Yes, "Brick Bat" from 1942's "Police Comics" sports a very bad costume consisting of a cheap Batman cowl and a poorly-fitting suit:
But sometimes, the overall lame character concept can super-charge even a weak outfit, catapulting both into the upper echelons of badness.
Start with the name. What do a brick and a bat have in common besides alliteration? And in combination they tell you nothing, beyond suggesting something along the lines of "bric-a-brac", which sort of fits because, let's be honest, this guy is a random assemblage of only loosely related concepts.
Of course, bats fly and so do bricks, if they're thrown. Which is what this guy does -- he throws bricks. Seriously. Granted, usually the bricks are filled with some sort of deadly gas, which is both more sinister and more befuddling because what the hell is gas doing stuffed into a brick?
Setting aside that utter inanity, however, you're left with the fact that his whole power is throwing bricks. And not like with super strength or inhuman accuracy or anything. Nope, he's just a guy in a bad suit and knock-off mask throwing dried clay. What does the bat cowl have to do with that? I have no idea. Maybe he's just vaguely embarrassed by the whole business and hopes to hide his identity to avoid the ensuing mockery.
You'd hope he could come up with something clever like a Brickarang or a Brickmobile, but no. I hope at least he calls his house "The Brick Cave", even though it's just a house, but given his overall M.O. I seriously doubt he's that creative.
xD!! He Throws Bricks At Ppl Thats Awesome!
His real identity is Ernest T. Bass from Mayberry.
lol@Danny! Man, we used to love that show, and that guy in particular. What a great character he was.
You know, my grandparents have a saying they use when generally referring to something that is stale or tough. The call it “Hard as a Brick Bat”. I wonder if this guy has something to do with that?
If someone got badly beaten up, Dad would say they looked like someone took a brick bat to them … most be a generational thing.
The guy seriously used “gas-bricks” and such? Because being knocked out by a thrown brick filled with knock out gas will knock you out that much more … are his bricks made of clay or some mystic handthrowium?
@Jeff: I liked when Ernest sang while playing the empty gasoline can.
In high school I used to draw a comic called Bat Man … he used an adamantium bat to whoop up on people. I didn’t realize that I was in such illustrious company as the Police Comics publishers. It didn’t seem lame at the time ….
A brickbat is a piece of a brick, and a classic improvised weapon you might pick up at a riot. Haven’t run across that one in a long time. I think I may recall a toss off X-Men villain some years ago by that name. A mutant powered Brood, if that makes any sense.
I’d say we have a winner in the Lamest Superhero Ever competition.
BrickBatroc! The Heavy Leaper!
Must…keep…straight…face…
Can’t…risk…brick…getting…thrown…
Ha. Haa. Ha-ha-ha-ha-*CLUNK*!
Look! Up in the sky! It’s the Brick Signal!…
No wait, that’s just a flaming brick being thrown at us.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24673/24673-h/images/illus-0030-1.jpg
it’s not like they just chose the two words at random. Brickbat is an older term, that would have been fairly common at the time.
Brickbat. N. 1.A piece of brick, especially one used as a missile. 2. an unfavorable remark.
So if he chucks bricks at your head, and insults you as he does so, he’s more than justified in his name.
I am bringing this character back! I literally just sketched him and he looks AWESOME. I think there’s mileage in a guy that wears a Batman hood and throws bricks at people.