Say hello to Arthur Brown, aka Cluemaster, an excellent thief, a master planner, and surely craftier than Riddler. This former game show host, created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino, went on to become Gotham’s criminal mastermind, leaving game show inspired clues and mental health challenges for his crimes while wearing the most ridiculous clothes. Cluemaster’s odyssey has taken him from his initial appearance in issue #351 of Detective Comics Volume 1 in May 1966 to become one of the most dangerous convicts at the Blackgate Penitentiary.
So get ready for today’s video, where we will not only discuss Cluemaster, but also look at his early appearances in comic books, his tragic past, and his appearances in many kinds of media.
You would better be prepared for this!
Cluemaster Tragic Backstory
Arthur Brown was a brilliant student with a bright future. Even as a young boy, he was a complete genius. Bragging a brain that is hard to beat, Arthur took part in a game show called Think, Thank, Thunk and kept winning non-stop for 12 straight weeks. Guess number 13 did turn out to be unlucky for him when he lost his round to challenger Yelena Klimanov. Young Artie lost his temper on live television and accused the show of being pre-arranged. Of course, this led to his mother filing a lawsuit against the producer of the show, Herbert Ziegler. Now Ziegler was very well connected with City Hall, and it goes without saying that he had a lot of friends, which resulted in the lawsuit getting ultimately dismissed.
This led Arthur Brown to drop out of school, more like dropping out of life and all because of his fixation with the game. He waited out for a period of 30 years to re-enact his childhood revenge fantasy and had Ross Daren, Herbert Ziegler, and Yelena Klimanov kidnapped. With the three of them in one place, Arthur Brown appeared in front of them. Well, of course, the trio was not able to recognize him at first, but then he introduced himself as ‘the man they cheated’, addressing himself as Arthur Brown from the show and accused Ross as well as Herbert of giving Yelena an easy question.
When Ziegler offered him money, Arthur told him that it was neither money nor his consolation prize, which happens to be a lifetime supply of Kremelos that can pacify him anymore. He wanted vengeance against all three of them, and it goes without saying, he had big plans for them – a rematch. Telling them to put on their thinking caps, he made them take part in a mock-up version of the game.
He gave them access to his books and forced them to ask him questions. If he answered wrong, they got the point, and if they managed to get three points, they were free to go. However, if he got all three of them right, they get to be dunked in boiling acid. No points for guessing that he easily managed to outwit all three of them and was just about to drown them in acid when Batman intervened.
The night vigilante, who had been keeping a close track of his actions all this while, easily traced him back to his house, one where he was enacting the rematch. Batman told Arthur to surrender, but the latter instead offered him a chance to save the lives of the trio. He told him to play a bonus round with him, one where he could ask Cluemaster any question literally on any topic, and if he failed to answer that, the trio would be deemed free. Batman was smart enough to ask him about his true identity, something which Cluemaster had no idea about.
At first, he was confused by his question, and he commanded him to ask him another, stating his previous question as a trick question. But of course, Batman refused, telling him that it was he who told him that he could ask him anything. This led to an exceedingly enraged Cluemaster attacking him whilst simultaneously saying that he had been cheated again. While Cluemaster did his best to expose Batman’s real identity, he failed when Batman ended up throwing a rope around his legs, something that eventually made Cluemaster fall to the ground thanks to his own humongous weight. With Cluemaster defeated, the three hostages were finally freed unharmed.
Cluemaster’s First Comic Book Appearance – The Cluemaster’s Topsy-Turvy Crimes
With Aunt Harriet accidentally discovering the Batcave underneath the Wayne Mansion, she starts having her doubts about Bruce and Dick being Batman and Robin, but upon hearing the sound of a car approaching from the other side of the cave, she takes the elevator, heads upstairs and even sends the lift back down like it was. It is the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin, who have just come back from their usual night patrol.
With the duo removing their costumes, they get a familiar scent, and further using their crime detection devices, they are able to locate Aunt Harriet’s footprints. Both of them decide to keep their identities hidden from her for the time being and, at the same time, give her plenty of room for doubt. So later, when Aunt Harriet asks them about the secret elevator and ends up not being able to show it to the duo, who by then had already installed a new electronic remote control that only gives them the access, she decides to play detective with them.
With Aunt Harriet coating the exit road of the Batcave with a wet pitch the following day, the Cowled Crusader and Boy Wonder makes use of the hydrofoil attachment that they had just installed under the Batmobile. The attachment exudes a compressed air stream that not only helps to lift the car off the ground but also makes it move ahead at the same time.
