Detective Comics #833

[sherkahn]

*Note: not my scans*

Per funbox's request, the time when Batman fell to someone else's clever deception and imitation.

*mods*, 8 of a 26 story, 1/3 rule.



One of Zatanna's former assistant's is killed, and a dark history dead assistants in magic shows is revealed, leading to a notoriously "extreme" shock magician (who was previously introduced before). The stage shows more violent and bloody, and other assistants are killed, although each death looks like an accident, but only a master detective and an adept who knows magician stage craft could see that they were not.

Batman and Zatanna confront the magician, only to find something much worse hiding in plain sight.










Gotcha!


The next issue explains how the Joker survived being hit by a truck after the classic "Sleigh Ride" with Tim. Stage magician Ivar Loxias found the badly banged up clown prince of crime, but took care of him in his own home. While Joker shared trade secrets with a fan for his brilliance and pinache, Joker was studying Loxias's mannerisms so that once he was strong enough, he would replace the magician and no one would be the wiser. Magic tricks, preferred hand, stage-manship, posture, voice... all of those things that Loxias showed off daily to massive audiences, the Joker copied to a "T" so well that not even Zatanna nor Batman himself could tell it wasn't Loxias.

Comments

[freezer]

This explains why the DCU population is so much smarter than their Marvel U counterparts. The stupid is localized within a one-mile radius of The Joker.

[shadowpsykie]

huh?

[freezer]

I was talking about the context at the bottom of the post: You come across the Joker barely alive, Do you?

A) Run away.
B) Run away and call the cops.
C) Grab a stick and go to town
D) Take him back to your house and nurse him back to health?

People seem to lose at least 30 IQ points in The Joker's proximity.

[funbox]

Did you ever take in to fact that maybe he himself was also not so right in the head?

[freezer]

Which makes his actions context, but doesn't make them any less stupid.

[freezer]

GIVES! "Gives his actions context!"

[funbox]

It does sure seem like a dumb thing to do lol :P

[espanolbot]

The guy implictly wanted to become a supervillain himself (his stage show consisted of "extreme magic" with his assistants being buried alive and stuff), so he saved the Joker into order to get some pointers.

Admittedly he wasn't being that smart, but there was at least a reason for it.

[kd_the_movie]

Lets also not forget the Jokers' posing as Oberon Sexton.

[espanolbot]

Yeah, that.

Apparently he was so good that only Damian, who had lived int he UK for a while, apparently could tell his accent was faked.

Which is odd, as they showed him going on tv and stuff. *shrug*

[icon_uk]

It's possible Dick and Alfred had noticed, but never felt it worth mentioning. The extent to which "Sexton" pulled the wool over Dick's eyes isn't exactly clear IIRC.

But then again, Dick does appear to have something of a weakspot when it comes to seeing through the Joker in disguise...

[drmcninja]

Clever, girl.

[funbox]

Man, I was expecting something a little different, but I'm actually impressed by the set up and the acting, but I feel like the bat could've set something to stop him from word go. Still thanks a bunch of bananas, it was a cool scan :]

[sherkahn]

Bat's still thought he was dealing with an injured and limping Loxias, not the Joker.

[funbox]

I just think he'd have he's hands on something to passify him the moment he'd make a move, because he at least know people have been dying or getting hurt around him (doesn't he?)

[icon_uk]

To an extent, but he doesn't necessarily know for sure that Loxias is guilty. And the Joker is fast and stronger than he looks.

[randyripoff]

This is the issue with the Joker. When he's done well, it's an awesome story. But usually he isn't. Creators tend to forget that what really makes him dangerous is not the body count, but that he's actually as smart as Batman. That's what all the best Joker stories have in common; he's an intellectual match.

[funbox]

I get that he's his intellectual equal, but with tech being on batman's side, you'd think he'd be a little less of a threat until he upgraded himself

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Which, in the past, has resulted in stories such as "The Joker's Utility Belt" and "The Jokermobile," if memory serves me correctly.

So... not sure we're losing anything by them choosing to forgo that.

[recognitions]

At first I thought your first sentence was a statement of fact and was like, "Well, that seems like an obvious point to make..."

[tsunamiwombat]

I don't buy him Physically out manuevering Bruce into the chair. It's a clever trick, really, but that part I don't buy. As soon as He shot Zatanna Batman would've had his lungs pulled out. The Joker is an intellectual match for bruce but not a physical one.

[sherkahn]

Bruce is distracted by the bleeding Zatanna (who has a bullet in her throat) and "Loxias" has a sword. Bruce was caught unprepared.

