The Mad Hatter is a Superhero from The Golden Age of Comic Books, created by Bill Woolfolk and published by O.W. Comics Corp.
Grant Richmond is a lawyer with a problem. You see, he has grown disillusioned with the legal system, deciding that it makes as much sense as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Thus, donning a garish costume, Richmond became the rhyming vigilante the Mad Hatter.
Sadly, The Mad Hatter hung his hat up early; his series lasted for just two issues in 1946. The series is now in the public domain, with both issues easily findable on various comic book websites.
This comic contains examples of:
- Arch-Enemy: The Gargoyle, a criminal resurrected as a Beast Man, was clearly supposed to be this for the Mad Hatter, due to the implication that he'll return, but he debuted in the final issue of the comic, so he didn't get the chance to fully come into his evil.
- Artistic License – Law: In the second story of The Mad Hatter #2, a criminal's body is donated to science because the warden who executed him consents and he never said no. In the US, nobody can use a dead body without the deceased's consent. However, this could be
Values Dissonance, as the laws regarding this weren't codified until the 1970's, and the comic was published in the 1940's. - Bad Boss:
- Spade Delvane, Big Bad of "The Golden City," reacts to four of his men being killed by police during a shootout by noting that it's more loot for him.
- The Gargoyle, from the second story of The Mad Hatter #2, kills his entire gang and burns their headquarters down when they get sick of him murdering so many people.
- Bat Signal: The Hatter reveals himself by projecting an image of a purple top hat.
- Beast Man: Frank Faro, Big Bad of the second story of The Mad Hatter #2, used to be a master criminal who was executed and his brain placed into a gorilla's body. He disguises himself as a man with a gray suit and a face mask and takes the moniker "the Gargoyle."
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Humpty Dumpty, Big Bad of "Crime Consultant!", is a criminal mastermind who absolutely despises physical activity. This leads him to take up consulting other criminals to come up with schemes for a fee.
- City of Gold: "The Golden City" has the Mad Hatter defend an isolated Aztec utopia from thieves.
- Creepy Crossdresser: The unnamed Big Bad of "The Case of the Scornful Girl" disguises himself as his twin sister in an attempt to flee the country and a murder conviction.
- Disney Villain Death: Frank "The Gargoyle" Faro, Big Bad of the second story of The Mad Hatter #2, is thrown off a roller coaster by the Mad Hatter who's stopping him from killing a woman and her child.
- The '40s: Released and set in 1946.
- Heel–Face Turn: In "A Date with the Mad Hatter," a mob gunman called Hunky headers decides to go straight and reveal the true crime boss of the city. The story concerns the Mad Hatter protecting him from said crime boss's Hired Guns. Unfortunately, they manage to kill him, but the Hatter exposes the crime boss anyways.
- The Man Behind the Man: The plot of "A Date with the Mad Hatter" concerns the Hatter exposing the secret crime boss of the city, who turns out to be the local newspaper editor. Oddly enough for a character of his sort, the crime boss does occasionally handle things personally, albeit always with a black hood over his face.
- The Man They Couldn't Hang: The Mad Hatter narrowly survives some criminals trying to hang him in his first appearance.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: At the beginning of "Crime Consultant!", it seems like Big Bad Humpty Dumpty is a bumbling moron who is comically lazy. However, when he takes up consulting other criminals, we learn he has a truly brilliant strategic mind.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: The Mad Hatter is a bit of a chauvinist, condescendingly joking about "female egotism," but he doesn't mean anything malicious by it.
- Predecessor Villain: The baddies of "The Golden City" were preceded by historical genocidal conquistador Hernan Cortez, who was indirectly responsible for the city's founding by Aztecs fleeing his invasion.
- Protagonist Title
- Rhymes on a Dime: The Mad Hatter constantly speaks in rhyme.
- Starter Villain: Jim Murray, the secret crime boss of the whole city, who spends the first story pursuing a witness who knows his true identity and is arrested at the end of the issue.
- Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Attorney.
- Sword Cane: Humpty Dumpty has a gun cane.
