2. The Mutant King
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Klaus Jansen and Lynn Varley is an absolute must-read. If youre reading this column and you havent read it yet, dont delay. This puff-piece will hold, get over to Amazon and buy yourself a copy of one of the most definitive Batman epics ever written. Right, now thats sorted, lets get on with the entry for this particular miscreant. In the future, a 50-year-old Bruce Wayne retires from crime fighting and wallows into a life of lonely respectability. This period lasts for 10 years, until, during an almost unnatural heat wave, a period of intense political pressure and a horrific rise in gang-related crime, Bruce dons the cape and cowl once more. However, during Batman's absence, crime has evolved, or rather, it has mutated. The crooks and fedora skels of the past have been wiped out, rendered obsolete and replaced by a newer, harder breed. These new criminals refer to themselves as The Mutants and they see themselves as the next level of criminal. Mutants are violent, destructive and completely psychopathic. They have a uniform (something of a halfway house between militant punk and rave) and they adhere to no principals beyond chaos, mayhem and murder. Asa result, when Batman finally returns to the alleyways and sidewalks of Gotham City, he is not the apex predator of the night. There is something else out there, stronger than Bane, more callous than he Joker, deadlier than all of Arkhams inmates combined: he is the Mutant King. The Mutant Leader is a huge bundle of muscle, sinew, sweat and hatred, a naked animal who feeds on the pain of others. He is the undisputed King of the wasteland, a God amongst the godless. OK, Im selling it pretty thick here, but the point Im trying to make is that the guy means business. Eventually, Batman takes the Mutant Leader apart in a very public (and cruel) fashion and his hold over the gang wanes (to the point that Batman himself ends up leading them). However, the visual impact of the Mutant King, together with the savage beating he dishes out to the older Batman early on in TDKR, has left a lasting impression on the fanbase. In recent years, prototype versions of The Mutant Gang have started to show up in DCs canonical titles. Originally they were probably just Easter eggs for long-time fans, but it is only a matter of time before the Mutants appear in full force, they are too iconic not to. DC has incorporated other; non-canonical aspects of Batman into the series (The Bat-Robots and Dick Grayson's Red Robin costume from Kingdom Come, for example). More recently, Carrie Kelly, the Female Robin from TDKR emerged within the pages of Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleason's Batman & Robin run, so we can but hope to see the Mutant King soon. When The Mutant King finally makes his long-awaited second appearance, get ready for a true clash of the titans.