Dummy (DC Comics)

Dummy is the name of several characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

Publication history

The original Dummy first appears in Leading Comics #1 and was created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin. He is not to be confused with Scarface, the ventriloquist dummy/alter-ego operated by Arnold Wesker. In addition to his Leading Comics appearances, the Dummy fought the Vigilante in six Golden Age stories: Action Comics #58 (March 1943), #63 (August 1943), #69 (February 1944), #75 (August 1944), #87 (August 1945) and #96 (May 1946); although the Vigilante remained a regular Action Comics feature until issue #198 (November 1954), issue #96 was the Dummy's final appearance for many years.

The second, known as Danny the Dummy, first appears in Batman #134 (September 1960) and was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff.^[1]

Fictional character biographies

Original Dummy

Dummy
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Leading Comics #1 (December 1941)
Created by	Mort Weisinger (writer) Mort Meskin (artist)
In-story information
Team affiliations	Monster Society of Evil Injustice Unlimited
Abilities	Skilled inventor

The Dummy is an archenemy of the Golden Age era Vigilante, and a skilled inventor of weapons. As the leader of a criminal gang, the Dummy pretends to be a ventriloquist dummy through whom the gang's supposed "true" leader conveys instructions, the gang never suspecting that the Dummy himself is their leader. The Dummy's secret identity is never revealed, and it is never made clear whether he is a human or living dummy.^[2]

The Dummy later joins Mister Mind's Monster Society of Evil and Injustice Unlimited.^[3][4] In the Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity reboot, he is killed in battle with Vigilante.^[5]

In DC Rebirth, the Dummy is reimagined as a Victorian man who was magically transformed into a living dummy.^[6][7]

Danny the Dummy

Dummy
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman #134 (September 1960)
Created by	Bill Finger (writer) Sheldon Moldoff (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Danny the Dummy

Danny the Dummy, a pint-sized ventriloquist in a top hat and suit, has a hit act in which he plays the dummy to a normal-sized "ventriloquist" named Matt (who is revealed as the real dummy at the end of each show). But the fact that people invariably refer to Danny as "the Dummy" infuriates him, and inspires him to use dummies for crime to make dummies out of the law.^[8]

Powers and abilities

The original Dummy is a skilled inventor. He wields a cane in battle that can fire powerful force beams.

In other media

Television

The first incarnation of the Dummy makes minor non-speaking appearances in Justice League Unlimited as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society.

Film

• The first incarnation of the Dummy makes a cameo appearance in Justice League: The New Frontier.
• The first incarnation of the Dummy appears in Lego DC Shazam! Magic and Monsters, voiced by James Arnold Taylor.^[9] This version is a member of the Monster Society of Evil.

Miscellaneous

The first incarnation of the Dummy appears in a flashback depicted in issue #4 of the Arrowverse tie-in comic miniseries Earth-Prime, in which he joins several supervillains in fighting Pat Dugan and the Star-Spangled Kid.^[10]