r/respectthreads • u/Marhyc • 8d ago
comics Respect Impostor Mad Hatter! (DC, New Earth) (Pre/Post-Crisis)
Ha, ha...this hat will be wonderful in my collection! Some people collect paintings...stamps...old cars...but I, Jervis Tetch, collect hats!
After Jervis Tetch AKA Mad Hatter went to prison following his debut appearance, an impostor appeared in Gotham City, stealing Tetch's identity and estabilishing himself as resident Mad Hatter of Batman's rogues gallery until late Bronze Age. Unlike the better known Alice in Wonderland-obsessed, mind-controlling bozo that is the Hatter of today, the Impostor one sported impressive ginger mustache and committed crimes centered around hats of various shapes and sizes, which had its roots in his childhood - putting on hats and imagining himself as heroic figures of history later led to him developing a fixation on headgear and embracing the life of costumed supervillain. After original Tetch came back and supposedly killed off the Impostor, IMH was retired as a character, making only 2 non-cameo Post-Crisis appearances...so feast your eyes on this RT that I can confidently say will not require any updates nor any related future threads based on potential Rebirth feats.
Legend
DC - Detective Comics
BTM - Batman (Vol 1)
SA - Silver Age 80 Page Giant
Physicals
Strength
- Topples over a large sculpture DC#230
- Knocks out a crook with a punch BTM#201
- Temporarily dazes Batman by hitting him in a head with a shotgun BTM#297
- Knocks out a security guard off-panel BTM#297
Durability
- Gets knocked off a horse by a jousting Batman SA
- [Limit] Loses after getting double teamed by Batman and Robin SA
- Withstands 2 hits from Batman, but a third one is too much for him BTM#297
Skill
- Stole George Washington's hat from a museum, as well as the entire wall's worth of hats DC#230
- Disguises himself as a sculptor as a part of ploy to steal Batman's cowl, with Robin getting completely duped DC#230
- Managed to spray a cowl with a substance that renders it radioactive, leading to him later intercepting the cowl DC#230
- Disguises himself, with people being none the wiser, as: BTM#161
- [Limit] Finagles a weird and convoluted scheme that gets nonetheless figured out by Batman and his OP detective skills. This gets him arrested BTM#161
- Before the broadcast of a psychedelic commercial, switched the hats and the neon signs and added scopolamine to water, making everyone in studio susceptible to hypnosis BTM#297
- Immobilizes a crook with a lasso BTM#297
- Steals an aardvark, while posing as a Major from a Zimbabwean zoo BTM#297
- Goes on a crime spree, utilizing the disguises of construction worker, firefighter, artist and recruitment officer BTM#297
Equipment
- A gun hidden in Ned Dalton's cowboy hat DC#230
- A fireman's hat converted into a gas gun BTM#161
- A band line of a bycocket hat used to steal a trophy BTM#161
- A chef's hat with hidden springs used to escape from Batman and Robin BTM#161
- A bowler hat that turns into a ball from tough plastic, blocking his escape route BTM#161
- A top hat, from which he pulls out flowers with knockout gas, a mechanical rabbit posing as a bomb, scarves to throw at pursuers and finally a gas capsule that inflates a giant balloon to help him escape BTM#161
- A gas gun hidden in his top hat SA
- Said hat also emits smoke upon coming into contact with fire SA
- A fancy axe that he fails to utilize in battle in time SA
- A miner's hat that lets him see in the dark BTM#201
- A flamethrower hidden in another fireman's hat DC#573
- A gas mask that emits, well, some kind of gas DC#573
- Flying, remotely controlled straw hats with razor sharp edges that wound a cop and tear Batman's cape DC#573
- A hat-shaped rocket he uses to escape DC#573