WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Future State: Harley Quinn #1 by Stephanie Phillips, Simone Di Meo, Tamra Bonvillain and Alw’s Troy Peteri, on sale now.
Professor Pyg, also known as Lazlo Valentin, is a horrifying character with a complex psychology, and in Future State: Harley Quinn #1 artist Simone Di Meo revamps his visage with terror. Though Lazlo keeps with his present modus operandi in near-future Gotham, he trades his porcelain pork masquerade for a hardcore, ringed gas mask.
Harley’s first profile is on Valentin. Crane gives her a quick breakdown of the “Professor’s” delusions and butchery; how he kidnaps Magistrate officers and turns them into mutilated Dollotrons. His treatment of the Magistrate differs little from his normal plans, but when Harley chimes in, she corrects Crane and offers a more accurate perspective on Lazlo’s crimes.
Harley explains that Lazlo sees himself as an obsessed artist, reaching for perfection he can never attain and railing against the authority of the Magistrate. Her explanation offers Crane a new approach to capturing Professor Pyg: if the Magistrate pins an imperfect crime on the villain, then he’ll reveal himself to clarify that he only makes true art. As she wraps up her profile, the underscoring action comes to a head and the Magistrate arrest Lazlo. Crane shares the pig mask with Harley as a trophy and they move onto their next case.
Pyg’s new look is his most notable change in Future State. Normally, Pyg wears a butcher’s apron, wields some sort of knife and caps the whole thing off with a porcelain pig mask. But rather than have him look like he belongs on a tchotchke shelf, DeMid gives him a straightforward redesign. She keeps the butcher’s outfit and knives, but swaps out the facade for something more like a heavy gas mask. Huge gold rings hang off the ears and filter, making him look more like a huge swine than a mad scientist. The tusks help in that regard, too.
Di Meo also gives Mother a new look, streamlining her in one panel. She now looks more like a totem than a garbage heap, made up of tall, black spikes and capped off with a bleached skull. Phillips and Di Meo's use of Pyg is intentional and sets the tone for Harley’s new gig as a profiler. Lazlo Valentin’s first appearance was in Batman #666 by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. #666, like Future State, presents an alternate future, though far more macabre than seen here. Pyg often appears with other villains, too, rarely headlining his own stories, like in Beware the Batman and Batman: Arkham Knight.
That Phillips and Di Meo only give him half an issue keeps up his B-list reputation. But that they deep dive into his psychology in a setting similar to his first appearance makes it clear they understand his character and the context Future State has within Death Metal and everything else happening in the DC Multiverse.