DC's Clayface #5 Reveals Matt Hagen and Basil Karlo Are Genetically the Same
Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #5, written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, confirms the two main Clayfaces are indistinguishable on a DNA level.
DC Comics' Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #5 has revealed that Matt Hagen and Basil Karlo are genetically the same person, permanently merging the publisher's two main Clayface identities. The issue is now available, according to screenrant.com.
In the story, Dr. Victoria October determines that years of cellular tampering and shapeshifting have made Hagen's and Karlo's DNA indistinguishable.
The issue is written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, with art by Fran Galán and Patricio Delpeche. The series also sees Preston Payne, the third Clayface, take on the Basil Karlo identity for himself.
Basil Karlo debuted in the Golden Age as a horror actor who wore a clay mask to murder the cast of a remake, later injecting himself with his successors' DNA to become Ultimate Clayface. In the Silver Age, Matt Hagen was a treasure hunter who became a shapeshifting mud monster after bathing in a radioactive pool of protoplasm.
The 2026 DC Studios body-horror film Clayface, directed by James Watkins, gives Matt Hagen, played by Tom Rhys Harries, a single origin that merges Hagen's powers with Karlo's actor background and adds AI nanobots. In October 2026, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's Absolute Batman #22 and #23 introduced a Clayface formed from multiple victims fused into one protoplasm mass led by sculptor Basil Karlo.
Quick answers
What does Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #5 reveal?
It reveals that Matt Hagen and Basil Karlo are genetically the same person, with DNA indistinguishable due to cellular tampering and shapeshifting.
Who wrote and drew Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #5?
The issue is written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle with art by Fran Galán and Patricio Delpeche.
Is Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #5 available now?
Yes, the issue is now available from DC Comics.