As Fear State sweeps across Gotham City, one longtime Batman supervillain decides to form his own team to stay above the devastating chaos.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Catwoman #35, on sale now from DC Comics.
Scarecrow has just reminded the DC Universe why he’s Batman’s most terrifying supervillain in the crossover event “Fear State” by plunging Gotham City into chaos with the help of the fascistic Magistrate. While the Bat-Family quickly finds itself on the defensive, the supervillains not included in Scarecrow’s plans similarly find themselves banding together to stay above the calamity, with Clayface forming something of an impromptu Suicide Squad of his own to defend his part of the city.
Now, these supervillains on Clayface’s team are all looking for a shot at redemption as they strike back against Scarecrow’s heavily armed troops in an effort to retake their city, block by block, from the would-be dictator seizing control of Gotham as revealed in Catwoman #35 by Ram V, Nina Vakueva, Jordie Bellaire and Tom Napolitano.
Clayface
While Clayface is one of the Dark Knight’s most infamously deadly villains, Basil Karlo has quietly been working towards atonement for some time, ever since the start of the DC Rebirth era. Recruited by Batman to help save Gotham from an insidious plot by Hugo Strange in the 2016 crossover event “Night of the Monster Men,” Clayface has since become an on-again/off-again ally to the Bat-Family.
Clayface rallies the supervillains together and takes point as their de facto leader during “Fear State,” observing that they all approached him individually because they wanted to change from their usual wicked, wicked ways and work towards something greater.
Cheshire
Cheshire is another antihero who often flirts with the moral line between working with the superheroes and becoming an outright supervillain. As one of the DCU’s deadliest assassins, Cheshire was originally depicted as an antagonist of the Teen Titans before striking up a romance with Roy Harper and having a daughter with him. Cheshire would later lean back towards villainy, betraying the Secret Six to the Secret Society of Super-Villains but values her daughter Lian above all else.
Cheshire was recently hired by the Designer to hunt down Batman for an assassination contract only to be thwarted by the Caped Crusader. Following this, Cheshire has started working with Catwoman and Clayface towards keeping their Gotham neighborhood Alleytown safe from harm, even before the events of “Fear State.”
Killer Croc
As one of the most animalistic figures within Batman’s rogues’ gallery, Killer Croc similarly answers the call to join Clayface in defending their pocket of Gotham from Scarecrow and the Magistrate. While Waylon Jones has often presented the Bat-Family with unbridled savagery, he has been more interested in staying away from the authorities’ radar completely as he copes with his reptilian condition.
Croc has served time on the actual Suicide Squad and recently created Monstertown, a makeshift community in the sewers below Gotham City where those that do not have the usual physical appearance of surface are tolerated and welcomed, under Croc’s protection.
Knockout
The most cosmic figure in Clayface’s team is Knockout, a New God from Apokolips who deserted Granny Goodness’ Female Furies to make a new life for herself on Earth. Initially drawn to Superboy, Knockout eventually formed a romance with Scandal Savage and often assisted the Secret Six as they navigated the moral gray area between hero and villain.
Killed along with many of her fellow New Gods in the lead-up to the crossover event Final Crisis, Knockout was eventually resurrected and recently helped the heroes protect the DCU’s timeline in the story Generations before winding up in Gotham City.
Firefly
Batman’s rogue’s gallery is full of figures who just want to watch the world burn, and no one character encapsulates that axiom better than Garfield Lynns, better known as Firefly. A committed pyromaniac, Firefly has torched entire neighborhoods across his numerous confrontations with the Bat-Family.
Recently, Firefly found himself drafted by Amanda Waller into the Suicide Squad to assist Peacemaker with a mission in India, tracking down and capturing the new Swamp Thing for further examination after the nefarious corporation Prescot Industries called in an old favor from Waller. However, he has since returned to the streets of Gotham.
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