Ten-Eyed Man

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caption = The Ten-Eyed Man.
Art by Pablo Marcos and Ricardo Villamonte
comic_color = background:#8080ff
character_name = The Ten-Eyed Man
publisher = DC Comics
debut = "Batman" #226 (1970)
creators = Frank Robbins
Irv Novick
Dick Giordano
alliance_color = background:#c0c0ff
real_name = Philip Reardon
status = Deceased
alliances =
previous_alliances =
aliases = "Ten-Eye" Reardon
relatives =
powers = 360° vision

Ten-Eyed Man is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain and Batman foe created by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick, and Dick Giordano.

Fictional character biography

Philip Reardon served as a soldier in the U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam until he was honorably discharged after a grenade fragment hit him between the eyes. He returned to civilian life as a warehouse guard. One night, he was knocked out by thieves who planted a bomb to blow up the warehouse. When Batman arrived at the scene, Reardon recovered but his vision was blurred. Mistaking Batman as one of the thieves, Reardon battled him. When he recognized Batman, the warehouse exploded and Reardon's retinas were burned, which impacted his war injury and blinded him permanently in both eyes.

A brilliant doctor named Dr. Engstrom reconnected his optic nerves to his fingertips, enabling him to see through them. He blamed Batman for what had happened and took his revenge on him under the identity of the Ten-Eyed Man. Because of his indisputably unique abilities, he was employed by persons unknown as the only villain worthy to attack Man-Bat.

He fought Batman on two occasions and came up short both times, often being defeated by injuring his sensitive eyes/fingers by tricking him into catching or touching something. He could only be kept in a jail cell by keeping his hands locked in a special box that kept him blind all day and night, because with eyes on his fingers, "escape would be child's play for him," although precisely "how" this would be the case was not elaborated upon.

He was killed during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths," reportedly at the specific request of Marv Wolfman, among a list of characters he wanted to kill first. His only appearance after that was in "Animal Man" #23 along with other characters who were wiped out by the Crisis.

Powers and abilities

Ten-Eyed Man can see through optic nerves in his fingertips, giving him a complete 360 view. His enhanced vision made him a superb fighter and marksman.

Other versions

In issue 30 of DC's year-long 52 limited series, an entirely new take on the Ten-Eyed Man was introduced. The Ten-Eyed Men of the Empty Quarter are a nomadic tribe that inhabit the "Empty Quarter" of an unspecified Middle Eastern desert (though "the Empty Quarter" is the name of a region in Saudi Arabia) and are dedicated to hunting demons. They wear blindfolds and loose-fitting robes with turbans, and have eyes similar to the original Ten-Eyed Man's tattooed on their fingertips. ["Batman" #675 (April 2008)]

During the issue, Bruce Wayne wanders the desert in search of them, defeats one of their number in hand-to-hand combat, and asks for them to exorcise his personal demons. When Robin catches up to him, Bruce tells him that they have "cut out all the dark, fearful, paranoid urges that I've allowed to corrupt my life" and that "Batman is gone."

Whether there is any connection between this tribe and the villainous Ten-Eyed Man is unknown.

An exiled member of this tribe, lacking a finger, is introduced as a terrorist in Batman #675. He kidnaps Jezebel Jet, and is defeated by Bruce Wayne, who was so unstable at that point that he didn't even change to his Batman uniform.

Bibliography

* "Batman" #226 (November 1970)
* "Batman" #231 (May 1971)
* "Man-Bat" #2 (March 1976)
* "Crisis on Infinite Earths" #12 (March 1986)
* "Who's Who in the DC Universe" #23 (January 1987)
* "Animal Man" #23 (May 1990)
* "52" #30 (November 2006)
* "Batman" #675 (April 2008)

References

External links

* [http://www.seanbaby.com/stupcom/10eyedman.htm The Ten-Eyed Man: An Appreciation]