This is the last DC story in the villain origins retrospective; going past Crisis on Infinite Earths would go beyond the main target of this site.
As far as Batman villains go, newcomers to his rogues gallery are VERY rare: with the exception of Ra’s Al Ghul, nobody else has joined since the 60s.
The 90s will add Bane and Harley Quinn; in case you’re wondering, the former isn’t part of the retrospective since his storyline would take FAR too long to cover, and the latter was introduced in the Animated Series.
But there is ONE late arrival that managed to stick around in the 80s…
Detective Comics #523 (1983)
by Gerry Conway & Gene Colan
cover by Ed Hannigan
…who despite the cover is not Solomon Grundy. Although it IS interesting they were trying to turn him into a Batman villain this early.
No the new arrival is Killer Croc, but only has a cameo here and we don’t even take a good look at him just yet.
And that’s the extent of his involvement. No sense reviewing the rest of the story since it has nothing to do with Killer Croc, but I have to say that Gene Colan’s artwork works perfectly with Batman.
Batman #357 (1983)
by Gerry Conway & Don Newton
This is the first appearance of Jason Todd, but it’s more like a cameo. We do learn that Killer Croc is extorting protection from the circus where he works.
Also: Commissioner Gordon is 60 at this point. It’s not important, but I thought it was interesting.
Detective Comics #524 (1983)
by Gerry Conway & Don Newton
cover by Ed Hannigan
Killer Croc isn’t the main villain AGAIN, this time losing the cover to The Squid, a very minor Batman villain who unfortunately is not a humanoid squid.
In fact, The Squid is little more than a regular mob boss with a strange look. Not as strange as Killer Croc once he steps out of the shadows, though.
Yeah, pre-Crisis Killer Croc has a completely different vibe than his future incarnation. He’s basically a villain straight out of a noir.
What’s scarier than a humanoid crocodile? A humanoid crocodile packing heat!
A nice introduction, although the fact that he killed The Squid doesn’t exactly raise his credibility as a villain… it was THE SQUID.
Detective Comics #525 (1983)
by Gerry Conway & Curt Swan
cover by Ed Hannigan
Alright, THIS time it’s a Killer Croc story.
I mean he says so in the first page!
It’s kind of weird to see Killer Croc being a mob boss, since it would be completely out of his reach in his future incarnation. But here it works.
Despite the promise of the cover, this story is mostly the investigation of Batman to connect Killer Croc to the circus’ protection racket and the schemes of other mobsters.
It’s a very well done detective story, but not that exciting to review.
This version of Killer Croc is not quite as superhuman as his future incarnations, but he’s DEFINITELY not a regular human with a strange skin condition.
All that detective work was satisfactory, if nothing else to see Killer Croc return home and finding Batman casually waiting for him.
You’d think this would mean Croc would go down, but he reveals a more complex side.
He is SO shaken by his house being invaded that he BURNS IT TO THE GROUND before escaping into the sewers.
Killer Croc usually ends up at Arkham Asylum in most continuities, despite not being insane… but this story makes me wonder if he doesn’t belong there.
Detective Comics #525 (1983)
by Gerry Conway & Dan Jurgens
cover by Ed Hannigan
The first sign that Killer Croc wasn’t a one-off villain is that he’s ALREADY back.
Although this issue has a higher historical importance because this is the first FULL appearance of Jason Todd.
We are VERY close to the end of Dick Grayson’s tenure as Robin, since he will take the name Nightwing the following year.
Batman’s rematch with Killer Croc doesn’t go much better than their first fight, mostly because it’s in the sewers.
A lot of Batman lore can be traced to the circus, isn’t it?
He manages to hold his own against Killer Croc surprisingly well, considering this is his habitat.
Batman summarizing every single fight he will ever have with Killer Croc.
Case in point, he manages to defeat Croc by literally flushing him out.
However Croc manages to escape once again. I’m sensing a theme here.
Batman #359 (1983)
by Gerry Conway & Dan Jurgens
cover by Ed Hannigan
I don’t know Croc, shouldn’t the King of Crime at least wear pants?
Croc is on top of the world now, believing he succeeded in killing Batman.
He learns his mistake pretty quickly.
As does Batman, because Croc defeats him AGAIN.
Killer Croc escapes AGAIN, but this time Batman finally manages to learn something about him from Commissioner Gordon.
Killer Croc is a monster, sure, but you can’t help feeling at least a bit of sympathy for the guy.
Well, I did say “a bit”.
It’s an aspect of the character that unfortunately often gets pushed aside to make him Discount Lizard. Which is too bad because the best Batman villains are those with whom Batman can sympathize to an extent.
The story ends with the cliffhanger of Killer Croc having kidnapped Jason Todd’s parents.
Detective Comics #526 (1983)
by Gerry Conway & Don Newton
This is the 500th anniversary of Batman’s first story, since he debuted in Detective Comics #27.
As such, this 56 page story (!!!) features most of Batman’s villains, from famous to obscure.
Including the Spook, who isn’t notable enough to warrant his own retrospective but who I’m mentioning since several of my readers are fans of him.
Most of the story follows the various villains attacking Batman, but it also has Jason Todd stumbling into the Batcave.
Honestly, he puts together a better costume than Robin. It’s no masterpiece, sure, but at least it has pants!
We also discover Killer Croc killed Jason Todd’s parents.
Killer Croc is rapidly establishing himself as the leader of Batman’s villains, but there’s one little problem with that plan… or rather, a wildcard.
Being the anniversary issue, the story features some Batman villains who hadn’t appeared for a while. Including Clayface, who last fought Batman in 1964 in World’s Finest #144.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget, but some of these villains could disappear for DECADES.
Manipulated by the Joker, Killer Croc refuses to straight up kill Batman and instead fights him one-on-one.
Joke’s on the Joker, though.
In the end, it’s Jason Todd who defeats Killer Croc by DROPPING A PIPE ON HIS HEAD.
Kind of foreshadowing Jason’s future characterization, isn’t it?
Jason Todd will of course become the new Robin. It’s interesting to see that Dick Grayson originally wanted to adopt him!
Historical significance: 4/10
Killer Croc will become a recurring Batman villain, but he’s never been treated as a big deal. Even the most significant part of his involvement, murdering the parents of the second Robin, doesn’t stick: in the post-Crisis version, Two-Face is the one responsible.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
If anything, the post-Crisis version of Killer Croc is MORE Silver- Age than the original!
Does it stand the test of time? N/A
I skipped WAY too much to give these issues a proper score. They’re a bit unfocused at places, jumping from villain to villain, and can be a bit repetitive (how many times does Croc defeat Batman and escape!?).
But while I don’t mind modern Killer Croc, I wish they stayed with the original version! He seems much more versatile than the brute he will become, being a challenge for Batman’s mind as much as he’s a physical threat.
How close is this to the modern character? 3/10
He has the theme and the origin… but basically everything else is completely different.
If I’m not mistaken, Killer Croc has only 1 additional pre-Crisis story.
He returns in 1991, not particularly different in his looks but he’s significantly less of a mental threat and a straight-up brute.
Over the years he’s become more and more monstrous, with some excuses about having an unstable mutation and being affected by other villains’ drugs.
Hard to believe he started off as a regular human with a skin condition and barely superhuman strength!!!
These days he’s one of the few legitimately superhuman Batman villains, and definitely the most mindless one. He’s fine, but I kind of whish they kept the mob boss angle.
Considering he was a very intelligent criminal who was stronger than Batman and ambushed him by unleashing all other villains… isn’t he kind of the pre-Crisis Bane?
