Hi. This is Thesecret1070. I am an admin of this site. Edit as much as you wish, but one little thing... If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. Other than that, enjoy Villains Wiki!!!
~ The Savage Skull's first line, before attacking Lew Stevens.
“
I am the avenger of miscarried justice-- and the executioner of those who serve that brand of justice! I'd planned to save you for last, Batman-- after all the real cops... Ironic that by finding me and thus proving yourself better than the rest-- you've merely speeded your own doom!
„
~ The Savage Skull reveals himself to Batman.
The Savage Skull, formerly known by his real name Jack Crane, is a cop serial killer and the main antagonist of Batman #360 "When Slays the Savage Skull" (June, 1983) and Detective Comics #528 "Requiem for Skulls" (July, 1983).
He is a former GCPD cop who was kicked out of the force due to rash behaviour and planned to take revenge on all he believed were false enforcers of justice.
I don't have a face, cop! Thanks to your brand of justice, I've got nothing but a skull!
„
~ The Savage Skull to a startled Officer Fredric Czezik before killing him.
A close-up on the Savage Skull's face, drawn by Don Newton.
Another close-up, drawn by Gene Colan.
The Savage Skull's most notable physical trait is his partially melted head, now left with pale yellow-colored skin and exposed muscles clinging to his bones, which often make him look like zombie.
Throughout much of his debut story he keeps his face hidden under his hoodie. The rest of his body is otherwise normal and perfectly fine, though fairly muscular due to his boxing training.
He wears a red hoodie, reddish brown boots, white gloves and pants, and can more or less always be seen armed with steel knives. Before his accident, what could be seen of Jack Crane had him as a young to middle-aged brown-haired caucasian man with glasses. It's unknown if he had the red eyes he has now as the Savage Skull prior to the accident or if Jack was always red-eyed.
At the end of his second appearance he removes his hoodie to show off his muscular body and giving himself hand wraps like those of a boxer, for his upcoming and final match against Batman on a boxing ring.
Personality[]
The Savage Skull celebrates his fourth victim.
“
No! You're not even a real cop! You can't beat me! I'm a real cop-- the only one left in the city! I can't let you win! I'll kill you with my bare hands!!
„
~ The Savage Skull to Batman at the end of their first battle.
Before his incident, Jack was said to be eager and ambitious as a cop, and can be seen in a flashback shooting a kid he believed to be behind a burning tenement, which was actually proven to not be true, exposing Jack as a cold-blooded arrogant liar, who justified his actions as a hero for taking care of an arsonist that was in actuality an innocent bystander and believing he deserved a medal of honor.
“
The Savage Skull: Jack Crane is gone, Bull... He's gone away to make room for the Savage Skull! Harvey Bullock:Jack--! My God, Jack-- Izzat what the fire did to you... your face? Jeez, I'm sorry, Jack... I din' know... But I still gotta take you in, Jack-- you killed some cops-- some of your own... The Savage Skull: No, Bull. The day I got kicked off the force was the day I realized I was alone, without any of my "own". It was also the day I realized that every cop is really a criminal. Your justice has gone sour, Bull. Maybe they forced me to turn in my badge, but I'm the only real cop this city's got now. They busted me out of the ranks for shooting the punk who started that fire, you know...
„
~ The Savage Skull to his old friend Harvey Bullock, shortly before trying to kill him.
The Savage Skull with Gordon and Batman, his most personal targets.
Not much changed following the incident, other than him showing a greatly bitter and resentful side that exploded a year later into his Savage Skull persona, through which he became more open about his capacity for murdering innocents (including former friends and associates) and was shown to have gotten pretty psychotic, given his many rantings about how he believed himself to be the only true cop in Gotham and how he no longer referred to himself as Jack Crane, as well as treating Gordon and Batman as his most personal and hated targets.
“
The Savage Skull:Come on-- let's do it! You said it youself, Batman-- I'm unarmed now! You want to take me, do it in the ring! Batman: You're mad, Skull-- you need help. The Savage Skull: Then take me in for help, Batman-- or walk away and let me go on killing every cop in the city!
