Review: Fleisher Superman Part 2

 The 40s were weird.

Normally when I do follow-ups, I include a brief summary of the previous post’s events. Not doing this for the Fleisher Superman shorts as they are shorts and I’d have to do like six summary paragraphs for the six mini-sodes which isn’t a good use of anyone’s time. So instead, I’ll just say that we saw several shorts where Lois got into trouble, Clark said, “This looks like a job for Superman!” and then Superman solved the problem. Quick and Easy. Enough (not really) recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Japoteurs

 

That name feels… problematic. Let’s see if that’s the case.

 

After the quick summary of Superman’s powers and origins we get into the short. The Daily Planet runs a story that the world’s largest bomber plane has been completed. The executive reading the story hits a button and reveals a picture of Japan’s Rising Sun flag before bowing to it and then burning the paper with a cigarette. Still feeling pretty problematic… We cut to the bomber plane being loaded with ordinance. Before the plan is ready, some mysterious saboteurs sneak in. Shit

 

The bomber is brought out of the hanger and members of the press are brought in to tour it. Lois and Clark are at the front of the line, as per usual. They have a look around and Clark plays with one of the guns before they’re all ordered off. The majority of the press leave… but it’s Lois, ya know she’s going to stowaway somewhere because she thinks she’ll get a better story out of it. The plane takes off and Clark is left on the ground wondering where she went.

 

While in the air, several smaller planes use the big one as a runway to take off. Inside the plane, several bombs have their warheads removed and reveal several… not great looking Japanese men slip out of them. They attack the crew and steal the plane, planning to take it back to Tokyo. Lois slips out of the locker she hid in and uses the radio to warn the airforce base that that bomber was stolen. They drop a bomb on the runway to stop other planes from taking off… but Clark is in the crowd. He gets in his Superman duds and flies up to stop the theft.

 

He lands on the plane and sneaks aboard. He’s met by the hijacker, who threatens to drop Lois like a bomb if Superman doesn’t leave. Superman leaps out the side of the plane, the hijacker tries to drop Lois anyway, but Superman bursts in and grabs her. He tries to stop the plane, but the Hijacker blocks the door and tries to crash the plane. Superman drops off Lois before flying back up and stopping the plane before it crashes. He gently puts it down and the day is saved. Clark and Lois ride a plane amusement park ride and Clark mentions that Lois is safe on this plane. And she quips she’d feel safer with Superman.

 

Showdown

 

The short starts with a new opener! “Faster than a streak of lightning! More powerful than the pounding surf! Mightier than a roaring hurricane!” The classic version is better. The story itself opens with Superman seemingly committing a lot of crimes. He has a guy crack a safe for him, he steals a bunch of money from a cashier, and so on. It’s revealed that he’s a crook named Stephen dressed in a bad Superman costume. I guess that people see the S and just make him two feet taller and muscular in their heads. Anyway, Stephen is robbing place for his boss, and gets scolded when he tries to take a cut of the profits.

 

The story of Superman going on a crime spree spreads like wildfire, but Lois doesn’t believe it. They’re told by a red head kid, I assume this is either Jimmy Olsen or a prototype, tells them that the editor wants them to cover an opera house. Clark and Lois go to the show, but Clark has trouble staying awake. Stephen comes in and starts stealing jewels off people. Lois catches him in the act, but he escapes her. She rips the S off his costume and assumes that it is really Superman. Clark follows Stephen to the roof and then says, “My double’s in for some trouble,” before changing. On the roof, the cops arrive and Stephen tries to run back the way he came. He’s cut off by Superman. Stephen pulls a gun on him… but that works as well as you think it would on Superman. Stephen tries to plead innocent, backing away from Superman and ends up falling off the roof. Superman catches him and flies off. Lois sees the Supermen and slips into the cop’s van to follow the story.

 

They arrive at the Boss’s mansion and Superman confronts him. He seems to not notice that the actual Superman is standing in front of him for some reason and tries to hit him with a golf club. Superman grabs it and pulls it away. It’s only at that moment that he sees Stephen. The boss hits a button and drops Superman down a shaft… but that works for like five seconds before he flies back up. The two crooks try to flee, but Superman follows them. They’re able to lose him for a moment thanks to a heavy door, but don’t see the cops coming up the one lane road they’re going down. Thankfully, Superman catches up to them and stops the cars from colliding. The crooks get arrested and Lois hurries back to the planet to write her story. She sees Clark sleeping at the desk. He says he was just dreaming about being Superman, Lois makes a quip, and he adds, “Well, I can dream, can’t I?”

