Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[Skavenger]

Robert C. Dennis & Earl Barret wrote the first two Tut story arcs. But damn, I gotta say that a lot of what made Tut Tut was Victor Buono. Yes, he was a Large Ham. In fact he was an over-sized Large Ham. But he was AWESOME!!!

The show's producer and narrator William Dozier's full name is William McElroy Dozier. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska. And that's where Tut's real name came from.

It's very telling when you can say "Cesar Romero's Joker was one of the most subdued characters on that show" and people would think for a moment and then nod.

[scc]

KILLER CROC (Waylon Jones)
Created By: Gerry Conway & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Batman #357 (March 1983)
Role: Big Gruff Powerhouse, The Freak
Mental Problems: Foolishness, Greed
PL 10 (113)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+12)
Deception 6 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 12 (+11)
Perception 5 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Underwater), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Startle, Takedown, Tracking

Powers:
"Circus Freak- Resembles a Crocodilian"
"Reptilian Scales" Impervious Toughness 3 [3]
Leaping 1 [1]
Regeneration 2 [2]

"Semi-Aquatic"
Swimming 4 (8 mph) [4]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Immunity 2 (Drowning, Heat) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Bite +12 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Greed, Respect)- After a lifetime of bullying thanks to his appearance, Croc has grown into a brutish man who tries to beat people into respecting him.
Enemy (Batman)
Prejudice (Freak)- Croc frequently looks scaly or flat-out reptilian.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 15 (113)

Killer Croc- Elite Menace to Jobber To The Stars:
-Killer Croc has always occupied a bit of an odd place among Bat-Villains- he was often just a deformed criminal, often with average intelligence, but then other writers turn him into a slobbering monster who looks more like Marvel's Lizard. He initially had the real-life skin condition Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis, but naturally got comic-booked until he looked like he had crocodilian scales. He was a frequent juvenile offender, raised by an alcoholic aunt, and served 18 years in prison for murdering a fellow inmate for mocking his appearance. He got out and began wrestling alligators (and winning) for a local circus, soon realizing that his near-superhuman strength would make for a great criminal. He began scheming and forcing his way into to various crime circles, including shooting his former boss. He announced to the mob leaders that he was their new boss, but they rebuffed him, even when he claimed to have drowned Batman- discovering they were still loyal to the jailed Tony Falco, Croc broke into his jail cell and ripped him apart.

-Even worse, when Batman & Robin involved Joe & Trina Todd in a church protection racket, he had them tail Croc- an act which got them killed. Commissioner Gordon, not realizing the familial connection, lectured the boy for his stupidity- "We can only hope they were already dead when he threw them to his friends below. YOU brought them into this, Robin. It's on YOUR HEAD." Finally, after several fights ended in draws or escapes, there was a final battle when the Joker's supervillain army captured Batman, Catwoman & Talia- Croc demanded Batman be let free and they battle "man to man" for the lives of his ladyfriends. This time, Batman finally scored the win. But it was a phyrric victory, as a young Jason Todd soon discovered his parents had been murdered, and came to live at Wayne Manor.

Croc Turns JTTS:
-Despite this big origin story and status as a recurring menace that was hard to defeat, Croc soon ended up on the list of "Background Baddies"- he was a minor threat as a minion of Ra's al-Ghul, being beaten by a gas pellet. Batman once nearly paralyzed Croc for life using a nerve gas as a last resort after Croc blew up thirty people with a bomb. In one story, he'd been "adopted" by a makeshift homeless family after escaping Arkham- he and Batman risk their lives to save his surrogate mother, and he's believed to have died in the flood. Later, he became delusional while stumbling about Gotham's alleyways- his rampage drew in Jean-Paul Valley as "Batman", but Valley's ribs were broken- Croc then has his arms broken by new villain Bane, who left as quickly as he arrived.

