Dollmaker (character)

Dollmaker is the name of three supervillains in DC Comics.

Publication history

The first Dollmaker debuted in Plastic Man #10.

The second Dollmaker debuted in Supergirl Vol. 5 #58 (May 2011) and was created by Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle.

The third Dollmaker debuted in Detective Comics Vol. 2 #1 (September 2011) and was created by Tony S. Daniel and Ryan Winn.

Fictional character biography

Marcel Mannequin

The first Dollmaker seen was an enemy of Plastic Man.

Anton Schott

Dollmaker II
Publication information
First appearance	Supergirl Vol. 5 #58
Created by	Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle
In-story information
Alter ego	Anton Schott
Species	Human
Abilities	Genius-level intellect Talented inventor

Supergirl and Cat Grant enter Arkham Asylum in order to have a sit down with the Toyman. It seems Cat has been receiving a doll on her doorstep each time a kid in Metropolis is reported missing by the papers. Cat wants to know why Toyman has been sending the dolls to her. Toyman confesses he loves children and he would do nothing to harm them. Supergirl uses her brute force to get any real answers out of Toyman but she has her own reasons for interrogating Toyman. Kara uses her x-ray vision to see if Toyman is a robot or the real Winslow Schott but the real reason why she is threatening Schott because Winslow had a hand in the destruction of New Krypton. Schott was the one who triggered Reactron's self-detonation. Unfortunately, Kara can tell from Schott’s vitals that he is telling the truth but Cat refuses to let Toyman go so she waves one of the dolls in Schott’s face. In an instant, Schott recognizes the craftsmanship of the doll and just as Schott was about divulge some information, the doll became animate. The doll attacks Toyman with a knife and it begins to stab him in the chest. Kara holds back Cat and watches as the doll nearly kills Schott. Kara destroys the doll with her heat vision and rushes Schott to the infirmary. Cat insults Supergirl by saying her rash actions could have cost them any possible lead to finding the children. Kara leaves Arkham and takes her anger out on Riot, Shrapnel, Baroness Blitzkrieg as well as Composite Superman before returning them to Ryker’s. Later on, Supergirl meets with Lana Lang because Kara could tell Cat has her personal vendetta against Toyman. Lana reveals that one of Toyman's robots accidentally killed Adam Grant, Cat’s son and Superman was the one who held the boy in his arms but he still allowed Schott to live. In recent months, Lana has noticed Cat has been directing a lot of her anger toward teenagers who are ruining their lives. Meanwhile, Cat returns to her apartment after visiting her son’s grave but suddenly a doll-like figure with claws for hands appears out of nowhere and attacks Cat. Cat uses her taser gun to stun the doll but Cat soon realizes that the doll is actually one of the missing children. Someone has surgically altered the child and turned them into a cybernetic doll assassin. It is at this point, Cat’s front door opens and the orchestrator of these kidnappings reveals himself as Anton Schott aka the Dollmaker.

The Dollmaker is accompanied by two other doll assassins who bound and gag Cat as they all head back to Dollmaker’s base of operations. Anton reveals his origins to Cat as his assassins make Ms. Grant more comfortable. It turns out Winslow was more compassionate towards other children than his own son even though Anton showed great promise as a skilled toymaker. As for Anton’s mother, she took off with Anton because she was under the impression that her husband was a pedophile but later she abandons Anton, leaving him to fend for himself. With nowhere to go, Anton found one of his father's abandoned toy factories and began to adapt his father’s motif in order to make a name for himself. This turn of events only enhanced Anton’s sadistic compulsions which was brought on by abandonment issues. Anton kidnapped Cat because he knew what his father did to her so he asks Cat if she wants to be his new mother. Cat spurns Anton’s heartfelt plea so in a fit of rage, Anton decides he will shutdown all of his doll assassins which will kill them. Cat swallows her pride and calls out to Supergirl because she refuses to let her anger towards Supergirl to endanger the children. Supergirl crashes through the Dollmaker's hideout, uses her heat vision to free Cat and she disarms the doll assassins. Cat knocks out Anton with her right hook and Anton is most likely sent to Arkham Asylum to work out his issues with his father.

Barton Mathis

Dollmaker III
Publication information
First appearance	Detective Comics Vol. 2 #1
Created by	Tony S. Daniel Ryan Winn
In-story information
Alter ego	Barton Mathis
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Dollmaker's "Family"

The third Dollmaker debuted as part of The New 52. As a child, Barton Mathis went on several "hunting trips" with his father Wesley. During these hunts, Barton watched as his father killed people and then cannibalized them. He would also witness his father being shot down by a young cop named James Gordon. After spending only a year in foster care, Barton disappeared for years before he resurfaced as the criminal Dollmaker. His mask is partially made of skin from his deceased father.