 

Eleventh Hour

 

The opener they use this time is from the first short, including the death of Krypton and Clark landing on earth.

 

We start the actual short in Yokohama. Damn it, this is also going to be super racist, isn’t it? We get a look around a ship yard before seeing a ship floating free of its moorings. We see Superman fly into a room before putting bars back in place and changing into his pajamas. Sirens are blaring and Lois asks if he’s awake. Clark says he is and they talk through the wall. Turns out, they’ve been capture and are being held in an internment camp. And every night since then, Clark sneaks out at night and breaks things at the ship yard. Lois wonders if Superman is nearby, and the guard tells them to be quite.

 

The head of the shipyard doubles security to try to stop whoever is wrecking their ships. Good luck with that, bro. At 11, Clark suits up and flies out. He grabs a battleship by its anchor and pulls the ship under until it explodes. Another night he destroys a bridge. And another, he blows a bunch of cars. Lois sees Superman fly by and tries to tell Clark. She gets grabbed by the guard, and a bunch of posters go up promising to kill Lois if Superman sabotages anything else. Superman doesn’t see the notice and pulls the latest Warship into the sea before it’s finished. The scaffolding falls and buries him, unfortunately.

 

Lois is nearly killed by a firing squad, but Clark sees the notice and flies over just in time to save her. He beats up all the guards, grabs Lois and flies away. Lois is put on a ship and sent home. She says that Clark is still over there, though, but Superman promised to look after him. The short ends with Superman apparently still destroying Yokohama.

 

Damn, that was super… of it’s time.

 

Destruction Inc.

 

We open in some kind of bog as a man’s hand slips into the water and a car drives off. Later, Clark and Lois head to the planet and hear a radio report that the victim was found and that he was the guard at a munitions plant. Lois slips off to investigate. There’s a gag where Clark calls a guy that walked up to him while Lois was gone by her name, he gets offended and says his name is Louis. It’s not a particularly good bit.

 

Lois makes it to the munitions plant and takes a look around. She fakes working at the plant as someone who paints the serial numbers on the missiles when she overhears several employees being told that there’s a big, important meeting about to happen. The whistle blows for the end of the shift, some leave, some head upstairs for the meeting. Lois creeps over and hears that the head of the plant had some of his workers kill the last watchman, and they’ve since set up the lights of the plant to explode if the switch is flipped. So, they’re planning on killing the new watchman too. Lois is spotted and captured. She leads them on a merry chase, though. She gets stuffed into a missile casing just as the new watchmen comes in to investigate. It’s clearly Clark in a fake mustache. The watchman is buried in scrap metal. The factory manager is called and told to bring out the new torpedo.

 

The torpedo is brought out, with Lois and a ton of TNT inside. The guys overseeing the torpedo’s launch say that this is just to experiment with the propulsion system, so there should be no explosives in the torpedo. It’s loaded up as Superman frees himself from the rubble. The Torpedo is launched, but Superman swims after it. He grabs the torpedo and brings it back in. He opens the casing and frees Lois, and she warns that they’re about to blow up the plant. Superman beats up the guards and then stops a truck of TNT from being driven into the plant. The goons are taken away, and Lois unmasks the watchman as Clark. She can see through any disguise but Clark’s glasses, I see.

 

The Mummy Strikes

 

Please be less racist than the Japanese focused shorts.

 

We open on an ancient Egyptian temple. A man, Dr. Jordan, is found dead by the sarcophagus with a syringe next to him. His assistant Jane Hogan is accused of the murder and imprisoned for it. Mostly because no one will listen to what she has to say. The director of the museum Jordan worked for calls Clark and says that he discovered something that could free Jane. Clark lies to Lois about a doctor’s appointment and goes to see him. Lois doesn’t buy it, because Clark is bad at lying when it’s not about his secret identity.