-Around this time, the character got reinvented in Batman: The Animated Series, where he was a crafty, if simple-minded, foe, going from a physical threat to Batman to a bit of a doofus. This isn't entirely his fault, as the iconic "I threw a ROCK at 'im" line actually comes from Batman IMITATING Croc. He was mostly a similar character however, but the comics went back and forth on just how monstrous he was- at one point, he nearly joined Swamp Thing thanks to a mutual link to "The Green", but left when the creature struck him to teach him a lesson. He went back and forth to Arkham and wasn't really focused on again, but reappears in Hush having been given a virus that causes him to "devolve" even more (translation: Jim Lee wanted to draw him as a Reptile-Man), a form that stuck for a bit. After that he's largely just been a goon in other stories- he was used by Black Mask once, then feuded with Victory Zsasz after the serial killer crippled a guy in Croc's gang... but he's really just a "filler" guy. Curiously, his status as a guy who murdered the parents of Jason Todd (currently a big deal at DC) almost always goes unremarked-upon- he's often either a Marvel-style "Sympathetic Freak" or a mere monster- rarely as calculating a menace any longer.

Killer Croc's Stats:
-Killer Croc is always an interesting character to stat out, as his primary threat to Batman is that he's one of very few enemies in his Rogues Gallery who's flat-out STRONGER than Batman is. Like, a fight between them is an uphill battle against a monstrous, super-strong foe. And given how M&M kind of rewards more damaging & tougher characters slightly using the rules, I think making Croc a PL 9.5 brawler against the PL 9-11 Bat-Crew actually somewhat reflects this. Eventually, Batman has learned to beat Croc, usually with gear or by tossing him off of something, but it's always a tricky grappling match at first, as Croc isn't exactly slow- just unrefined. His Mental Abilities are unimpressive, but he's still a tad clever. Back in the day he was more prone to finding actual gangs to follow him, and even schemed once in a while, but struggled to earn respect without shows of force.

-Croc was notably one of the most wildly-inaccurate builds when Green Ronin did a DCA book series- for whatever reason, it was determined that he needed ST 12 and to be EXTREMELY high-level, which was just insane. Croc can lift nowhere near 100 tons. It's like either the builder didn't know that, or DC Editorial swooped in like "No- Croc needs to be X strong".

That Croc build really annoyed me for some reason. Maybe so it could compete with bloated Batman. I like your build a lot more. Grant you the bar is low.

[Skavenger]

Croc is kind of emblematic for me of a greater issue with Batman comics. I love Batman, from his pointy ears to his shoes that MUST leave bat-logo prints in the ground when he takes a step if anybody at DC has a clue, but it became such a trope over the years that anybody with any kind of disability would become a villain.

Unfortunate skin condition (Croc, Nocturna, Two-Face)? Villain.

Physical disability, either via birth or accident (Penguin, Mad Hatter, Baby Doll)? Villain.

Deafness (Count Vertigo, Pied Piper)? Villain.

Blindness (Ten-eyed Man)? Villain.

And that's not even getting into the fact that if you're ever diagnosed with disassociated personality disorder (Ventriloquist, Two-Face) or any other mental illness, you should just expect to be punched by a guy dressed like a bat, or that people with severe health issues obviously would use their funds to buy flashy costumes and build elaborate death traps based around crossword puzzles.

It's troubling enough when there are real world villains who society automatically assumes have a link between their mental illness and their crimes (surprisingly, it tends to apply mostly to white men who commit crimes, but sometimes the media is nice and will include white women in the grouping), but to have a major media symbol who tends to embody the idea "be afraid of people with disabilities and mental illness, they'll probably try to hurt you" isn't doing anything to make comics, movies, or the world at large more inclusive.

[catsi563]

Crocs another fave of mine given my general love of reptiles. Ive always thought he should be at first similar to what ares said a mild physical threat but one Batman can overcome with some effort and a rough but cunning crimes boss type

then use the power broker or similar to devolve him to a true reptile like his name sake making a him a brutal spiderman level threat with some heavy durability but at the cost of some of his intellect but keep the cunning make him a true ambush predator

[Jabroniville]

Lol of course almost every picture on ComicVine is of the cool animated versions and not this absolute dildo of a design.

