By Phil Perich for Before the Bat: The Gotham Podcast
Who’s this Ogre guy that’s been on Gotham the last few weeks? I can’t remember where I was online that said the Ogre was an original creation for the show. Not so. The concept came from one issue of Batman. The name Ogre was used a few times in DC Comics. Before the 1985-1986 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, O.G.R.E. was an organize that stood for Organize for General Revenge and Enslavement. They first appeared and fought Aquaman in Aquaman #26.
The name Ogre was also used in the first arc of the Batman Confidential book (2007). This Ogre was a mechanical armor rescue system which goes haywire and attacks Lex Luthor. It is later revealed that the Ogre’s pilot died but his mind entered the Ogre’s systems.
But the comic book character that the Gotham character is based on was Michael Adams, who thanks to Project Mirakle, was given enhanced strength while his ape friend/partner was given greater intelligence by the project’s leader Doctor Winston Belmont. The purpose of Project Mirakle was to create the perfect human spy. When government funding was terminated, so were the test subjects. Michaels Adams, subject 23, managed to escape with the ape before being killed like the previous test subjects. The Ogre and the Ape as they called themselves, tracked down and murdered the scientists who had worked on Project MIrakle. The pair was eventually discovered by Batman who stopped them, but in the final battle the ape was killed. Ogre left with the ape’s body while Batman turned the last living scientist over to the Gotham Police. All of this happened in Batman #535 (October 1996).
The Gotham character the Ogre is similar to Michael Adams in name only. This version of the character is a handsome, wealthy serial killer named Jason Lennon (born Jakob Skolimski). He finds women to seduce and then subjects them to tests hoping to find the “perfect woman” and then kills them when they fail his impossibly high standards. The Ogre has killed and escaped for years because any cop who begins to search for him has one of their loved ones killed. Jim Gordon fears that the Ogre is going to attempt to kill his current girlfriend Leslie Thompkins, but Ogre sets his sets on Gordon’s ex, Barbara Kean. But it seems that Jason and Barbara have developed any attraction to each other. Will Barbara become the Ogre’s new partner in crime? These two are portrayed very convincingly on Gotham by Milo Ventimiglia and Erin Richards.
So what do YOU think? Are these two a new murderous version of Bonnie and Clyde? Send your thoughts my way:
nightwingpdp@gmail.com or BeforetheBat@gmail.com
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And remember to listen to our Before the Bat podcast. We’re currently discussing the Ogre on the newest episodes. Live tweet with us monday nights also when new episodes of Gotham are on then check out the live Gotham after show on thestream.tv
Until next time, be good. Remember, you can’t always see evil coming!