 

The director tells Clark that he discovered a set of hieroglyphics that say that whoever disturbs the resting place of “King Tutch” is cursed to die. He thinks this’ll help free Jane. The two men head into the exhibit, Lois following behind her. The director shows Clark, and the stalking Lois, the story of King Tutch. He was king of the Lower Nile region of Egypt, put in charge just after his father died. He was a sickly boy, though, and ended up dying young, his giant guards drank poison to follow him into the afterlife. The director says that Jordan rebuilt the catacombs as they appeared in Egypt. He spent years working on a syrum that he thought would resurrect the giant guards, but it didn’t work. The director thinks that Jordan tried to use the serum on the king himself, and was killed for it. Clark checks the sarcophagus and finds a poisoned needle. They think this’ll free Jane, but opening the sarcophagus reveals an amulet, the rays of which revive the giant guards. Clark gets thrown into a coffin, giving him a chance to change. Superman stops the guards from throwing Lois and the director into a pyre and then fights the guards. They’re giant, but he’s an alien. He knocks the guards into a pillar, burying them.

 

Clark writes up the story and says that for once he got to scoop Lois. We see that her hands are bandaged from the ordeal. When Clark asks how she knew where he was, she crosses her arms and says, “My mummy told me.”

 

Well, still better than the Japanese shorts.

 

Jungle Drums

 

Apprehension rising.

 

The story begins with some German soldiers attacking a vague African nation. A plane carrying Lois is shot down, because of course she’s here. The lieutenant escorting her gives her some papers and tells her to destroy them. Lois is captured, but she hid the papers. The Germans tell her to give them the papers or they’ll burn her at the stake.

 

Clark gets loaded on his own plane, as he’s supposed to meet Lois at the convoy.

 

Lois is put to the pyre as the vague Africans drum. The German officer is standing over them dressed as a white devil. They’re able to find the papers, and The Germans go to report to their superiors.

 

Clark’s plane flies over the site, and he leaps out to investigate, swapping to Superman when he lands. He saves Lois from the pyre, and the vague Africans are in awe of the man that walked through fire. The Germans open fire on Superman, but like that never works. He rips their gun turret down and then beats up the Germans. Lois grabs a white outfit and slips inside. She warns the allied forces that the Germans know where the fleet is and they set up a counter attack. The German commander tries to stop her, but Superman bursts in and grabs him.

 

We see… HITLER… react to losing the subs. He’s not happy. God that was weird.

 

The Underground World

 

We open with Lois and Clark leaning about the “Henderson Caverns” from Mr. Henderson, who says that his father disappeared within them forty years before. He found some mysterious cavern that no one had ever explored before and just never came back. Mr. Henderson Jr wants the Daily Planet to finance an expedition, in exchange, he offers them the exclusive on whatever they find in the secret caverns. Obviously, Lois and Clark are assigned to this.

 

Lois and Henderson head in first, Clark having been assigned their other boat. They explore the cavern, find a spot and start setting up camp. Unfortunately, they didn’t secure the boat and it floats away. They chase after it, as the boat has the dynamite they were going to use to blast any debris with on it.

 

Clark heads into the cavern after them.

 

I feel like scene is missing, as suddenly Lois and Henderson are captured by bird people. Cave dwelling bird people. Okay. I wonder if they’re supposed to be Thanagarians that got lost or something… They’ve got Henderson’s father’s body on display in their great hall as a golden statue. Clark searches the cavern and sees the flying bird people. Lois and Henderson are going to be sacrificed in a pit of boiling gold. Clark does his costume change and starts fighting bird people. There is a lot of them, but he’s Superman, they just distract him long enough so that the rescue is super close. He grabs Henderson and Lois and flies out of their cavern. He drops them off, grabs the dynamite from the boat and throws it to seal the cavern. Later, Mr. White says it’s a great story, but he burns it, saying non one would believe it.

 

Secret Agent

 

The short opens with Clark heading into a drug store. He calls his boss and tries to convince Mr. White to assign him a different story, Mr. White says no and tells Clark to get to his assignment. Things take a turn when some crooks crash into the store. They’re chasing a woman in another car and are VERY interested in catching her. So much so that they steal Clark’s car to keep chasing her. Clark leaps on the back of the car to follow them. The goons shoot at the car, but they aren’t able to slow it down. Some cops see the chase happening and start chasing both cars. The goons try to shoot at the cops, but Clark disarms them. They shoot out the fleeing car’s tire, but are forced to keep driving because of the cops. Clark is captured, but the woman they were chasing is able to escape the gang. She has secret documents that will expose the crooks, and she needs to get them to Washington.

 

The woman tries to make it to the airport, but she’s delayed when the thieves mess with one of those mechanical bridges and she’s trapped on the rotating bridge. There’s an explosion and she falls onto the gears. A goon calls the boss and says she’s dead, but he’s stuck. They go to recover the records, leaving Clark time to escape as Superman.

