![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lego_joker posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailyWhen we last left the story, our fearless hero was facing impossible odds: a city in turmoil, an apparently unstoppable supervillain behind it all, and his trusted mentor nowhere to be found. He's got one shot: a counter-stratagem that might turn everything around...
... or it just might crash and burn, leaving Tim to join his predecessor in the line of Good Soldiers behind glass in the Batcave.
With the moment of truth drawing near, Tim goes out in costume and finds a certain someone to pour his heart out to: Batman's gone and unreachable, Joker has the city by the throat, everyone in Gotham's holding out for a hero, Gordon keeps voicing doubts about his abilities, he's failing world cultures in school, and DC editorial's just vetoed his fifth request for a new character design with a less stupid haircut.
Oh, Jack Drake. Always listening to his son's worries. Whether he wants to or not.
Tim returns to the Batcave, and prepares to put his plan into action. It's a pretty clever trap, meant to not only take down the Joker but also rescue Dr. Pellinger. But more than that, it's a team effort - Alfred, Gordon & the GCPD, the mayor, and Tim himself all have their own vital roles to play.
(For shame, Tim. Has Bruce taught you nothing? How are you supposed to be a paranoid jerkwad who shuts all his allies out if you keep relying on them like this?)
As the snow starts a-falling, both the red truck and the briefcase containing the ransom money are ready to go. Tim swings by to put on the final touches:
Nice to see Tim turning the Joker's own tactics back on him. Not to mention all the faith that Bruce and Alfred have in him, even though he's still new to the job.
Soon afterwards, the plan enters its next stage, and the mayor steps up to address the Joker personally:
Huh. Bit hard to imagine that The Simpsons was that big a deal even back in '91.
The Joker quickly responds to the mayor's capitulation, and gives the exchange point: the middle of East Harbor Bridge. Tim, seeing that the "capture Joker" part of his plan is going smoothly so far, gives Alfred marching orders for the "save Pellinger" part: find a payphone and hook it up to Tim's laptop, which will make a special program of Tim's own design run through every e-mail and public interactive system in the city.
How is this supposed to help Dr. Pellinger? Well...
Man's best friend, indeed.
The sight of his childhood pet gives Pellinger the strength he needs to break free of Joker's drugs, and he manages to tap out a quick response, allowing the GCPD to track his location. And with that, Pellinger's and the GCPD's parts in the story are all wrapped up, leaving plenty of room for Tim's big final showdown with Mistah J.
Tim drives the big rig (via remote control) into the middle of the bridge, and waits for the Joker to come snap up the bait. The Joker doesn't disappoint:
Joker's as pleased as punch to see that his Christmas wishes have all been granted: red truck, Batman behind the wheel, and a billion bucks onboard. Sadly, his idea of gratitude consists of ten sticks of dynamite and a detonator.
"But boss," one random henchman asks. "What if there really is a billion dollars in that truck?"
(Is there anyone else who finds that the Joker with long, preferably windswept hair is kinda hot-looking? No? Okey-dokey then.)
That last panel really speaks volumes about the Joker's actions during this story, not to mention his character in general. It was never about the money; as thousands of people have noted, the Joker's crazy, but he's not stupid, and he knows that a city can't pony up cash when it's flat broke. But it can pony up an insufferable do-gooder in tights...
... or a dummy of one.
As the Joker and his gang all stand there and gape like idiots (again), Tim swings in and begins to kick some serious ass. All his fear, all his nervousness has evaporated: "I've dreaded this moment, facing the Joker and his gang. But now that it's here... it feels right."
Unfortunately, while he's putting all the henchmen down, he fails to pay sufficient attention to their boss...
Yep. Joker was belting out the old "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" a full year before "Christmas with the Joker" premiered. Suck it, BTAS! (Also, where the hell did Joker's skates come from? I'm gonna guess they retract into his shoes, much like the Dynamic Duo's did in Batman & Robin.)
With Tim hot on his heels, the Joker finds a convenient sewage treatment plant to hide in. Plenty of vapors there to render him virtually invisible, so he can get the jump on Tim and pull off something like this:
... not that I'm an aspiring homicidal maniac, but does anyone know where I can get a pair of gloves like those?
(Funny story: according to Dixon himself, Tom Lyle screwed up the design on Joker's gloves. They were supposed to be mittens with Muppet faces - see Kevin Maguire's cover for the fourth issue - and a brief gag scene would've featured Joker making them talk to one another. Once Dixon saw the mess-up in the proofs, he had the entire scene re-done before the comic shipped.)
