Warning! Spoilers for Batman #107!
Batman’s newest ally, Ghost-Maker, just revealed a villain that has found a way to channel her inner Dr. Evil, and in an unexpected twist, actually make him seem like a badass. Usually a thorn in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’s side as he tries to carry out his usual nefarious deeds, Dr. Evil ended up bungling most of his schemes by the time the franchise concluded, but not for lack of trying.
Seen in the second story of Batman #107, “Ghost-Maker: Chapter 1” by James Tynion IV and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz shows exactly what Ghost-Maker is up to when he isn’t being Batman’s new partner in Gotham City. Basing his vigilantism less so in one specific location and more so across the globe, Ghost-Maker’s villain, Madam Midas, is revealed as a force to be reckoned with as she has assembled a group of assassins to take out this “International Man of Crime Fighting” as he descends on her secret island lair known as Devil Skull Island.
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Similar to Dr. Evil’s hidden volcano lair where he indulges in his most evil tendencies like practicing his best super villain laugh, making mini versions of himself and longing for the day where he and his own band of misfit assassins will finally have victory over his arch-nemesis, Austin Powers, Madam Midas is also the world’s richest woman, a feat that Dr. Evil could only dream of considering he’s still of the mindset that one million dollars is an unfathomable number to hold the world ransom by. Having a lust to conquer all and acquire more power and money as she goes, Madam Midas is everything Dr. Evil could have been if he just learned to get out of his own way.
Stuck on the idea of annihilating their respective heroes who only want to see them fail, both Madam Midas and Dr. Evil have even more in common than expected, further solidifying the idea that Dr. Evil is actually a bit more of a badass, despite what the movies might show. Sharing a hotheaded temper that makes their minions cringe with every yelled syllable and thinly veiled threat, Madam Midas and Dr. Evil are two sides of the same coin, just with one being the butt of everyone’s jokes and the other actually being a formidable master of crime.
But perhaps the best example of why Madam Midas shows how badass Dr. Evil could have been is her eerily similar idea as to what kind of security measures she utilizes to stop Ghost-Maker. Unleashing her robotic tigers with freakin’ laser beams attached to their eyes when Ghost-Maker arrives, Dr. Evil’s dream and eventual reality of having freakin’ sharks with laser beams attached to their heads are both interestingly unique uses of lasers, with Dr. Evil’s decision to go with aquatic-based organisms probably not the most badass – or realistic – one to choose, especially when the other option could have been to go with a ferocious set of oversized robotic cats instead.
So while Dr. Evil never really got too far with any of his wild and nonsensical schemes to thwart his nemesis, Austin Powers, and acquire his millions – make that billions– of dollars like he always wanted, Ghost-Maker’s Madam Midas has shown how this silly villain could have truly been a problem if he just focused a bit more on his wicked ways. Dr. Evil won’t be winning any “Badass of the Year” awards anytime soon, but at least a lot of what he was striving for was somewhat attainable, it just took Batman‘s ally’s villain to prove it.
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