Warning: contains a preview for Batman/Superman #22!
Calendar Man is one of DC's goofiest villains. Now, a preview for Batman/Superman #22 is providing a new reason for his obsession with dates. He has always committed crimes on dates of importance because calendars provide him with the kind of structure he has always needed.
When it comes to silly villains, Calendar Man is up there with Condiment King and Kite Man. He has been known to wear some rather strange outfits - a fact that this issue calls out directly. Calendar Man already has a general origin story, but now, DC is adding more to it. Dates are important to keep a track of and calendars themselves can be very helpful, even if villains based on them aren't always able to be taken seriously.
Batman/Superman #22 is written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Paul Pelletier. This comic revisits A-Day. This event is a massacre at Arkham Asylum courtesy of the Joker, leaving 500 dead. DC is now revealing that Calendar Man didn't survive, but he has been revived by a surprising character: Mr. Mxyzptlk. This Fifth Dimension resident has saved one of Batman's foes and seems to be a fan of the date-marking fiend. Check out the DC villains' interaction in the preview:
Previously, Calendar Man's obsession with the calendar was said to result from the abuse he gave his son. He could never his son's birthday and after his wife died and he fell to a darker lifestyle, Batman beat him up. In Harley Quinn The Animated Series, the concept of him being unable to his son's name continues, although his wife is still alive and able to hassle him about his forgetfulness. Here, there's a new layer added to Calendar Man's history. Instead of being the sole ab, it seems he was also potentially abused by his own family. Calendar Man mentions growing up in chaos. Simply having a birthday forgotten regularly doesn't constitute abuse, but living in chaos implies that there was more to it than he's letting on. Living through Sixteen Candles every year doesn't give him an excuse to be bad, but his next statement makes far more sense.
While calendars are a useful tool in general, to Calendar Man they are also a means of feeling in control. Since his youth may not have had the structure he needed, he found that structure within the boxes in the month. This element of control extends outside of his life, however. On A-Day, he mentions Batman not being able to control how a calendar runs. Even though Batman can stop his crimes and put him in Arkham Asylum, he doesn't control time itself. This is the one bit of freedom and dependable element that Calendar Man has in his life.
Mr. Mxyzptlk is generally rather odd, but this inquiry to Calendar Man must be prompted by something the trickster wants. His plans aren’t currently known, though this preview certainly opens up new doors of possibility for Batman's villains on A-Day. Calendar Man has been pulled from death, which is likely to cause some temporal balance issues. If Calendar Man could be saved, there's a chance that other villains in Batman's rogue gallery could have been saved and taken elsewhere. Fans can find out Mr. Mxyzptlk's plans and Calendar Man's fate when DC's Batman/Superman #22 releases September 28.