Nevertheless, the duo carries on with their night patrol and are seen taking the route of Marine Boulevard, oblivious that an unseen man is reporting about them using a walkie-talkie to someone. They have hardly taken a hundred yards into the lane when Robin spots a bunch of men walking out of the Lowland Trust Bank. The person leading the group throws a glass pellet previously attached to his attire right in front of the Batmobile and causes the automobile to stop.
“Ha! Ha! Ha! Batman, you have just been introduced to the Cluemaster! You have found me only to lose me, but don’t despair. I will leave a clue for you to track me down if you dare!” – Well, that’s precisely how the man introduces himself, and no points for guessing that this results in a fight. With Batman and Robin incapacitating the rest of the group and running towards Cluemaster, the latter throws two gas balls at them, each releasing a thick green gas.
Cluemaster is seen carrying ahead as per his plan with his men inside an abandoned building, only to be followed later by Batman and Robin. Inside, they find a picture clue, more like a tip-off from Cluemaster himself, pointing towards the place where his next crime will occur.
As for Cluemaster, he is seen at a hide-out close by taking immense pleasure at the thought of how well he has managed to set the stage while his real plan has been to expose the night vigilante’s real identity along with his secret hideout all throughout. In fact, the flare bomb that he had hurled at the car earlier was made in a certain manner that would release a special chemical leaving a coat on the tires along with an invisible trail too.
Cluemaster, along with his men, is seen following the tracks of the Batmobile later along the main highway, only to find them disappear abruptly in the middle. What they don’t know are the duo’s attempts to confuse Aunt Harriet back at the mansion and make use of the hydrofoil attachment so as not to leave any tracks of the car till the Batcave. While it goes without saying that the first step of Cluemaster’s plan did get foil, let’s not forget he already has a backup.
Remember the clue that he had left for the duo? Well, that is precisely what is going to lure them back to him again, and it so happens that the following day during their night patrol, Batman and Robin decide to probe things a little deeper and take a peep inside the Gotham Coliseum. Of course, they meet Cluemaster there, but before they can get a hold of him, they are seen landing right inside the basement, where they come face to face with the second clue – a luminous painting of a sea serpent.
Later at the Batcave, when they are finally able to place both the clues together, they devise a plan to catch Cluemaster. But from what it looks like, Cluemaster isn’t the only one who wants to know their real identities. Post discovering Aunt Harriet’s hidden camera at the mansion, Batman and Robin decide to play along planning a special performance for her.
As part of their plan for Cluemaster, they drive the Batmobile to a cave, one that is situated miles away from the city. Taking out a make-up kit that they had brought along, the duo begins their work, and when they finally step outside the cave, they make it look like two different people. Just like they had thought, Cluemaster did send a cameraman behind them to take their pictures.
After the man was done with his job, he left, unaware that he was now being followed by two men on their Batmobile, with the sole mission of figuring out the location of Cluemaster’s hide-out. Not only are Batman and Robin able to locate his den and put him behind bars, but they are also easily able to perplex him, making him think that it is two other men who are Batman and Robin. As for Aunt Harriet, when she looks at the pictures from her hidden camera, not only does she find Bruce and Dick in the picture but also Batman Robin emerging out of the elevator, thus putting an end to her suspicions that all four of them are different people at the end of the day.
His Appearances In Various Forms Of Media
(Television)
The character of Cluemaster also made a cameo appearance on Cartoon Network’s animated tv series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The seventh episode of the second season, titled, A Bat Divided! shows him enjoying a game of billiards along with Catman, the Spinner, and Tiger Shark at the 8 Bar. For those of you, who are unaware of this hidey-hole, it is a popular hang-out for all the third-rate costumed villains. The episode shows Cluemaster badly getting thrashed by an atomic counterpart of Batman.
(Video Game)
Cluemaster made his presence felt in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight, which by the way, happens to be the sequel to Batman: Arkham City. His character comes in the form of a game-show billboard that reads, “Arthur Brown’s Price Change.”
What Do We Think Of Cluemaster?
It would not be fair at all to regard Cluemaster as someone who is a barefaced copycat of the Riddler. In case you did not know, Cluemaster categorically falls under the list of the DC villains who have physically unmasked the Dark Knight. We know it is a whole different thing to uncover a hero’s secret identity, and when it comes to a physical unmasking, you know the drill.
Speaking of Cluemaster, he gave an all-new definition to the term ‘villain’ when he not only knocked out the Caped Crusader with electricity but also had him strung up on his own bat signal. This was followed by a very memorable unmasking, of course!