Calendar Man

The Calendar Man (Julian Gregory Day) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, as an enemy of the superhero Batman, belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery. Calendar Man is known for committing crimes that correspond with holidays and significant dates. He often wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. His name is a reference to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. In his debut, the character was presented as a joke villain, but in later years, writers developed Calendar Man as a dark, disturbed criminal who toys with Batman.

The character made his live-action debut as a cameo in the DC Extended Universe film '' The Suicide Squad'' (2021), portrayed by Sean Gunn.

Publication history

Calendar Man first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #259 (September 1958) and was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff. He returned after twenty years to plague Batman again in ''Batman'' #312 (June 1979).

Fictional character biography

Criminal career

Calendar Man is fascinated by dates and calendars, due to an obsession with important dates and trauma surrounding important holidays. 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.

He next appears in ''Batman'' #312 (June 1979), in which his crimes are based on the days of the week, and his costumes reflect the gods they were named for. Calendar Man fires an ultrasonic sound weapon at Batman, nearly killing him. While Batman recuperates, Calendar Man commits crimes on Friday and Saturday. He plans to leave Gotham City on a train called the Western Sun Express on Sunday—the traditional "day of rest"—knowing that the police would be waiting for him to attempt to steal an artifact of the Egyptian god of the Sun, Ra. Batman captures him at the train station before he boards.

This issue also marked the first appearance of his most commonly known "calendar cape" costume. His next appearance in ''Batman'' #384–385 (June–July 1985) and ''Detective Comics'' #551 (June 1985), sees the Calendar Man at the onset of the Crisis being used as a pawn of the Monitor in an attempt to find an assassin to eliminate Batman. In this instance, the Calendar Man's theme is holidays, and he attempts to use the young Jason Todd, as Robin, as the Batman's Achilles' heel, with the promise of his demise on the first day of Spring. Ultimately, however, Robin himself captures the villain.

His best-known modern appearance is in the miniseries '' Batman: The Long Halloween'', where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure, offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a holiday-themed serial killer. Like Lecter in the novels of Thomas Harris, 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, '' Batman: Dark Victory'', in which he impersonates deceased mobster Carmine Falcone in an effort to drive his children, Alberto and Mario, insane. When Calendar Man (as Carmine) tries to get Alberto to kill himself, however, the younger Falcone detects the ruse; Alberto knows that his father abhorred suicide, and thus figures out that Calendar Man is manipulating him. At the end of the story arc, Falcone's daughter Sofia Falcone Gigante beats him to a pulp as revenge for his role in her father's death. In both stories, Calendar Man is bitter that the new murderous rogues have taken the attention off him; he fears that he is being forgotten.

Calendar Man teams up with Catman and Killer Moth as part of The Misfits, a group of villains trying to prove themselves in '' Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' #7–9 (1992–1993). Also, he is among the Arkham Asylum inmates freed by Bane in '' Batman: Knightfall'', but he is easily recaptured by Power Girl shortly after his escape. In '' Team Titans'' #14 (Nov 1993) Calendar Man and several other villains whose crimes center on time-based motifs, including Time Commander, fight the title's heroes over a valued hourglass. Calendar Man appears in "All the Deadly Days", a story in ''80 Page Giant Batman Special Edition'' #3 (July 2000), in which he has acquired a new high-tech costume, and moves up to more grandiose crimes. He makes an appearance in the alternate reality story "Superman: Arkham" (beginning in ''Superman'' (vol. 2) #160), which was also written by Jeph Loeb. Calendar Man appears in the series ''Harley Quinn'', as an inside informant to the title character.

In Week 20 of the weekly series '' 52'', a radio broadcasts a message saying that Calendar Man was left tied up for the cops in Gotham City, even though there is no Batman. It is revealed the new heroine, Batwoman, was responsible for his capture.

The New 52

In 2011, DC rebooted their continuity. In this universe, Julian Day is a mob enforcer for The Squid. While he is popular among his colleagues for his brute strength, he abuses and neglects his young child, Aden. However, when Batman goes looking for weaponry being sold by the Squid, he encounters Aden, who tells him his father’s location. Batman assumes the persona of Matches Malone and goes looking for Julian. Julian, meanwhile, finally decides he should pay his child some attention and plans to get a calendar, but Batman forces him into a bathroom and punches him into some tiles. The tiles create a calendar-like scar around his head. Julian Day appears again in The New 52: Futures End event, in which he has become a hacker who calls himself Calendar Man. Batman and Riddler manage to defeat him. Also, another version of Calendar Man (not specified as Julian Day) appears during the “Villains Month” event. This version is the host of “Channel 52”, which reports on important villain-related events. Calendar Man claims he does this because he fears that nobody else will keep track of the day-to-day events.

DC Rebirth

In DC Rebirth, Calendar Man is a permanent inmate of Arkham Asylum. When Batman hides Psycho-Pirate in Arkham, Bane comes for him and confronts Calendar Man. Instead of fighting him, Calendar Man states that everything is a loop and that be cannot win.