[wizardru]

When I started reading this, I was thinking "who is the fucking guy and how am I supposed to believe that he got the drop on Bruce AND Zatanna at one shot?"

Then I was like....."Oh."

I can easily see the Joker capitalizing on Bruce's vulnerabilities and using misdirection to take him off guard while simultaneously understanding Bruce's fighting style enough to leverage him into a trap. Also, it's nice to see the Batgod taken down a peg.

Is this Dini?

[alex_sc]

Yeah it is Dini. Those issues were great with the Bat/Zat flashbacks

[adze]

How do they get out of it?

[dr_archeville]

I think Zatanna got out by writing backward words (with her own blood) on the inside of the lid of the Water Trap.

Some have pointed out that her magic doesn't work that way: she doesn't have to use backwards incantations, it's just that doing so makes it easier for her, they're a focusing agent (as they were for her father). I'd counter that, given she's probably in some shock from the throat injury, she could probably use all the concentration aids she can get.

[sherkahn]

Also, the chair was poorly constructed to hodl someone as strong as Batman, and with the insulation in his suit fighting part of the voltage, he spasmed his way out of the chair and fought the Joker. With the Joker down, he then rescued Zatanna. She had used sangrescrit magic (blood writing) to heal herself from the gunshot and a fresh gulp of air, but Bruce had to resuscitate her for oxygen deprivation anyways. How Joker got away I forget....

[icon_uk]

Notably, Zatanna DOESN'T get out of the cage with her magic, she uses her one shot at writing a spell to heal her severed throat.

She implicitly trusts Batman to get her out of the drowning trap, also working on the principle that if she used her ONE spell to break the glass, she's still bleeding to death, and that will be a lot harder to fix than a near (or possibly just post) drowning where she could well be CPR'd back to life.

[dr_archeville]

I stand corrected. Thanks!

[alex_sc]

I love when people remember that the Joker is also sucha a master of disguise that can even baffle Batman!

I'd love to see more of this stories

[lego_joker]

IMO, this was Dini's most disappointing Joker story... too much focus on menace and scope, not enough on J's charisma and wit. His exposition on how he survived getting run over, and recovered, was particularly painful to read.

But then, maybe it's not that surprising. The Zatanna episode that Dini did for BTAS about 15 years ago tends to be regarded as, bar none, the most forgettable BTAS script he ever did - largely because of how colorless the villain was. A similar situation happens here; the Joker in this story is little more than an excuse to generate ship-tease between Bruce and Zee by mechanically driving an Evil Plot forward (and putting Zee in peril).

Perhaps it's merely proof that a character's biggest fans are typically the people least suited to write stories featuring that character...

Here, Dini's Joker is competent - there's no doubt about that - but that's pretty much all he is, in "Trust". And competence from a comic book villain is typically the last thing I'm impressed by. There are multiple golden opportunities in this story for Joker to show off some black humor, and Dini misses them again and again.

Take, for instance, the climax. Joker's big plan is to... just spray a bunch of people with Joker Gas? It was an unimaginative idea when Burton did it back in '89 (though there, it was partially saved by Nicholson's performance and some really choice lines). Here, neither the concept nor the execution justify all the effort put into the whole Loxias charade - and what's worse, there actually was at least one spot where such justification COULD have taken place.

(Warning: the following is my own bigheaded attempt to do better than an actual, experienced comics writer. Pretentiousness will probably follow.)

Joker!Loxias: Good evening, my little boys and girls. Are you ready for another night of magic, mystery, and misbehavior?

Crowd: YES!

Joker!Loxias: Good! Now, I'm sure you're all VERY excited to see what devious, inescapable perils I'm about to whip out for my lovely ladies tonight... and if a bit of mischief of the murderous variety slips through, well... that's half the reason we're here, aren't we?

Crowd: YES!

Joker!Loxias: But... before we start tonight's round of malevolent mayhem... it seems that my lovely assistants have all fallen ill tonight. So I'm going to need a couple of volunteers from the audience!

Crowd: *Goes dead silent*

Joker!Loxias: Come now, come now... don't rush me all at once...

Crowd: *More silence; some people are starting to look at the exits*

Joker!Loxias: Ooh... so many eager volunteers... I just can't decide! Tell ya what...

*Whips off mask; 99.9% of the people in the crowd immediately wet themselves*

Joker: For being such great fans, faithful 'til the very end... you ALL get to participate in Ivar Loxias's last trick! AHAHAHAHA!

*Hits button to release Joker Gas*