SPELLBINDER I (Delbert Billings)
Created By: John Broome & Sheldon Moldoff
First Appearance: Detective Comics #358 (Dec. 1966)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 9 (104)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+7)
Expertise (Painter) 7 (+9)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Hypnotic Gear" (Flaws: Removable) [23]
"Hypnosis" Mind Control 8 (Flaws: Vision-Dependent) (27) -- (28 points)
AE: Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 9 (27)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Hypnosis -- (+8 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Illusions -- (+9 Illusion, DC 19)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 9 (104)

-huh- so the Spellbinder who appeared in Batman Beyond was actually based on this Silver Age goofball in a ridiculous costume. A master illusionist and painter, he was a forger of pop art who naturally decided to use his powers of forgery to become... a super-villain? When he and his gang were confronted by Batman, he actually hypnotized the Dark Knight into thinking he was doing something else, and the gang escaped! The plot worked once more, but on a third robbery, Batman got wise to the trick and defeated him. Twelve years later, Spellbinder returned, facing Superman in 1978- he had a special shock-absorbing chin-guard to prevent being knocked out by Superman (... A CHIN-GUARD could protect you from PRE-CRISIS SUPERMAN?) and something to prevent Super-Hypnosis from working on him (of course- everyone knows about that darn Super-Hypnosis). This was apparently the issue where it was learned that Superman used "sub-conscious hypnosis" to prevent anyone from figuring out that Clark Kent was Superman. I guess Spellbinder lost, but Wikipedia doesn't mention how.

-After that, Spellbinder's just a generic goof. He works for the Monarch Of Menace, but was the first to be captured by Batman, who disguised himself as Spellbinder to infiltrate the group, capturing the Monarch. Later, he was on the run with his girlfriend Fay, and the demon Neron made one of his "offer Jobber Villains more power in exchance for their souls" deals, but Spellbinder turned him down. Fay, naturally, decided that it sounded like a great idea, so she KILLED HIM, shooting him in the head, then taking the deal for herself. Neron was then like "yeah I was talking to you in the first place". She became Lady Spellbinder, and Delbert never returned.

-Spellbinder seems pretty smart and clever, but isn't made out for super-villainy at all, really, being easily defeated as soon as the heroes "make" him. Also he has terrible taste in women, apparently.

[Skavenger]

The Superman vs. Spellbinder battle was the issue where we discovered how Clark manages to "trick" everybody into thinking he isn't Superman. It turns out he's constantly using a subliminal "super-hypnosis" of his own which is amplified by the lenses in his glasses, because he used those from the remains of the ship that brought him to Earth. Whenever he has the glasses on, he's subconsciously hoping everybody sees him as weaker and frailer than Superman, this message carries out through his eyes, is amplified by said lenses, and anybody who makes eye contact with him immediately pictures "Clark Kent" as a person much more frail than Superman. There's a moment in the book where someone first sees Clark from behind, and when Clark turns around he gets confused, as though Clark was more "built" than he expected, or if it was just the angle he was seeing Clark at.

Oh, and of course it carries through photographs, so anybody who "knows" what Clark Kent looks like feels the same effect. Somehow.

Anyway, Superman beat Spellbinder once he realized that Spellbinder had special lenses in his mask to block visual hypnotic effects, and was using sub-audible hypnosis effects on Superman while using visual effects on everybody else. Once Superman realized there was a faint "humming" sound coming from Spellbinder, he just put in some earplugs, grabbed him, and put him into a crudely dug out "echo chamber" so that when Spellbinder tried to use his sound techniques, it caused him extreme pain and made him black out.

[Jabroniville]

The first performance of Wicked on Broadway in a year and a half:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT0kz6NALJT/?hl=en

Glinda the Good with the Road Warrior/Austin pop.