„
~ The Savage Skull challenges Batman.
Given his preference to calling himself the Savage Skull and ignoring his past name of Jack Crane, along with what happened during the incident that scarred him, it's possible Jack was always mentally unstable to some degree.
Biography[]
Background[]
Not much is known about Jack Crane's past, other than he was eager and ambitious as a cop, too eager and ambitious as well as never a good cop in Comissioner Jim Gordon's eyes. In his second appearance it's also stated that he was friends with Harvey Bullock, another shady cop, and the two always hung out at the Police Youth League building, training kids and others to box.
Jack kills the teen and is scarred by the fire.
One day, he came upon a burning tenement just as a teenager appeared in the doorway allegedly holding a gasoline can, and Jack drew his gun believing the teen to be the arsonist behind the fire. He went inside and was allegedly jumped by the kid, who hit his back with a wooden board. Jack proceeded to shoot the kid, on reflex according to himself. When he came to, a portion of the burning ceiling fell on him. He made his way out of the building but his face and scalp were litereally on fire, greatly disfiguring him.
Jack is kicked out of the force.
He had to attend the internal affairs hearing with his head completely bandaged, and based on his past record of zeal and the physical evidence of the bullet's entry path and so on he was drummed from the ranks for using excessive force. No gas can was ever found and everyone else had a strong reason to believe the kid was utterly innocent and simply fleeing the fire.
Jack bitterly complained, saying it was a misscarriage of justice, that he should be awarded a medal of honor for shooting the "arsonist" in self-defense. Jack later tried to maintain contacts with his old buddies on the force but they were repulsed by him, so not much by his bandaged face as by his bitterness and acrimony.
A year and a half later he would take on the name "the Savage Skull" and planned a murderous streak to take this revenge on all the "real" cops.
"When Slays the Savage Skull"[]
The Savage Skull stalks Lew Stevens.
Jack, now as the Savage Skull, starts killing cops by night, stalking them and attacking them with knives while hidden in the shadows, successfully murdering two in one week. Once he attempts to get a third, he is stopped by a nearby civilian car hasting his attack and allowing the cop, Lew Stevens, to survive.
The Savage Skull confronts the Batman.
The following night, the Savage Skull kills another cop and returns home to find Batman inspecting the place, having discovered his true identity of Jack Crane. The hero narrowly dodges one of the Skull's thrown knives and they have a brief scuffle. The Savage Skull pins Batman to the wall with another knife and flees to go after Commissioner Gordon.
Later on, after Gordon has explained to Batman who Jack Crane was, the Savage Skull suddenly appears, jumping through a window of the room they're in and attempting to kill Gordon, but is held back and punched out of the building by Batman.
Batman chases the Skull for nine city blocks all the way to the Gotham river quays, until he's struck from the shadows by him, using a broken bottle. With his superior skill, the exhausted Batman is still able to avoid the Skull's attacks and disarm him. Angered, the Skull lunges at him but accidentally falls directly into the water at great speeds, creating a noise akin to a ripe melon striking concrete. As Batman looks where the Skull's corpse might be, not seeing anything due to the darkness, believes his foe is dead.
The case of the Savage Skull is consequently closed by Gordon.
"Requiem for Skulls"[]
Some time later, the Savage Skull rests on a nest made out of garbage underneath the docks, not too far from where he fell into the water. While some SWAT members are searching for him, he kills one of them, officer Fredric Czezik, and escapes the scene with no one becoming aware of his presence, except for Batman who finds Fredric's corpse.
Batman finds Fredric's corpse and the Savage Skull's nest under the pier.
After considering where the Savage Skull could be, Harvey Bullock, Gordon's second-in-command and an old friend of Crane's, finds him in the abandoned and boarded up Police Youth League the two used to box and hang out in, a place the Savage Skull now uses as a hideout. Before the Skull can kill him, Gordon intervenes, having heard Bullock mentioning the Police Youth League earlier that night and having followed Bullock there.
