Batman The Animated Series Changed (& Improved) Mad Hatters Origin Story

Batman: The Animated Series Changed (& Improved) Mad Hatter’s Origin Story

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Batman: The Animated Series offered a decidedly different origin for The Mad Hatter, Jervis Tetch, which made him into a far more interesting villain.

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Batman The Animated Series Changed (& Improved) Mad Hatters Origin Story

Batman: The Animated Series presented what many consider to be the definitive version of Jervis Tetch, the scientist turned super-criminal known as the Mad Hatter. Batman TAS changed the character’s origin story from the comics — and improved it. Yet, this aspect of the popular cartoon wasn’t retroactively introduced into the comics, when so many other elements were.

While the Mad Hatter in the Batman franchise is an obvious reference to Lewis Carroll’s iconic character, the villain has changed overtime, as many comic characters do. It’s fairly commonplace for portrayals of Batman’s rogues gallery to vary wildly from medium to medium, and most Batman’s best villains have evolved over time. The Mad Hatter is no exception to this, yet he is one of the few villains whose variations as time went by were so extreme they resulted in the creation of another character. The Mad Hatter’s most infamous gimmick, the ability to control the minds of others, wasn’t introduced until several decades after his first appearance in the comics.

The one common trait that has defined all the various versions of the Mad Hatter is obsession. That obsession has varied, however, from a penchant for collecting notable and distinctive headgear to objects relating to the writings of Lewis Carroll, particularly Alice In Wonderland. Batman: The Animated Series would adhere to this idea, but create the most enthralling version of the Mad Hatter by making the focus of Jervis Tetch’s obsession a woman named Alice.

The Mad Hatter’s Origin In The Comics

Batman The Animated Series Changed (& Improved) Mad Hatters Origin Story

The Mad Hatter first appeared in Batman #49 in October 1948 and was created by Bill Finger and Lew Sayre Schwartz, based on a concept by Bob Kane. Modeled on the original Alice in Wonderland illustrations by Sir John Tenniel, Jervis Tetch was a common criminal with a colorful theme, like most of the Batman villains of the Golden Age of Comics, and was after common riches rather than specific trinkets. A radically different Mad Hatter would appear eight years later in Detective Comics #230 (April 1956); a tall, heavy-set fellow with fiery red hair and a distinctive mustache, who was obsessed with stealing hats and adding Batman’s cowl to his collection. This take on the Mad Hatter would later be adapted for the 1966 live-action Batman show, along with several other obsessive thief villains.

The original Mad Hatter returned in Detective Comics #510 (January 1982), abducting Lucius Fox and ransoming him back to Bruce Wayne after using a device of his own design to steal all the privileged information Fox had about Wayne Enterprises’ dealings from out of Fox’s head. Batman noted the change in methodology and that this Mad Hatter was not the one he’d fought so many times over the past two decades. Tetch confirmed he had been locked up in an insane asylum for the past few years and that some impostor had taken his place. The second Mad Hatter would later take the name Hatman.

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It was not until Detective Comics #526 (May 1983) that Jervis Tetch displayed the mind-control technology that would become his trademark. Tetch was among the many villains assembled by the Joker as part of a plan to join forces and kill Batman before an upstart crime boss known as Killer Croc could accomplish the task. Most of the villains were on-board with the plan, but the Scarecrow (who had become paralyzed by fear after frequent exposure to his own fear gas) required additional persuasion in the form of a hat that allowed the Mad Hatter to control him like a marionette through his own top hat.

The Mad Hatter’s Origin in Batman: The Animated Series

Batman The Animated Series Changed (& Improved) Mad Hatters Origin Story

The Mad Hatter was introduced into the DC Animated Universe in “Mad As A Hatter,” the 27th episode of Batman: The Animated Series, which was written by Paul Dini. The episode presented Jervis Tetch as an employee of Wayne Enterprises, who was conducting research on how to use microcircuits to enhance the brain’s potential. As the episode opened, Tetch had just conducted his first successful animal trial of his technology, commanding mice wearing special electrodes (which were fashioned to look like doorman’s hats) to pour themselves tea using a miniature tea set. This did little to impress Tetch’s boss, Dr. Cates, who warned Tetch that “heads will roll” if he didn’t come up with something more impressive to justify their funding.

