| Roy Raymond | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #153 (Nov. 1949) |
| Created by | Ruben Moreira (artwork) |
Roy Raymond is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He was introduced in "Impossible... But True!", a back-up strip in Detective Comics, beginning with issue #153 (Nov. 1949).
In 1997, a new character appeared, Roy Raymond, Jr., the grandson of the original Roy Raymond.
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Roy Raymond was the host of a television show called Impossible... But True!, which bore a strong resemblance to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. The stories would involve Raymond and his assistant, Karen Duncan, investigating claims and exposing hoaxes, ensuring all the stories on the show were true. The strip was later retitled "Roy Raymond: TV Detective".
In the Silver Age, Aquaman took over the back-up slot in Detective Comics. Raymond subsequently appeared in the Superman titles, where it was revealed he had been kidnapped by a supervillain and brainwashed into committing crimes. After being rescued by Superman, he resumed his television career at Metropolis' Galaxy Broadcasting, which at the time was also the employer of Clark Kent.
Roy Raymond also appeared during Rick Veitch's tenure on Swamp Thing (issues #67-68, 74, 81, and Annual #3 [1988]). He is portrayed as an avaricious media figure; surgery has made him appear much younger, and he wants to use Swamp Thing to further his career. He and his assistant, Lipschitz, are trapped for days in a limo being driven by a monstrous and insane failed earth elemental called "The Wild Thing".[1] He spends the latter part of the ordeal, before being discovered by cops, hallucinating a business deal with Morgan Edge, the head of the broadcasting company WGBS. Roy's hallucinatory conversation is over the concept of Swamp Thing.
Lipschitz died after having spent his last hours face down in filth at the bottom of the limo, injured and unable to move, pleading with Raymond to summon help. Raymond also ended up with severe facial damage, his plastic surgery having come undone during the trip. Raymond rebounds in issue #81 with a repaired and older face, recommitted to being an honest investigative reporter who will reveal society's corruptions.
Robin #38 (March 1997) introduced Roy Raymond, Jr., the grandson of the original, who presented a tabloid television series in Gotham City called Roy Raymond: Manstalker. Raymond is portrayed as arrogant, inept, and a huge embarrassment to his grandfather.
There is mention of Raymond in Detective Comics #818 (June 2006), where Batman describes Raymond as one of the few detectives he admires, but who "chooses to waste his talents on daytime television" and so is apparently still hosting his TV show.
In Superman #669, a flashback shows that Raymond did indeed have a show under WGBS years ago, during Superman's early years. It was advertised on a billboard Superman was passing.
Raymond, Jr., appeared in The Flash vol. 2, #238 (May 2008), working for a news station in Keystone City that was launching a smear campaign against the Flash (based on an ill-thought remark by West, Raymond gives the hero the "Most Awful Human in the Universe" award). Unknown to him, his boss was the supervillain Spin, who uses media manipulation to control reality.
Following the death of Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth approached Raymond in Outsiders Special #1 (Feb. 2009) to join the Outsiders. He accepted the offer[2] and became Owlman, with equipment left for that purpose by Batman.
As seen in the first issue of Blackest Night, Raymond has written a book on the murder of Sue Dibny.[3]
Raymond appeared in Darwyn Cooke's 2004 DC: The New Frontier as a Hollywood celebrity who bravely refused to comply with McCarthy's Congressional Committee on Un-American Activities investigation into supposed communists in the entertainment and superhero worlds. He was blacklisted as a communist sympathizer for refusing to name communist celebrities or his own political position, thus presumably losing his TV and radio shows as well as his newspaper column.