Powers and abilities

Calendar Man is a successful inventor, capable of designing the machinery needed to deploy his various schemes. His talents aid him as he pursues his obsession with quirks of the calendar, carefully planning and theming his crimes around holidays, weekdays and the seasons. Calendar Man is also an experienced hand-to-hand combatant, although his main reason for his success is his intelligence. In his latest incarnation, as written by Scott Snyder and Tom King in the pages of the ''Batman Rebirth'' special (June 2016), the Calendar Man now ages with the seasonal weather of Gotham City. Every spring he is reborn, with his DNA altered, but retains his memories, and then ages rapidly until winter when he dies, only to be reborn again the next spring by crawling from the husk of his own corpse.

In other media

Television

* A character based on Calendar Man named Calendar Girl appears in ''The New Batman Adventures'' episode "Mean Seasons", voiced by Sela Ward. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. A former supermodel, she was fired after turning 30, leading her to develop body dysmorphic disorder and wearing a mask under the belief that she is hideous despite her normal appearance. Additionally, she plans her crimes around the four seasons, with a different costume and weapons corresponding to each.
* Calendar Man appears in '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', voiced by Jim Piddock. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. In his most notable appearance in the episode "Legends of the Dark-Mite!", Bat-Mite summons Calendar Man and upgrades him into Calendar King, giving him the power to conjure monsters and henchmen themed after various holidays, before having him fight Batman. After the henchmen and Calendar King are defeated, Bat-Mite restores the latter and sends him away.
* Calendar Man was discussed to appear in '' Gotham'', though this never came to pass.
* Calendar Man appears in ''Harley Quinn'', voiced by Alan Tudyk. This version is married, the father of a young boy, and a member of the Legion of Doom.

Film

* Calendar Man makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in '' The Batman vs. Dracula''.
* Calendar Man makes a non-speaking appearance in '' The Lego Batman Movie''.
* Calendar Man appears in '' Batman: The Long Halloween'', voiced by David Dastmalchian.
* Calendar Man makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in ''Injustice''.
* Calendar Man makes a cameo appearance in '' The Suicide Squad'', portrayed by Sean Gunn. This version is an inmate of Belle Reve penitentiary.

Video games

* Calendar Man appears in '' Batman: Arkham City'', voiced by Maurice LaMarche. This version is obese, has a slightly shorter right leg, forcing him to wear a brace and platform shoe, and sports calendar-like scars on his head. After being imprisoned in the eponymous Arkham City mega-prison, he occupied the Solomon Wayne Courthouse, trapping anyone who entered and killing them on the next holiday before Two-Face and his gang seized the courthouse and locked Calendar Man in a glass cell in the basement. After defeating Two-Face, Batman can speak to Calendar Man. If the player speaks with him on New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, April Fools' Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, the Feast Day of Saint Roch, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day, Calendar Man will relate a story about a crime he committed on that specific day. If the player returns to the courthouse after hearing all twelve stories, Calendar Man will have escaped, leaving one of Two-Face's henchmen hanging from the ceiling of his cell. If the player sets the date of the gaming console to December 13, 2004 (the date ''Arkham'' developer Rocksteady Studios was founded) and visits Calendar Man, he will speak about his origins with Batman, concluding with "I was there at your beginning, and I will be there at your end." If the player visits Calendar Man as Catwoman, he will bring up an incident involving both her and the Falcone family and imply that Carmine Falcone might be her father.
* Calendar Man appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.
* Calendar Man makes a minor appearance in '' Batman: Arkham Origins''. While disguised as Black Mask, the Joker launches a siege on Blackgate Penitentiary on Christmas Eve, during which he frees Calendar Man in appreciation of the act of doing so on a holiday.
* Calendar Man makes a cameo appearance in '' Batman: Arkham Knight'', witnessing the destruction of Wayne Manor.
* Calendar Man appears as an unlockable playable character in '' Lego DC Super-Villains'', voiced by Jim Pirri. This version is a member of the Legion of Doom.

Miscellaneous

* An older, wheelchair-bound Calendar Man appears in the ''Batman Beyond'' (vol. 2) arc "Hush Beyond". He attempts to kill Commissioner Barbara Gordon, but is thwarted and killed by Hush.
* Calendar Man appears in issue #12 of the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' tie-in comic.
* Calendar Man makes a minor appearance in the '' Injustice: Gods Among Us'' prequel comic as an inmate of Arkham Asylum.
* The ''Batman: Arkham'' incarnation of Calendar Man appears in the '' Batman: Arkham Knight'' prequel comic. After receiving the Electrocutioner's gauntlets from the titular Arkham Knight to disable Batman's communications, Calendar Man lures the Dark Knight to the Campbell Calendar Company, where he has the latter battle seven clones of Solomon Grundy over the course of a week while he kidnaps a newborn baby and poisons several people. While Batman rescues them, the Scarecrow forces Calendar Man to abandon his plot to kill Batman.
* Calendar Man appears in the '' Injustice 2'' prequel comic as a member of the Suicide Squad.''Injustice 2'' #2

See also

* List of Batman family enemies

References

{{Batman characters

DC Comics male supervillains
Comics characters introduced in 1958
Characters created by Bill Finger
Fictional disabled characters in comics
Fictional murderers of children
Fictional crime bosses
Fictional matricides
Fictional patricides
Fictional people sentenced to death
Fictional prison escapees
Fictional serial killers
Characters created by Sheldon Moldoff
Batman characters