Cornelius Stirk
Cornelius Stirk | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Detective Comics #592 (November 1988) |
Created by | Alan Grant (writer) Norm Breyfogle (artist) |
In-story information | |
Species | Metahuman |
Notable aliases | Fear |
Abilities | Can cause fear or hallucinations through telepathy |
Cornelius Stirk is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics. He is a cannibalistic supervillain with the ability to cause fear or hallucinations through telepathy and appears as a recurring adversary of Batman.
Publication history
He first appeared in Detective Comics #592 (November 1988) and was created by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle.[1]
Fictional character biography
Stirk is a serial killer who, like fellow Batman villain Scarecrow, uses fear to get to his victims. Stirk has the ability to make other people see him as someone else, allowing him to get close to his victims. He operates under the delusion that he requires the nutrients and hormones from people's hearts in order to stay alive, and these are best prepared with norepinephrine by inducing fear in the victim prior to death.
In his first appearance, Stirk is released from Arkham Asylum after being certified as sane. He had been confined since the age of 16 for trying to kill a classmate. After his release, Stirk subsequently stops taking his medication and begins his escalation into a serial killer.
Despite his many murders, Stirk professes to dislike violence. He also dislikes light and therefore operates almost exclusively at night. Oddly, he refers to almost everyone as "sir".
The Last Arkham
Stirk makes a brief cameo in the beginning of the four-part storyline The Last Arkham, where Jeremiah Arkham, Arkham Asylum's new director, utilizes more barbaric methods to "cure" him. When Stirk refuses to take his medication, for instance, Jeremiah has two orderlies brutally beat him with billy clubs and forces the medication down his throat.
Knightfall
During the "
Stirk later appears during the "Madmen Across the Water" storyline, taking place after his capture but before Arkham Asylum (destroyed by
Road to No Man's Land
Stirk makes several more cameos in the "Waxman and the Clown" story arc (
The Widening Gyre
Stirk returns in Kevin Smith's storyline, Batman: The Widening Gyre. Stirk attacks a distracted Batman, but Robin manages to save Batman.
Powers and abilities
Cornelius Stirk is able to cast a hypnotic aura which allows him to take on any face he chooses, generally a face that people will trust.
In other media
- Cornelius Stirk appears in the Gotham episode "Wrath of the Villains: A Legion of Horribles", portrayed by Kameron Omidian. This version is Edward Nygma's cellmate at Arkham Asylum.
- Cornelius Stirk appears in Batman Unburied, voiced by Sam Witwer. This version is a former diener who becomes the serial killer Harvester.
References
- ISBN 9780345501066.
- ^ Batman #494
- ^ Showcase '94 #3–4
External links
- Cornelius Stirk at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe