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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Arnold Wesker, better known as the Ventriloquist, was the first criminal in Gotham to use that name, alongside his puppet Scarface.
History
During the second year of Batman's career, during the 'War of Jokes and Riddles' between the Joker and the Riddler, the two villains recruited all the criminals in Gotham they could to fight the other for the right to kill Batman. Wesker became active as a criminal at this point and joined the Joker's army. However, in order to stop the civilian casualties, Batman was forced to take out one side first and joined the Riddler's army against the Joker. Wesker was defeated by the Bat and taken to Arkham Asylum to be treated for his multiple personality disorder.[1]
Wesker was temporarily freed from Arkham, along with some other Batman villains, when he was drugged with a special serum of Venom that Bane had been working on. He was subdued by Nightwing and Robin.[2]
While he resided in Arkham, another criminal named Shauna Belzer would become his successor as the Ventriloquist with her own puppet Ferdie.[3]
Wesker temporarily came out of retirement when he escaped Arkham prior to Jim Gordon temporarily replacing Bruce Wayne as Batman. The Ventriloquist and Scarface allied themselves with the Penguin, Black Mask, and the Great White Shark before being taken back to Arkham.[4][5]
After Bruce Wayne returned to the mantle of Batman, he recruited Ventriloquist to his own personal Suicide Squad in order to kidnap Psycho Pirate from Bane on Santa Prisca. Batman knew Wesker's multiple personality disorder would overcome Psycho Pirate's mood-altering powers and successfully used Wesker to detain the Pirate.
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Ventriloquism
- Firearms:Wesker uses a pistol while Scarface is usually scene operating a Tommy Gun when the duo engage in a firefight.
- Indomitable Will: Wesker was able to overcome the Psycho Pirate's emotional mind control through his alternate personality Scarface.[6]
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)
Other Characteristics
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Notes
- The Ventriloquist (Arnold Wesker) was created by Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Norm Breyfogle, first appearing in Detective Comics #583. However, in the rebooted Prime Earth continuity his first appearance as part of the DC Universe is in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's New 52 Batman series.
- In his official reintroduction during DC Rebirth, the Ventriloquist was erroneously referred to as Arnold Weskler. However, this typo would be corrected in the following issues. [7]
Related
- 80 Appearances of Arnold Wesker (Prime Earth)
- 20 Images featuring Arnold Wesker (Prime Earth)
- Quotations by or about Arnold Wesker (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Arnold Wesker (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
Batman Villain(s) |