DC Comics Officially Reveals Batman's Sinister Six

Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez have used their Batman run as a vehicle to expand on the hero's rogues' gallery. In fact, the writer and artist seem to be preparing to introduce a new batch of villains that may prove familiar to Spider-Man fans.

A variant cover for Batman #12 appears to tease the debut of The Dark Knight's equivalent to the Sinister Six.

The image sees the blue logo-bearing Caped Crusader standing cautiously on a life-sized chessboard in the heart of Gotham. Surrounding him are statues of previously unseen characters of an ominous or downright frightening aura.

One, located at the far left, appears to be a woman with a skeletal face and a giant scorpion's tail. Next seen further in the background are two statues that could not be more different: a towering, husky individual who would be a perfect candidate for a circus show strongman, and a scientist brandishing a beaker who calls to mind what Albert Einstein would look like if he became a Batman villain.

In the background, but placed closest to Batman's left, is another female with an old-fashioned bob haircut, which is not quite as striking, however, as the spider-like legs protruding from her back. Finally, the most imposing figure in the foreground is a person holding a knife and wearing goggles over an unsettling mask with stitching that matches his overcoat.

According to the official synopsis for Batman #12, the characters appearing on this cover only make up five of the six assassins who have arrived in Gotham, supposedly with a mission to take out Batman. This begs the question, who is the sixth member of this DC equivalent to the Sinister Six, and why are they being kept hidden?

The Batman #12 variant cover comes courtesy of Ryan Sook, an artist whose work has been compared to the likes of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (with whom he has also worked on several titles) and Adam Hughes, but cites Norman Rockwell as an inspiration. Since the late 1990s, he has lent his unique talents to comics like Dark Horse's various stories canon to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and many DC originals.

How These New Batman Villains Compare To The Sinister Six

It may sound easy to point at a group of bizarre-looking criminals and immediately jump to the conclusion that this crew makes up Batman's version of the Sinister Six. However, the comparisons, at least from a visual standpoint, are quite glaring.

For instance, despite not being an original founding member of the Manhattan miscreant collective, Scorpion has been acknowledged as a key asset of the Sinister Six. No comic book fan would be able to deny that the classic Spider-Man villain came to mind when they first caught a glimpse of the woman with a stinging tail on the Batman #12 variant cover.

Someone who is a founding member and the initial leader of the Sinister Six is Otto Octavius, better known as Doctor Octopus, whose signature look seems to be reflected in more than one of Batman's new foes. For one, he wears goggles, much like the mysterious knife-wielding masked man seen closest to Batman, and has mechanical limbs attached to his back, similar to the woman with the bob haircut, despite her extra legs appearing to be natural.

The Einstein-looking individual might call to mind what Dr. Curt Connors looked like (sans his right arm) before his dangerous experiment transformed him into a half-human, half-reptile called the Lizard. Also, that muscular man bears a physique that could be compared to multiple Sinister Six members, such as Sandman or Kraven the Hunter.

The most crucial comparison, however, is that a few of these new Batman foes bear a distinct animalistic characteristic. That is actually a recurring staple among the rotating members of the Sinister Six and many Spider-Man villains in general.