[Ares]

It's remarkable that they feel the need to come up with reasons for why people don't put Clark and Superman together, when Christopher Reeves sells it so easily in the first movie. As well as Henry Cavill literally walking around in a Superman T-Shirt and Glasses and no one recognizes him.

Of what happens in the Superman mythos, the whole "glasses as a mask" idea is one of the least 'suspension of disbelief' breaking things they need to worry about.

[Jabroniville]

SPELLBINDER II (Real Name Unknown)
Created By: John Broome & Sheldon Moldoff
First Appearance: Justice League International #65 (June 1994)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The League-Busters

-Of course there would be a forgotten one-off Spellbinder appearing as a group of "League-Busters" in JLI. He never appears again, and was probably only there because someone forgot that the original had died.

[Jabroniville]

I'd say she looks like a Guilty Gear character, but that's only like 1-2 belts.

SPELLBINDER III (Fay Moffit, aka Lady Spellbinder)
Created By: Chuck Dixon, Staz Johnson & Scott Hanna
First Appearance: Detective Comics #691 (Nov. 1995)
Role: Background Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 10 (120)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 10 [30]
"Make Everything Disappear" Concealment 3 (All Visual Senses, Hearing) (Extras: Attack +0, Area- 120ft. Burst +3) [18]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Illusions -- (+10 Illusion, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 9 (120)

-So yeah- Neron was doing this thing where he appeared before various "Jobber Villains" and offered them more power in exchance for their souls. This was used to power-up goofs like Killer Moth and such, but Spellbinder declined... at which point his girlfriend Fay was like "Well I'LL accept!" and shot him through the head, killing him and taking Neron's offer. The demon was just like "LOL I was talking to you anyways" and now we had a Lady Spellbinder on our hands. Unlike Delbert, she had the ability to induce actual illusions and hallucinations, and foiled Batman & Robin when she revealed her powers were mighty enough to actually make everything disappear! Even closing their eyes made no difference- I think even hearing or whatever wasn't working. The heroes figured out a workaround, though- Batman fought her while Robin, outside of her sphere of influence, acting as his "eyes & ears", guiding Batman using virtual reality technology. Ultimately, Lady Spellbinder is captured, and discovers that her deal with Neron had a catch- if her eyes are covered or closed, she loses her powers.

-Spellbinder then vanished for years, popping up in Birds of Prey, having been hired by Blockbuster to kidnap Barbara Gordon. She sent Babs into an illusory world in which she was Batgirl (though ironically, did not realize that this had once been true). Barbara used a fire extinguisher to blind Spellbinder, ending her illusions, and then just whacks her with it, ending her threat. She reappears thereafter in a few more Birds of Prey stories, as one of DC's "free" female villains. In Joker's Last Laugh, she is one of many Jokerized villains- Black Canary deals with many using her Canary Cry, but comes up against Spellbinder's illusions of other heroes. Ultimately, Fay is killed during Infinite Crisis- a group of gun-toting superheroes execute her and the Trigger Twins during the Battle of Metropolis.

-Lady Spellbinder has similar powers to the original, but they're in-born and at a higher level. Like most Illusionists, she's a one-trick pony who is usually one-shotted at the end of a story once the hero figures out what's going on.

[Skavenger]

Ultimately, Fay is killed during Infinite Crisis- a group of gun-toting superheroes execute her and the Trigger Twins during the Battle of Metropolis.

As much as I like Mad Dog (DC's answer to the Punisher), there were so many pointless deaths during Infinite Crisis that any goodwill I had for the Secret Six and Catman was immediately washed away. Spellbinder was one of them, an illusionist with a neat weakness gimmick.

[Ken]

Croc is kind of emblematic for me of a greater issue with Batman comics. I love Batman, from his pointy ears to his shoes that MUST leave bat-logo prints in the ground when he takes a step if anybody at DC has a clue, but it became such a trope over the years that anybody with any kind of disability would become a villain.

Unfortunate skin condition (Croc, Nocturna, Two-Face)? Villain.

Physical disability, either via birth or accident (Penguin, Mad Hatter, Baby Doll)? Villain.

