Remembering Norm Breyfogle: 5 Iconic Batman Moments

Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Breyfogle created one of the Dark Knight's most bizarre villains. Mister Scarface and The Ventriloquist were as disturbing as they were perfectly odd in that Gotham-esque way. A gangster dummy who calls the shots, Grant and Breyfogle always kept the character on that edge where the reader was never quite sure if this was a man with dual personalities, or something genuinely supernatural was at play.

Puppets, while always creepy some might say, were given an extra dose of dread with Mister Scarface. On the surface the puppet is merely the outlet that Arnold Wesker uses to express his hidden murderous side, but there is an important backstory to note too.

Wesker was born into a crime family, but does not assert himself with gangster swagger. As a young boy he was traumatized by the murder of his mother, which led to a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder. However, there may be more at play than just mental illness.

Mister Scarface wasn't exactly purchased off Amazon. Its origin is also sinister, as the doll was carved from the old executioner gallows of Blackgate Penitentiary. This was an inspired touch, and left readers asking themselves the same question: which one of them was really the puppet?