In the decades since his first dramatic appearance in the pages of Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a mainstream, worldwide, pop culture icon. The brainchild of writer Bob Kane, Batman was brought to life by artist Bill Finger and has been a popular staple of DC Comics and countless movies, videogames, and cartoons over the years. “Batman Day” falls on September 16 this year and I figured this was a perfect excuse to spend every Saturday celebrating comic’s grim and broody vigilante.
Story Title: “The Riddle of the Human Scarecrow”
Published: September 1941
Writer: Bill Finger
Artist: Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson
The Background:
Once Clark Kent/Superman proved to be a massive success, National Comics Publications (as DC Comics was then known) were eager to add more superheroes to their line-up and charged Bob Kane to create a new masked crimefighter. Thanks to the long-suppressed influence of artist Bill Finger, Bob Kane’s “Bat-Man” concept quickly became one of comicdom’s most popular characters and a mainstream cultural icon thanks to a slew of successful and profitable multimedia ventures. Over the years, the Batman has matched brain and brawn against many colourful supervillains, but perhaps none have challenged his reputation as a fearsome symbol of terror more than Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow! Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the Scarecrow was heavily inspired by Ichabod Crane, the slender protagonist of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving, 1820); though he only made two appearances during the “Golden Age” of comic books, the Scarecrow has become a recurring member of Batman’s rogues’ gallery, often as a manipulative and unhinged master of fear who gasses or doses up his victims to drive them to near hysteria. The character was a prominent villain in the DC Animated Universe, where his design was radically altered to make him scarier and he was responsible for one of the most disturbing episodes of The New Batman Adventures (1997 to 1999). He also played a memorable role in the Batman: Arkham videogames (Various, 2009 to 2023), where he sported a Freddy Kreuger-inspired design, and made his big-screen debut in Batman Begins (Nolan, 2005), all of which has helped add to the villain’s mystique as one of Batman’s more twisted and cerebral foes.
The Review:
The Scarecrow’s ties to Sleepy Hollow are immediately apparent from the first splash page of his debut story, which depicts him as a huge, gaunt scarecrow lumbering across a moonlit field surrounded by bats and gnarled trees, certainly evoking a gothic, supernatural horror more than anything. But, as we soon learn, behind this terrifying visual is a man; a very disturbed man, at that. Flashback panels tell how young Jonathan Crane delighted in frightening birds as a small boy and this obsession with fear (both causing and studying it) carried through to his adulthood, where he became a Psychology teacher “in a university” notorious for his extreme methods as much as his haggard appearance. Crane brings a gun to his class to demonstrate the psychology of fear; the mere sight of a gun, of having it pointed your way, inspires dread but hearing it go off, seeing it destroy a vase, only increases the emotional response, something Crane is absolutely fascinated by. Crane is shunned by his peers since, rather than spending his salary on some decent clothes, he resembles a scarecrow in his old, drab attire and buys books instead. Enraged by their dismissive comments and prejudice, Crane formulates a plot to acquire the wealth deemed so important by others using a dramatic and powerful symbol: the scarecrow, a “symbol of poverty and fear combined”. The Scarecrow immediately sets about establishing a protection racket by preying on Frank Kendrick, a local businessman whose partner is suing him for embezzlement. The Scarecrow offers to “scare” Kendrick’s partner, Paul Herold, in return for a fee, and Kendrick is…I dunno…intrigued? Curious? Certainly not terrified and the Scarecrow doesn’t really demonstrate anything that makes him a valid investment beyond his straw outfit…
Regardless, Kendrick agrees and the Scarecrow makes good on his promise not by his trademark fear gas or any kind of elaborate gimmick, but by simply wounding Herold with a gun shot and promising to kill him if he doesn’t drop the suit. Conveniently, Batman and his colourful sidekick, Dick Grayson/Robin, are on a rooftop nearby and hear the gunshot; they swing into action when they spot the curious human scarecrow making his escape. The Scarecrow surprises them with his swiftness and effectively holds them off with a few shots from his pistol, a good wallop to the Batman’s head, and by tossing a trash can at Robin and slipping away “with queer grasshopper leaps”. Naturally, Kendrick is fingered as the prime suspect in hiring Herold’s attack, but he denies everything, and Herold’s refusal to drop his lawsuit results in another visit from the Scarecrow that leaves him dead as “The Scarecrow warns only once!”, leaving Kendrick horrified. He still pays, however, which is lucky as Crane’s unorthodox teaching methods cost him his job; Crane barely even cares, however, since he now has a big wad of cash and a reputation in the criminal underworld. The Scarecrow sets about bolstering this reputation by offering his services to Richard Dodge, whose department store is going under thanks to a rival store, so he offers to scare customers away and back to his shop, which he does through his mere appearance and the use of smoke bombs, which drive the crowd into a frenzy. Coincidentally, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson happen to hear about this riot on the radio and, suspecting a link between Crane and the Scarecrow after the university president (who is conveniently a friend of Bruce’s) nonchalantly mentioned Crane’s wad of cash, Batman and Robin rush to the scene. They find the Scarecrow in the act of smashing up the store with a baseball bat and Batman flings some really weird and cringey one-liners and quips at the Master of Fear during their far more even rematch.
