DC Provides a New Reason for Calendar Man’s Obsession With Dates

In Batman/Superman #22, Calendar Man talks about how no one can escape time, not even Batman, further deepening his obsession with dates.

Our acquaintance with Calendar Man on screen (played by Sean Gunn in The Suicide Squad) may have been new and brief. But the DC villain has been known for his goofy costumes and silly but torturous mayhem since time immemorial.

Talking about comics means talking about origin stories, and with a name like Calendar Man, one does really wonder about its source. (Even his civilian name, Julian Gregory Day, is a little on the nose!)

In the upcoming Batman/Superman #22, there’s more insight (or rather, an addition) into Calendar Man’s obsession with dates:

The comic revisits A-Day, an event where Joker orchestrates a massacre at Arkham Asylum, killing 500 inmates. This occurrence has been previously explored but this time we see that Calendar Man may have not ended up (entirely) dead. 

Before the fatal attack, Calendar Man is next to his significant other (a calendar) counting down the days to his revenge on Batman. He aims to mark down each of 4,259 days left with an ’X’.

He comments that although the days left is a sizeable number, nothing can stop time. And this will ensure that his reckoning with Batman too will be here, sooner than later.

The preview then shows that the A-Day attack takes place. Although Calendar Man doesn’t survive, he is brought by in a temporal form by Mr Mxyzptlk. The two are sure to wreak havoc in the later parts of the comic, releasing Sep 28.

This little nugget suggests that Calendar Man’s obsession with dates hinges on having a definite structure and an unchangeable fate.

This would also give him a feeling of control, and hope in situations where Batman does best him. After all, he can console himself with the fact that Batman can’t control everything, especially not time.

Previously, it was established that the name Calendar Man arose due to his disturbing, neglectful relationship with his son.

His emotion/mental abuse on his son, a specific emphasis on time and again forgetting his birthday, resulted in Calendar Man getting overly obsessed with dates.

As such, all his crimes were tied to specific dates and calendar occasions, perfecting it with elaborate set-ups and schemes.

We may never understand eccentric villains like Calendar Man, but Batman/Superman #22’s portrayal is a good insight to have!

Source: Flickeringmyth