Roman Sionis (Prime Earth)
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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Roman Sionis, better known as the Black Mask, is a successful mob boss in Gotham City, making him an enemy of Batman.
Several years ago, Black Mask picked a fight with Catwoman, believing that she lived by the same "no killing" rule as Batman. However, after ticking her off a little too much, Catwoman snapped and shot him. Thought to be dead, Sionis managed to survive his injury and stagger to Arkham Asylum, willingly turning himself in and begging to be treated.[1]
Night of the Owls
A couple years later, Sionis is still mentally unstable and considered a baffling case by Doctor Arkham. On the Night of the Owls, an assassin for the Court of Owls known as the Talon attempted to kill Dr. Arkham while he talked to Black Mask in captivity. In an attempt to protect himself, Arkham returned Sionis' mask to him, commanding him to mind control the other inmates into attacking the invaders and to keep anyone from entering his safe room. After Batman arrived and finished with the Talons, he discovered Black Mask, out of his cell, and quickly knocked him out before he could escape.[2]
Quest for the masks
After his escape, Black Mask was able to hide any proof of this by making Jeremiah Arkham believe that he was still in his cell. Sionis send one of his agents, Mad Bull, to get the masks of the False Face Society, which were hidden as heads of a carousel's figures at an old amusement park. However, when Mad Bull, after a fight with Batman, arrived at the carousel, the masks were gone. Sionis then went to a circus were his former henchman Edgar Dempsey was hiding. Dempsey was supposed to hide the masks in case Black Mask got arrested, so Sionis believed that it was him who removed them. Sionis forced Dempsey to lead him and the circus' staff, which were all under his mind control except for a short statured clown, to the location of the masks. Dempsey led them to a museum, right before an exhibit featuring wax figures wearing tribal masks. Believing this to be a trick, Sionis attacked Dempsey, who claimed that those were indeed his masks and that "he" changed them via experimenting. As Edgar refused to tell Black Mask the stranger's identity, he tried to use his mind control on him to force Dempsey to eat his own tongue, but it didn't work as "he" was protecting Dempsey. Suddenly, the statues revealed themselves to be actual people as they attacked Black Mask and his minions, while Dempsey claimed that he needed protection after Black Mask went insane. Black Mask killed Dempsey as a punishment. At this moment, the clown revealed himself to be the Mad Hatter, who had offered his protection to Dempsey and was behind the theft and changing of the masks as he couldn't bear another criminal in Gotham with mind control powers, planning to use the masks of the False Face Society for himself. Just as Sionis surrendered his mask to Jarvis, Batman interfered. When the Mad Hatter tried to escape from the chaos, Sionis knocked him on the jaw, taking his mask back. The two started to have a telepathic fight, using their mind control against each other with none of them giving up until Batman punched Sionis, causing his mask to get a crack. This caused a white flash of light, after which Black Mask was unconscious with the mask lying on the floor before Batman took it to bring both the mask and Sionis to Arkham. Roman was brought back into his padding cell with Dr. Arkham being more careful about him this time, planning to make sure that Sionis stayed in his cell.[3]
Forever Evil
Black Mask became a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains when the Crime Syndicate arrived.[4]
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Back in Power, Enemy of Catwoman
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Red Hood and the New Outlaws
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Robin's Prison
Sometime after his battle with the Outlaws, Roman recovered and was sent back to Arkham. After a short stay at the asylum Roman's lawyers were able to get him out of jail on a technicality. One day Black Mask was relaxing in the Gotham Bathhouse when he was visited by Robin. Robin shared grievances with Mask about a foreign family Roman had been extorting for money. Roman ignored Robin and told him that if he didn't leave he would have his men take care of the young boy. Robin coldly stated that he had taken all of Roman's men out, and then took him into captivity.[5] Instead of being taken to Arkham or Blackgate like usual, Roman was instead taken to the secret headquarters of the Teen Titans in New York City. Mask was locked in a dark dungeon at the bottom of the cellar alongside fellow villains Brother Blood and Onomatopoeia, where he was subjected to cruel and inhumane conditions by Batman's sidekick.[6]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Mind Control: By means of his mask, Black Mask is able to link to people's minds; able to apply mind control with varying degrees of effort.
Abilities
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)
- Firearms
- Business Management: Black Mask is the owner of a gigantic criminal empire in Gotham City which has ran for years without being shut down by the police or the Batman. He knows when to minimize his organization to avoid the police.[7]
- Leadership: Black Mask commands a small army of thugs and petty criminals that worked for his criminal empire. The thugs that work under him are incredibly loyal and work as mindless drones for his cause.
- Intimidation: He mainly rules through fear as he has been known to execute employees from time-to-time when they irritate or fail him.[7]
Other Characteristics
- Mental Disorder: Roman Sionis has gone insane with his power. He considers the mask to be a separate being that he is addicted to letting free.
- Black Mask was created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake, first appearing in Batman #386. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Black Mask first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Detective Comics (Volume 2) #9 by Tony S. Daniel.
- 113 Appearances of Roman Sionis (Prime Earth)
- 24 Images featuring Roman Sionis (Prime Earth)
- 7 Quotations by or about Roman Sionis (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Roman Sionis (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
Suicide Squad member
This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.
This character, team, or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Batwoman. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Batwoman Villains category."