Batman is a force of nature in the DC Universe, a hero whose iron will and cool gadgets allow him to hold court with some of the most powerful beings on Earth. But what if there was an evil version of Bruce Wayne, one who took all of the character’s best qualities and used them for evil? Meet Owlman, a member of Earth-3’s Crime Syndicate of America.
DC began expanding its fictional universe into a larger multiverse in the early 1960s, beginning by placing all Silver Age stories on Earth-One, and stories from the Golden Age on Earth-2. When it came time to create new Earth for the Multiverse, Justice League of America writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky developed an alternate Earth that was a bizzaro mirror image of the real world: America discovered Europe, Benedict Arnold is a national hero and so on. In this twisted world, all the super-powered beings are evil and have banded together as the Crime Syndicate of America. Each member of the Syndicate is a corrupted version of an existing Justice League member. Ultraman is an evil Superman, Superwoman is an evil riff on Wonder Woman and Owlman is the evil equivalent of Batman.
There have been different versions of the Crime Syndicate through the years, and different versions of Owlman, each contributing their own bits to the character’s back story. The modern Owlman debuted in Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly’s 2000 graphic novel JLA: Earth 2. This version lived on an Earth in the anti-matter universe and was in reality Thomas Wayne Jr, Bruce’s brother. While this version has not been seen since the mid-2000s, a new Owlman debuted during the “Forever Evil” storyline in the New 52 era. Much like the original, this version was native to Earth-3. This new incarnation kept the Thomas Wayne Jr identity.
Much like his benevolent counterpart, Owlman tried to take an apprentice who also happened to be Dick Grayson. Keeping with the dark and twisted nature of Earth-3, Owlman arranged the death of Grayson’s parents, hoping to recruit the boy to his cause. He was successful, and Grayson became Talon.
The New 52 version of Owlman met his end in Dark Nights: Death Metal: Multiverse’s End. As the Pereptua and the Batman Who Laughs tear the Multiverse apart, Owlman predicts he will return if the Multiverse is reborn and is proven correct when a new Earth-3 emerges during the rebirth of the Multiverse. Owlman is still Thomas Wayne Jr, but now commands a whole army of Talons to do his bidding. He wishes to keep his existence an urban legend, to the point where Earth-3's Alfred kills a person who took Owlman’s picture.
Much like Batman, Owlman was not born with any super-powers, but instead relies on his mastery of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts along with advanced technology. Batman frequently employs others to aid in his war on crime, including staples like Nightwing, Batwoman, and Red Hood. Owlman does this as well, using an army of Talons to help him enforce his will on Gotham. The first issue of Crime Syndicate did not say where the Talons come from, but given how things work on Earth-3, they were probably acquired through illicit means. Owlman is a truly nightmarish character, a version of Batman whose gifts have been perverted to evil ends. Earth-3 is a terrifying place, and characters like Owlman ensure it stays that way.