Mad Dog (DC Comics)

The Mad Dog is the name of four fictional characters in the DC Comics universe. Two of them are associated with the Batman mythos.

Publication history

The third Mad Dog was created by writer Andersen Gabrych and artist Ale Garza. He first appeared as an enemy of Cassandra Cain (then Batgirl) in Batgirl #67 (October 2005).

Fictional character biography

Lucas "Mad Dog" McGill

Lucas "Mad Dog" McGill is a highly dangerous criminal who is wanted in several states for multiple counts of murder and was notorious for shooting men in the back. One night while beating a woman in the streets, he met a young Jonah Hex (who was drunk at the time). In his inebriated state, Jonah Hex believed that McGill was his father Woodson Hex abusing his mother Ginny and shot him dead where he stood. He was rewarded a substantial sum of money by the local sheriff immediately afterward. This encounter inspired Jonah Hex to become a bounty hunter. Jonah's wife Tall Bird later recounted this story to historians documenting Jonah Hex's life story.[1]

Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins

A serial killer named Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins was created in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #1 and featured in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Batman reads about him in Amadeus Arkham's diaries. From an early age, Martin Hawkins is beaten and sexually abused by his father. He grows up to become a disturbed man who cuts himself in order to feel something. One day, as he is driven further into insanity, he claims to see visions of the Virgin Mary, who tells him to go out and kill women, destroying their faces and sexual organs in order to "stop the dirty sluts from spreading their disease". He kills many women before he is finally caught and sentenced to stay in the State Psychiatric Hospital in Metropolis. Once there, he is treated by Amadeus Arkham. When Amadeus Arkham goes back to Gotham City and set up Arkham Asylum, he went back home on April 1 to find that Martin Hawkins had broken into his house, dismembered his wife Constance, and had raped his daughter before decapitating her and putting her head in a dollhouse. This is one of the factors which eventually drives Amadeus Arkham insane. Hawkins is quickly captured again and sentenced to Arkham Asylum, becoming one of its first patients, under the treatment of Amadeus Arkham himself. During their sessions, he matter-of-factly calls Arkham's daughter a slut and describes the rapes and murders in graphic detail. Dr. Arkham appears to take this all in his stride, and perseveres, earning praise from his colleagues for his dedication to mental health and rehabilitation. On the anniversary of the murder, Amadeus straps Hawkins to a shock therapy table and electrocutes him, getting revenge for the deaths of his wife and daughter. Hawkins' death is treated as an accident, leaving Amadeus Arkham insane and habilitated in his own asylum.[2]

David Cain's Son

The Mad Dog

The Mad Dog
Art by Ale Garza.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Batgirl #67 (October 2005)
Created by Andersen Gabrych
Ale Garza
In-story information
Alter ego "The Mad Dog" Cain
Team affiliations League of Assassins
Abilities Master martial artist

David Cain, one of the world's premier assassins, was by the nature of his profession a very lonely man and began thinking about what he would leave behind when he died. He wished for a "perfect child" - specifically a "perfect artisan of his craft".

Cain, was at this time, a member of Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins. Ra's had created the League to be "The fang that protects his head", but he had grown tired of the uncertain loyalties of its members. When he learned of the theories Cain was developing to train a perfect killer, Ra's was intrigued, and supplied Cain with infant test subjects in the hopes of creating a new generation of assassins. This experiment proved disastrous; those infants that survived eventually turned on one another until only one boy remained. Ra's ordered one of his "Ubu" guards to kill the boy "like a mad dog". The guard, however, took pity on the abused child, and secretly set him free in the woods instead. Cain and Ra's al Ghul did not know that the boy still lived, and Cain began a new experiment, raising his own daughter, Cassandra, to replace his earlier failures.

Ra's al Ghul's daughter Nyssa Raatko did know that "The Mad Dog" had survived. Years later, after Ra's' death, she sought out The Mad Dog and made him a member of her new League of Assassins. She took him on as a protégé, telling him everything about the experiments, and about who he was intended to be.

Cassandra gathered evidence indicating that Lady Shiva was her mother, and sought out Shiva to confirm this. At the time Shiva was the sensei of Nyssa's new League. When Batgirl arrived she played a key role in the rebirth of Mr. Freeze's wife Nora Fries as the monstrous Lazara, and several League members died in the resulting chaos. Due to the conflict between their loyalty to Shiva and Nyssa and their near-worship of Batgirl as "The One Who is All" the League split at that point, with several members pledging themselves to Cassandra. Several more members of the League (including all the defectors except one) died when The Mad Dog went on a killing spree. The Mad Dog was successful in killing Batgirl (who gave her life to protect the last of the defected assassins), although she was able to knock him unconscious before perishing. Cassandra was quickly restored to life in a Lazarus Pit by Shiva. The Mad Dog's fate is unknown.

Bounty Hunter

In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), a new character named Mad Dog appeared. This version is based on the Lawrence Crock version of Sportsmaster that appeared in Young Justice. Mad Dog is an unnamed man that works as bounty hunter. He works for an unnamed big league that "pays his bills." He was hired to go after the Suicide Squad in order to get a newborn baby back. Mad Dog is familiar with the identity of Deadshot and was surprised that Deadshot is a member of the Suicide Squad and not incarcerated at Belle Reve. While using thermal vision on his mask to see through smoke, Mad Dog shoots Black Spider in the chest and blows up a diner with Black Spider and El Diablo still inside. Before he can fire anymore shots and steal "the package", Harley Quinn releases gas into the room to prevent further gunfire. Mad Dog and his team find Deadshot and Harley Quinn at their hideout and chase them inside. Harley has once again turned on the gas to prevent any gunfire from Mad Dog inside the hideout. They evacuate the building which then explodes. As Mad Dog flees, swearing revenge on Deadshot, he encounters King Shark. When King Shark rejoins his fellow Squad members, he is seen wearing Mad Dog's necklace, implying that he killed him.[3]

In other media

References

  1. ↑ Secret Origins Vol. 2 #21
  2. ↑ Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Earth
  3. ↑ Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #3
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