Batman is no stranger to weird villains, but there are few out there weirder than the sauce wielding Condiment King. Armed with his trusty mustard and ketchup guns, calling Mitchell Mayo a C-list villain would frankly be a compliment. Now, we're taking a look back at the tragic and absurd history of the self-proclaimed 'Sultan of Sauce.'
Created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series, Condiment King began as a comedian named Buddy Standler. After mocking the Joker in a comedy set, the Clown Prince of Crime hypnotized Standler, making him adopt the persona of The Condiment King with large tanks of ketchup and mustard on his back and two high-powered guns to fire the sauces out. To his credit, he does manage to rob a group of wealthy elites, forcing hot sauce down one's throat to prove his criminal superiority. He fails to impress Batman, who instantly forgets his name, referring to him as "Mustard Man." Standler then proceeds to slip on his own sauce off the roof of the building and onto a police car, never to appear on the show again.
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His first appearance in comics, however, was in Batgirl: Year One #8 by Scott Betty, Chuck Dixon, Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopes. He wears slightly more casual attire, donning a shirt that has the words "Condiment King" written on it and a black and white cape -- simply using squirt bottles rather than sauce guns. Batgirl and Robin happen to encounter him on the way to a hostage situation and Robin knocks him out with a single kick.
The next time he shows up is in Birds of Prey #37 by Chuck Dixon, Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopes. This is when his name is revealed to have been changed to Mitchell Mayo. This time, however, he has been affected by a batch of Joker gas and is far more dangerous. Robin, Black Canary and Blue Beetle arrive at a mall, thinking it'll be an easy collar, but discover that he has restrained a waitress to a barrel of mustard gas and attached a time bomb to it.
He also reveals he has learned about new spices in Arkham from Poison Ivy, and successfully manages to incapacitate the three heroes by shooting hot sauce containing a few thousand Scoville down their throats. His victory was short-lived, however, as Blue Beetle manages to nullify the effects with a large barrel of milk and then proceeds to knock the King out. Robin remembers the threat he posed, and when they meet again in Robin #171 by Chuck Dixon, Chris Batista and Cam Smith, he complains that the legal system doesn't take him seriously enough because of his flamboyant nature, and he, therefore, escapes serious punishment.
Sadly, Mitchell Mayo left us in an extremely violent fashion. During the mini-series, Final Crisis: Aftermath - Run! by Lilah Sturges and Freddie Williams II, Condiment King had joined a cult made up of other low-status super-villains such as Polka-Dot Man and Sportsmaster. He attempted to indoctrinate another villain named the Human Flame but he eventually turned on the group after realizing he wasn't going to get paid for the crimes they were committing. Mayo tried to stop him from leaving but was beaten to death with his own sauce bottles.
Death could not stop him, however, and he has appeared a few times on screen since then. He is part of Jokers' team in 2017's The Lego Batman Movie and has also appeared recently in the Harley Quinn TV show as Kite-Man's "arch-nemesis", although he was eaten by a sentient plant named Frank, and is assumed dead. He has appeared briefly in a few comics recently, most notably in Batman #54 by Tom King, Matt Wagner and Tomeu Morey, where he shot a sizable blob of ketchup onto Nightwing's face, proving that he's still as slippery as ever.