Changes: Basil Karlo (New Earth)

Mad? Oh, yes, the traditional accusation! And next you'll be telling me it's all because I'm misunderstood! All the great monsters were misunderstood! Mr. Hyde-- Frankenstein's creation-- Dracula-- The Golem-- all of them! But not me! Not Basil Karlo! Not the Ultimate Clayface! My intentions will be clear from the start! I will take what I want-- when I want it! And any who stand in my way shall-- burn!

— Clayface ^src

History

Origin and Early History

Basil Karlo was an actor who was driven mad when he learned of a remake of his classic horror film Dread Castle, even though he was to be one of the advising staff. Donning a mask made of clay, he embarked on a murder spree among the cast of the remake. He started killing the actors playing characters he killed in the order and way they died in the film. He was foiled by Batman and Robin and was sent to prison.^[2]

He reappeared after the prison ambulance he was riding in plunged off a cliff. Once again, he donned the mask of Clayface and targeted Bruce Wayne's fiancee and upcoming actress, Julie Madison and just like before, he was stopped by the dynamic duo.^[3]

The Mud Pack

Main article: Batman: The Mud Pack

Basil Karlo 007 — Karlo becomes the Ultimate Clayface

Years later, Karlo languished in a prison hospital, when the current Clayface, Sondra Fuller visited him out of curiosity.^[4] Karlo proposed an alliance between all living Clayfaces to kill Batman. However, Karlo's intentions were other than just wreack havoc and get revenge on Batman. Acting as the leader of the Mud Pack, Karlo instructed Fuller to break Clayface III out of Arkham Asylum, while he went on to retrieve the last remains of Matt Hagen, the second Clayface. Although Hagen could not be revived, Karlo made use of Clayface III and Fuller to his own advantage.^[5]^[6]

After a successful encounter with Batman and their apparent victory over the Dark Knight, Karlo double-crossed Fuller and stole a blood sample from her as well as Clayface III in order to imbue himself with the samples and become the Ultimate Clayface.^[7] Although Karlo's plan was successful and he did became the most powerful Clayface, he was defeated by the combined efforts of Batman and Looker of the Outsiders, who overloaded his abilities, making him melt the ground and causing him to plunge directly to Earth's core.^[1]

Freedom and Ivy

Main articles: Batman: Aftershock and Batman: No Man's Land

After his defeat, Clayface sunk into the Earth's crust until he was stopped by a formation of quartz crystals. He remained trapped in that spot for years, but due to his new physiology, he survived and even gained new powers due to the exposure to the crystals. Eventually, Clayface was able to escape his underground prison when Gotham City was struck by the great cataclysm. He was able to capture Batman and was about to kill him, but he got into a feud with Mr. Freeze about who should kill the Caped Crusader. With that distraction, Batman soundly defeated both of them.^[8]

Some time later and as a result of the cataclysm, Gotham was abandoned by the US Government, becoming an official No Man's Land. During this time, Clayface held Poison Ivy, who was in charge of producing fresh vegetables for the remaining people in the city, prisoner in Robinson Park.^[9] Poison Ivy eventually battled and defeated Clayface with Batman's assistance, leaving him rooted into the ground with her vines.^[10]^[11]

Later Exploits

Clayface resurfaced as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. Later, he sought to increase his already formidable powers by absorbing Wonder Woman (a clay construct similar to him), giving him an amount of power that bordered on invulnerability. While he was successful in absorbing some of the heroine's powers, causing her to regress to a teenage appearance resembling Donna Troy, he is ultimately returned to normal when Wonder Woman and Donna were able to trick Clayface into entering a train carriage with Wonder Woman while she was disguised as Donna, Donna subsequently using the Lasso of Truth to swing the carriage around and turn it into a mystical centrifuge, causing the clay Clayface had taken from Wonder Woman to split away from him and re-merge with Wonder Woman due to the differences between the two types of clay.^[12]^[13]

Basil Karlo was among the members of the Injustice League and was among the villains that were exiled to the planet Salvation by Checkmate. He and others eventually retured to Earth and became a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains. In this capacity, Karlo triggered an explosion at the Daily Planet under Libra's orders when Lex Luthor demands for Libra to do something that will draw Superman to them.^[14]

Black Mask attempted to control Clayface by implanting a device in his body. He escaped Black Mask but was captured and imprisoned by the Outsiders.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Malleable Clay-like Body: Being chemically altered gave him the ability to regenerate his body mass, change his shape, size, density and shape-shift into any form he could think of.
- Size Alteration
- Elasticity
- Density Control
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Durability
- Poisonous Touch: (Formerly) Clayface has shown no evidence of possessing this power anymore after his long underground captivity.

