biggusbrickus
The Killer Moth Conundrum Pt.1 (read desc, please comment)
Throughout the years Batman has had an evergrowing Rogues Gallery, Some of them Awesome, Some of them goofy, Some even transitioning into the other category. But theres one chararacter I never quite got placement wise, that being Killer Moth. Now many of you will disregard this by saying "Well look at him" but hear me out. I think Moth if done right could be a great serious addition to the Rogues gallery. Before I get into that, I must address the problems that hold him back from reaching his full potential as a character.
1. His Design- People think that Moth looks too goofy to become a serious threat. The thing is DC never really let his design evolve like other Rogues and was stuck in his first appearance outfit untill the whole Charaxes thing. (don't worry I'll get to that.) I mean think of it this way, If Freeze,Firefly or Catwoman stayed in there first appearance outfits, Odds are they'd have fared just as poorly. Which leads me to why I hate this argument, No one acknowledges redesigns, I mean every other DC character has had one, and there is a way to make Moth look cool, I mean check him out in Bad Blood, The Moose figs version, This awesome version drawn by Phil Cho, or (not to toot my own horn) The quick sketch I did of him. and that's just if you stick to his OG Color scheme. Not even considering complete redesigns. (Like they did to Catwoman and Firefly) Admittedly DC has tried redesigning him, the problem is the designs they went with aren't that good. I mean the New 52 version (I'll also get to that) looks really fucking stupid, and the My Own Worst Enemy version looks boring. So maybe get some better designers for him DC.
2. He has a goofy premise- Ok I genuinley don't get this one. I don't see what makes Moths any sillier than Clowns, Scarecrows, the number 2, Puppets, Riddles, Etc. anything can be goofy if done poorly. Also, he was the first to do the Anti-Batman thing, but they dropped it in favor to make a different anti batman...and when they failed they tried again...and again. Y'know DC maybe if you put aside like a day or two to fix your first Anti-Batman, you wouldnt have to make a new one every few years. I mean think about it Moth could be like Gotham's own Mothman (Y'know the coolest cryptid #suckitchupacabra) He could become a super cool mirror Image of Batman, and just give him his own reasons, and Moral compass It could be awesome! You don't even have to make him fully a villain, you could make him a morally ambiguous Anti-hero (Perhaps trying to keep Gotham safe for his daughter, the only way that he sees fit, but due to differences in his moral compass he comes into conflict with batman. You could also have Firefly almost as the Devil on his shoulder, leading him closer and closer to the darkside) Well Maybe not that. But the point is There's a lot of potential there.
3. Not being in BTAS kinda hurt him- BTAS is known for their phenomenal takes on Batman Villains. They also took otherwise boring and silly villains and gave them new depth and compelling Character traits (Like Mr. Freeze), I feel Moth not recieving the Dini treatment was one of the biggest missed oppertunities. I feel if Moth could've been developed we could've been saved from sooo much trouble. Which leads to my next point
4. Bad Reimaginings- Since Dini didn't get to him in time, Other writers tried to reimagine him and...oh boy. First we start with Charaxes, A lame 90s reimagining that permanently turned him into a brainless bug monster (getting rid of any character he did have) until the New 52. His New 52 version isn't much better, like most characters, he didn't fare to well in the New 52 and bacame boring and edgy. The comedic takes for the most part feel lazy to me (With the exception of Killer Moth's flickr stuff, which i reccomend) because it feels like they don't know what to do with the charcter. I mean it's not like he has nothing to work with, he has potential.
Stay tuned for Part 2: How to "fix" Killer Moth
The Killer Moth Conundrum Pt.1 (read desc, please comment)
Throughout the years Batman has had an evergrowing Rogues Gallery, Some of them Awesome, Some of them goofy, Some even transitioning into the other category. But theres one chararacter I never quite got placement wise, that being Killer Moth. Now many of you will disregard this by saying "Well look at him" but hear me out. I think Moth if done right could be a great serious addition to the Rogues gallery. Before I get into that, I must address the problems that hold him back from reaching his full potential as a character.
1. His Design- People think that Moth looks too goofy to become a serious threat. The thing is DC never really let his design evolve like other Rogues and was stuck in his first appearance outfit untill the whole Charaxes thing. (don't worry I'll get to that.) I mean think of it this way, If Freeze,Firefly or Catwoman stayed in there first appearance outfits, Odds are they'd have fared just as poorly. Which leads me to why I hate this argument, No one acknowledges redesigns, I mean every other DC character has had one, and there is a way to make Moth look cool, I mean check him out in Bad Blood, The Moose figs version, This awesome version drawn by Phil Cho, or (not to toot my own horn) The quick sketch I did of him. and that's just if you stick to his OG Color scheme. Not even considering complete redesigns. (Like they did to Catwoman and Firefly) Admittedly DC has tried redesigning him, the problem is the designs they went with aren't that good. I mean the New 52 version (I'll also get to that) looks really fucking stupid, and the My Own Worst Enemy version looks boring. So maybe get some better designers for him DC.
2. He has a goofy premise- Ok I genuinley don't get this one. I don't see what makes Moths any sillier than Clowns, Scarecrows, the number 2, Puppets, Riddles, Etc. anything can be goofy if done poorly. Also, he was the first to do the Anti-Batman thing, but they dropped it in favor to make a different anti batman...and when they failed they tried again...and again. Y'know DC maybe if you put aside like a day or two to fix your first Anti-Batman, you wouldnt have to make a new one every few years. I mean think about it Moth could be like Gotham's own Mothman (Y'know the coolest cryptid #suckitchupacabra) He could become a super cool mirror Image of Batman, and just give him his own reasons, and Moral compass It could be awesome! You don't even have to make him fully a villain, you could make him a morally ambiguous Anti-hero (Perhaps trying to keep Gotham safe for his daughter, the only way that he sees fit, but due to differences in his moral compass he comes into conflict with batman. You could also have Firefly almost as the Devil on his shoulder, leading him closer and closer to the darkside) Well Maybe not that. But the point is There's a lot of potential there.
3. Not being in BTAS kinda hurt him- BTAS is known for their phenomenal takes on Batman Villains. They also took otherwise boring and silly villains and gave them new depth and compelling Character traits (Like Mr. Freeze), I feel Moth not recieving the Dini treatment was one of the biggest missed oppertunities. I feel if Moth could've been developed we could've been saved from sooo much trouble. Which leads to my next point
4. Bad Reimaginings- Since Dini didn't get to him in time, Other writers tried to reimagine him and...oh boy. First we start with Charaxes, A lame 90s reimagining that permanently turned him into a brainless bug monster (getting rid of any character he did have) until the New 52. His New 52 version isn't much better, like most characters, he didn't fare to well in the New 52 and bacame boring and edgy. The comedic takes for the most part feel lazy to me (With the exception of Killer Moth's flickr stuff, which i reccomend) because it feels like they don't know what to do with the charcter. I mean it's not like he has nothing to work with, he has potential.
Stay tuned for Part 2: How to "fix" Killer Moth