Of all the DC superheroes, Batman is most well known for having a terrifying visage. Designed specifically to drive fear into the hearts of criminals, Batman’s mask gives him an inhuman, almost demonic look. In movies, this look is enhanced by having the actor wear black makeup around his eyes, giving them a sunken look through the mask. It’s a terrifying effect – until Batman removes his mask and Bruce Wayne reveals the infamous “raccoon eyes” he needs to wear to scare people.
Most recently, Robert Pattison has made the “raccoon eyes” look creepy on their own in the trailer to the anticipated The Batman film. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for all versions of Batman – including one who showed up in an issue of DC’s Smallville Season 11 comic book.
Following the end of WB’s Smallville television show, DC continued the series in comic book form, allowing fans to see how this version of Clark Kent adjusted to being Superman and becoming a public hero. The comic also allowed Clark to meet new versions of DC heroes, including Green Lantern, Wonder Woman… and Batman.
For many fans, this was a highlight of the comic since audiences had been wanting to see Batman share space with Smallville’s Clark for a long time. The Smallville comic made sure to differentiate this Batman from his mainstream version, both in behavior and appearance. Interestingly, they took a page from the fan favorite Batman Beyond animated series and comic book by making this Batman wear an outfit that resembled Terry McGinnis’ black-and-red Batman suit.
Unlike Batman’s usual half-mask, Terry’s mask had an opening for his mouth, hiding his entire face. Smallville’s Batman attempted to create the same effect – but where Terry’s high-tech suit let the mask conform around his mouth and teeth, Bruce Wayne was forced to use more mundane methods. Readers got a chance to see just how low tech these methods were when Bruce removed his mask in private and revealed he was wearing black makeup all around his mouth – and a headdress resembling a hairnet.
In other words... underneath his mask, Batman basically looked like a cafeteria lunch lady with a dirty mouth. In later scenes, with better lighting, readers could see the headdress was designed to resemble the chainmail of medieval knights while the makeup around his mouth is similar to the paint worn by Navy SEALS. In other scenes, however, the look appears more goofy than intimidating.
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