Abilities

Acting

Notes

Basil Karlo was introduced during the Golden Age era of publication, which set Earth-Two as the universe in which the Golden Age characters and stories took place. However, his origin and early history remained unchanged until the Modern Age of comics after the Crisis on Infinite Earths. For this reason, it is safe to assume that the Clayface featured in the original Golden Age stories is the same character as the Modern Age Clayface.
- Clayface made one single appearance during the Bronze Age of comics in Detective Comics #496, where he was killed. This event is not considered part of the character's history, as it contradicts his later appearances. In this issue, Karlo was convicted to Arkham Asylum as deemed criminally insane.
The character's name, "Basil Karlo" was based upon famed horror actors Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. Bob Kane has also stated that he drew inspiration from The Phantom of the Opera as portrayed by Lon Chaney to develop the concept of Clayface.^[15]
Clayface is immune to those with the power of geokinesis, such as Geo-Force, claiming it be because he is "a force of nature."^[16]

Trivia

Basil Karlo used to wear a "clayface mask" to terrify people during his crimes. He discarded the mask after gaining his unique physiology during the The Mud Pack storyline.

Secret Society of Super-Villains member
This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.

[DCV1-607-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Detective Comics #607

[2] Detective Comics #40

[3] Detective Comics #49

[4] Secret Origins (Volume 2) #44

[5] Detective Comics #604

[6] Detective Comics #605

[7] Detective Comics #606

[8] Batman: Shadow of the Bat #75

[9] Batman: Shadow of the Bat #88

[10] Batman #568

[11] Detective Comics #735

[12] Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #160

[13] Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #161

[14] Final Crisis #2

[15] "Batman and Me" - Bob Kane's Autobiography (1989)

