Owlman (comics)
Owlman is a
fictional supervillain who appears in stories published by
DC Comics. He is an
evil counterpart of
Batman, and a member of the criminal organization, the
Crime Syndicate of America. Owlman first appeared in
Justice League of America #29 in
1964.
In his original
pre-Crisis appearances, the Crime Syndicate (and Owlman) lived on the parallel
Earth of "
Earth-Three." Like the rest of the pre-Crisis Crime Syndicate, Owlman perished during the
Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries at the hands of the
Anti-Monitor.
Owlman was revived (along with his teammates) in the late
1990s for modern DC continuity in the novel
. In the novel, it was stated that the modern Owlman and his cohorts came from an antimatter universe world that contained most of the pre-Crisis elements of Earth-Three.
As established in
JLA: Earth 2, Owlman's divergence from Batman began in his childhood. In most mainstream DC universes, Batman's genesis occurred when young Bruce Wayne was witness to the murder of his parents, Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne, and was inspired to devote his life to fighting crime. In Owlman's case Bruce met a more tragic fate---he was killed along with his mother by a policeman when Thomas refused to accompany him for questioning. However, in Owlman's universe, Bruce had a brother, Thomas Wayne Jr. He escaped the crime scene with the hoodlum
Joe Chill, whom he considered his hero, and grew up to become Owlman. Equipping himself with a utility belt containing technology and weapons similar to those used by Batman, and possessing a high intellect (devoted to crime, rather than serving the law), Owlman became a master criminal and became an ally to Boss Gordon (Earth-3's version of
James Gordon). Later, Owlman learned that his father was still alive, and that the elder Thomas Wayne had become the
chief of police in their world's version of
Gotham City, gathering a cadre of police officers who did not give in to the rampant corruption which infested their version of Earth. He blames his father for the deaths of his mother and brother, and it's strongly hinted that the only purpose to Owlman's criminal career is to punish his father.
In some pre-Crisis appearances, Owlman also had the ability to briefly control other people's minds, though it is unclear how he acquired this ability. In
JLA: Earth 2, Alexander Luthor, Earth 2's heroic version of
Lex Luthor, makes a reference to Owlman's "drug-enhanced" cerebral cortex, although this version of Owlman does not demonstrate any superhuman powers. Presumably, Owlman merely uses some sort of drug to enhance his mental capacity.
In
Batman: Gotham Adventures issue 10 and 14,
Harley Quinn is free from
Arkham Asylum and decides to write a romance novel.
Joker escapes and looks at Harley's scripts and discovers that the book is not a tell all book but a "Harley Quinn" Romance Novel titled "Masks of Love", about the adventures of Punchenello and Owlman, who is based on Batman and on whom Harley holds a tiny crush.
