Humpty Dumpty (comics)
| Humpty Dumpty | |
|---|---|
 Humpty Dumpty, as seen in the cover of Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #3 (September 2003). | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #2 (August 2003) |
| Created by | Dan Slott (writer) Ryan Sook (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Humphry Dumpler |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Secret Society of Super Villains |
| Notable aliases | The Hobby Robber The Super Saboteur |
| Abilities |
|
Humpty Dumpty (Humphrey Dumpler) is a fictional character from DC Comics. Unlike many of Batman's enemies, he is not deliberately malevolent, and is typically portrayed as comic relief.
Publication history
[edit]Humpty Dumpty first appeared in the 2003 graphic novel Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and was created by Dan Slott and Ryan Sook.[1]
Fictional character biography
[edit]Humphry Dumpler is a hulking man with an egg-shaped head who speaks in rhyme and has a compulsive desire to "repair" that which he considers to be broken. He is shown in flashback to have been the victim of inexplicable, almost supernaturally bad luck almost since birth, illustrated by countless tragedies through his life. Eventually, he became determined to understand the mechanics of the world around him in an attempt to see what made things go wrong for him and attempt to fix them. In his crimes, Humpty disassembles and reassembles mechanical devices that upset him in some way. The devices he "fixes" cause numerous accidents, such as a subway train derailing. Humpty Dumpty's final crime is to adjust the gears in a clock tower, causing one of its hands to fly off, provoking a chain reaction in which dozens of enormous signs crashed to the streets, killing dozens of people. When Batgirl tries to apprehend him, she dislocates her arms. Humpty slips her arms back into their sockets and surrenders to her. She asks why he had borrowed a copy of Gray's Anatomy, and he reveals that he had dissected his abusive grandmother and sewn her back together in an attempt to "fix" her.[2]
He is a model prisoner at Arkham Asylum and is given various small projects to pass the time, such as repairing a broken mirror or fixing Ventriloquist's Scarface dummy. He befriends the financial fraudster Warren White and saves his life from Death Rattle and Two-Face.[3]
In Villains United, Humpty Dumpty joins Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Society.[4][5]
He is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell free card from the Secret Six.[6]
In the Batman: Battle for the Cowl storyline, Humpty Dumpty is recruited by Black Mask as part of a group of villains aiming to take over Gotham.[7]
During the Batman: Leviathan storyline, Humpty Dumpty masquerades as Santa Claus to bring stolen toys to the children residing at Rainbow House Shelter. However, he is defeated by Batman and Robin, who discover that the children died under unspecified circumstances.[8]
In The New 52 reboot of DC's continuity, Humpty Dumpty appears as an inmate of Arkham Asylum.[9]
In other media
[edit]- Humpty Dumpty appears in Beware the Batman, voiced by Matt Jones.[10][11] This version is a former mob accountant under Tobias Whale, who he was meant to testify against before going insane following a failed attempt on his life carried out by Whale's men.
- A biography for Humpty Dumpty appears in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
- Humpty Dumpty appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 183–184. ISBN 9780345501066.
- ^ Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #3 (September 2003)
- ^ Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #2 (August 2003)
- ^ Villains United #5 (November 2005)
- ^ Villains United #6 (December 2005)
- ^ Secret Six (vol. 3) #6 (April 2009)
- ^ Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1 (May 2009)
- ^ Batman: Streets of Gotham #7 (February 2010)
- ^ Resurrection Man (vol. 2) #6 (April 2012)
- ^ "Mitch Watson Interview - Comic-Con 2013 - IGN".
- ^ "Humpty Dumpty / Humphrey Dumpler Voice - Beware the Batman (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 23, 2024. 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.
- ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
