Design and Black Mask

I've gotta say, I think Black Mask really proves the importance of a good design.

The guy has no strong theme. His origin is one of the worst ever written (dropped on his head as a baby, bitten by a raccoon to give him a fascination with masks, ran his parents cosmetics company into the ground then used DEADLY MAKEUP on the stockholders until an accident fused his mask [made from daddy's coffin] to his face).
And he's just so stupid. He got killed TWICE by Catwoman. Dropped off a building and shot in the head.
Has he been any especially well-written stories? Nope. Does he bring much to the table that couldn't be provided by a generic mobster? Nah.

BUT HE'S A DUDE IN A SUIT WHOSE FACE IS A BLACK SKULL, SO HE KEEPS SHOWING UP LIKE A BAD PENNY.

Give a character a good design and people will forgive ANYTHING.

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>WB shill trying to convince us making him faggot with a revenge porn backstory is a good thing

He always has been a villains who I've liked only because I haven't been exposed to him enough. Most of the stories I've read feature him as a secondary antagonist.

But honestly on his own he is not that interesting.

I too would like to know what good stories he is featured in wherein he is the MAIN antagonist.

His design manages to rip off while being markedly inferior to Red Skull

>The guy has no strong theme
His theme is masks, both physical and metaphorical. People put on faces in different situations and social circles, especially Roman's parents. His "mask" is a physical representation of how tired he is of phony people and them denying what they really are. His true face is for the world to see, and "Black Mask" feels no shame or remorse in what he is. This attitude has managed to make him one of Gotham's biggest players in the criminal underworld. Fellas like yourself just write him off as lame because you don't like the gimmick, being more subtle than most Arkham nuts. You ask me Batman material would benefit from doing more organized crime and less crazies

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I remember Batman Family, a maxi-series about a team that was like an evil version of Bruce and his allies. They had a dude that was an anti-Cassandra Cain, Mr. Fun, who as a kid had been bloodthirsty and brutal beyond compare, but had spent most of his life learning ways to channel and deal with his impulses, until he became this incredibly centered and driven dude that could be a threat to the likes of Cassandra and Dick.

War Games comes along, Mr. Fun shows up, Mr. Fun takes one look at Black Mask and just... runs. Terrified because of how much a big bad boogyman Black Mask was, because the writers decided he was the New Big Bad, and they weren't going to let a little thing like the fact that they'd done nothing to ESTABLISH him as a badass get in the way of things.

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He's honestly just a character meant to fill out the mob quota in Gotham. Usually a starter villain to a story with simple motivations you don't have to think too hard on, he's a C-list villain and he's fine there. He doesn't need to be some big compelling villain he's just an appetizer to the main one in most stories.

Since the Falcone and Maroni's were driven out of Gotham, is the organized crime just split between Black Mask and The Penguin?

Mostly unless you wanna remember Great White who is forgotten. Black Mask is a mobster who just more visually interesting (if you wanna take it like that).

I feel the same way about Mr. Sinister, I cant think of very many stories he had a major role in other than inferno, but he has always just looked cool and been a fun character.