Batman beats the Savage Skull once and for all.
Neither Bullock nor Gordon are a match for the Skull, who stabs through the latter's arm, but he's disarmed by Batman, who had been following Gordon. The Savage Skull leads Batman into one of the building's boxing rings, where he taunts the vigilante into a fight. The two are nearly evenly matched but Batman is able to edge him out in skill and ferocity, knocking him out. He is last seen being dragged away by Bullock.
The Savage Skull is thus imprisoned sometime after, and given he has no appearances beyond this, presumably stays in prison or remains institutionalized in Arkham Asylum, given Jack Crane's presumed insanity.
Powers and Abilities[]
“
He's too young and fast and strong-- but there must be some story behind what's left of that face of his...
„
~ Batman after his first confrontation with the Savage Skull.
“
Batman: You've got it, Skull. I've yet to duck a fight in my life. The Savage Skull: Then maybe you didn't study my files closely enough, Batman. Maybe you didn't notice that I won the Golden Gloves, that I was the state champ... number one heavyweight on the police boxing team... Maybe no one told you how many hours I spent on this very ring-- sparring, teaching kids how to fight... Maybe you don't even realize that you just walked into-- a buzzsaw!
„
~ Batman and the Savage Skull in their final confrontation.
The Savage Skull knocks out Lew Stevens with a single punch.
Jack Crane received a good amount of training at the GCPD, making him a fairly skilled cop with sharp shooting skills. Through the Police Youth League he became the state champ and number one heavyweight on the police boxing team, able to deliver very powerful blows.
As the Savage Skull he utilized these skills and his strengthened body to easily kill his former GCPD associates and combat the Batman, who praised his fighting ability.
Batman battles the Savage Skull.
Jack as the Savage Skull also noted himself as being extremely sturdy and showcased this during his final battle with Batman, able to take many of the vigilante's blows and dishing them out twice as hard.
The Savage Skull was also armed with steel knives, able to skillfully throw them from afar and reaching the desired target almost every time.
Quotes[]
The Savage Skull[]
“
You're gonna pay-- Every last one of you is gonna pay!
~ The Savage Skull to himself before attacking his next victim.
“
Vengeance is mine-- saith the Skull!
„
~ The Savage Skull to himself after his fourth kill.
“
I'm back to form, Batman! The fourth was a clean kill. But the next two... you and Gordon... those kills are going to be nice and dirty.
„
~ The Savage Skull to Batman in their first encounter.
About Jack Crane/the Savage Skull[]
“
There was a warning! A voice! Yeah-- He said something --somethin' like... like "justice must die"... And he said somethin' else-- while we were wrestlin' on the sidewalk-- "you're all gonna pay... you're all gonna pay."
„
~ Lew recounts what he heard the Savage Skull said while he attacked him.
“
At nine minutes past midnight, officer Fredric Czezir is a living exemplar of Gotham law and order. Forthy-three seconds later-- his light is doused forever.
„
~ Narration over the Savage Skull's fifth overall victim.
“
Crane was never a good cop, Batman... Oh, he was eager and ambitious enough-- too much so, and that's why I never trusted him.
„
~ Jim Gordon describes Jack Crane to Batman.
“
He is good... Too good for me to let him have another chance!
„
~ Batman while fighting the Savage Skull.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Cover for Batman #360.
Cover for Detective Comics #528.
Panels[]
The Savage Skull's full debut, attacking Lew Stevens.
The Savage Skull stalks another cop from the darkness.
The Savage Skull strikes his fourth victim.
The first scuffle between Batman and the Savage Skull.
The Savage Skull comes for Gordon but is stopped by Batman.
Batman chases after the Savage Skull.
The Savage Skull tries to hit Batman with a random bottle.
The Savage Skull's last appearance, being dragged away by Bullock.
Trivia[]
The Savage Skull was the first supervillain created by Doug Moench in his highly acclaimed Batman run.
Crane's residence and the Savage Skull's main hideout was on West End 33.
.png){kind=link}
