The Answer: Gotham's Most Mysterious (and Forgotten) villain!
Batman's Rogue's Gallery: A Forgotten Masterpiece
Batman has a HUGE rogues gallery. It’s one of the best in all of Comics; a testament to that creative process and how a lot of those creative ideas from those who worked on those comic book storylines evolved over time. It involves many awesome characters, plenty of creative villains which created their own unique identities and that, in turn affected how writers continue writing and illustrating storylines throughout multiple series and multiple eras of Batman comic books. However, there is something a lot of people have missed – one of the greatest (yet forgotten) additions from all the Batman antagonists. This includes plenty of attempts which all came to nothing. There was Professor Pyg (successful!), but also the mysterious Answer (utterly, hilariously forgotten). Let’s unpack this mystery!
Alan Grant created the Answer, showcased within Batman Villains Secret Files & Origins #1. That's it, only that one-page history. This seemingly odd creation, this intriguing figure becomes almost legendary only through how completely unused he has remained within the continuity of those countless Batman stories and all the narratives that this character could easily become the focus of. A super-interesting premise— but never really used! It highlights a key point regarding those numerous Batman creations; that an intriguing premise alone isn't enough to actually have an impact and that this becomes the main problem that affected The Answer – an interesting and memorable premise is only enough. This alone cannot bring it success!
The Answer’s Backstory: A Tragic Engineer’s Descent
This underused villain's story had potential! The Answer began life as an engineer, Mike Patten, obsessed with ancient civilizations; that becomes almost more than just a job for him! He developed a theory that an immense ancient global super-society ended in disaster; something completely affecting him both emotionally and practically! And then came that No Man's Land earthquake—that hugely iconic event that devastated Gotham City— resulting in immense suffering; his own wife and daughter died in this catastrophic event. The sheer impact had an immense effect and this made for a surprisingly tragic figure that this unnamed character ended up becoming.
That catastrophic loss is what pushed him over the edge. His fear of another cataclysm makes him take to crime; dressing up in newspapers documenting past disasters – he needs data to prove the next doomsday is coming! This had such potential!
A Wasted Opportunity in No Man's Land
Adding new characters worked exceptionally well in No Man's Land— especially Cassandra Cain! But creating a compelling villain never really worked, despite The Answer being an obvious opportunity. That intense catastrophe is a perfect backdrop. For whatever reason however DC didn't seem interested in him. They might've seen its flaws. Those other heroes didn’t emerge from that context. The Answer is so sadly fascinating because it remains unique: A powerful concept not capitalized on– that completely contrasts that existing lore around new additions!
Conclusion: Gotham’s Lost Potential, a Surprisingly Interesting Creation
That unused villain becomes iconic— due to how exceptionally unused it really is! He reminds fans exactly what really happened and highlights that sheer amount of work needed in making new additions. A good concept is insufficient, even if these have great depth that's completely neglected, it's worth remembering; it shows that despite any great ideas presented early, there must be more than merely initial effort. There must be far deeper reasons, far more effective arguments needed to keep the characters from being neglected later. A missed opportunity! It is ultimately ironic—this article and The Answer are famous exactly because DC neglected him!
