Childhood experiences often have a strong influence on the sort of person the child will become. Such was the case of a young Jonathan Crane, who, across his many iterations, suffered greatly at the hands of those closest to him. This troubled little boy would become a master of fear and one of Batman’s oldest and deadliest enemies – the Scarecrow. 

The brainchild of Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow was introduced in World’s Finest Comics #3 in 1941. In his first incarnation, Crane faced constant bullying and humiliation that caused him to develop an obsession with fear. This led to his career as a psychologist at Arkham Asylum, where he performed fear-inducing experiments on his patients. Crane only made two appearances in the Golden Age, with his criminal endeavors restricted to theatrical robberies. Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff revived Scarecrow in the Silver Age, maintaining his initial origin story.  

Throughout his early appearances, Crane relies on his knowledge of fears and phobias to using nothing more than words to achieve his desired effect. Donning his ghoulish scarecrow costume that would later become his trademark, the villain began utilizing fear gas as his main weapon. When it comes to powers and abilities, Crane leans into the use of the gas, a psychedelic substance that causes his victims to experience intense hallucinations. Prolonged exposure to this gas made him nearly incapable of fearing anything, except Batman.

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, his backstory was significantly expanded upon in Batman Annual #19 and Batman/Scarecrow: Year One. In this version, Crane was raised primarily by his sadistic great-grandmother who used her trained crows to attack him on command. Abused at home and school, Crane learned the importance of fear and control. He once again became a professor but was much more adept with chemistry and psychopharmacology than his previous outing. 

His origin and powers were reintroduced in the New 52 reboot. His backstory was altered so that he was left in the care of his abusive father and subjected to illegal experiments from a very young age. In every other variation, Crane loses his professorship for firing a gun in class; in this version, he is fired for covering an arachnophobic student with spiders.

While the plot of Detective Comics #571 “Fear for $ale” veered from the usual Scarecrow story, seeing him take away fear rather than cause it, the art by Alan Davis set the standard for stories to come. This was the first comic to show the trippy effects of Scarecrow’s fear gas in action, something that became a cornerstone of future Scarecrow stories. 

The full text of this article will appear in The Overstreet Price Guide to Batman, available during the winter holiday sesaon.