Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: absolute, Absolute Batman, COndiment King, scott snyder

Absolute Batman Will Reinvent D-List Bat Villains To Be Scary In 2027

Scott Snyder and Absolute Batman will reinvent D-list Batman villains to be very scary indeed in 2027

YouTuber Dean of De Ultimaten at a signing asked Scott Snyder, "I love how you're reinventing so many iconic Batman roles, and I love the Mad Magazine bits. So I gotta ask, is Absolute Condiment King canon to the Absolute Universe?"

Scott replied, "Yes, let's say it is. We'll make it canon right now. We're gonna do a bunch of B-list villains later. In about six months, you'll see a bunch of other characters coming in like those kind of, you know, D-list villains. No offense… But then we're gonna we're gonna kind of make them scary, so that's part of the fun of next year."

Condiment King is a character who weaponises ketchup, mustard, mayo, and other condiments against Batman. He was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series in 1994 as a deliberate parody of the campy, gimmicky villains from the 1966 Batman TV series. In the animated version, his real identity is Buddy Standler, a stand-up comedian. The Joker brainwashes him (along with other Gothamites) as revenge for a bad performance, turning him into a ridiculous costumed criminal armed with condiment-shooting gadgets.

In the main DC Comics continuity, he's known as Mitchell Mayo, first appeared in Batgirl: Year One and has shown up in titles like Birds of Prey, Robin, and others. He's still a low-tier joke villain, often defeated quickly and sent to Arkham Asylum. His weapons include Ketchup and mustard blasters, relish grenades and condiments laced with allergens that could cause anaphylactic shock…but one storyline even gave him a brief power-up involving Poison Ivy's plant knowledge and Joker toxin, making him temporarily more dangerous. He's generally portrayed as a petty criminal who robs restaurants or fairs with his condiment tech, and he's considered one of Gotham's D-list rogues, nowhere near the level of the Joker, Penguin, or Riddler. And in Final Crisis Aftermath: Run in 2009 by Lilah Sturges and Freddie E. Williams II, he is killed after being bludgeoned by the Human Flame with his own ketchup and mustard guns.

However, a quick New 52 and Rebirth reboot saw him come back as a throwaway gag in Tom King and Mitch Gerad's Batman #14 in 2018. At the very end, the pounchline, of a Batmontage…

And to be fair, he had been used as comic relief in the comics, the TV cartoons and the LEGO Batman movie. But in today's Batman #54 by Tom King, Matt Wagner and Tomeu Morey, we get to see the two ages of Batman – one with a young pre-Robin Dick Grayson living in Wayne Manor back in the day and one with a modern-day Nightwing, mocking the ridiculous. And Batman rejects any such humour in the situation, given that people have died. And presumably not just from anaphylactic shock. Condiment King is a deadly threat and no more ludicrous than the Joker. And we have a Batman unable to see the funny side of anything.

But he's still a joke. And in the recent MAD About DC comic from Chip Zdarsky and friends, we got to see Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo create a parody of the Absolute Condiment King in Absolute Cash-In.

And launches a new member of the Absolute Universe.

Talking a lot about sauces, relishes, dips… There can be only one.

Not that he lasts long…

At the time, I said that I could see no reason why this could not be an Absolute Canon, and Scott Snyder agrees. But the idea of bringing back D-List characters as major, serious threats was a staple of the British Invasion of comics. Alan Moore really started this going in his Marvelman and Captain Britain strips, with Dr Gargunza reinvented as a murdering, rapist, eugenicist, or Slaymaster from the early Marvel UK strips as the deadliest of assassins. Then, in American comics, he did this to so many characters, beginning with Anton Arcade in Swamp Thing, almost parodying this approach in his Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow story for Superman with Toyman and The Prankster. The idea of taking a joke character or a heavily dismissed character and treating them deadly seriously became a trope, popularising the notion that there was no such thing as a bad character, just bad writing. But also taking away a lot of the fun, silly aspects of these characters. Every 60's silly character could now have their Killing Joke.

Absolute Batman has taken classic Batman villains and given them new, darker origins to fit this new Darkseid-infused universe. Some of them were already pretty dark. But now? Absolute Condiment King for 2027. Who else?

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