The Bookworm is a fictional criminal in the DC Universe, and an adversary of the superhero Batman. He was created for the Batman 1966 television series and was played by Roddy McDowall, but has since made his way into the comics. Bookworm usually wears a brown suit, meant to resemble a leather-bound book.
Bookworm was created for the Batman (1966) series and first appeared in the consecutive episodes "The Bookworm Turns" and "While Gotham City Burns". In these episodes, he steals many high-value books and leaves clues for Batman to solve â similar to the Riddler â which eventually leads to his defeat. His crimes are literature-themed, and his dialogue often contains literary references.
He appears in several issues of Batman '66, the tie-in comic series for the show.
Bookworm appears in Gotham Academy. This version is A.S. Scarlet. a literary teacher who commits literature-themed crimes.
Bookworm also appears in the comic series Huntress, where he is reimagined as a serial killer named Alexander Wyvern. He is captured after killing 106 citizens and placed in solitary confinement, which he eventually escapes, with the motive of hunting down Huntress. He dies after tripping one of his own traps, a hallway filled with guns.
The Bookworm does not possess superpowers per se, but is shown reading the entire contents of an oversized and lengthy book within "a matter of seconds." Additionally he exhibits a genius level intellect, specifically a high knowledge of books and their contents, including the ability to quote obscure references from old books.
Bookworm makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the ' episode "Day of the Dark Knight!" as an inmate of Iron Heights Penitentiary.