[16] Outsiders (Volume 4) #22

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | RealName                = Basil Karlo
 | CurrentAlias            = Clayface
-| Aliases                 =
+| Aliases                 = Ultimate Clayface<ref name=DCV1-607>{{c|Detective Comics #607}}</ref>
 | Identity                = Secret
 | Alignment               = Bad
-| Affiliation             = [[Mud Pack]], [[Secret Society of Super-Villains II|The Secret Society of Super-Villains]]
+| Affiliation             = [[Mud Pack]], [[Injustice League Unlimited]], [[Secret Society of Super-Villains (Villains United)|The Secret Society of Super-Villains]]
 | Relatives               =
-| Universe                = New Earth
+| Universe                = Earth-Two; Earth-One; New Earth
 | BaseOfOperations        = [[Gotham City]]
 | Gender                  = Male
-| Height                  = 5'11''
+| Height                  = 5'11"
 | Weight                  = 180lbs
 | Eyes                    = Black
 | Eyes2                   = Yellow
-| Hair                    = Black
+| Hair                    = White
 | Hair2                   = None
-| UnusualFeatures         = [[Unique Physiology]]
+| UnusualFeatures         =
 | Citizenship             = American
-| MaritalStatus           = Single
+| MaritalStatus           = Widowed
 | Occupation              = [[Actor]]
 | PlaceOfBirth            =
-| Creators                = Bob Kane
+| Creators                = Bill Finger; Bob Kane
-| First                   = Detective Comics #40
+| First                   = Detective Comics Vol 1 40
+| Quotation               = Mad? Oh, yes, the traditional accusation! And next you'll be telling me it's all because I'm '''misunderstood! All''' the great monsters were misunderstood! Mr. Hyde-- Frankenstein's creation-- Dracula-- The Golem-- all of them! But not me! Not Basil Karlo! '''Not the Ultimate Clayface!''' My intentions will be '''clear''' from the start! I will '''take''' what I '''want'''-- '''when''' I want it! And any who stand in my way shall-- '''burn!'''
-| Quotation               = Your power is useless. I am a force of nature unto myself.
 | Speaker                 = [[Basil Karlo (New Earth)|Clayface]]
-| QuoteSource             = Outsiders Vol 4 22
+| QuoteSource             = Detective Comics Vol 1 607
 | HistoryText             =
+===Origin and Early History===
-[[File:Basil Karlo (New Earth) 005.png|left|175px]]
-Basil Karlo was an actor who was driven mad when he learned of a remake of his classic horror film ''The Terror'', even though he was to be one of the advising staff. Donning the costume of the film's villain he once played, [[Clayface]], he embarked on a murder spree among the cast and crew of the remake. He begins killing the actors playing characters he killed in the order and way they die in the film, along with someone who knew his identity. Last, he plans to murder the actor playing the Clayface killer. He was foiled by [[Batman]] and [[Robin]].<ref>{{c|Secret Origins Vol 2 #44}}</ref>  He reappeared after the prison ambulance he was riding in plunged off a cliff. He once again donnned the mask of Clayface and targeted Bruce Wayne's fiancee, [[Julie Madison]]. <ref>{{c|Detective Comics #49}}</ref> Once again, the Dynamic Duo foiled the evil Karlo.
+Basil Karlo was an actor who was driven mad when he learned of a remake of his classic horror film ''Dread Castle'', even though he was to be one of the advising staff. Donning a mask made of clay, he embarked on a murder spree among the cast of the remake. He started killing the actors playing characters he killed in the order and way they died in the film. He was foiled by [[Bruce Wayne (New Earth)|Batman]] and [[Richard Grayson (New Earth)|Robin]] and was sent to prison.<ref>{{c|Detective Comics #40}}</ref>
+He reappeared after the prison ambulance he was riding in plunged off a cliff. Once again, he donned the mask of Clayface and targeted Bruce Wayne's fiancee and upcoming actress, [[Julie Madison (New Earth)|Julie Madison]] and just like before, he was stopped by the dynamic duo.<ref>{{c|Detective Comics #49}}</ref>
-Much later, Karlo languished in a prison hospital, when [[Sondra Fuller]] visited him out of curiosity. Karlo proposed an alliance between all living Clayfaces to kill Batman. Even though the Mud Pack, as the group called itself, was defeated, Karlo managed, by tricking his allies, to imbue himself with abilities similar to those of [[Preston Payne]] and Sondra Fuller. He was defeated by the combined efforts of Batman and [[Looker]] of the [[Outsiders (New Earth)|Outsiders]], by overloading his abilities, making him melt into the ground. Sinking into the earth's crust when he lost control of his power, he managed to survive, and now his body sports crystals similar to quartz that endow him with greater powers. Karlo was able to escape his underground prison when [[Gotham City]] was struck by the great [[Cataclysm]]. He was able to capture Batman and was about to kill him, but he got into a feud with [[Mr. Freeze]] about who should kill the Caped Crusader. With that distraction, Batman soundly defeated both of them.
