman. When a zeta beam teleports Batman away, he claims it to be a Christmas Miracle, minutes before Earth is destroyed. After Batman and Adam Strange restore Earth, Batman proceeds to easily defeat Calendar Man.

Batman Beyond

An older Calendar Man appears in the Batman Beyond comic book arc "Hush Beyond". From his wheelchair, he builds a greeting card rigged to explode, intending to kill Commissioner Gordon. Batman arrives to stop him, only to be confronted by Hush.[7] Hush mentions that Batman's "true family" is his many enemies and he plans to destroy it. He then proceeds to kill Calendar Man.[8]

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Calendar Man appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us's prequel comic, where in Arkham Asylum, he is frustrated when Robin does not recognize him, and attempts to remind Wonder Woman of an encounter they had where she broke one of his ribs as she thwarted a crime he was attempting to commit, and becomes despondent when she only glares at him.[9] Later, he takes part in Harley Quinn's riot and helps Killer Croc hold Batman down as the Riddler prepares to crush his skull with a large rock, but Batman breaks free thanks to Green Arrow. Calendar Man is next seen fighting Nightwing, but is easily held back by the hero. Calendar Man is last seen among the inmates who sorrowfully watch Batman carry Nightwing's body out of the Asylum.[10]

Batman: Arkham Knight

Calendar Man appears in Batman: Arkham Knight comic. On Labor Day, Calendar Man murdered several people inside the Campbell Calendar Company. It was all just a plan to draw out Batman however. The Arkham Knight had given him Electrocutioner's gauntlets to disable Batman's communications. To Batman's great surprise, Calendar Man had gathered seven clones of Solomon Grundy, named after each day of the week, whom Calendar Man claimed to have created. Over the week it took Batman to defeat all of the creatures, Calendar Man had kidnapped a newborn baby. He then gave the exhausted Batman a list of names and told him that those people had been poisoned and had 24 hours to live. He instructed Batman to save them all and then return to him. If Batman failed to save all of the people on the list or brought any of his allies with him when he returned, Calendar Man would execute the baby. The listed citizens were saved but before Batman returned as ordered, Scarecrow visited Julian to dissuade him of his attempt to kill Batman. Grudgingly, Calendar Man relented and gave up the baby without a fight.

Injustice 2

In the prequel comic to Injustice 2, Calendar Man is shown to be a member of this universe's Suicide Squad.[11] When the Impostor Batman takes over the Suicide Squad, he deems Calendar Man useless and tries to blow him up with other villains he found worthless, but Calendar Man was lucky for the bomb on his neck was defective. The impostor Batman leaves him behind at the Pentagon.[12]

In other media

Television

  • A female variation of the character named Calendar Girl appears in The New Batman Adventures voiced by Sela Ward. She wears a mask due to mental scars (physically, she is still perfect) and plans her crimes around the Four Seasons, with a different costume and weapons corresponding to each season.
  • Calendar Man appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Legends of the Dark-Mite!" voiced by Jim Piddock.[13] When Bat-Mite wants to summon a villain for Batman to fight, the Dark Knight tricks him into summoning Calendar Man, then secretly tells the confused villain to play along and pretends to knock him out. Displeased, Bat-Mite uses his reality-warping powers to upgrade the villain into Calendar King, with the power to conjure monsters and henchmen themed after various holidays (including Jack O'Lantern Monsters, Santa Claus-themed bikers, uber-patriotic Uncle Sams, and Mutant Easter Bunnies). After the henchmen and Calendar King are defeated, Bat-Mite restores him to normal and sends him away. He was later seen in "Mayhem of the Music Meister" as an inmate of Arkham Asylum. In "A Bat Divided", Calendar Man is seen hanging out with the bad guys at a bar until Firestorm and the three Batmen show up.

