Jeremiah Hatch

Origin

As a young man, Jeremiah Hatch was thrown out of the seminary for his mental instability and his heretical ideas. Regardless, he lied to recruiters and got himself sent to Vietnam as a chaplain. There, he was driven mad by the violence and chaos that surrounded him. He picked up a gun and killed dozens of people, and became convinced that it was his duty to hasten the descent of humanity into venality and self-destruction so that God would destroy the Earth.

Creation

Jeremiah Hatch was created by Dennis O’Neil and Denys Cowan. He made his first appearance in The Question #1.

Major Story Arcs

The Question

“I shall deal with the ugliness of the World and of the flesh. For is that not my calling?” — Reverend Jeremiah Hatch.

Returning to Hub City, The Reverend Dr. Hatch becomes a popular television preacher. At the same time, he begins to work his way into the administration of Mayor Wesley Fermin. He takes complete control of the city, orchestrating the corruption and decline of the city and its people. He has the crusading reporter Vic Sage apparently killed. Later, he hires the Musto family to blow up a school bus full of children, a plot that is thwarted by the return of the Question. When the Question returns and attacks him he is driven further into insanity, believing that Question has been brought back to torment him. He kidnaps Myra Fermin’s daughter Jackie and prepares to sacrifice her, believing that he has been asked by God to reenact the story of Abraham and Isaac. He is stopped at the last minute by the Question, who he takes to be an angel. He is stabbed in the chest by Myra Fermin, and dies.

Powers and Abilities

Jeremiah Hatch has no superhuman powers or abilities. He is a charismatic speaker and is fairly intelligent and manipulative.