Your basic "Mad killer goes on a spree and the hero tries to figure out the pattern before the next crime." This was the second Samhain story after "Tournament of Psychos." There are references here and there to 'the Compass Killings' where Bane first met this fiend and shoved him in front of a subway train. Samhain appears in a half dozen stories and I'm tickled that this major, seemingly unstoppable murderer is finally destroyed by Unicorn (of all people).
This is also where Inspector Klein starts to see Bane as useful if unofficial loose cannon. The NYPD as well as the Mandate and the FBI's Department 21 Black basically use Bane against threats that are frankly too much for them to handle. But they would never admit this and if Bane ended up on charges for all the laws he breaks, they would not defend him. He's fine with this arrangement. Bane would carry on the way he does even if these agencies were actively trying to stop him.
I presume that Simek and Rosen Investigations alludes to certain members of the Mighty Marvel Bullpen.
Samhain strikes me as an incredibly useful recurring villain, because his criminal theme is meta--he's the Collect-the-Set Killer, but seems to have no constant theme beyond that.
This (a) complicates his profile, because crimefighters have no way to predict what his next theme is going to be--only that there'll be one, and
(b) raises the possibility of his crimes being confused with those of other Collection Killers (who presumably would have a specific fixed obsession; the first example that comes to my mind is a CRIMINAL MINDS character who abducted, imprisoned, and (accidentally) killed women who resembled her beloved childhood dolls.)
Hah, yes. The names of the two detective cousins are an affectionate homage to a couple of underpraised heroes of the Silver Age. Sometimes I like to show Bane working with a few of the experts who taught him crimefighting.
Samhain is fun to write because he is not compulsive and plays his deadly game with the police. His extreme regeneration makes him difficult to deal with even when he is confronted. Samhain might plan on being caught in a plane crash to kill someone because he knows he'll bounce back.
Great to hear from you. I still don't have enough ideas to launch RETRO SCANS again, but maybe sometime. I always appreciated your company.
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This is also where Inspector Klein starts to see Bane as useful if unofficial loose cannon. The NYPD as well as the Mandate and the FBI's Department 21 Black basically use Bane against threats that are frankly too much for them to handle. But they would never admit this and if Bane ended up on charges for all the laws he breaks, they would not defend him. He's fine with this arrangement. Bane would carry on the way he does even if these agencies were actively trying to stop him.
Reply
Samhain strikes me as an incredibly useful recurring villain, because his criminal theme is meta--he's the Collect-the-Set Killer, but seems to have no constant theme beyond that.
This (a) complicates his profile, because crimefighters have no way to predict what his next theme is going to be--only that there'll be one, and
(b) raises the possibility of his crimes being confused with those of other Collection Killers (who presumably would have a specific fixed obsession; the first example that comes to my mind is a CRIMINAL MINDS character who abducted, imprisoned, and (accidentally) killed women who resembled her beloved childhood dolls.)
Reply
Samhain is fun to write because he is not compulsive and plays his deadly game with the police. His extreme regeneration makes him difficult to deal with even when he is confronted. Samhain might plan on being caught in a plane crash to kill someone because he knows he'll bounce back.
Great to hear from you. I still don't have enough ideas to launch RETRO SCANS again, but maybe sometime. I always appreciated your company.
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