 

The goons enter the elevator. Superman grabs the elevator cable, pulls the elevator car to the top and then ties the cable to leave them trapped. He then flies to the bridge and saves the woman at the last possible second. He flies her to Washington and drops her off at the Lincoln memorial. He flies off and salutes the flag as he goes.

 

Well, that was a rollercoaster. I am glad I broke this up into two parts, because those last couple of shorts would have broken me last night. I assumed there’d be some problematic depictions of different cultures given the time period, but it was extremely weird to see Superman opposite some pretty terrible depictions of Japanese and African people. Like, I saw the Japanese Saboteur and instantly got the ick. I know, the short came out in the eight of WW2, still it was weird. Also, I know it’s a short, but I’d really like to know how Clark finally got freed from his internment. Because… he was in Japan. If they didn’t free him, that kind of implies that he was in the area when the bombs were dropped. That’s a moral conundrum if I’ve ever seen one. Does Clark let the bombs drop to let the US definitely win the war, or does he stop them to prevent a massive loss of life? I bet Superman as a character is glad that he’s not traditionally shown in the 1940s anymore, to avoid this very moral conundrum. And the less said about the African tribesmen the better. Like… holy crap, those drawings had to be seen as kind of racist even in 1945. But ya, other than the “yikes” moments from the couple of wartime shorts, there’s not much to say about these. Trouble happens, Superman shows up, day is saved. Rince and repeat. If I had to pick the single craziest story, it was The Underground World. Who were the bird people? Why did they dip Henderson Sr. in Gold? When did they show up and grab Lois and Henderson Jr.? I swear a scene was missing. These shorts were interesting to watch if only to see an example of early Superman. But like, you’re not missing much if you just watch one or two instead of the whole thing like I did. Have a good night, everyone. Happy Halloween! Stay safe.

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Review: Fleisher Superman Part 1

 Dude has been flying around for almost 100 years and it shows. 

So, I needed something to pick me up after the week we’ve had (deaths of Sir Patrick Stewart and Eric Bauza) and I figured that nothing could do that better than a good old fashion Superman story. So we’re going all the way back to the 1940s with the Fleisher Superman movie. This movie is a compilation of short films that Fleisher directed across the 1940s. So, there will be a couple stories included. This movie also came out WAY before Superman’s canon got really established, so be prepared for some “Wait, that’s not right…” moments. Let’s watch.

 

Oh, and I’m breaking this into two parts, just because there are a LOT of shorts and it’s just a lot of Golden Age Superman to watch in one go.

 

The Mad Scientist

 

We open with a brief history of Krypton, it was a beautiful green planet that was destroyed by tectonic upheaval, and the lone survivor was a baby fired from a rocket to Earth. The baby was found by a passing motorist, who dropped the child off at an orphanage. Ya, guess we’re skipping even the Kents in this story. He eventually grew into Superman, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and capable of leaping over a tall building in a single bound. All that jazz. He created the identity of Clark Kent and started working at a “Great Metropolitan newspaper.” It’s WEIRD not hearing the usual names.

 

Clark and Lois Lane are called in by Mr. White, their editor to cover a story. He shows them a ransom note from a ‘madman’ that is going to use an “electrothenasia” death ray at midnight to destroy the city. Mr. White wants Clark to back Lois up on this case, but Lois takes a grunt of thought as approval to cover the story on her own and then runs off before they can stop her. Clark points out that this is a rather dangerous mission before the scene cuts. We see Lois get in a flight suit and take off in a plane… kay.

 

We cut to an evil lair somewhere where the mad scientist prepares his death ray along with his pet crow. He’s interrupted by Lois’ plane touching down right in front of his front door and Lois knocking. The scientist and his crow immediately kidnap Lois and tie her to a chair so she can watch him destroy the city. He powers up his death ray, and we see him fire it from his mountaintop lair and strike a bridge. The bridge is destroyed. Clark hears about the destruction on the radio and says, “This looks like a job for Superman.” He then calmly walks into the stockroom and changes his clothes before carefully sneaking out and leaping from the building.

 

Before he can get very far, the scientist uses the death ray on the News building, so he has to quickly circle back and stop the building from toppling. After straightening the building, all the while holding off the ray, Superman turns his attention to the ray specifically. He pushes it back for a bit before the scientist increases the power. Superman is briefly brought to his knees, but then he rallies and starts punching the ray back. He punches it all the way back to the cannon and then bends the cannon to block the flow. The ray is destroyed; Superman grabs Lois and they all flee the building. The scientist tries to escape, but Superman grabs him and he leaps back to town. He throws the scientist in a jail cell and Lois publishes a story about it. Mr. White congradulates Lois on the story, Lois says it’s all thanks to Superman, and Clark winks at the camera before the screen fades out.

