DC Animated Universe
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"What kind of city are we running when we depend on the support of a potential madman?"

Arthur Reeves was a Gotham City councilman whose corrupt nature developed even before the start of his career.

Biography

Reeves was once an attorney employed as an in-house counsel for Carl Beaumont, who called him a "hotshot". Reeves also became acquainted with Beaumont's daughter, Andrea.

When Beaumont had to flee Gotham with his daughter to escape Salvatore Valestra, he turned to Reeves for help. Afterwards, Beaumont kept in touch while he and Andrea lived hidden in Europe.

Years later, when Reeves began his political career, his first election campaign had bankrupted him, and he turned to Beaumont for assistance. When Beaumont refused, a desperate Reeves sold his whereabouts to Valestra and his syndicate. He appeased what little conscience he had with the delusion that all Valestra wanted was to get back the money Beaumont had stolen.

The syndicate tracked Beaumont down and murdered him. Ten years after they had left Gotham, Andrea returned to the city as the mysterious Phantasm and began killing the members of the syndicate one by one. When Chuckie Sol's death was blamed on Batman, Reeves quickly went public with denunciations of the vigilante, and lobbied for the creation of a special police task force to bring him in.

After Buzz Bronski was killed, Valestra picked up Reeves and demanded to know why Batman was targeting them. Reeves cut the meeting short, feeling that he no longer needed Valestra, who was elderly and in failing health.

But he was later confronted by the Joker, who was the hit man sent by Valestra to kill Beaumont, and knew the details of Reeves' secret deal with the mobsters. The Joker had seen the new vigilante, and quickly made the connection between Sol, Bronski, and Valestra. His own theory was that Reeves had hired the vigilante to eliminate the witnesses to his sordid past. It seemed to be confirmed when Andrea called his office. Needing no further proof, Joker injected Reeves with a shot of Joker toxin, sending him into uncontrollable hysterics. While at the hospital under sedation, Reeves was paid a visit by Batman, who forced him to confess to the truth, which caused him to break down again. His ultimate fate is unknown.

Background information

  • Reeves is voiced by Hart Bochner, whose father, Lloyd Bochner, voiced Gotham City Mayor Hamilton Hill.
  • When Reeves is seen effected by Joker venom in the hospital, he bares a slight resemblance to the future Creeper.
  • Reeves appeared in the comic book Batman & Robin Adventures Annual 1 - Shadow of the Phantasm. He recovered from the Joker toxin, but as a side effect his skin had turned yellow. After his connection with the mob had been exposed, his political career was destroyed. This, combined with the lingering effects of the toxin, had driven him insane, plotting revenge on Batman, Phantasm, and Joker. Discovering the Phantasm's true identity as Andrea Beaumont, he chased her across a high balcony, but accidentally fell to his death after Andrea tricked him into charging at her mask and cape.
  • Reeves closely resembles Harvey Dent, pre-disfiguration.

Appearance

Feature film

The New Batman Adventures

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