Deafness (Count Vertigo, Pied Piper)? Villain.

Blindness (Ten-eyed Man)? Villain.

And that's not even getting into the fact that if you're ever diagnosed with disassociated personality disorder (Ventriloquist, Two-Face) or any other mental illness, you should just expect to be punched by a guy dressed like a bat, or that people with severe health issues obviously would use their funds to buy flashy costumes and build elaborate death traps based around crossword puzzles.

It's troubling enough when there are real world villains who society automatically assumes have a link between their mental illness and their crimes (surprisingly, it tends to apply mostly to white men who commit crimes, but sometimes the media is nice and will include white women in the grouping), but to have a major media symbol who tends to embody the idea "be afraid of people with disabilities and mental illness, they'll probably try to hurt you" isn't doing anything to make comics, movies, or the world at large more inclusive.

There's a couple of different problems at play here...

One, the tendency to change villains physically. Before Tim Burton, Penguin was short, fat, and had a big nose. He may have been "funny looking", but he didn't have a physical disability. The 1950s-60s Mad-Hatter was just ginger with a distinctive hairstyle. Jettisoning him in favor of the Lewis Carrol looking guy changed things. They took Black Mask, a gagster with a theme, and trapped him in a fire so his mask became permanent.

The second is to inflate a personality quirk into insanity. Yes, the Riddler leaves puzzle clues for Batman. Yes, he's even obsessive about it. But I don't think the Riddler is mentally ill. The people like Signalman, Black Spider, Deadshot, Killer Moth (pre-transformation) are just crooks with themes.

Of course villains like Joe Chill, Lew Moxon, and Joe Coyne don't get that much play. And people like the Bookworm, the Archer, and the Minstrel... well DC doesn't even own those.

[Jabroniville]

THE RAINBOW CREATURE
Created By: Bill Finger & Sheldon Moldoff
First Appearance: Batman #134 (Sept. 1960)
Role: One-Off Threat
Group Affiliations: None
PL 10 (129)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+10)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+6)
Intimidation 13 (+12 Size)
Perception 6 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Colors) 10 (+10)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Extraodinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons) 2, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Startle

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

"Natural Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]
Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) [3]

"Four Colors of Doom"
"YELLOW- Vaporizing Blast" Blast 10 Linked to Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Affects Objects, Ranged) (Flaws: Unreliable- One Use Without Replenishment) (40) -- [44]

• AE: "BLUE- Freezing Cold" Cold Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Penetrating) (Flaws: Unreliable- One Use Without Replenishment) (20)
• AE: "RED- Fire Blast" Blast 8 (Flaws: Unreliable- One Use Without Replenishment) (8)
• AE: "GREEN- Render Flat" Affliction 10 (Toughness; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Helpless Flat 2-D Structures) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Unreliable- One Use Without Replenishment) (10)
• AE: "Absorb Colors" Transform 4 (Colored to Colorless) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Natural Weapons +8 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Yellow +10 (+10 Ranged Damage & Affliction, DC 25 & 20)
Blue +10 Area (+10 Damage & Weaken, DC 25 & 20)
Red +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Green +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9, Fortitude +10, Will +6

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- The Rainbow Beast cannot speak to humans, nor use its paws to easily manipulate objects.
Weakness (Lack of Color)- If the Rainbow Beast uses all of its powers without replenishing them, it will die.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 15 (129)

-The bizarre "Rainbow Beast" was a classic one-off threat from the Silver Age, with the Silver Age-y "each color represents a different power that it can use". It emerged from a volcano in South America, where Batman & Robin (dealing with some rebellions set off by a Totally-Not-Castro would-be dictator) fought the creature, but it turned them into 2D images of themselves. Diaz, the rebel leader in question, lied and said he controlled the Creature, trying to blackmail the country into giving in to his demands, but Batman exposed the lie by using a prism to make a rainbow light, terrifying him. Batman and the village people tricked the Creature into using up all of its powers without replenishing them, and so it disappeared into the winds, and has never reappeared.

