Mitchell "Matches" Malone was a forger from Crime Alley and an old acquaintance of Bruce Wayne.
History
Matches Malone grew up in the same neighbourhood as Bruce and was in the same class at school as him and his friends. He went on the field trip to Gotham Zoo where their teacher and Bruce's father Thomas Wayne was killed. Thomas got the kids into the bat enclosure to hide from the shooter but Mitchell tripped and was left behind. Thomas ran back and got him to safety, and was then shot while tackling the shooter. Matches blamed himself for Thomas' death and the guilt consumed him, to the point that he eventually stopped caring about his own life.[1] When he and the others all got older they would all play a game where they each flicked a lit match at a matchbook and tried to hit it; the one who did won the right to dare someone else to do anything. Matches got his nickname for always being able to hit the matchbook and was also known for picking himself for dares and being willing to do anything, his suicidal impulses driving him to extreme reckless actions.
When he grew up Matches became a criminal and spent much of his adult life in and out of prison. He became known as a highly skilled forger who could produce any kind of official document his customers needed. Bruce approached Matches for fake work papers that would allow him to sneak onto the crew working to build Ark M just off the coast of Gotham. Matches not only made the papers, but out of a desire to be helpful he snuck onto the crew himself and spent a week on the island, learning that the prison already had inmates while it was still under construction. He also managed to get some pictures and videos on his phone.[2] However, he was discovered by victor Fries, who infected him with an ancient bacterium to kill him so he could not reveal what he had seen.[1]
Matches met up with Bruce and gave him the papers and told him what he had seen. He said he was going to go back and see what else he could find out, but he then suddenly dropped dead in front of Bruce, bleeding from every pore. Bruce managed to retrieve Matches' phone, which had pictures and videos from inside Ark M on it.[2]
Powers and Abilities
Other Characteristics
- Mental Disorder: Matches suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress.[1]
Notes
- Matches Malone was created by Dennis O'Neill and Irv Novick, first appearing in Batman #242. However, the Absolute Universe version of Matches Malone first appeared in Absolute Batman #7 by Scott Snyder and Marcos Martin.
Related
- 2 Appearances of Mitchell Malone (Absolute Universe)
- 1 Images featuring Mitchell Malone (Absolute Universe)
- Quotations by or about Mitchell Malone (Absolute Universe)
- Character Gallery: Mitchell Malone (Absolute Universe)
Footnotes