Dr. Bartholomew Wolper was a psychologist and social scientist working at the Arkham Home for the Emotionally Troubled. He was in charge of treatment for its most notable patients, including the Joker and Two-Face. During Batman's return to fight crime, Wolper served as one of his most vocal critics, though this also seemed to be a method of self-promotion. However, he often proved himself to be an ineffective "quack" psychologist.
History[]
Wolper was a prominent psychologist at Arkham during the ten years after Batman's disappearance. During this time, he was put in charge of treating many patients at the home, including Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Wolper had also written a book titled Hey: I'm Okay, which became a best seller.
Near the tenth anniversary of the disappearance, Wolper was able to arrange for Dent's face to be restored, with help from donations by Bruce Wayne. Despite criticism from some like Commissioner Gordon, Wolper believed Dent to have recovered and deemed him sane, though in reality "Dent" had been suppressed whilst his "Two-Face" persona took over.
When Dent returned to crime, Wolper claimed that he was innocent and placed blame on the recently returned Batman. He seemed to blame the vigilante for his enemies' crime sprees, blaming psychological behavior from his own. As time went on, Wolper would continue to publicly disprove of Batman, continuing to label his behavior and actions as either psychologically or sociologically troubling. This brought him significant attention, to the point of taking part in public debates about his Batman's activities. After Batman's defeat of the Mutant Leader and the formation of the Sons of Batman, Wolper continued to blame him for inspiring anti-social behavior.
After the Joker awoke from a catatonic state, Wolper began treating him. Believing that he was recovering due to Batman's absence, Wolper was convinced to bring him into to help his anti-Batman debates and appearances, despite the media attention garnered by Dent's recent crime spree. Wolper was able to arrange for an appearance on a talk show hosted by David Endocrine and was able to convince Chief Administrator Glen Forb to help.
During their appearance, Wolper tried to defend the Joker and continued to blame Batman for them. Though Wolper believed Joker would behave, the Clown Prince of Crime had actually planned to use the show as a means to escape, arranging with a former henchman to released Joker Venom through two robot dolls. Rather than die from the toxin as the other guests, presenters and audience, Wolper was killed when one of the dolls broke his neck. His actions led to the Joker's escape and crime spree, which came to an end after the Clown Prince of Crime's death.
In other media[]
- The Batman: The Animated Series character Dr. Bartholomew is partially based on Wolper. However, he is often depicted as more open-minded and willing to listen to Batman, as opposed to the comic character.
- Wolper appears in the animated adaptations of The Dark Knight Returns, voiced by Michael McKean. Unlike the comic version, his film counterpart is killed when the Joker slashed his throat with a broken mug immediately after he claimed Batman was a narcissistic psychopath, a reference to a similar Joker murder from another DC Animated feature.