Given the number of psychopaths who comprise the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery, it stands to reason that one of them took his cue from one of literature’s most famous madmen.
When the Mad Hatter first appeared in October 1948’s Batman #49 (“The Scoop of the Century!” by Batman co-creator Bill Finger and artist Jim Mooney) he was introduced as a mere throwaway character in a story focused on introducing Bruce Wayne’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Vicki Vale. A photographer at Picture Magazine who comes to suspect Bruce is Batman, Vale’s first meeting with Bruce at his yacht club is interrupted by a man “who might have stepped from an illustration of Alice in Wonderland.” Indeed the Hatter bears a close resemblance to his namesake, right down to his overbite (as rendered by artist John Tenniel in the 1865 novel). He steals a gold cup from the club, and the next day leaves a clue for the Dynamic Duo in the form of a hat. Perhaps anticipating readers’ criticisms, writer Bill Finger has Robin point out the similarities of the Hatter to their other enemies: “This Mad Hatter character is trying to imitate the Joker and the Penguin by sending a clue in advance!”
By story’s end, the Hatter’s hideout is revealed as an abandoned theater decorated with Alice in Wonderland sets. When Batman and Robin arrive, he mimics Alice’s Red Queen and attempts to remove Batman’s head with an axe. Fortunately he’s distracted by Vicki, who appeals to his vanity by asking him to pose for a picture, letting Batman land an uppercut.
An altogether different Mad Hatter appeared eight years later, in April 1956’s Detective Comics #230 (“The Mad Hatter of Gotham City!” again written by Bill Finger, with pencils by Sheldon Moldoff). This version of the character, who went by the name Jervis Tetch, was a red-haired, mustachioed “fanatical hobby-robber” obsessed with adding Batman’s cowl to his collection of stolen headwear. Depicted as a kind of big-game hunter (complete with neckerchief and riding pants), this Hatter inspired the character’s first screen appearances—the 1966 Batman TV series episodes “The Thirteenth Hat”/“Batman Stands Pat” and “The Contaminated Cowl”/“The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul.” Here, the character was played by Broadway star David Wayne, in a top hat equipped with a mind-control device, with which he tried to steal Batman’s cowl.
The Mad Hatter first appeared in animated form in an episode of Filmation’s 1968 The Batman/Superman Hour (“A Mad, Mad Tea Party”) in which he’s voiced, like most of the show’s characters, by Ted Knight.
The original Mad Hatter returned decades later (in January 1982’s Detective Comics #510), and disposed of his cowl-fixated successor, whom he revealed as an impostor. In his next appearance, in Detective Comics #526, the Hatter uses his TV counterpart’s mind-control gimmick.
Since then, the Hatter’s unusually large head has been explained as the result of macrocephaly, and his modus operandi has reflected his obsession with Alice in Wonderland, wonderfully realized on screen in the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series episode “Mad as a Hatter.” Written by Paul Dini, the episode features a sublime Roddy McDowall (who played the 1966 series’ villainous Bookworm) as the voice of Tetch. In this incarnation, the character is a Wayne Industries scientist obsessed with a co-worker named Alice. When she rejects his advances, he kidnaps her with his mind-control technology. “I’ve waited my whole lonely life for her!” he tells the Dark Knight. “Then all you’ve waited for is a puppet,” says Batman. “A soulless little doll.”
Peter MacNicol and Benedict Samuel play Tetch in, respectively, the Batman: Arkham video game and TV’s Gotham.
“Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?” asks The Animated Series’ Mad Hatter, quoting his favorite author. For almost 70 years, he’s made the invitation a tempting one for Batfans.