Team affiliations The Misfits | Alter ego Julian Gregory Day Notable aliases Calendar Killer | |
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Abilities Genius-level intellectObsession with quirks of calendarSuccessful inventorSkilled hand-to-hand combatantExpert manipulatorAges and rejuvenates according to season Similar Killer Moth, Victor Zsasz, Hugo Strange, Clayface, Black Mask | ||
Batman rebirth 1 calendar man vs gotham recap review
Calendar Man (real name Julian Gregory Day) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, as an enemy of 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.
Contents
- Batman rebirth 1 calendar man vs gotham recap review
- Supervillain origins calendar man
- Publication history
- Fictional character biography
- Powers and abilities
- Batman Brave and the Bold
- Batman Beyond
- Injustice Gods Among Us
- Batman Arkham Knight
- Television
- Film
- Video games
- Musicals
- References
Supervillain origins calendar man
Publication history
Calendar Man first appeared in Detective Comics #259 (Sept. 1958) and was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff.
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.
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 a 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 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 modus operandi. 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 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 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 Batman: 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 valued hourglass.
Calendar Man appears in the third issue of the 80 Page Giant Batman Special Edition (July 2000) entitled "All the Deadly Days". 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). As the story begins, the Joker has recently stolen the reality-altering powers of Superman's enemy Mr. Mxyzptlk. In the warped planet Earth created by the Joker, Superman is a prisoner of Arkham Asylum, in the custody of warden Solomon Grundy and his assistant, Calendar Man. The latter's appearance is carried over from his revitalization in Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory, which was also written by Jeph Loeb.
Day appears in the spinoff 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.
In books of The New 52, a reboot of the DC Comics universe, 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.
In the books of DC Rebirth, Calendar Man's body ages and rejuvenates according to the seasons.
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. 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 skin.
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. Hush mentions that Batman's "true family" is his many enemies and he plans to destroy it. He then proceeds to kill Calendar Man.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Calendar Man appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us's prequel comic, in Chapter Fifteen, 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. In Chapter Sixteen, 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 fightning 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.
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.