Black Mask (character)
Black Mask (Roman Sionis) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake, the character debuted in Batman #386 (August 1985). He is commonly depicted as a brutal and ruthless crime lord in Gotham City who has a fixation with masks and derives sadistic pleasure from the act of torture. Black Mask is one of the most enduring enemies of the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
| Black Mask | |
|---|---|
Cover of Batman #636 (January 2005) Art by Matt Wagner | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Batman #386 (August 1985) |
| Created by | Doug Moench (writer) Tom Mandrake (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Roman Sionis |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | False Face Society Gotham Mafia Secret Society of Super Villains Black Lantern Corps Suicide Squad |
| Notable aliases | The Crime King, Orpheus, Black Head, Underworld Boss, Ted Kord |
| Abilities |
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The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including the animated series The Batman, the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, and the Batman: Arkham video game series. Black Mask made his live-action debut in the 2014 television series Gotham, as Richard Sionis, portrayed by Todd Stashwick; this version of the character was later integrated into comics in the 2016 relaunch DC Rebirth as The Mask, depicted as the Black Mask's father. Black Mask also appears in the 2020 DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Birds of Prey, portrayed by Ewan McGregor, and the second season of the Arrowverse series Batwoman, portrayed by Peter Outerbridge.