Youre all going to think that Ive gone stark raving mad with this one, but the Monarch is a really interesting character. The important thing to note about this particular villain is that he is one of the few bad guys to actually best Batman and get away with it. Yes, you read that right. Armed with an assortment of clever gimmick weapons, the Royal Rogue (as the cover of his first appearance referred to him) overwhelmed Batman, robbing the Gotham City Bank of every last penny and getting away scott free. Also, unlike other, dumber villains, The Monarch simply retired to a beach somewhere tropical and lived off of the money hed stolen. Right away, he demonstrated a wherewithal beyond that of 99% of Batmans rogues gallery. His strategy? Take the money and run. Dont stand and gloat, dont monologue about your evil plans, dont try to unmask Bats in front of all his enemies. Just run. The f*ck. Away. Of course, Batman eventually defeated The Monarch (with the help of Robin) years later and the King of Crime only appeared once more, taking advantage of a Batman-less Gotham by claiming credit for the Dark Knights disappearance (even though he had nothing to do with it). He then demanded money from the more gullible members of Gothams criminal element (Including Spellbinder) as 'payment' for keeping Bats 'locked away'. Aside from the royal gimmick, The Monarch is actually a common thief and a clever opportunist; the genius of his plans is in their simplicity. He has no great hatred for Batman, no obvious psychosis (except maybe a major inferiority complex) and no motivations beyond the acquisition of wealth and power. It is probably for these reasons that The Monarch of Menace has not been seen since the 1980s. As a career criminal who finally found a paying gimmick, The Monarch is a nice bridge between the 'old school' hoods like Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni and Lew Moxon and the new popcriminals like The Joker, The Riddler and Mr. Freeze. With the post-reboot Batman timeline taking place over just six years, The Monarch could, potentially, make more sense than ever. For the record, I think Scott Snyder would write a great Monarch. Like Spellbinder, Calendar Man and many others mentioned in this article, Mr. Of Menace was co-created by the late, great Sheldon Moldoff (this time with Robert Kanigher).
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
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Latcho Drom,
- CQ
Youre all going to think that Ive gone stark raving mad with this one, but the Monarch is a really interesting character. The important thing to note about this particular villain is that he is one of the few bad guys to actually best Batman and get away with it. Yes, you read that right. Armed with an assortment of clever gimmick weapons, the Royal Rogue (as the cover of his first appearance referred to him) overwhelmed Batman, robbing the Gotham City Bank of every last penny and getting away scott free. Also, unlike other, dumber villains, The Monarch simply retired to a beach somewhere tropical and lived off of the money hed stolen. Right away, he demonstrated a wherewithal beyond that of 99% of Batmans rogues gallery. His strategy? Take the money and run. Dont stand and gloat, dont monologue about your evil plans, dont try to unmask Bats in front of all his enemies. Just run. The f*ck. Away. Of course, Batman eventually defeated The Monarch (with the help of Robin) years later and the King of Crime only appeared once more, taking advantage of a Batman-less Gotham by claiming credit for the Dark Knights disappearance (even though he had nothing to do with it). He then demanded money from the more gullible members of Gothams criminal element (Including Spellbinder) as 'payment' for keeping Bats 'locked away'. Aside from the royal gimmick, The Monarch is actually a common thief and a clever opportunist; the genius of his plans is in their simplicity. He has no great hatred for Batman, no obvious psychosis (except maybe a major inferiority complex) and no motivations beyond the acquisition of wealth and power. It is probably for these reasons that The Monarch of Menace has not been seen since the 1980s. 
As a career criminal who finally found a paying gimmick, The Monarch is a nice bridge between the 'old school' hoods like Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni and Lew Moxon and the new popcriminals like The Joker, The Riddler and Mr. Freeze. With the post-reboot Batman timeline taking place over just six years, The Monarch could, potentially, make more sense than ever. For the record, I think Scott Snyder would write a great Monarch. Like Spellbinder, Calendar Man and many others mentioned in this article, Mr. Of Menace was co-created by the late, great Sheldon Moldoff (this time with Robert Kanigher).