Film

Video games

  • In Batman: Arkham Asylum, Calendar Man's cell is featured. It is covered in calendar pages and the player can scan it to unlock Calendar Man's biography.
  • Calendar Man appears in the sequel to Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, voiced by Maurice LaMarche. This version of Calendar Man is somewhat obese, has a slightly shorter right leg (with a brace and platform shoe), and features the calendar tattoos on his head seen in Batman: Dark Victory (although here they more resemble scars). Calendar Man had been occupying the Solomon Wayne Courthouse trapping anyone who entered and killing them on the next holiday. Just before the game begins, Two-Face and his minions capture the courthouse and lock Calendar Man in a cell in the basement. Calendar Man is featured in a similar manner as in Batman: The Long Halloween, talking to Batman through a glass cell. If the player speaks with him on certain holidays (New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, April Fools' Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, the Feast Day of Saint Roch, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day), he will relate a story about a crime he committed on that specific day.[15] If the player hears all twelve stories, Calendar Man will have escaped leaving one of Two-Face's minions hanging dead from the ceiling of his cell. If the player sets the date of the gaming console as December 13, 2004 (Arkham developer Rocksteady Studios was founded on December 2004) and visits Calendar Man, he will speak unique dialogue about his origins with Batman, concluding with, "I was there at your beginning, and I will be there at your end."[16] If the player visits Calendar Man as Catwoman, he will bring up an incident involving both her and the Falcone family and will imply that Carmine Falcone might be Catwoman's father.
  • Calendar Man makes a cameo appearance in Batman: Arkham Origins. During Black Mask's siege on Blackgate Penitentiary on Christmas Eve, he is about to be executed for his crimes. The crime lord lets him go, however, appreciating letting him go on a holiday. It is heavily implied that this directly leads to his murder of Judge Harkness, as recounted on Arkham City.
  • Batman: Arkham Knight features another cameo appearance by Calendar Man. When Batman's identity is revealed, Bruce Wayne arrives at Wayne Manor, which explodes shortly after; Calendar Man can be seen in the crowd outside the manor. This alludes to Calendar Man's promise in Arkham City where he says he will be there at Batman's end.[17] It's revealed in a Gotham City Stories that Calendar Man had a plan in place to strike on Halloween, but he had to abort it thanks to Scarecrow.
  • Calendar Man will appear as a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains.

Musicals

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wallace, Daniel (2008). "Calendar Man". In Dougall, Alastair. The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 65. ISBN 0-7566-4119-5. OCLC 213309017.
  2. ↑ "The Best & Worst Batman Villains". ign.com.
  3. ↑ "15 Batman Villains That Deserve Their Movie Due". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 2015-07-18.
  4. ↑ 52 Week Twenty. DC Comics.
  5. ↑ Phegley, Kiel (January 29, 2013). "DC Spreads The Word With "Channel 52"". Comic Book Resources.
  6. ↑ Batman: Rebirth #1 p. 10. DC Comics.
  7. ↑ Batman Beyond #3 (July 2010)
  8. ↑ Batman Beyond #3 (August 2010)
  9. ↑ Injustice: Gods Among Us #15
  10. ↑ Injustice: Gods Among Us #16
  11. ↑ Injustice 2 #1
  12. ↑ Injustice 2 #2
  13. ↑ "Interview". Collider.com. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  14. ↑ http://comicbook.com/dc/2016/12/12/new-lego-batman-movie-tv-spot-features-gentlemen-ghost-calendar-/
  15. ↑ "ComicsAlliance Tests Out the 'Batman: Arkham City' Video Game". Comicsalliance.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-29. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  16. ↑ Hernandez, Patricia (November 17, 2014). "It Took Three Years For People To Find This Arkham City Easter Egg". Kotaku. Retrieved July 8, 2015. Turns out, if you set your PC to the date December 13th, 2004, you trigger special Calendar Man dialogue—which you can see in the clip above. The date seems random, but players speculate that it's tied to a very special date. That's the year that the developer behind the game, Rocksteady, was founded after all.
  17. ↑ Hernandez, Patricia (July 1, 2015). "Batman: Arkham Knight's True Ending Has A Cool Easter Egg". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 7, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
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