Sadly, Joker seems to have forgotten that getting into close-quarters combat with any member of the Bat-family is generally not a good idea. Tim is happy to remind him:
... okay, ew. Getting beaten by a greenhorn Robin is bad enough, but getting tossed into a tank of human sewage? No wonder Joker hates Robins so much. But don't worry - he gets his payback several Christmases later!
In any case, all's well that ends well: Dr. Pellinger has been rescued, Gotham is getting back to its normal levels of crazy, Tim has just completed another rite of passage in the Bat-family with a minimum of injuries, and Bruce has made it back to the states just in time to hear all about it.
We finish up with one last epilogue scene at Arkham, featuring the Joker's obligatory vow of vengeance. More interestingly to me, it's also the first time that Dixon wrote two other iconic Bat-rouges that he would go on to (for better or worse) use again and again throughout his time on the Bat-books.
... aaaaand that's about it for Robin II: The Joker's Wild! From here on out, Dixon's Joker stories only get better and better (with one notable hiccup toward the end of his time at DC). Join us again in a couple of weeks (or months...) for the next installment in what I hope to be a long-lived series!
For those of you who wish to purchase this story, to see all the parts I had to leave on the cutting room floor (several great Alfred moments, in particular) or just to fill in all the blanks in this story... well, as far as I know, DC hasn't reprinted this in trade or put it up on Comixology yet. Your only option is pretty much lounging around the back-issue bins, or trying to shell out for them on eBay. Be warned, though - DC was semi-successful in pushing the collect 'em all mentality, and most people charge three-figure sums for the entire set of covers/cards instead of individual issues.
The entire story's also been collected in the Robin: Tragedy and Triumph TPB, but I don't think that's in print, either. If you can find it, though, I definitely recommend buying that one - you get this story in addition to Alan Grant's "Rite of Passage" arc, featuring awesomesauce Norm Breyfogle art, kinda-relevant political undertones, and another defining moment in Tim's career as Robin (not to mention the reason why his dad is comatose in the first place).
Not to mention this sweet, sweet cover by Travis Charest and Scott Hanna:
Ahhh, yeah. That's the ticket.
Happy 2014, everyone!
... or it just might crash and burn, leaving Tim to join his predecessor in the line of Good Soldiers behind glass in the Batcave.
With the moment of truth drawing near, Tim goes out in costume and finds a certain someone to pour his heart out to: Batman's gone and unreachable, Joker has the city by the throat, everyone in Gotham's holding out for a hero, Gordon keeps voicing doubts about his abilities, he's failing world cultures in school
Oh, Jack Drake. Always listening to his son's worries. Whether he wants to or not.
Tim returns to the Batcave, and prepares to put his plan into action. It's a pretty clever trap, meant to not only take down the Joker but also rescue Dr. Pellinger. But more than that, it's a team effort - Alfred, Gordon & the GCPD, the mayor, and Tim himself all have their own vital roles to play.
(For shame, Tim. Has Bruce taught you nothing? How are you supposed to be a paranoid jerkwad who shuts all his allies out if you keep relying on them like this?)
As the snow starts a-falling, both the red truck and the briefcase containing the ransom money are ready to go. Tim swings by to put on the final touches:
Nice to see Tim turning the Joker's own tactics back on him. Not to mention all the faith that Bruce and Alfred have in him, even though he's still new to the job.
Soon afterwards, the plan enters its next stage, and the mayor steps up to address the Joker personally:
Huh. Bit hard to imagine that The Simpsons was that big a deal even back in '91.
The Joker quickly responds to the mayor's capitulation, and gives the exchange point: the middle of East Harbor Bridge. Tim, seeing that the "capture Joker" part of his plan is going smoothly so far, gives Alfred marching orders for the "save Pellinger" part: find a payphone and hook it up to Tim's laptop, which will make a special program of Tim's own design run through every e-mail and public interactive system in the city.
How is this supposed to help Dr. Pellinger? Well...
Man's best friend, indeed.
The sight of his childhood pet gives Pellinger the strength he needs to break free of Joker's drugs, and he manages to tap out a quick response, allowing the GCPD to track his location. And with that, Pellinger's and the GCPD's parts in the story are all wrapped up, leaving plenty of room for Tim's big final showdown with Mistah J.
Tim drives the big rig (via remote control) into the middle of the bridge, and waits for the Joker to come snap up the bait. The Joker doesn't disappoint:
Joker's as pleased as punch to see that his Christmas wishes have all been granted: red truck, Batman behind the wheel, and a billion bucks onboard. Sadly, his idea of gratitude consists of ten sticks of dynamite and a detonator.
"But boss," one random henchman asks. "What if there really is a billion dollars in that truck?"
(Is there anyone else who finds that the Joker with long, preferably windswept hair is kinda hot-looking? No? Okey-dokey then.)
