Arkham City: The Order of the World #2 features a mapper and a hunter.

[thanekos]

The mapper is the Ten-Eyed Man, whose way of seeing the world was established in issue #1.

The hunter's Azrael, who's been following God's leads to the demons of Arkham.

The Ten-Eyed Man was in the care of Dr. Joy, from the Asylum the Joker'd gassed - she was thinking that " if I [help] just one of my patients.. it'[ll] all be worth it. "

On a rooftop she'd climbed up to, he told her that his ritual to ward off the " ghost of Arkham " had failed.

" Ten-Eyed Man. Amadeus Arkham is long dead.

" He's not coming to get any of you. That's just a myth.

" The city and the Asylum are distinct things. They aren't the same. "





(" That also simply isn't how biology works. " isn't an egregiously offensive line - it's a perfectly fine thing for any fictional character to say - but it is endemic of modern genre fiction.

It's an instance of not presenting an odd premise - in this case, Ten-Eyed Man having working eyes in his fingers - as any kind of matter of course, but instead emphasizing the oddity of that premise in a way that winks at the reader.

That winking is mitigated by Dr. Joy acknowledging that the Ten-Eyed Man does have working finger-eyes in the next line, and by the narration leaving that to sit in conflict with " Dr. Joy's understanding of biology doesn't admit to working finger-eyes ".

The offending line still sits in its own narration box, though, easily decontextualizable as a validation of the kind of outlook that thrills whenever the CinemaSins counter dings.)



" .. oh. I see. "

She called the info in as an unexplained tip to Detective Stone, the policeman heading up the corralling of the Asylum's loose ends.

The detective followed the hint to Gotham's Bowery, where Doctor Double X and his ability to project an energy-duplicate from his body were being exploited by a dealer selling contact highs.

Azrael arrived at the scene before he did.

In the consequent chaos - Doctor Double X fleeing his captivity, Azrael following, one of the dealer's associates pursuing them with a gun, Stone with his own gun out - the detective caught a bullet from the dealer's associate.

Then the dealer's associate caught the edge of Azrael's blade.



(The expressions of Azrael's psyche are also captured in a story currently running in Batman: Urban Legends - issue #10 of which is out this week.)



The Ten-Eyed Man spread his map out.



(Surprisingly contiguous.)



(That's Nocturna and Dr. Phosphorous sharing an apartment in the first panel, Professor Pyg on his own in the second, and a reference to Rob Zombie's early 2000s work in the fourth.

Writing's Dan Watters, art's DaNi, letters're Aditya Bidikar, and colors're Dave Stewart.

Publisher's DC.

Pagecount's 7 of 22 - issue #3 came out last week.)

Comments

[tinygaylaura]

The narrator here saying "This isn't how biology works" while also acknowledging that they're talking about someone who can see through walls, thoughts and possibly time itself with their fingers is a perfect summary of why its ridiculous to attempt to apply any kind of realism to superhero comics

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I think it kind of helps underscore that despite how relatively common such strangeness may seem to us, the readers, it still isn't considered normal, elevating him to a level of supernatural that can almost be easy to forget they're supposed to be when you're immersed in the story.

At least when done correctly; I'll leave whether this is or not to others to discuss at their pleasure.

[blues32]

I think they mean that it isn't biologically possible for a doctor to reconfigure someone's fingers to work as eyes. In other words, it's his origins she's calling into question, not his abilities (though she does wonder about that as well). It's a fair point. Clearly the Ten Eyed Man is either confused or lying about his origins.

[tinygaylaura]

Well yeah but it's not biologically possible for a human being to run so fast they reach light speed and travel backward and forward in time at will either

This is superhero comics

What is and isn't biologically possible in the real world has no bearing here

[blues32]

In our world, no, that isn't possible. In the DC Universe, it's part of how the speed force works. They TRY to give an explanation, even if it's mostly bullshit and technobabble. "My optic nerves were transplanted to my fingers and now I can see through them" is a pretty poor explanation and one that could use a re-imagining. I suspect we'll discover the source of the Ten-Eyed Man's powers that, in universe, will make more sense.

