7 Stories Featuring Clayface So Dark and Emotional They Redefined One of Batman’s Greatest Foes
Batman, Robin, and Batwoman posing on rooftop. Image source: Amazon
Clayface is one of the most tragic and truly accidental Batman villains. Also, in the comic books, there is not just one Clayface. There are like eight Clayface characters in DC Comics; most casual readers and adapted media fans know about the first two, Basil Karlo and Matt Hagen. The upcoming Clayface film is based on the Matt Hagen character, although Basil Karlo’s personality is also utilized. Any Batman story featuring Clayface is usually poignant, tragic, and garners sympathy for Clayface.
The modern Clayface, the one most people know about, is an actor who changes into a clay monster after exposure to chemicals. Clayface is usually seen as narcissistic, egotistical, and wanting adoration from the public as an actor. He fails miserably and faces crushing humiliation. Turning into a clay monster helps Clayface selfishly and egotitically lash out against the world and deflect from his own failings as a human being.
A Clayface DCU horror film by director James Watkins will debut this Fall. To help you prepare for it, here are the seven greatest storylines featuring Clayface.
1. Batman Annual #11 (1987)
This is one of the most tragic Batman stories featuring Clayface. Preston Payne is the third Bronze Age Clayface in DC Comics canon. He made his debut in Detective Comics #477 in 1978. Payne was a scientist suffering from hyperpituitarism, causing his body to deform from excess hormone production. So, he got a sample of Matt Hagen’s blood, the second Clayface, to inject himself with.
The results were horrific. Payne’s body begins melting, and he cannot fully control his body. While on a date, Payne touches his girlfriend, and she dissolves into a pile of goo. Payne must wear an exosuit because he cannot control his form. Worse, he soon learns that he has to regularly touch people, causing them to dissolve into protoplasm, to survive.
Batman Annual #1 is about Preston becoming lost in a delusional fugue state. Payne falls in love with a mall store mannequin, whom he names “Helena.” He must believe she is real, since she does not melt. Payne believes that Batman wants “Helena,” and after a confrontation, Payne is left with insane grief.
2. Detective Comics #604 (1989)
This is a four-part storyline featuring Clayface characters uniting to stop Batman. Basil Karlo, the first Clayface, unites the other Clayfaces, Matt Hagen, Preston Payne, and Sondra Fuller, the second to fourth Clayfaces, to form the Mudpack. The Mudpack is a gang of Clayfaces uniting to take down Batman.
They impersonate Batman and cause mayhem in Gotham City. However, Karlo is manipulating everyone in the Mudpack. Karlo steals DNA samples from all the other Clayfaces to inject into himself, hoping to become the “Ultimate Clayface.”
3. Catwoman #4 (2002)
The Catwoman comic book series from 2002 is critically acclaimed for its grounded stories featuring the tragedies of human nature. In this storyline, Catwoman learns that sex workers in Gotham are being targeted by a serial killer. She learns that Clayface 7, Todd Rusell, is a former soldier with no memory of how he got his shapeshifting powers. Russell may have gotten his powers through rogue military experiments on humans.
Russell is unable to control his transformations after a while. Catwoman decapitates Russell in Clayface form and sticks his head in a lab freezer.
4. Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface (2023)
Basil Karlo, the first Clayface, has just finished a stint as a Batman ally in the Bat-Family. So, he returns to Hollywood. He wants to forget his life as Clayface and just become the best actor ever in Hollywood. However, Karlo forgets the cruel, superficial, and backstabbing nature of Hollywood. Karlo loses a role to a colleague and faces numerous rejections. He sees Hollywood for what he wants it to be and tries not to see it for what it truly is.
After further disillusionment and rejection, Karlo transforms into Clayface and goes on a murderous rampage. This is one of the saddest Batman storylines featuring Clayface.
5. Detective Comics #478 (1978)
Preston Payne, Clayface III, made his debut in Detective Comics #477 in a small cameo. However, comic book purists insist that his true first appearance occurs in this issue. Living with a life-altering medical condition, Payne injects himself with a blood sample from Matt Hagen, Cayface II.
The results are horrendous, and Payne must wear a containment exosuit just to maintain physical integrity.
6. Detective Comics #934 (2016)
This is one of the most redeeming Batman storylines featuring Clayface. Basil Karlo grows tired of being a criminal and supervillain. So, he decides to become a hero for once. Batman is recruiting a new Bat-Family lineup and recruits Karlo to join. The Bat-Family trains Karlo to become a hero and tries to help him find a cure for his condition.
Unfortunately, Karlo’s transformation into a hero does not last long. However, the story shows that anyone is capable of change and that redemption must be earned.
This story is part of the “Rise and Fall of the Batmen” storyline from Detective Comics. This omnibus is 1,280-pages and collects the entire storyline. Buy it now on Amazon for $86.
7. Batman: Joker’s Asylum II: Clayface #1 (2010)
This was a dark, limited series told from the perspective of the Joker, almost like an omniscient narrator. Each issue is a one-shot featuring a tale about one of Batman’s rogues. In this issue, Batman investigates a local movie theater taken over by Basil Karlo, the first Clayface. Clayface is using his clay powers to make clay movie users, concession stands, and even clay candy.
Karlo is screening his old films in an empty theater. This comic hyper-focuses on Basil Karlo’s egotism and narcissism more than Clayface. The Clayface persona is a reaction to Karlo losing his world as an actor. He wanted to be a star and to be worshipped by fans; this surreal and horrific takeover of a film theater is the closest he gets to that dream.
Batman Stories Featuring Clayface
The Joker is an unrepentant criminal and gangster. He enjoys making Batman and Gotham City suffer. Victor Zsasz is a serial killer who etches tally marks on his body to keep track of his victim count. Some Batman villains are just pure evil. While Clayface is not innocent, he is not like the rest of the Batman rogues.
Clayface is a human, a flawed human, whose monstrous inner emotional nature truly got to show itself once he became a monster. If Clayface had gotten help for his issues, he may have never become a monster in the first place.
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Allen Francis is a full-time writer, prolific comic book investor and author of The Casual’s Guide: Why You Should Get Into Comic Book Investing. Allen holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College and has decades of experience in comic investing and personal finance. Before becoming a writer Allen was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years. Allen now focuses on comic book reviews, collectible investments, and helping others collect and enjoy comics.