That last panel really speaks volumes about the Joker's actions during this story, not to mention his character in general. It was never about the money; as thousands of people have noted, the Joker's crazy, but he's not stupid, and he knows that a city can't pony up cash when it's flat broke. But it can pony up an insufferable do-gooder in tights...
... or a dummy of one.
As the Joker and his gang all stand there and gape like idiots (again), Tim swings in and begins to kick some serious ass. All his fear, all his nervousness has evaporated: "I've dreaded this moment, facing the Joker and his gang. But now that it's here... it feels right."
Unfortunately, while he's putting all the henchmen down, he fails to pay sufficient attention to their boss...
Yep. Joker was belting out the old "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" a full year before "Christmas with the Joker" premiered. Suck it, BTAS! (Also, where the hell did Joker's skates come from? I'm gonna guess they retract into his shoes, much like the Dynamic Duo's did in Batman & Robin.)
With Tim hot on his heels, the Joker finds a convenient sewage treatment plant to hide in. Plenty of vapors there to render him virtually invisible, so he can get the jump on Tim and pull off something like this:
... not that I'm an aspiring homicidal maniac, but does anyone know where I can get a pair of gloves like those?
(Funny story: according to Dixon himself, Tom Lyle screwed up the design on Joker's gloves. They were supposed to be mittens with Muppet faces - see Kevin Maguire's cover for the fourth issue - and a brief gag scene would've featured Joker making them talk to one another. Once Dixon saw the mess-up in the proofs, he had the entire scene re-done before the comic shipped.)
Sadly, Joker seems to have forgotten that getting into close-quarters combat with any member of the Bat-family is generally not a good idea. Tim is happy to remind him:
... okay, ew. Getting beaten by a greenhorn Robin is bad enough, but getting tossed into a tank of human sewage? No wonder Joker hates Robins so much. But don't worry - he gets his payback several Christmases later!
In any case, all's well that ends well: Dr. Pellinger has been rescued, Gotham is getting back to its normal levels of crazy, Tim has just completed another rite of passage in the Bat-family with a minimum of injuries, and Bruce has made it back to the states just in time to hear all about it.
We finish up with one last epilogue scene at Arkham, featuring the Joker's obligatory vow of vengeance. More interestingly to me, it's also the first time that Dixon wrote two other iconic Bat-rouges that he would go on to (for better or worse) use again and again throughout his time on the Bat-books.
... aaaaand that's about it for Robin II: The Joker's Wild! From here on out, Dixon's Joker stories only get better and better (with one notable hiccup toward the end of his time at DC). Join us again in a couple of weeks (or months...) for the next installment in what I hope to be a long-lived series!
For those of you who wish to purchase this story, to see all the parts I had to leave on the cutting room floor (several great Alfred moments, in particular) or just to fill in all the blanks in this story... well, as far as I know, DC hasn't reprinted this in trade or put it up on Comixology yet. Your only option is pretty much lounging around the back-issue bins, or trying to shell out for them on eBay. Be warned, though - DC was semi-successful in pushing the collect 'em all mentality, and most people charge three-figure sums for the entire set of covers/cards instead of individual issues.
The entire story's also been collected in the Robin: Tragedy and Triumph TPB, but I don't think that's in print, either. If you can find it, though, I definitely recommend buying that one - you get this story in addition to Alan Grant's "Rite of Passage" arc, featuring awesomesauce Norm Breyfogle art, kinda-relevant political undertones, and another defining moment in Tim's career as Robin (not to mention the reason why his dad is comatose in the first place).
Not to mention this sweet, sweet cover by Travis Charest and Scott Hanna:
Ahhh, yeah. That's the ticket.
Happy 2014, everyone!
no subject
Date: 2014-01-02 04:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-02 02:32 pm (UTC)* They announced over the airwaves that there was a billion dollars in a truck on a bridge in Gotham? I'm amazed Tim wasn't fighting off dozens of opportunists.
* I think it's really fun that the Batman dummy sports a Joker grin.
* I like Joker stories that present the Joker as an intelligent and thoughtful foe, and not just a brutal homicidal maniac. He's so much more threatening when people are reminded that he's actually just as smart if not smarter than Batman.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-02 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-02 09:43 pm (UTC)Especially since this is Dixon writing, and his villains always tended to be rather street-smart in both actions and dialogue (even the really nutty nutcases like Maxie Zeus).
no subject
Date: 2014-01-02 08:58 pm (UTC)Given his track record as a fairly shit dad, either swanning off around the world on adventures and leaving Tim stuck in boarding school, or his later guilt-fuelled micromanagement phase, not sure he has that good a track record for it, does he?
no subject
Date: 2014-01-02 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 08:15 pm (UTC)