Scarecrow (comics)
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| The Scarecrow | |
|---|---|
 The Scarecrow on the cover of Batman #373 (July 1984). Art by Ed Hannigan and Dick Giordano. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) |
| Created by | Bill Finger Bob Kane |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jonathan Crane |
| Team affiliations | Injustice League Injustice Gang Secret Society of Super Villains |
The Scarecrow (Dr. Jonathan Crane) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.
A former psychiatrist who uses a variety of drugs and psychological tactics to exploit the fears and phobias of his adversaries, the Scarecrow is a member of Batman's rogues gallery; although he made only two appearances in the Golden Age of Comic Books,[1] the character was eventually revived during the Silver Age of Comic Books by writer Gardner Fox and artist Sheldon Moldoff in the pages of Batman #189 (Feb 1967) and has since become a staple Batman villain.[2]
The character of Scarecrow has featured in other DC Comics-endorsed products such as feature films; video games; animated television series and merchandise such as action figures. In 2009, the Scarecrow was ranked as IGN's 58th Greatest Villain of All Time.[3]
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[edit] Publication history
First appearing in World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941), the Scarecrow is Dr. Jonathan Crane, a professor of psychology and expert in the psychology of fear, who turns to crime after being fired due to his eccentric behavior and appearance. His modus operandi is the adoption of a Scarecrow persona, used to threaten his victims into doing whatever he wants. Scarecrow is eventually defeated by Batman and Robin and sent to Gotham State Penitentiary. The Scarecrow escapes from jail in Detective Comics #73, not reappearing again until The Brave and the Bold #197.
From Batman #189 (1967) onwards, the character becomes a recurring foe in the Silver Age Batman stories and also appears as a member of the Injustice Gang.
Following the 1986 multi-title event Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, the character's origin story is expanded in Batman Annual #19 and the miniseries Batman/Scarecrow: Year One; revealing that Crane has a fear of bats and is obsessed with fear and revenge from being bullied throughout his childhood and adolescence for his lanky frame and bookish nature (especially his resemblance to Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.) Crane's obsession with fear leads to his becoming a psychiatrist, taking a position at Arkham Asylum and performs fear-inducing experiments on his patients, eventually turning to crime.[4] Batman: Heart of Hush reveals that Scarecrow mentored a young Thomas Elliot.
The Scarecrow appears in such story arcs as Knightfall and Shadow of the Bat, generally as a pawn of the main villain. In the 2004 story arc As The Crow Flies, Scarecrow is hired by the Penguin under false pretenses. Dr. Linda Friitawa then secretly mutates Crane into a murderous creature known as the "Scarebeast", who Penguin uses to kill off his disloyal colleagues.[5] However, the character's later appearances all show him as an unmutated Crane again, with the exception of an appearance during War Games.[6][7] The Scarecrow reappears alongside other Batman villains in Gotham Underground; the story arc ends with Scarecrow beaten and tied-up by Tobias Whale, as a sign to all "masks" that they are not welcome in Whale's new vision of Gotham. In the Battle For The Cowl storyline, Scarecrow is recruited by a new Black Mask to a part of a group of villains that aiming to take over Gotham. He later assist the crime lord to manufactures a new recreational drug called "Thrill," which got the attentions of Oracle and Batgirl. He is later defeated by Batgirl and once again arrested.
Scarecrow briefly appears in the Blackest Night storyline. His immunity to fear (brought about by frequent exposure to his own fear gas) renders him practically invisible to the invading Black Lanterns.
Outside the Batman-related continuity stories, the Scarecrow additionally has a cameo appearance in The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes,[8] appears in three company crossovers; Judgment on Gotham, Batman/Daredevil: King of New York and Marvel vs. DC; and an alternate version of the character appears in JSA: The Liberty Files.
[edit] Powers and abilities
The Scarecrow uses a variety of toxins that cause his victims to hallucinate that their phobias have come to life. He wears his Scarecrow mask to enhance the effect of the hallucinogen (instilling fear in all who see him) as well as to avoid being poisoned by his own toxin. Although physically unintimidating, Scarecrow can resort to physical combat, uses a style called "violent dancing", based partly on the crane style of kung fu and on drunken boxing.