[tinygaylaura]

Possibly, it's just that personally I've always accepted the fact that science in the DC and Marvel universe is basically whatever absolute batshit insanity the writer has decided works

And to be clear, I consider that a good thing not a bad thing

[dan_ingram]

Why do Arkham mini series always go mystical?

[mastermahan]

Probably because Arkham is a Lovecraft reference.

Though I do wish they'd leave the supernatural out. It isn't needed, not for Batman.

[cricharddavies]

Yeah, the idea that he'd fight vampires is utterly ridiculous. What kind of twit would add that to the series?

(The answer is Gardner Fox, Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff, beeteedubs.)

[mastermahan]

That's actually a perfect illustration. The Mad Monk was one of the first supervillians Batman ever fought, and the first multipart story. By all rights, he should be a major part of the Batman mythos. Instead, he's a footnote.

The villains that have made an impact? Primarily normal, psychologically-damaged humans like Batman. Secondarily, powered humans who still science-based, like Batman.

Supernatural enemies make for good changes of pace, but they're off-theme. Arkham doesn't need the supernatural to be horrific, not when the Gotham version of the mundane is so much more interesting and on-theme.

[tinygaylaura]

I enjoy when Batman encounters supernatural/mad science weirdness myself :)

[blues32]

Arkham is a place of misery and despair. In the world of fiction, that makes it perfect for supernatural activity of all sorts. Hell, I can't think of a more powerful source for that sort of thing in the DC universe than Arkham Asylum.

[tinygaylaura]

I suspect because one of the more influential works in shaping how writers think of Arkham in the comics would be Grant Morrison's "Arkham Asylum" which both dealt with the occult and also strongly implied that Arkham is both haunted and cursed

Then the Arkham Asylum miniseries that came out in the early 2000's basically confirmed that Arkham is a Hellmouth

[beyondthefringe]

Now presenting: The Ten-Eyed Man as he's literally never been depicted before.
But at least he's interesting?

[thanekos]

If we're at a point where " this character wasn't like this before! " is a comment worth making, why bother making anything new?

[beyondthefringe]

I see my comment was not enough for you. Let me elaborate.

The 10-Eyed Man is, at heart, fucking ridiculous. He's a dude who can see through his fingertips. This is not exactly the most impressive of powers, especially when you consider A) what we use our hands for, and B) how seeing through your fingertips might interfere with said activities/how using your hands might make it hard to see. (Gloves must make it difficult, unless they're like, transparent latex?)

At the end of his first appearance, they locked this dude up and imprisoned his hands in like, a special box or something, and tried to make it seem like he was a terrifying villain who could escape if only his hands were free, as opposed to a dude who can see around corners and who would make the world's most disturbing doctor if he stuck his hands anywhere private.

So here we are, and he's been reinterpreted as a truly creepy semi-psychic/supernatural/whatever Slender-Man meets that character from Pan's Labyrinth meets I dunno what. There's no precedent for this, no angle in the Ten-Eyed Man's long and illustrious history (he got killed off in Crisis on Infinite Earths, supposedly because Marv Wolfman thought he was useless), no character interpretation that suggests he's ever been like this before. (Unless you count the Ten Eyed Man of the Empty Quarter from the 52 series...)

So when I say that the character wasn't like this before, it's because this bears almost no relation to the character as previously presented, save for the name, backstory, and concept of having eyes on his fingers. Not the design, characterization, methodology, personality--none of that. So I figured it was worth remarking upon. We don't need to know WHY he is like this--I mean DC's relationship to continuity is rather loosey-goosey at best these days. But this Ten Eyed Man is not one who's ever been seen in comics before, to the point of being an almost entirely new character. Which is interesting, because now at least he's an actual threat who brings something new to the idea and the page. (But we're still trading on "this name means something as a character who has existed in relationship to Batman" as opposed to "Here's something completely new")

Just wait until I talk about the new approach to Doctor Double X...

