Well, someone finally did Clayface the way I wanted them to: with (1) Basil Karlo the horror actor (2) using the ability to alter mostly his face to disguise himself as different people. I have always hated the ridiculous Silver Age, shapeshifting version, who I feel belongs in a different rogues gallery (and perhaps at a different publishing company).
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| It's pretty bad when you find yourself siding with the Joker. |
This tale of a great man not satisfied with his brand of greatness is classic villain-making. Someone who becomes a villain by a series of bad decisions based on their character flaws, not just happenstance or a moment of weakness. That seems to be something of a recurring theme in the series, I think you will notice. We are not the result of, ahem, one bad day, but rather a series of decisions that reinforce and justify one another. Your character is being formed with each action you take and if you aren't paying enough attention, you might be surprised at what you are making of yourself.
Karlo is, blessedly, suitably Vincent Price-like in demeanor and diction. I was appalled that the voice actor for BTAS' Clayface, who was also supposed to be a great actor, sounded like a dock worker. He also rather Errol Flynn-ish in the action sequences, which, to my surprise, actually gave me goosebumps at certain points. I'm not sharp enough at identify visual elements to know what it was, but there was something about the way it captured the chase and battle between Batman and Clayface that charged my imagination in the same way reading their original confrontation from 1940 did; I was impressed.
I appreciated that Karlo didn't become a scenery-chewing lunatic (as he certainly might have). He simply... adapted to his new role and, oddly, finally seemed comfortable with himself now that his life was ruined.
3 comments:
"Your character is being formed with each action you take and if you aren't paying enough attention, you might be surprised at what you are making of yourself."
Dangit Scipio, who told you you're allowed to say profoundly wise things on your comic book blog?
- HJF1
"There's no rule says a dog can't play basketball."
While I mostly appreciated the episode, where it fell apart for me was Karlo's design. While I understand why they didn't want him to look like Karloff, he ended up looking like Humphrey Bogart who, despite his not having matinee-idol looks, certainly became a major star who played a variety of roles from "Tennis, anyone?" parts to Duke Mantee and Samuel Spade.
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