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Religion: manifestly non-religious
Name: Smiler
Alter Ego: Roland Meacham
First Appearance: Detective Comics (vol. 1) #327 (May 1964): "The Mystery of the Menacing Mask!"
Creators: John Broome, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella
Number of Appearances: 1
Enemy of: Batman, Robin, Andrew Wallis
Ally: Frank Fenton
Occupation: criminal, politician
Location: Gotham City, USA
Gender: male
Roland Meacham was a criminal mastermind who hid his identity behind a mask and became known as "Smiler" when he created the Sub-Gotham Village hideout for criminals. Located underneath the Bohemian and somewhat chaotic historic section of Gotham known as "Gotham Village," the hideout allowed the city's criminals to hide from police when the "heat" was on them. They could stay there for months at a time if necessary. The underground complex had entertainment, a movie theater, and even a "travel agency" that could supply falsified identification papers, passports, etc. for getting safely out of the country.
To presere his unique "business," Meacham had publically chaired the Committee to Preserve Gotham Village. Many people in Gotham City advocated razing Gotham Village because they felt it was a place that criminals hid out in. These critics were right. They just didn't realize how organized this hiding was. To combat these critics of Gotham Village, most vocal among whom was Anti-Crime Commission head Andrew Wallis, Roland Meacham became the vocal chair of the city's Committee to Preserve Gotham Village. Bruce Wayne actually served as vice-chairman of the Committee. Of course, Wayne did not know about Meacham's criminal background and enterprise.
When Gotham Village resident Linda Greene pleaded to Bruce Wayne for help relating to the crime problems in her community, Batman and Robin investigated Gotham Village and eventually uncovered Meacham's enterprise. Meacham was finally revealed as the Smiler and sent to jail and his criminal hideout paradise was shut down.
Suggested links for further research about this character and the character's religious affiliation:
- http://comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=12026
- https://www.comics.org/issue/18397/
- http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=32126