-The Rainbow Creature had four colors to it, each representing a power: Red (fire blasts), Blue (freezing blasts), Yellow (vaporizing blast), and Green (turn things flat- an Affliction). Whenever it uses a power, that stripe on the creature turns white- it must then replenish its power by absorbing colors from a nearby object. As most of its powers are Aura-Related and Batman & Robin are quite human, this is actually a very dangerous opponent for them.

[Skavenger]

Croc is kind of emblematic for me of a greater issue with Batman comics. I love Batman, from his pointy ears to his shoes that MUST leave bat-logo prints in the ground when he takes a step if anybody at DC has a clue, but it became such a trope over the years that anybody with any kind of disability would become a villain.

Unfortunate skin condition (Croc, Nocturna, Two-Face)? Villain.

Physical disability, either via birth or accident (Penguin, Mad Hatter, Baby Doll)? Villain.

Deafness (Count Vertigo, Pied Piper)? Villain.

Blindness (Ten-eyed Man)? Villain.

And that's not even getting into the fact that if you're ever diagnosed with disassociated personality disorder (Ventriloquist, Two-Face) or any other mental illness, you should just expect to be punched by a guy dressed like a bat, or that people with severe health issues obviously would use their funds to buy flashy costumes and build elaborate death traps based around crossword puzzles.

It's troubling enough when there are real world villains who society automatically assumes have a link between their mental illness and their crimes (surprisingly, it tends to apply mostly to white men who commit crimes, but sometimes the media is nice and will include white women in the grouping), but to have a major media symbol who tends to embody the idea "be afraid of people with disabilities and mental illness, they'll probably try to hurt you" isn't doing anything to make comics, movies, or the world at large more inclusive.

There's a couple of different problems at play here...

One, the tendency to change villains physically. Before Tim Burton, Penguin was short, fat, and had a big nose. He may have been "funny looking", but he didn't have a physical disability. The 1950s-60s Mad-Hatter was just ginger with a distinctive hairstyle. Jettisoning him in favor of the Lewis Carrol looking guy changed things. They took Black Mask, a gagster with a theme, and trapped him in a fire so his mask became permanent.

The second is to inflate a personality quirk into insanity. Yes, the Riddler leaves puzzle clues for Batman. Yes, he's even obsessive about it. But I don't think the Riddler is mentally ill. The people like Signalman, Black Spider, Deadshot, Killer Moth (pre-transformation) are just crooks with themes.

Of course villains like Joe Chill, Lew Moxon, and Joe Coyne don't get that much play. And people like the Bookworm, the Archer, and the Minstrel... well DC doesn't even own those.

I acknowledge that a lot of the characters were made more visually distinctive and had their "quirks" "enhanced" for the sake of visual storytelling, but it's tough when Arkham Asylum is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the fact that Batman doesn't kill, he tries to get people help that they need is something great about the character. It isn't just "they'll be behind bars now because they're just scum" for a lot of his most prolific villains, it's "maybe, at this hospital, they can learn to cope with this difficulty they've had, heal, and be productive people who can rejoin society."

That's great. I love that 110%.

But considering there was such a stigma for so long against people getting therapy until just the last decade or so, the fact that Arkham is always depicted as a place so gloomy and useless in actually helping anybody, the fact that even the staff tend to go insane (Arkham himself, Harley Quinn, who knows how many others), coupled with the fact that so many Batman villains DO now have acknowledged disabilities, it just doesn't paint a pretty picture for DC's opinion of mental health care.

Would anybody really get upset if they just bulldozed Akrham and rebuilt it as the "Wayne Heritage Hospital" with a branch for long-term psychiatric care and clinics scattered throughout Gotham that handle regular, standard psychiatry, psychology, and other needed services?

[Davies]

Would anybody really get upset if they just bulldozed Akrham

At the moment, they don't gotta bulldoze it; place got blown up at the start of the current storyline, with the Joker framed for it.

I just tells 'em, folks.