Calendar Man

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caption=Calendar Man
Tim Sale, artist.
comic_color=background:#8080ff
character_name=Calendar Man
real_name=Julian Day
publisher=DC Comics
debut="Detective Comics" #259 (September 1958)
creators=Bill Finger
Sheldon Moldoff(credited as bob kane)

alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=The Misfits
aliases=
powers=|

Calendar Man (real name: Julian Gregory Day) is a DC Comics supervillain. His main enemy is Batman. He first appeared in "Detective Comics #259" (September 1958). He was created by Bill Finger.Citation | last = Wallace | first = Dan | author-link = | contribution = Calendar Man | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The DC Comics Encyclopedia | pages = 65 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4119-5 | oclc = 213309017]

Character overview

Calendar Man is fascinated by dates and calendars – even his real name is a pun on the Julian and Gregorian calendars. His crimes always have a relationship to the date that they are committed. The theme may be related to what day of the week it is or to a holiday or to a special anniversary on that date; he will plan his crime around that day. He often wears different costumes which correspond to the significance of the date, though he does have a main costume which has various numbers (meant to represent days on a calendar) sprouting from the shoulders.

Reception

Because his crimes are generally petty and often ridiculous in nature, he is notorious among both heroes and villains alike for being something of a joke, particularly in the grittier Post-Silver Age era. No one really takes him seriously, including the fans themselves. IGN went so far as to call him the worst Batman villain of all time, noting that his "name, appearance and modus operandi... command no respect." [Hilary Goldstein, " [http://comics.ign.com/articles/622/622304p1.html The Best & Worst Batman Villains] ," IGN, June 3, 2005, URL accessed 12 January 2006.] Consequently, his post-Crisis appearances have been few and far between. He was once recruited by Killer Moth to form the villain team known as "The Misfits".

Pre-Crisis

In a Batman graphic issue, a large story devoted to Batman investigating the crimes of Calendar Man gave the character a more serious edge and more of a challenge for Batman akin to an archcriminal such as the Joker. Calendar Man commits robberies akin to the name of the day of the week:
Monday - In a theme appropriate to Moon's Day, Calendar Man dresses in a moon man costume and uses an antigravity device to suspend security guards in midair, and steals postage stamps which had been hand cancelled by the astronauts during their visit.
Tuesday - Dressed in an outfit akin to the war god Tyr, Calendar Man burgarlizies a Civil War museum and steals the war medals of U.S. Grant.
Wednesday - Dressed in an eyepatch that can emit a laser beam, a la Odin, and riding an eight-wheeled motorcycle (an emulation of Slepnir), Calendar Man takes on Batman, who is forced to withdraw.
Thursday - Dressed in a costume akin to Thor, Calendar Man robs from a steel works and once again battles Batman, who defeats him by throwing a hammer at him.
Friday - Dressed to honor Freya, Calendar Man commits an armed robbery at a wedding of the rich and famous and steals a large amount of jewels and silver.
Saturday - Dressed akin to Saturn, Calendar Man steals from a high society garden party, using a device that emits rings to blind victims.
Sunday - Batman confronts Calendar Man, who is in civilian attire, pointing out how since Sunday is a Biblical day of rest, it was the perfect chance for him to skip town. Calendar Man changes into his noted costume of the cape with the 1-31 days of the month, but Batman prevents his escape by throwing a Batarang at train signal, knocking out Calendar Man. Batman laughs over the capture of his adversary by commenting "Calendar Man, you've had a busy week, but you will have 20 years to life to recover from it!"

Appearances Post-Crisis

His best-known latter day appearance is in the mini-series ', where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure, offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a serial killer who uses holidays as his M.O. Like Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs", Calendar Man knows who the killer is and keeps this information to himself, choosing instead to taunt the heroes with cryptic clues. He returns in that story's sequel, '. In both stories, he is bitter that the new murderous rogues has taken the attention from him; Day fears that he is being forgotten. He is seriously harmed by Sofia Falcone near the end of Dark Victory, described as being barely alive and having his jaw broken.

Calendar Man is also known for teaming up with Catman and Killer Moth as part of "The Misfits", a group of third-rate villains trying to prove themselves, in "" #7-9 (1992-1993). Also, he is among the Arkham Asylum inmates freed by Bane in "Knightfall", but he is easily recaptured by Power Girl shortly after his escape.

He appears in "Team Titans" #14 (Nov '93). He and several other time-based villains, including Time Commander, fight the title's heroes over a valuable hourglass.

Update

In recent years, comic book writers have tried to make Calendar Man a greater threat to Batman as told in a story in the third issue of the "80 Page Giant Batman Special Edition" (July 2000) entitled "All the Deadly Days". In this story, Day appears in a new high-tech costume, and moves up to more grandiose crimes.

Day appears in Harley Quinn's series, as an inside informant to the fugitive.

Appearances in other media

* A female variation of the character named Calendar Girl appears in "The New Batman Adventures". She wears a mask and plans her crimes around the Four Seasons, with a different costume corresponding to each season.

* A parody of Calendar Man named Mister Monday appears on the Adult Swim animated series "The Venture Bros.".

* Calendar Man has been confirmed to appear in the new animated series "", voiced by Jim Piddock. [ [http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp/aid/8890/tcid/1 Collider.com Interview] ]

References