Cluemaster

Cluemaster
Detective Comics #810, art by Jock
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #351(May 1966)
Created by	Gardner Fox Carmine Infantino
In-story information
Alter ego	Arthur Brown
Team affiliations	Injustice League Justice League Suicide Squad
Notable aliases	The Reformer, Aaron Black
Abilities	Cluemaster has a number of plasti-glass pellets attached to the front of his costume that he can hurl as weapons. These pellets variously contain a blinding incendiary flare, smoke bombs, paralyzing gas and high explosives

The Cluemaster (Arthur Brown) is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain and enemy of Batman. A failed game show host, he became a criminal who left clues to his crimes, though unlike the Riddler's, they were not riddles.^[1]

Fictional character biography

The Cluemaster starts his criminal campaign by a daring but unsuccessful attempt to learn the secret identity of the Batman, in order to gain a fighting edge.^[1][2] He returns to Gotham for a rematch with Batman,^[3] then appears in several supervillain crowd scenes over the years.^[4]

With several other villains, Cluemaster becomes a member of the Injustice League, a team of out-of-luck supervillains who, when banding together, become even less successful than they have been in their individual careers.^[5] The Injustice League is defeated time and again by the Justice League International, at least when they are not making laughingstocks of themselves. Trying to reform, the members later become the core of the equally laughable hero team Justice League Antarctica.^[6] They help out the Justice League when JLI liaison Maxwell Lord lies in a coma,^[7] but again later reform as the Injustice League as henchmen of Sonar.^[8]

Cluemaster makes his grand reappearance in Detective Comics #647 by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle. In this three-issue story, Cluemaster has reformed and been released from Blackgate Prison. Cured of his compulsion to leave clues, Cluemaster originally joins a gang and plans their heists in exchange for 10 percent of their winnings. He later kills the leader by suffocating him with a strong polymer over his mouth and nose, and begins to plan a master heist.

During this time it is revealed Arthur Brown has a daughter named Stephanie, but rarely spends any time with her due to long periods of incarceration. Stephanie is furious when she discovers that he has returned to crime without his need to leave clues behind. Making a costume for herself, she calls herself The Spoiler, finds out her father's plans, and leaves clues so that the police and Batman can stop him. Robin spots Spoiler on the rooftops during a police bust of Cluemaster's apartment and unmasks her, though she incapacitates Robin by hitting him in the face with a brick. Robin tracks her down and Batman, Robin and Spoiler set a plan in motion to take down Cluemaster. Spoiler was forbidden from going to the bust because she was only motivated by revenge. Catching Cluemaster at his mall heist whilst he hauls a giant glass canister of money away by air, Stephanie is then held hostage by Cluemaster atop the canister, holding a vial of acid to her face as Batman tries to stop him. Batman tells Cluemaster to stop and Cluemaster, thinking Batman will only lecture him about how it is morally wrong to disfigure a child, is taken aback when Batman simply reveals Spoiler is his daughter. Spoiler uses the shock of the revelation to gain the upper hand and uses one of the chains attached to the Gunship lifting the canister to strangle Cluemaster, but Batman prevents this. Cluemaster is taken back to Blackgate.^[1]

Each time the Cluemaster escapes or start some new plan, Stephanie dons her costume again in order to foil him. Eventually, she realizes she enjoys being a hero, and begins regular patrols as Spoiler. For a brief period of time she even replaces her boyfriend, Tim Drake, as Robin.

Cluemaster mourning the loss of his daughter. Art by Pete Woods.

Apparent death

Cluemaster and his teammates in the Injustice League volunteer to join the second Suicide Squad, a group sanctioned by the US government, in return for a full pardon of his crimes. The Cluemaster also hopes to make Stephanie proud of him.^[1] During the mission, which involves dealing with terrorists and a lovesick genetic experiment, Cluemaster sees his friends, Big Sir, Clock King and Multi-Man die (though Multi-Man has the power to be reborn again). In the resulting chaotic battle, Cluemaster seemingly saves Major Disaster's life twice, though the Major admits the situation was confusing. Cluemaster is seen shot many times through the chest. He survives this incident, with a year's recuperation in the hospital and many, many scars. He is encouraged by thoughts of his daughter.^[9]

When he gets out and discovers that his daughter has been killed, he takes on the secret identity Aaron Black and creates the "Campaign for Culpability", blaming Batman for his involvement in Stephanie's death, saying that she was not the first child working with Batman to die, and that Batman should be brought to justice.

It is later revealed that Stephanie survived the incident that everyone believed had killed her, and spent some time recuperating overseas.^[10] It is currently unknown if Cluemaster ever learned about her being alive, or she him.

Robin #177 as planned by Chuck Dixon intended to feature Cluemaster, but Dixon's abrupt exodus at DC meant the issue was scrapped.

Cluemaster finally reappears after Stephanie Brown has become the new Batgirl. He is revealed to be the man who has been funding the Reapers, a group of young supervillains who have been battling Batgirl.^[11]

Powers and abilities

Cluemaster has no metahuman powers or abilities. He has a number of plasti-glass pellets attached to the front of his uniform. The pellets contain various offensive weaponry including: blinding incendiary flares, smoke, incapacitating gas and explosives.

Other versions

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Cluemaster is imprisoned in military Doom prison. He is subsequently by Eel O'Brian inside Cluemaster's body killing him to break Heat Wave out.^[12]

In other media

Television

Cluemaster as seen on The Batman.

• A considerably different version of the Cluemaster has appeared on the animated series The Batman voiced by Glenn Shadix as an adult and by Kath Soucie as a child. He first appears in the episode "Q & A", in which he is an insane, obese genius with a severe case of Peter Pan Syndrome who seeks revenge on the people he blames for rigging his last question on Think Thank Thunk, a game show on which he competed when he was a child. He was never a game show host in this version, just a contestant as a child. It was said that after that game, Arthur's mother filed a lawsuit for what the host and producer did to make Arthur lose. However, the host and producer had friends in high places who overturned it. In his debut episode, Cluemaster attempts to take his revenge on the show's producer, host, and the contestant who had beaten him. After humiliating them in public, his midget henchmen kidnapped them and Cluemaster places them on a patently unfair parody of Think Thank Thunk where a loss means death in a large tub of acid. Batman manages to save them by playing "all or nothing". He stumps the Cluemaster with the one question he does not know: the identity of the Batman. Throwing a temper tantrum, the Cluemaster attempts to unmask him but is defeated by Batman just as Cluemaster's mother arrives. Cluemaster later appears in the episode "Rumors", as a captive of the title character, a ruthless vigilante, along with the bulk of Gotham's master criminals. At the episode's end, Batman frees Cluemaster from his imprisonment by Rumor. He was accidentally frozen by Mr. Freeze.
• Cluemaster appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "A Bat Divided." He is seen in a bar populated by D-list supervillains when Firestorm and the three Batmen show up.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Jimenez, Phil (2008), "Cluemaster", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 84, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017 
2. ^ Detective Comics #351
3. ^ Batman #201
4. ^ Batman #293–294, Batman #336, Crisis on Infinite Earths #9, Batman #400.
5. ^ Justice League International Vol. 1 #23
6. ^ Justice League America Annual #4
7. ^ Justice League America #53
8. ^ Justice League Europe #49–50
9. ^ "Suicide Squad" Vol. 2 #1 (November 2001): "Almost a Good Idea"
10. ^ Robin #174 (July 2008)
11. ^ Batgirl (vol. 3) #23 (July 2011)
12. ^ Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #1 (June 2011)