>>149838262
I like this, making him the one sane man in the madhouse whose plans work out because he's not trying anything stupid. Great idea, but I don't believe modern writers are at all smart enough to actually pull this off.

For that take on Black Mask to work, he would have to be written to be extremely competent and intelligent - but in a realistic way. He would actually have to be a character that can outsmart Gotham and outplay Batman from time to time, but without the crutches that the others have to kind of handwave the fact that the writers aren't as smart as the characters they're writing. Joker especially gets away with this because he ranges from "le crazy and unpredictable" to "literally basically psychic and can always remain one step ahead because idk". Bane and Freeze get away with this because they have legitimate borderline magical abilities that can let them do bullshit someone normally can't. Penguin gets away with this because he is ungodly wealthy and connected and can just bullshit whatever out of near thin air, and that's even if he's actually doing anything besides being a borderline mook himself that Batman beats on for information.

Black Mask wouldn't have any of this unless you just aped Penguin except had him actually commit crimes. He would actually have to be written in an intelligent way and I don't trust anyone to do that