Clayface

From DC Database

This is the Clayface disambiguation page.

It serves to clarify the difference between several closely named or closely related articles.
A = Appearances · I = Images · G = Gallery · F = Fan Art · Q = Quotes

Basil Karlo New Earth A · I · G Golden Age Original, Horror Film Star	Matt Hagen New Earth A · CA · I · G Golden Age, First Shapeshifter	Preston Payne New Earth A · I · G · Q Bronze Age	Sondra Fuller New Earth A · I · G Lady Clay
Clay Payne New Earth A · CA · I · G Current Mainstream Continuity	Dr. Peter Malley New Earth A · I · G Claything	Johnny Williams New Earth A · I · G Clayface VI

Minor Characters

History of the Clayface Title

Basil Karlo

The original Clayface, Basil Karlo, appeared in Detective Comics #40. He is an actor who is driven mad when he hears of a remake of the classic horror film he had starred in, even though he is to be one of the advising staff. Donning the mask of the film's villain, "Clayface", he embarks on a murder spree among the cast and crew of the remake. He is foiled by Batman and Robin.

Matt Hagen

The second Clayface, Matt Hagen, first appeared in Detective Comics #298. A treasure hunter, Hagen finds a mysterious radioactive pool of protoplasm in a cave. Immersing himself in it, he is transformed into a malleable clay-like form which could be shaped into almost anything he desires. This is only a temporary effect, however, requiring him to return to the pool periodically in order to maintain use of his powers. He is killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Preston Payne

The third Clayface, Preston Payne, first appeared in Detective Comics #478. Suffering from hyperpituitarism, Payne works at S.T.A.R. Labs searching for a cure. He obtains a sample of the then-living Matt Hagen's blood, and isolates an enzyme which he introduces into his own bloodstream. Although he is briefly able to shape his own appearance, this effect is short-lived: while on a date, his flesh begins to melt, and when he touches his horrified girlfriend, she completely melts. Payne builds an exoskeleton anti-melting suit to prevent himself from touching anyone, but he learns that he needs to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive (he feels pain if he doesn't melt anyone). During this time his mental health starts to slip as he falls in love with a wax mannequin he names "Helena", (appearing in Batman Annual #11) thinking she is the only woman immune to his touch.

Sondra Fuller

The fourth Clayface, Sondra Fuller, also known as Lady Clay, first appeared in Outsiders #21. She is a member of Strike Force Kobra who is transformed into a shape-changer by her employer Kobra's technologies, a process she agrees to become a subject of because she hates her own face. She possesses identical abilities to those of Matt Hagen, but they are permanent, without the requirement for a source of protoplasm. She can additionally copy any special powers of the being she is mimicking. She is defeated by the Outsiders.

The Mud Pack

Before the appearance of the fifth and sixth Clayfaces, the third and fourth Clayfaces team up, breaking the original Clayface out of prison and reviving the second. Together, they four form the "Mud Pack." Karlo later copies the others' powers by injecting himself with extracts of samples of the other two Clayfaces, becoming the "Ultimate Clayface". The three battle, and are defeated by Batman (Detective Comics #604-607).

Cassius Payne

After the Mudpack storyline, Sondra Fuller and Preston Payne actually fell in love, and conceived a child, the fifth Clayface. The boy is separated from his parents and held in a government laboratory. The full extent of his powers are unknown. Currently, the bio status of Cassius shows that if a piece of him is separated from his body, it can grow a mind of its own, but it mostly thinks in a retarded form of what Cassius wants. If bonded with another human (i.e. Claything), the piece can give that human clayface-like abilities, such as become like clay, being able to withstand bullets and other harm, and could also manifest Payne's ability to melt objects; all this person would have to do is just think it. It is unknown if a person can gain different abilities when bonded with a piece of Cassius.

Peter Malley

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Johnny Williams