The quadrangle comes together with the addition of Frenchy and Doctor Vivisectus; this is really the core cast for the whole thing. I love what James did with both of them.
I still have a fondness for Frenchy. I know it’s playing to the comic book trope; the hyper-violent booze-swilling maniac is pretty much a no-brainer in any comic property. But God, I have a soft spot for this particular hyper-violent booze-swilling maniac. At some point I’d read an Agatha Christie Poirot novel an got a chuckle out of the fact that he as Belgian French (Walloon) and would get annoyed when people mistook him for France-French. So I thought it would be fun if that was a butler’s sole defining character trait, other than the hyperviolence and alcoholism. Essentially the anti-Alfred to Wayne Wealthy’s anti-Bruce-Wayne.
I strongly suspect there’s a lot of Evan Dorkin’s Milk & Cheese in his DNA. The gin fixation supports that theory.
Doctor Vivisectus doesn’t have as strong a through line; he’s an evil scientist, a super-genius, has a thing for cheese (almost 20 years later I still think cheese is just inherently funny). He rents out Man-Man’s basement and Man-Man doesn’t have the heart to kick him out because he’s inherently kind of hapless.
