Barton Mathis

Barton Mathis
Biological Information
Species	Human
Status	Deceased
Universe Information
Home universe	Earth-1
General Information
Occupation	Serial killer (formerly)
Alter ego	The Dollmaker
Actor	Michael Eklund

"After all, everyone loves a pretty doll."

—Barton Mathis^[src]

Barton Mathis (died October 23, 2013), also known as The Dollmaker, was a psychopathic serial killer who escaped prison during the Undertaking. He would drown his female victims by pouring a polymer down their throats, before dressing them up like dolls for police to find, thus giving him his name.

Biography

Killing Spree

Around late 2007, Barton Mathis established himself as a serial killer in Starling City when he left the bodies of his victims on display, dressed up as dolls. This earned him the moniker, "The Dollmaker". Unbeknownst to anyone, Mathis targeted women who used Mermaiden, a high-end skin cream marketed for delicate complexions, which he deemed perfect to help produce "dolls". After killing eight women, Mathis was taken down by Detective Quentin Lance and sent to Iron Heights Prison.

Escape and revenge

Mathis was in jail during the Undertaking. An escaped Cecil Adams/Count Vertigo gave Mathis the keys to his cell during the earthquake and ensuing chaos out of admiration for a "fellow artist". Mathis repaid Cecil with a warning about aftershocks, something the drug dealer guaranteed.

After escaping, Mathis eventually continued his killing spree and set up his operation in an abandoned facility of Metamorpho Chemical. Seeking revenge on Quentin for his imprisonment, Mathis killed another woman and left her body for the police to find as a message to the officer, revealing his return. When Quentin and the Arrow arrived at the Bisque Museum to try and capture him, Mathis called Quentin and taunted him as he killed another girl.

After discovering how Mathis chooses his victims, Quentin and Team Arrow tried to lure Mathis out by using Felicity Smoak as bait. Mathis ambushed Felicity and tried to kidnap her, but the Arrow intervened. When Quentin pursued him, Mathis knocked him down with a piece of wood and tried to shoot him, but was stopped again by the Arrow. He then took off when the police arrived.

Shortly after, Mathis kidnapped Quentin's daughter, Laurel Lance. He then posed as a homeless man in the SCPD parking lot, tasing Quentin when he approached him. While driving his captives away, Mathis shot a guard, triggering an alarm.

Mathis brought the duo to his hideout, where he planned to turn Laurel into one of his dolls while forcing Quentin to watch. Quentin tried to plead for his daughter's life, but Mathis angrily and sadistically ranted how the only way he could truly defeat the detective was to destroy his soul by killing Laurel. Before the process began, the Arrow arrived and saved Laurel. Mathis tried to flee, only to be attacked by the Canary. The two fought until Mathis used some pipes to trap the vigilante. Before he could kill her, the Arrow pinned Mathis down with two arrows in his shoulders. The Arrow told Mathis he was going back to jail, but the Canary refused to accept that, and killed Mathis by impaling him through the chest with one of her escrima sticks.

Personality

"What comes next is really quite exquisite. The sound of an esophagus slowly hardening. Like a symphony."

—Barton Mathis^[src]

Barton Mathis was a disturbed psychopath who took sadistic pleasure in killing women and dressing them up like dolls, for no apparent reason other than his own entertainment. Mathis seemed to have a fetish for his victims' skin, which he commented on a lot, and took great care to only target women with certain complexions. Mathis believed, in his own twisted way, to be doing these women a favor by dressing them up as dolls, claiming their beauty will be preserved and won't fade with age. He spoke in a calm, reverent manner during his killings, admiring them like a piece of art.

Mathis seemed to have some level of appreciation for criminals who crossed the same lines as him, as shown with Count Vertigo.

After being arrested by Quentin Lance, Mathis developed a personal grudge with the former (unable to understand that he deserved to be imprisoned for his crimes), and this desire for revenge was the only thing that broke through his facade. Mathis desired to torment his arrester on a personal level, as seen when he forced Quentin to listen to one of his victims' screams over the phone and even tried to murder Quentin's daughter, Laurel, in front of him to destroy his spirit. These traits were what led to Mathis' painful, yet well-deserved death.

Abilities

• High-level intellect/Skilled tactician: Barton was a notorious serial killer who managed to successfully evade the police for a time before and after his incarceration. He also concealed the secret of his modus operandi for years. Mathis had proven to be able to anticipate his opponents' thinking, as shown when he set up a telephone at the Bisque Museum to call and taunt Quentin Lance. Mathis was also shown to be a quick analytical thinker; he blindsided and disarmed Quentin by ambushing him in an abandoned warehouse, and when confronted by the Canary, pulled a chain to make pipes fall on and pin her down.
• Weapons proficiency: Mathis was adept in using guns and a taser.
• High tolerance for pain: When the Arrow shot Mathis in the back with an arrow, Mathis simply pulled it out and continued running with no sign of pain.
• Stealth: Mathis stalked and kidnapped multiple women during his killing spree. He also quickly vanished after his first confrontation with the Arrow despite police approaching and was even able to abduct Quentin from the SCPD parking lot.

Trivia

• Within The New 52, Barton Mathis is a supervillain and the third character in the DC comics to adopt the moniker of Dollmaker. He made his first appearance in Detective Comics #2, in November 2011. The Barton Mathis version of The Dollmaker is a deranged surgeon who runs an organ transplantation racket and uses the empty husks of his victims to create life-sized puppets. His alias is derived from his rag-doll appearance, the result of his own sewing. Dollmaker is assisted in his organ trafficking ring by a gang of patchwork madmen, his "family".

Appearances

Arrow

Season 2

• "Broken Dolls"
• "Crucible" (flashbacks)
• "State v. Queen" (flashbacks)
• "Three Ghosts" (mentioned)
• "The Man Under the Hood" (newspaper)

Season 6

• "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 2" (indirectly mentioned)