+===The Mud Pack===
-During the "[[No Man's Land]]" storyline, Basil Karlo held [[Poison Ivy]], who was in charge of producing fresh vegetables for the remaining people in the city, prisoner in Robinson Park. Poison Ivy eventually battled and defeated Karlo, sinking him deep into the ground. It appears that the Ultimate Clayface is destroyed in this battle, but he resurfaced as a member of the [[Secret Society of Super Villains]]. Later, he sought to increase his already formidable powers by absorbing [[Wonder Woman]] (a clay construct similar to him), giving him an amount of power that bordered on invulnerability. While he was successful in absorbing the heroine, he was ultimately forced to release her.
+{{Main|Batman: The Mud Pack}}
+{{Image|Basil Karlo 007.jpg|Karlo becomes the Ultimate Clayface|right}}
+Years later, Karlo languished in a prison hospital, when the current Clayface, [[Sondra Fuller (New Earth)|Sondra Fuller]] visited him out of curiosity.<ref>{{c|Secret Origins Vol 2 #44}}</ref> Karlo proposed an alliance between all living Clayfaces to kill Batman. However, Karlo's intentions were other than just wreack havoc and get revenge on Batman. Acting as the leader of the [[Mud Pack]], Karlo instructed Fuller to break [[Preston Payne (New Earth)|Clayface III]] out of [[Arkham Asylum]], while he went on to retrieve the last remains of [[Matthew Hagen (New Earth)|Matt Hagen]], the second Clayface. Although Hagen could not be revived, Karlo made use of Clayface III and Fuller to his own advantage.<ref>{{c|Detective Comics #604}}</ref><ref>{{c|Detective Comics #605}}</ref>
+After a successful encounter with Batman and their apparent victory over the Dark Knight, Karlo double-crossed Fuller and stole a blood sample from her as well as Clayface III in order to imbue himself with the samples and become the Ultimate Clayface.<ref>{{c|Detective Comics #606}}</ref> Although Karlo's plan was successful and he did became the most powerful Clayface, he was defeated by the combined efforts of Batman and [[Emily Briggs (New Earth)|Looker]] of the [[Outsiders (New Earth)|Outsiders]], who overloaded his abilities, making him melt the ground and causing him to plunge directly to Earth's core.<ref name=DCV1-607/>
-Basil Karlo was among the members of the [[Injustice League]] and was among the villains seen in ''Salvation Run''. He can be seen as the member of [[Libra]]'s Secret Society of Super Villains. In the second issue of Final Crisis, he triggered an explosion at the [[Daily Planet]].
+===Freedom and Ivy===
+{{Main|Batman: Aftershock|Batman: No Man's Land}}
+After his defeat, Clayface sunk into the Earth's crust until he was stopped by a formation of quartz crystals. He remained trapped in that spot for years, but due to his new physiology, he survived and even gained new powers due to the exposure to the crystals. Eventually, Clayface was able to escape his underground prison when [[Gotham City]] was struck by the great [[Batman: Cataclysm|cataclysm]]. He was able to capture Batman and was about to kill him, but he got into a feud with [[Victor Fries (New Earth)|Mr. Freeze]] about who should kill the Caped Crusader. With that distraction, Batman soundly defeated both of them.<ref>{{c|Batman: Shadow of the Bat #75}}</ref>
+Some time later and as a result of the cataclysm, Gotham was abandoned by the US Government, becoming an official [[Batman: No Man's Land|No Man's Land]]. During this time, Clayface held [[Pamela Isley (New Earth)|Poison Ivy]], who was in charge of producing fresh vegetables for the remaining people in the city, prisoner in [[Robinson Park]].<ref>{{c|Batman: Shadow of the Bat #88}}</ref> Poison Ivy eventually battled and defeated Clayface with Batman's assistance, leaving him rooted into the ground with her vines.<ref>{{c|Batman Vol 1 568}}</ref><ref>{{c|Detective Comics #735}}</ref>
+===Later Exploits===