Still, the Scarecrow proves to be a slippery and surprisingly physically capable opponent, as well as highly adaptable; he has Batman on the ropes and at gun point at one point and is only stopped from shooting him, and finishing him off with a “bomb” (potentially meant to be a grenade? Who even knows?), by the timely intervention of the Boy Wonder. Discovering that the only thing the Scarecrow stole were a couple of rare books is all the proof Batman needs to deduce that Crane and Scarecrow are one and the same and he proves his theory by infiltrating Crane’s home under an elaborate disguise and spotting all his rare books. Crane is not so easily fooled, however; by use of the lost art of…looking out his window…he sees that his visitor was really the Batman and heads out to kill Dodge to cover his tracks, only to find Batman and Robin waiting for him. Armed with his trusty pistol and giving them the slip with his “queer grasshopper leaps”, the Scarecrow flees to a nearby playground, where he almost shoots Robin but for an errant swing bashing him in the head. The Scarecrow is even able to hold off the Batman with his punches, boasting that he’s “as good as fighting as [he] is”, but is ultimately undone when he tries to retrieve his gun and gets unbalanced by Robin and a see-saw and then punched out by the Dark Knight. Impressed by his newest foe, who “gave [him] the fight of [his] career”, Batman literally drags the Scarecrow’s unconscious body off to jail, where Crane vows escape and continue his reign of terror.
The Summary:
“The Riddle of the Human Scarecrow” is certainly a bizarre early-Batman tale. There isn’t really a “riddle” to the straw-faced villain, so to speak, as we learn everything about him within the first few pages, including hints towards him being psychologically damaged as a boy and his obsession with wealth, knowledge, and fear. Batman and Robin barely even stop to wonder who is under the burlap sack and only happen upon clues to his true identity through sheer luck and massive coincidence, so it’s not as if they spend hours toiling away studying evidence or being bamboozled by the their new foe’s identity. Indeed, they only happen across the Scarecrow out of dumb luck and are only alerted to his crimes because of newspapers and radio broadcasts. If the Scarecrow had employed his fear toxin here to kill through a more unconventional means it might have helped to make the title more relevant and give the character more menace and intrigue, but he just runs around dressed as a scarecrow and shoots people, clearly as a hired gun, so I think a title more akin to “The Menace of the Human Scarecrow” would’ve been more appropriate.
Interestingly, since this is a longer Batman tale than some other debuts I’ve read, quite a bit more time is spent on developing Crane and establishing his character; he’s resentful that his peers place so much importance on wealth and combines his obsession with fear with his desire for affluence into a horrifying visage. He sells himself as an intimidating thug who can terrify a person’s business rivals for cash, but goes about this in a manner so mundane that it really isn’t befitting of his theatrical getup. He simply shoots people and tosses smoke bombs, something any hoodlum can do, but makes the front page because he happens to be dressed as a scarecrow. Despite being a gaunt, wiry, and somewhat middle-aged man, Crane is surprisingly nimble, athletic, and physically gifted; much time is spent emphasising his speed and agility and he’s more than capable of fending off Batman and Robin either using his wiles or fisticuffs. This is probably the most unrealistic aspect of the character and I much prefer the Scarecrow as a psychological challenge rather than a physical one, but this “Crane Style” of fighting has come up before and is known to catch Batman off-guard so I can just about forgive it. What I can’t forgive is how clueless and ineffectual Batman and Robin are; they stumble across the Scarecrow and are easily bested, are hounded by the police (and even have to fight them off at one point), are almost killed by the villain on more than one occasion, and make absolutely no effort to investigate the Scarecrow, relying purely on the convenient clues dropped by other characters. Batman’s one piece of innovation has him dressing up as a civilian…over his Batsuit…and then revealing his subterfuge right outside Crane’s window and it’s only through their teamwork (and the will of the writer) that they’re able to finally topple the Scarecrow. Overall, I enjoyed the parts of this story that focused on Crane and his strawy alter ego; the Scarecrow has a lot of visual and motivational potential, but without his fear gas and his more psychological aspects he comes across as just weird guy in a suit shooting people for cash.
My Rating:
Pretty Good
Have you ever read “The Riddle of the Human Scarecrow”? What did you think of the Scarecrow’s debut and his surprisingly direct methods of inspiring fear? Were you surprised at how lazy and ineffectual Batman and Robin were and how physically capable Crane turned out to be? What are some of your favourite Scarecrow stories? Which interpretation of the Scarecrow, whether animated, pixelated, or live-action, is your favourite? Whatever you think about the Scarecrow, share your thoughts below or leave comment on my social media, and be sure to check out my other Batman content!
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