Which is your preferred version of Killer Croc?

[Tzigone]

I recently read Killer Croc's first appearance. And while I certainly thought about several things (the different dynamic with Alfred and Bruce then, Gordon apparently just back from a stint as not-commissioner, and the pre-COIE Jason Todd), I was mostly thinking of how different Croc was. Of course, I already had heard about that, even if I hadn't read those stories. I certainly preferred this version to the cannibal or idiot - only read 'Tec 523 and 524, though.

So, I occasionally like to ask this about characters - which is your preferred version of Croc?

[Jackalope89]

I kind of like him as Roy's sponsor. A guy dealt a bad hand, and turned it on those that abused him for it. I don't want him to be a cannibal or idiot, but the bad guy who warns others not to be bad guys. Who will keep an eye on other mutated metahumans like himself. I wouldn't call him an ally, but someone that, if he's not bothered, he won't bother them. With a morality that, while more grey than most, does have lines to it.

[Frontier]

He's less of a monster than he appears even if he's a pretty dangerous individual, but he's also not a giant mutant lizard-man even if he's fairly strong.

[PurpleGlovez]

The gangster Croc of Gerry Conway's run was god-tier and a great addition to Batman's rogue gallery. Modern version who eats children is a joke.

[godisawesome]

I also appreciate a more professional and less vile Croc. Defending homeless people in the sewers, sponsoring Roy (about the only thing Scott Lobdell’s written that I actually respect as an improvement), and being less a creature and more of a criminal with a code kind of works.

I kind of feel he should be reimagined as someone who rode with a crew he was tight with because they respected him instead of treating him like a creature, and that the “Killer” part of him that became a cannibal was the result of some Monster Man formula that Professor Strange experimented on him with - so the result is a Croc who *has* eaten people and can be a animalistic sometimes, but wants to prove himself above the animal and maybe has a greater reason for disliking any chemical intrusion into people’s lives.

[PCN24454]

I always liked The Batman's version: a mobster with the muscle to make ridiculous plans happen.

[Restingvoice]

Aggressively territorial sewer gator that's actually just a guy with a skin condition, leader of the forgotten and occasional ally of anyone not endangering his people or pissing him off.
Intelligence level may vary.
Cannibalism only on a really bad day, like, really early on when he was still convinced he's an actual sewer gator. No longer eat human but uses the reputation to scare people away.

[Riv86672]

Aggressively territorial sewer gator that's actually just a guy with a skin condition, leader of the forgotten and occasional ally of anyone not endangering his people or pissing him off.
Intelligence level may vary.
Cannibalism only on a really bad day, like, really early on when he was still convinced he's an actual sewer gator. No longer eat human but uses the reputation to scare people away.

Something along these lines.

[Frontier]

The gangster Croc of Gerry Conway's run was god-tier and a great addition to Batman's rogue gallery. Modern version who eats children is a joke.

Is that a Hush reference?

[Gaius]

Earth One.

[Citizen Kane]

I prefer the Arkhamverse's version of Croc: a man regressing into his animalistic tendencies (literally). The whole "ex-convict with a new lease on life" and "misunderstood monster" thing DC was doing with him is too cliché and a disservice to the character, in my opinion. The mobster Croc thing made about as much sense as Boss Darkseid.

[Tzigone]

The mobster Croc thing made about as much sense as Boss Darkseid.

I can't agree. I mean, certainly the type of genetic disorder seems like a stretch, but no more so than a lot of stuff in comics. And then you just have a person that grows up to be a mobster within his own country/culture. Way more logical than the alien who wants to find the secret to eliminating freewill in that sort of role. At least, that's how it seemed from the little I've read of relevant eras.

I prefer the Arkhamverse's version of Croc: a man regressing into his animalistic tendencies (literally).

And you think that does make logical sense?

[Scott Taylor]

You know the one that was in the Suicide Squad movie? The opposite of that in every possible way.

[Citizen Kane]

I can't agree. I mean, certainly the type of genetic disorder seems like a stretch, but no more so than a lot of stuff in comics. And then you just have a person that grows up to be a mobster within his own country/culture. Way more logical than the alien who wants to find the secret to eliminating freewill in that sort of role. At least, that's how it seemed from the little I've read of relevant eras.

And you think that does make logical sense?

It comes down to immersion/expectation. Look at Croc—he's a giant crocodile man. What sort of expectations does a reader get when they see the visual representation of that on a piece of paper? The first thing that comes to mind is not a mobster. There needs to be a cohesion between the visual representation of a character and the expectations that stem from that visual representation; it's the difference between getting the Arkhamverse Croc or the Goombas from the live action Super Mario Bros. film adaption (imagine if Croc acted like he does in the Akrhamverse, but he looks like a Goomba). For me, that mobster angle doesn't fit with what you're seeing—there's a discrepancy. When you get a crocodile man, you expect a crocodile man. Of course, Croc doesn't have to be some drooling abomination. At the very least, if you're going to use Croc as hired muscle for some mafia group, have him get paid in something that's more sensical to your expectation: medicine to help cure his condition, a cozy hovel to nest in, animal meat, painkillers to dull the pain of his metamorphosis etc., etc. I think the Arkhamverse version satisfies that expectation you get when you see him onscreen while also staying true to the hook of his character (that being him as a mentally unwell man whose skin condition, over time, makes him look more and more like a crocodile, causing him to lash out in animalistic ways). When Croc's just some generic type of mobster who robs banks and does petty crime, it fails to satisfy that expectation stemmed from the visuals, breaking immersion and leaving Croc in a ridiculous, nonsensical situation (similar to when Darkseid, a god of evil, took the form of some gangster, of all things). This is why I'm much more partial to his Arkhamverse interpretation (and why it makes more sense than Boss Darkseid).


Killer Croc, everybody!

[JBatmanFan05]

The gangster Croc of Gerry Conway's run was god-tier and a great addition to Batman's rogue gallery.

I agree. And Conway's urban smart mature formidable gangster version left plenty of room to develop the character while keeping him close to this feared gangster version, but then the Crisis happened and a lot of weaker ideas, versions of Croc happened instead.