October 2041
Edition nº2

Clayface:
A Legacy and An Alliance

What or Who is DC Clayface?

Who doesn’t know Clayface from the DC Universe? Well, probably some people, but maybe you would recognize one of these names: Basil Karlo, Matt Hagen, Preston Payne, Sondra Fuller, Cassius Payne, and Peter Malley. They were all the people who ever went under the alias name “Clayface”, one of Batman’s greatest villains. Clayface literally came from the name: clay and face. These people’s faces are made of clay. Not just their faces, actually, but their entire body. They have various backstories with this power, so shall we get to these stories now?

Basil Karlo: The First Clayface

Basil Karlo was the first person who had the name Clayface.

Backstory

during the shooting of a horror film, Karlo murdered everyone. He was captured by Batman and Robin and was sent to prison.

Clayface Abilities

Owning a body made of clay came with its own advantages. Mainly, it helped Karlo shapeshift easily. He could change his body mass, shape, size, density, and basically everything he could think of.

Unfortunate Weakness

Unfortunately, his weakness was his mental disorder. He was driven mad for, again, an unclear reason, which pushed him to commit crimes that one could only wonder.

Matt Hagen: From Treasure to Clayface

Matt Hagen, also known as Matthew Hagen, was the second Clayface.

Origin

One day, Matt Hagen was looking for sunken treasure in the ocean. He accidentally got into a pool of protoplasm that he found, and the protoplasm transformed his body into clay. After that, he started to commit crimes which made Batman and Robin have to deal with him.

Clayface Abilities

Just like Karlo, Hagen was also able to shapeshift into anything. However, his power was even greater, because he could shapeshift into anyone or anything, including the colors! When he did this, he didn’t even look like he was made of clay. He could show up in public looking like a normal person. Worse, he could also copy the powers, abilities, and weaknesses of the thing or person that he transformed into.

Clayface’s Protoplasm Weakness

With great powers come great weaknesses too. Unfortunately, Hagen’s clay ability was not permanent. Every now and then, he had to go back to the protoplasm pool to regain his powers. Also, his transformation was not unlimited. He had a limited volume of mass to be transformed, so it was not that free, even though his abilities were still convenient.

Preston Payne: The Genius Acromegalic

Preston Payne was the third person who was called the Clayface.

Origin

Preston Payne was born with chronic hypopituitarism, a condition where one’s hormones are excessively released into the body which makes the body look… terrible. However, Payne was extremely smart, so he could graduate from Hudson University and later on work at S.T.A.R. Labs with ease. During his time working at S.T.A.R. Labs, he tried looking for a cure for his disease, which was apparently incurable. He heard about Hagen, took a blood sample from him, and experimented with that blood at the laboratory. He managed to upgrade the chemical mixture in this blood and created a serum out of it. Payne consumed the serum and was able to reconstruct his face that became clay. Unfortunately, this was not permanent. His face could melt and the man found out that he could “transfer” this melting effect to other people, but that would kill them.

Clayface Abilities

Aside from the shapeshifting power that Hagen also had, Payne had this “transfer” ability that was also dangerous for the people he touched. These people could melt because of the corrosive touch. Payne also had an excessive production of protoplasm that he had to contain by using a special exoskeleton.

Technological Weaknesses

Unfortunately, Payne was highly dependent on technology–to be more specific, the exoskeleton. Without it, his body would suffer. Also, Payne was apparently diagnosed as clinically insane. He was brought to Arkham Asylum after his experiment.

Sondra Fuller: The Lady Clayface

Sondra Fuller was the fourth Clayface, and was also the only girl in the Clayface gang. Aside from being Clayface, Fuller was also known as Lady Claface and Lady Clay.

Origin

Sondra Fuller was made into Clayface by the Kobra Cult’s technologies. However, this process was completely done by her consent because she didn’t like her face. After getting her face changed, she abandoned the cult and started stealing other people’s identities to live.

Clayface Abilities

Fuller had the same power as Matt Hagen, but the good side of her power was it was permanent. She didn’t need to sink herself every now and then in the pool of protoplasm.

Cassius Payne: The Son of Two Clayfaces

As the header said, Cassius is the fifth Clayface and also the son of two Clayfaces: Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller.

Origin

Payne and Fuller started a romantic relationship. They decided to move out of Gotham in order to start a new life. During this “new life” era, they had a son named Cassius Payne. Just like his parents, Cassian also had the clay powers.

Clayface Abilities

Aside from the shapeshifting powers, Cassius’s clay body was able to grow a mind of its own once separated from the main body. This piece of clay would take over a new host and turn that host into a clay-like creature.

Peter Malley: A Clayface Sample

Peter Malley was the last known clay-like human, but he didn’t use Clayface as his alias. Malley was known as the Claything.

Origin

Malley was the perfect example of Cassius’ extra ability. Before becoming Claything, Peter Malley worked as a scientist at the Department of Extranormal Operations or DEO. He was studying a sample of Cassius' skin when that piece took over Malley’s body and turned him into a Clayface.