Calendar Man - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

Calendar Man is fascinated by dates and calendars – even his real name is a play on the Julian and Gregorian calendars. His crimes always have a relationship to the date that they are committed. The theme may be related to what day of the week it is or to a holiday or to a special anniversary on that date; he will plan his crime around that day. He often wears different costumes which correspond to the significance of the date, though he does have a main costume which has various numbers (meant to represent days on a calendar) sprouting from the shoulders.

After his first appearance, in which his crimes were based on the seasons of the year, his next appearance was in Batman #312 (June 1979), where his crimes were based on the days of the week, and his costumes reflected the Norse gods they were named for, along with Saturn. On Sunday he did not commit any robberies as it is a day of rest and he was planning to leave town. This issue also marked the first appearance of his most commonly known "calendar cape" costume. His next appearance in Batman #384-385 (June–July 1985), sees the Calendar Man at the onset of the Crisis being used as a pawn of the Monitor in an attempt to find someone to potentially eliminate the Batman for profit. In this instance, the Calendar Man's theme is holidays, and he attempts to use the young Jason Todd, as Robin, as the Batman's Achilles' heel with the promise of his demise on the first day of Spring, but it is ultimately Robin who is responsible for his defeat.

Because his crimes are generally petty and often ridiculous in nature, he is notorious among both heroes and villains alike for being something of a joke. Consequently, his post-Crisis appearances have been few and far between. He was once recruited by Killer Moth to form the villain team known as "The Misfits".

His best-known latter day appearance is in the mini-series Batman: The Long Halloween, where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure, offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a serial killer who uses holidays as his modus operandi. Like Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Calendar Man knows who the killer is and keeps this information to himself, choosing instead to taunt the heroes with cryptic clues. He returns in that story's sequel, Batman: Dark Victory. In both stories, he is bitter that the new murderous rogues have taken the attention off him; Day fears that he is being forgotten. He is seriously harmed by Sofia Falcone near the end of Dark Victory, described as being barely alive and having his jaw broken.

Calendar Man is also known for teaming up with Catman and Killer Moth as part of The Misfits, a group of third-rate villains trying to prove themselves, in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #7-9 (1992–1993). Also, he is among the Arkham Asylum inmates freed by Bane in Batman: Knightfall, but he is easily recaptured by Power Girl shortly after his escape.

He appears in Team Titans #14 (Nov '93). He and several other time-based villains, including Time Commander, fight the title's heroes over a valued hourglass.

Day appears in the third issue of the 80 Page Giant Batman Special Edition (July 2000) entitled "All the Deadly Days". He has acquired a new high-tech costume, and moves up to more grandiose crimes.

Day appears in Harley Quinn's series, as an inside informant to the fugitive.

In Week 20 of the weekly series 52, a radio broadcasts a message saying that Calendar Man was left tied up for the cops in Gotham City, even though there is no Batman. It is revealed the new heroine Batwoman was responsible for his capture.