WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Two #7, on sale now from DC Comics.
The Mad Hatter is sometimes an underrated villain. The likes of Joker and Bane cause chaos on the streets and bring misery to Batman and the Bat-Family. Compared to them, Jervis Tetch seems like nothing to worry about. His obsession with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and his love for hypnotic headwear often come across as quaint and, occasionally, harmless. However, the comic book continuation of Batman: The Animated Series just proved how powerful this villain really is - before showing exactly why he falls behind the rest.
The dreaded mayoral election draws to a close in Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Two #7 (by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Rick Burchett, Monica Kubina, and Josh Reed). The previous issue revealed that the Mad Hatter had been helping the dubious former mayor Emerson Mayfield to win the current election by any means necessary. Batman and his allies all felt the pull to support Mayfield and couldn't figure out why, until Barbara Gordon stumbled upon the truth.
A device in Mayfield's cane, designed by Hatter himself, made it so that no matter what the disgraced politician did, people would think he's a great guy. This got him far more votes than he could have ever gotten alone. Even if not everyone saw the crimes he had committed when he was mayor years ago, there's no way they could support him as much as they do now. Not without some mind manipulation. In this issue, the votes are basically neck and neck right up until the final count.
These insidious devices that Tetch created didn't just end with influencing voters, they extended deep into the halls of Arkham Asylum too. The previous issue saw Batman and Robin facing down Clayface, who should still have been in his cell in the infamous facility. None of the guards saw him escape and even claimed he was still in his cell when it was very clearly empty. It turned out that Hatter had gotten to every single one of Arkham's staff. His devices, planted in their headwear, made them see whatever he wanted them to. He even hypnotized his doctor to release him with a clean bill of health, despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Batman was able to free everyone from Hatter's influence before going after him and Mayfield. However, even with these efforts, it's not long before Hatter has complete control of Arkham again. Mayfield tries to recruit all of Gotham's villains to help him rig the election in his favor. With an army of Batman's rogues at his disposal, it's unlikely the combined might of the Bat-Family could stop him. Yet, in the end, none of that matters.
Even with the powerful mind control tech that Tetch provided him, Mayfield still loses. It's close but not that close. In the end, the villain only secures 42% of the vote, with his opponent securing the rest. It's incredible that even with Hatter's extremely effective mind-control technology, it still isn't enough to secure a win. He even got Barbara Gordon to go on TV as part of a last-minute smear campaign against his opponent and that didn't even work.
Even Batman, with his rigorous mental fortitude, felt the effects of Hatter's tech. This shows just how dangerous the villain really is. Everything he managed to do in this story, especially taking control of Arkham, is beyond even what some of the Dark Knight's most dangerous rogues are capable of. However, the fact that even with all that power he can't do something as simple as win an election shows exactly why he'll never be as dangerous as the Joker.