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A Silver Age Batman villain has been captured in the heart of Gotham — and forced into a surprisingly dark new life by his captors.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Arkham City: The Order of the World #2, now on sale
Since the destruction of Arkham Asylum during the event now known as A-Day, Gotham City has been in chaos thanks to the expansion of the Magistrate’s forces. An expansion that has placed heroes and the public alike forced into increasingly desperate corners.
But things are even more complicated for the handful of villains who have survived the chaos — including some who’ve found themselves in even grimmer situations than they were in before. The fate of another Arkham Asylum survivor is revealed in Arkham City: The Order of the World #2, by Dan Watters, Dani, and Dave Stewart — and it’s one of the darkest yet.
Created by Dave Wood and Sheldon Modoff in Detective Comics #261, Simon Ecks — aka Doctor Double X — was a scientist who discovered a way to split himself into two bodies. One body was his physical form and the other was made of a unique energy type. This power made him a dangerous foe who battled the likes of Batman, Robin, Superman, and the Flash in his Pre-Crisis incarnation. But modern takes on the character have explored the Ecks as a more tragic figure.
In the post-Flashpoint DC Universe, Ecks had his powers caused by a mystical event, which allowed him to summon a spirit half of himself. Ecks was eventually brought to Arkham Asylum and was one of the few handfuls of villains who escaped the destruction of the Arkham. However, it turns out he’s found himself in an even worse situation than being trapped within the Asylum. While many of the other survivors have been able to find places to hide amongst Gotham, Double X ended up in the hands of a drug dealer in the heart of the city, trapped in a hellish new life.
Chaining him up in the basement, the dealer discovered that physical contact activates his powers, which cause a massive mental experience for the person and pain for the former villain. Double X is kept away from the outside, with only his spirit form ever escaping long enough to even see sunlight. It’s a brutal use of the former villain and would have likely continued until his demise if it weren’t for some unexpected intervention. Doctor Jacosta Joy is doing her best to find her former patients, out of fear of people abusing the former inmates much in the way that Doctor Double X is. Luckily for the villain, the arrival of Azrael gives him an opening to escape and with the secret help of the Ten-Eyed Man, Jocasta is able to inform the Gotham City Police.
Detective Stone is injured during the ensuing fight and Azaerl delivers a vicious beating to Doctor Double X who is successfully brought back into custody. Double X has never been a good person within the DC Universe, but the fate of the villain is a genuinely horrific one. It speaks to how casually cruel even the non-super villains of Gotham can be to each other when given a reason to be.
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