Dollmaker first appeared where he visited the Joker in Arkham Asylum. As it turns out, the Joker had planned to be caught and taken to Arkham for the sole purpose of an audience with this man. Joker tells Dollmaker that he killed his son earlier because he insists on only the father's expertise. According to their plan, the Dollmaker cuts the skin from the Joker's face leaving the madman ecstatic with the pain. Tonight, they will celebrate their rebirth.

Upon being ambushed by masked men upon finding the body of Ray Quimby, Batman encounters Dollmaker who has brought in what appears to be Commissioner Gordon.

As Batman crawls towards Commissioner Gordon, he knows that the body isn't Commissioner Gordon. Dollmaker announces his plans to make a doll of Batman as well, and then sell him off to the highest bidder. Naturally, Batman resists and is forced to fight all of the Dollmaker's family with rapidly spreading paralysis in his body. With Jack-in-the-Box clinging to his back, Batman desperately leaps out a window in order to escape becoming too vulnerable in front of his enemy. Struggling to stand, he drags the downed minion with him. At the abandoned hospital, Commissioner Gordon overhears the Dollmaker explaining that he plans to remove his prisoner's liver before beginning the doll process, because he must save a life before his can be taken. He expresses an interest in filming the procedure, as he has a personal vendetta against Gordon. Commissioner Gordon is unaware on who Dollmaker is talking about, but Dollmaker responds that is staring his own victim in the face - suggesting that the skin making up his new face actually belonged to his father. When Batman arrives at the hospital upon receiving Dollmaker's message, Batman hears Dollmaker's voice and is attacked by Dollmaker's henchman Bentley who chokes Batman into unconscious. When Batman awakens in a makeshift boxing ring, Dollmaker then begins to auction a hanging Batman who is hanging upside down near some Joker Dolls.

Suspended like a marionette, Batman is forced to fight thugs that are dressed as Joker. A crook named Raju arrives at Dollmaker's lair to offer Dollmaker a large sum of money in exchange for Batman. Raju's client is the Penguin who plans to pay Dollmaker some gold bars in exchange for Batman's body. Dollmaker uses magnetized cables to immobilize Batman completely, and Batman is surprised to realize that the cables are of his own design as the Dollmaker has somehow gained access to Wayne Corp. Regardless, he uses a demagnetizer in his suit to free himself, leaping forward and knocking Penguin's thugs out. Freed, he easily defeats the thugs dressed as the Joker and begins his search for the Commissioner. Meanwhile, Dollmaker receives a call from an unseen benefactor who warns him that the GCPD are on their way. The man orders that Commissioner Gordon be killed. Dollmaker and Matilda make their escape while his thugs Bentley and Sampson gather all the organs and body parts they can salvage. Meanwhile, Batman begins kicking down every door in the hospital, in search of his friend. Batman defeats Dollmaker's henchmen Bentley and Sampson and finds Commissioner and Olivia Carr as they get to safety. Seeing Dollmaker escaping in a car, Batman leaps down onto the roof crushing it down around him. Unexpectedly though, the car explodes. When Batman investigates, he discovers that the car was filled with dummies and that Dollmaker must have escaped in the police chopper.

During the "Forever Evil" storyline, Dollmaker is among the supervillains that are recruited by the Crime Syndicate of America to join the Secret Society of Super Villains.

Powers and abilities

The first Dollmaker uses dolls that he can control.

The second Dollmaker can use dolls that he has modified into mobile weapons.

The third Dollmaker is a gifted surgeon.

In other media

Television

• The Dollmaker, voiced by Frank Welker, appears in "The Case of the Dreadful Dolls", an episode of Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show. This version of the character creates voodoo dolls that allow him to control the people in whose likenesses they are made, in this case, the Super Friends. His hideout is in Big Shott's Toy Factory, a variation, or misspelling, of the second Dollmaker's surname, Schott. In the DVD commentary, it is stated that the series' producers used the Dollmaker in the episode in lieu of the character of the Toyman, who was not available to them.

• Barton Mathis appears in the Arrow episode "Broken Dolls". Mathis is portrayed by Michael Eklund as a serial killer who murders young girls by pouring "a flexible polymer" into their throats, which hardens, and suffocates them. He subsequently dresses and poses the bodies in the manner of a bisque doll, prompting the police force and media to nickname him "The Dollmaker".

External links

• Dollmaker I at DC Comics Wiki
• Dollmaker II at DC Comics Wiki