The Scarecrow is an expert on psychology, with a focus on fear, and is a certified professor on the subject. His mastery of fear is such that the yellow power ring of Amon Sur tried to seek him out at Arkham after its masters death, though it was stopped before reaching him.
Blackest Night #4 (October 2009) indicates that Scarecrow is physically unable to feel fear himself, a fact which depresses him. He says, simply, "I used my fear gas, oh, one too many times". However, he does claim that there is one exception: Batman can still scare him.[9]
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
- The Scarecrow appears in the 1968 The Batman/Superman Hour episode "The Great Scarecrow Scare" voiced by Ted Knight.
- The Scarecrow appears in the 1978 Challenge of the SuperFriends. He appears as a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom voiced by the late Don Messick.
- The Scarecrow appears in the The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episode "The Fear" voiced by Andre Stojka.
- The Scarecrow appears in the Batman: the Animated Series, voiced by Henry Polic II, and then in The New Batman Adventures by Jeffrey Combs. The Scarecrow's design was revamped in each of his appearances because Bruce Timm felt the character never actually looked scary; this problem was finally rectified with the design devised for The New Batman Adventures.[10]
- The Scarecrow could not appear in The Batman because he was used in the Chris Nolan movie Batman Begins and DC Comics along with Time Warner did not want him to be used in two different media.
- The Scarecrow appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Trials of the Demon" voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
[edit] Film
- Cillian Murphy portrays the Scarecrow in the 2005 feature film Batman Begins and the 2008 sequel The Dark Knight. In the film, Jonathan Crane is the lead psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum and also working with mobster Carmine Falcone, declaring his arrested henchmen insane so they can be released quicker. However, he also conducts experiments on his patients, using a fear toxin developed with R'as Al Ghul to break their minds. This version just wears a poorly-stitched burlap sack with a built-in rebreather, doubling as a gas mask. Murphy explained that the relatively simple mask was done because "[He] wanted to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, because he's not a very physically imposing man - he's more interested in the manipulation of the mind and what that can do."[11]
- In the direct-to-DVD animated production Batman: Gotham Knight, Corey Burton voices The Scarecrow during the character's appearance in the segment "In Darkness Dwells".
[edit] Video games
- The Scarecrow appears in five video games: Game Boy's Batman: The Animated Series, Super Nintendo and Mega Drive/Genesis's Adventures of Batman & Robin, Batman Begins (a tie-in to the 2005 movie), (voiced by Cillian Murphy) Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu and Batman: Arkham Asylum
- The Scarecrow appears in Lego Batman: The Video Game.
- Scarecrow appears as a major boss in Batman: Arkham Asylum voiced by Dino Andrade. He first appears as a massive giant in fear-drug-induced halucinations that Batman must evade to reach the Batsignal, which appears to serve as a symbol of his will that allows him to end the hallucinations. Having failed to drive Batman insane, Scarecrow attempts to dump his fear drugs in the water supply, but is attacked by Killer Croc before he can do so. Scarecrow's appearance in the game features him without a shirt, a hood made of ripped cloth, a gas mask designed to look like a scarecrow face but with the gas tanks on his face visible, bandaged feet, and a clawed hand with needles filled with fear toxin. During the fight, Batman occasionally turns into Scarecrow, but only for a few seconds. In one of the 3 alternate post-credits cutscenes depicts Batman leaving Arkham Island as Scarecrow's arm reaches out of the water and grabs the crate of Titan floating away.
- Scarecrow will appear in DC Universe Online.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics: Scarecrow of Earth-2. Accessed July 31, 2008
- ^ Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics: "Fright of the Scarecrow," Batman #189 (Feb 1967). Accessed July 31, 2008
- ^ Scarecrow is number 58 IGN. Retrieved 10-05-09.
- ^ Batman Annual #19
- ^ "As the Crow Flies" story arc - Batman #627, July 2004
- ^ Villains United #6
- ^ Villains United Special
- ^ Sandman #5: "Passengers"
- ^ Johns, Geoff (w). Blackest Night 1 (4) (October 2009), DC Comics
- ^ Batman - Arkham Files
- ^ Adam Smith (July 2005). "The Scarecrow". Empire. pp. 77.
[edit] External links
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