[thanekos]

But for this story, the thing that matters is that there is a Ten-Eyed Man that is like this.

His unprecedentedness, his not being rooted in " continuity ", his name trading on " Ten-Eyed Man == Batman villain " - all of those are ultimately trivial things. They only matter in the context of continuity scorekeeping, which really only matters to the kind of reader who likes keeping those scores - the people who work on these books will, if a point of continuity inhibits the story they want to tell and isn't one they have a personal interest in, throw it out. Continuity scorekeeping ultimately only has value in how much it affirms the scorekeeper.

(The " ridiculousness " of a character is also only a reflection of the person who finds it ridiculous. Wolfman thinking that characters like the Ten-Eyed Man and the Bug-Eyed Bandit are ridiculous only reflects that he's the kind of writer who thinks that superhero comics should be written like airport novels.)

[tinygaylaura]

I agree that the characters are ridiculous but unlike Marv Wolfman the fact that they are ridiculous is why I like them and want to see them show up. I love ridiculous villains with bizarre powers and ludicrous origin stories

My favorite X-men villain for instance is a vampire were-peterodactyl mad scientist

[icon_uk]

In fairness, Wolfman has noted that for each character death he did in Crisis, he always bore in mind that every character is someone's favourite, so tried to present them with SOME gravitas.

When it came to the Ten-Eyed Man though, the entire creative team (and anyone at DC who remembered he even existed) agreed he was a disaster as a character, so he got the "Rocks fall, character dies" death.

And they're not entirely wrong, his powers as presented at the time aren't even a power, they're a constant liability. When the Ten-Eyed Man made his second appearance, they explain he broke out of jail because "such a thing was child's play for someone with his powers", without bothering to explain how half-blinding yourself by simply grasping for a doorknob is going to help you escape from a high security prison. And that's not even going into the choice of costume he got the first time around.

So the original Ten-Eyed Man has been a running gag for writers since his first appearance.

[blues32]

If each eye/finger sees in a different fashion, then this version of the Ten Eyed man could be quite capable. Now his "eyes" don't just see as eyes do, they can see many different things. A good writer can make this particular interpretation very interesting.

[beyondthefringe]

Of course Eye-Boy got there first, with his many many eyes and everything they can see.

(This is a small joke because culture has a long history of characters with multiple eye-based powers...)

[lordultimus]

I'm sorry, this is a good look for him, but I just can't help of being reminded in B:TBAB where Ten-Eyed Man accidentally catches a cactus.

[blues32]

Oh, that was straight from the comics. He was also tricked into catching a bush by Man-Bat. ...and Batman also dunked his hands in mud once.

[tinygaylaura]

I love the implication here that he just...FORGOT he had eyes on his fingers and he probably shouldn't catch stuff with them

[blues32]

He really should have invested in some kind of clear plastic covering. Like protective glasses for his fingertips. Maybe have some tinted ones for when the sun is blinding.

[shakalooloo]

Hmmm, ten magical eyes. Clearly his facemask conceals his central, anti-magic spewing eye.

[tinygaylaura]

Is anyone else weirdly reminded of that spooky looking Tooth Child from season one of Channel Zero here with Ten Eyed Man's new look

[donnblake]

Thank you! I knew it reminded me of something, but I couldn't place it.

[tinygaylaura]

He's even stealing peoples teeth in this story 0_0

[donnblake]

Setting aside the plausibility of Ten Eye Man's powers, I never entirely understood how they were supposed to be an advantage. I mean, if each eye has different eye based powers, that makes more sense, but otherwise I imagine just an awful lot of him trying to trick people into blindfolding him so he can take them by surprise.

[icon_uk]

And the fact that he blinds himself whenever he makes a fist to throw a punch.

[blues32]

He really ought to take up muya thai or savate.

[blues32]

Sounds like a mix between Rob Zombie's movie and Freddy Krueger's title of "Son of a Hundred Maniacs".