+Clayface resurfaced as a member of the [[Secret Society of Super Villains]]. Later, he sought to increase his already formidable powers by absorbing [[Diana of Themyscira (New Earth)|Wonder Woman]] (a clay construct similar to him), giving him an amount of power that bordered on invulnerability. While he was successful in absorbing some of the heroine's powers, causing her to regress to a teenage appearance resembling [[Donna Troy (New Earth)|Donna Troy]], he is ultimately returned to normal when Wonder Woman and Donna were able to trick Clayface into entering a train carriage with Wonder Woman while she was disguised as Donna, Donna subsequently using the [[Lasso of Truth]] to swing the carriage around and turn it into a mystical centrifuge, causing the clay Clayface had taken from Wonder Woman to split away from him and re-merge with Wonder Woman due to the differences between the two types of clay.<ref>{{c|Wonder Woman Vol 2 160}}</ref><ref>{{c|Wonder Woman Vol 2 161}}</ref>
+Basil Karlo was among the members of the [[Injustice League]] and was among the villains that were [[Salvation Run|exiled]] to the planet [[Salvation]] by [[Checkmate (New Earth)|Checkmate]]. He and others eventually retured to Earth and became a member of [[Justin Ballantine (New Earth)|Libra's]] Secret Society of Super Villains. In this capacity, Karlo triggered an explosion at the [[Daily Planet]] under Libra's orders when [[Alexander Luthor (New Earth)|Lex Luthor]] demands for Libra to do something that will draw [[Kal-El (New Earth)|Superman]] to them.<ref>{{c|Final Crisis Vol 1 2}}</ref>
 [[Jeremiah Arkham (New Earth)|Black Mask]] attempted to control Clayface by implanting a device in his body. He escaped Black Mask but was captured and imprisoned by the [[Outsiders (New Earth)|Outsiders]].
 | Powers                  =
-* {{Metamorphosis|Malleable Clay-like Body}}: Being chemically altered gave him the ability to regenerate body mass, change shape, size, density and shape-shift into any form he could think of.
+* {{Metamorphosis|Malleable Clay-like Body}}: Being chemically altered gave him the ability to regenerate his body mass, change his shape, size, density and shape-shift into any form he could think of.
 ** {{Size Alteration}}
+** {{Elasticity}}
 ** {{Density Control}}
 ** {{Superhuman Strength}}
 ** {{Superhuman Durability}}
-** {{Disintegration|Poisonous Touch}}
+** {{Disintegration|Poisonous Touch}}: {{Formerly}} Clayface has shown no evidence of possessing this power anymore after his long underground captivity.
 | Abilities               =
 * {{Acting}}
-| Strength                =
 | Weaknesses              =
-* {{Mental Illness}}
 | Equipment               =
@@ Line 65: / Line 80: @@
 | Notes                   =
+* Basil Karlo was introduced during the [[Golden Age]] era of publication, which set [[Earth-Two]] as the universe in which the Golden Age characters and stories took place. However, his origin and early history remained unchanged until the Modern Age of comics after the [[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]. For this reason, it is safe to assume that the Clayface featured in the original Golden Age stories is the same character as the Modern Age Clayface.
-* Basil Karlo was also a Clayface, albeit a non-powered one, in both [[Earth-Two]] and [[Earth-One]] continuities.
+** Clayface made one single appearance during the [[Bronze Age]] of comics in {{c|Detective Comics #496}}, where he was killed. This event is not considered part of the character's history, as it contradicts his later appearances. In this issue, Karlo was convicted to [[Arkham Asylum]] as deemed criminally insane.
-* The character is a pastiche of famed horror actor Boris Karloff. The name 'Basil Karlo' comes from Karloff and actor Basil Rathbone.
+* The character's name, ''"Basil Karlo"'' was based upon famed horror actors {{WP|Boris Karloff}} and {{WP|Basil Rathbone}}. Bob Kane has also stated that he drew inspiration from {{WP|The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)|The Phantom of the Opera}} as portrayed by {{WP|Lon Chaney}} to develop the concept of Clayface.<ref>"Batman and Me" -
+ Bob Kane's Autobiography (1989)</ref>
+* Clayface is immune to those with the power of geokinesis, such as [[Brion Markov (New Earth)|Geo-Force]], claiming it be because he is "a force of nature."<ref>{{c|Outsiders Vol 4 22}}</ref>
 | Trivia                  =
+* Basil Karlo used to wear a "clayface mask" to terrify people during his crimes. He discarded the mask after gaining his unique physiology during the [[Batman: The Mud Pack|The Mud Pack]] storyline.
-* Basil Karlo is also known as ''The Ultimate Clayface'' and ''Clay Thing''.
-* Basil Karlo used to use a "clayface mask" to terrify people during his crimes. He discarded the mask after gaining his unique physiology.
 | Wikipedia               = Clayface
 | Links                   =
 }}
-{{Batman}}
 {{Batman Villain}}
+{{Injustice League members}}
-{{Out-of-universe}}
+{{Secret Society of Super-Villains member}}
 [[Category:Injustice League III members]]
 [[Category:Mud Pack members]]

Changes: Basil Karlo (New Earth)

Revision as of 01:27, 7 January 2020

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