Detective Comics (1938) 510

Today we go down the rabbit hole for 24 hours of “silliness.”

National Mad Hatter Day is a day to explore the more whimsical side of our personalities. Modeled after Alice in Wonderland’s namesake, Mad Hatter Day teaches us to put aside the seriousness and unleash the silliness; ditch the dialectics for the doltish.

The fictional character was created by illustrator and political cartoonist, Sir John Tenniel. The phrase, mad as a hatter, is taken from him.

In the 19^th century, hats were considered status symbols. The finer the “hat” couture, the higher the believed social standing. Hatter, his real name, became associated with wearing hats with labels. The 10/6 didn’t stand for a size, but the cost.

When National Mad Hatter Day was proposed, October 6 was chosen due to the 10/6 tucked in the hat band. It was inaugurated in 1986 by a group of computer programmers, then officially recognized in 1988.

Detective Comics (1938) 510

Jervis Tetch is the easy emcee choice for the day.

Making his debut in Batman (1940) issue 49, Tetch is a technological talent able to craft mind control devices. Usually these are hidden in a hat or other headwear.

He is the child of Bill Finger and Lew Sayre Schwartz, first appearing in 1948.

His backstory consists of an unhealthy interest in both hats and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel, Through the Looking Glass. When agitated, the chapeau criminal reverts to rhyming often adding quotes from the Wonderland works.

Tetch would appear only once in the Golden Age of comic books. His Silver Age appearances would be explained away as made by an imposter. The original Tetch did not reappear until Detective Comics (1938) 510 in 1981.

His imposter would return also, but not until six years later in Detective Comics issue 573.

The Mad Hatter’s canonical comic book mind control devices were first used in Detective Comics 525.

Though impersonated in the comic books during the 1960’s, the character would appear several times on the live-action Batman series of the same decade. Tetch was portrayed by David Wayne.

Benedict Samuel would play the villain in the 2014-19 Gotham series and by Liam Crandle in the third season of Batwoman on The CW.

Ted Knight voiced the animated version of The Mad Hatter in The Batman/Superman Hour show. Roddy McDowall would do the honors for the Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

For the Young Justice Outsiders, Dwight Schultz brought the character to life with his vocalization.

The Mad Hatter has also appeared in the Lego Batman video games as well as Batman: Arkham.

So, rather than bother yourself with the question, “how is a raven like a writing desk,” go find some Batman back issues, a silly hat and enjoy a day away from sanity.

(Yes, we’ve used the Mad Hatter in a prior non-holiday, but why reinvent the wheel for a day tailor made for him?)