The one bright spot in Tetch’s work life was Dr. Cates’ assistant, Alice, who was the only person to show Jervis any kindness. Tetch wanted more than friendship, however, but he never made a move because he knew Alice had a boyfriend and believed that even if she were single she would never be interested in someone like him. When he overheard her crying to Dr. Cates that her boyfriend had dumped her after she had asked him where their relationship was going, Jervis surprised Alice with an invitation to dinner, dancing and an after-hours visit to a storybook theme-park. Tetch used his technology to mind control the restaurant staff and park security, and even to fend off two muggers. Ironically, it was this last act which got Batman’s attention, as he had to save the two muggers from jumping off of Gotham Bridge, after Tetch dismissively told them to “go jump in the river.”

Tetch went over the edge a day later, when he discovered that after he escorted Alice home she was greeted by her ex-boyfriend, Billy, who was waiting with an engagement ring and a proposal. Batman caught up with Tetch shortly after he had mind-controlled Billy into breaking off the engagement over the phone and run to Alice’s rescue to comfort her again. When Alice realized that Tetch somehow knew about her being dumped despite her not telling anyone about it, Tetch knew the jig was up and abducted Alice, taking refugee in the Alice In Wonderland area of the theme-park where he and Alice had danced the night away the previous evening.

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Batman brought Tetch to justice after running a gauntlet of mind-controlled minions dressed as Lewis Carroll characters, including Dr. Cates, whom Tetch had dressed as the Queen of Hearts and armed with a battle axe. Once cornered, Tetch protested that he’d been waiting his entire life for a chance to win Alice’s love, only for Batman to point out that all Tetch had accomplished was turning her into an empty-headed doll. The revelation destroyed what little sanity remained in Tetch and the episode ended with him pinned under a statue of the Jabberwocky, realizing that Alice was horrified to look at him, and sadly sobbing to himself as he sang the Mock Turtle’s song, lamenting that Alice “would not, could not, join the dance.”

Why “Mad As A Hatter” Wasn’t Worked Into The Comics

After “Mad As A Hatter,” Jervis Tetch became a mainstay among the villains of Batman: The Animated Series. He would become the main villain of two further episodes of the series and had quick cameos in two other episodes written by Paul Dini. He was also part of the ensemble of Dini’s tour de force episode “Trial,” in which it was the Mad Hatter’s technology that facilitated the inmates taking over Arkham Asylum and staging a mock trial where Batman was accused of creating all the villains he fought against. However, the Mad Hatter’s finest turn came in the episode “Perchance To Dream,” where he almost trapped Batman inside a perfect dream world.

Given that, it’s odd that Dini’s take on Jervis Tetch was never introduced into the comic books when so many other beloved ideas from his Batman: The Animated Series stories were. The most notable element is easily Harley Quinn, whom Dini introduced into the mainstream DC Comics’ universe in 1999 during the No Man’s Land storyline. Another is Dini’s reimagining of Mr. Freeze, who was given a tragic origin story in the episode “Heart of Ice.” This backstory would later be used in the movie Batman and Robin, in which Dr. Victor Fries was left unable to survive outside a sub-zero environment after a lab accident caused by a ruthless employer, while he was conducting research to save the life of his wife, Nora.

One reason Dini’s Mad Hatter may not have made the jump from Batman: The Animated Series to the comics lies with actor Roddy McDowall, who lent his voice to Jervis Tetch in all his appearances in the DC Animated Universe. McDowall was a skilled voice actor and his performance hinted at the soft-spoken and often kindly man Jervis Tetch once was, even in the throes of his madness. Another factor is that however sympathetic Tetch might have been, there was no excuse for the lines he crossed in his efforts to win Alice. While Harley Quinn and Mr. Freeze’s misguided actions were committed in the name of love, Tetch was obsessed with what he mistakenly thought was love. That’s a fine distinction that, while more compelling than a hat fetish, was not quite compelling enough to warrant an extensive rewrite of the character’s continuity in the comics.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/batman-animated-series-mad-hatter-origin-story-changes/

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