 

The weird sidekick crow just kind of disappears after they escape the evil lair. I’ve no idea why he was even there.

 

The Mechanical Monster

 

After a quick recap of Superman’s powers and secret identity, we get on with the story. A mysterious flying robot is stealing from a bank for a new mad scientist. The robot initially looks like a plane but once is lands we see that it’s a pretty traditional giant robot with a propeller it grows from its neck to help it fly. It drops off the money, and we see that it’s one of dozens of robots.

 

We then see a newspaper front page touting a gem exhibition that is going on in (City). It boasts the show will have 50 Million dollar’s worth of rare gems. There’s also a line that special precautions are being made to combat the mechanical monster.

 

Clark and Lois are at the event. Clark is reporter in charge, but Lois sneaks in to try to scoop him. Before they can do anything, though, the Mechanical Monster attacks. The robot is immune to bullets, and it breaks in to steal the jewels. Lois pulls Clark away asking if he wants to get trampled. The robot loads up on gems while Clark calls the story into Perry White. Lois takes the opportunity to slip away and get inside the robot’s pack. Clark sees Lois is gone, so swaps into his Superman suit. He flies… sorry, leaps and glides after the robot. He uses his X-Ray vision and sees Lois inside the robot. He tries to save her, but the mad scientist gets an alert that the robot is being tampered with, so he hits a button that makes the robot throw Superman off and accidentally drops much of the loot. Not Lois, though. Superman falls on some electrical wire and is stunned temporarily by the current.

 

She is dropped off at the secret lab and sees the dozens of robots. The mad scientist threatens Lois, demanding to know what happened to the jewels. She says he can read about it in the paper tomorrow, and he threatens her.

 

Superman frees himself from the cables and goes after Lois. The mad scientist puts Lois in an elaborate death trap, lowering her into a liquid hot vat of metal, when Superman busts down his door. The mad scientist activates all of his Mechanical monsters, and they menace Superman with fire and metal fists. Superman takes out the robots one by one until they’re all destroyed. The Mad Scientist flees into the lower chamber where he’s lowering Lois. He tries to cut the cable and drop Lois into the vat, but Superman is too fast and he saves her. The mad scientist tries to drop the boiling metal on Superman, but he is, ya know, invincible, so it doesn’t work. He grabs Lois and then the Scientist and leaps away. The scientist is jailed, Lois writes the story, but thanks Superman for it, and Clark nods at the camera.

 

Billion Dollar Limited

 

Recap on Superman, and then to the story. We see a newspaper article about a billion dollars in gold being moved to the mint. This is 1940, so that’s an even more insane amount of money that it would be today.

 

We see the gold get loaded onto the train as Clark says goodbye to Lois. He apologizes for not being able to come with her, but he’s got another story to cover. She says it’s fine, she’ll see him at the office. We cut over to some thugs in a car. They mask up and hit a button, turning their normal car into a high-speed racer. Clark waves goodbye to Lois and is nearly hit by the car as it drives by.

 

Lois works on her story as the masked men attack the train. They separate the main engine from the car with most of the security and then try to stop the train. Lois gets up to the front of the car, and when the goons fire on her, she grabs a machine gun and fires back. Lois can’t stop the train, obviously, but news of the runaway train spreads until Clark hears it, so he Superman’s up and goes to save the day.

 

The crooks set up a plot to stop the train, send it toward a car full of explosives, but Superman arrives and he pulls the tracks up and moves the train to the other line. They then try to blow the bridge, but Superman catches the train and puts it back on the tracks. They then throw a rocket on the train. Superman is too slow to stop it, so he grabs Lois and leaps off the train. The rocket explodes and the train starts hurtling backwards. Superman puts Lois down and he grabs the train, pulling it forward. The thugs throw tear gas grenades at Superman, which does cause him to slip and almost lose control of the train, but he recovers. They try shooting him… but when has that ever worked? He speeds up, rushing past them and bringing the train all the way to the mint. Rince and repeat the ending, Lois writes a story, she compliments Superman, and Clark gives a knowing grin at the camera.

 

The Arctic Giant

 

Rather than a newspaper article, the narrator tells us that some scientists discovered a huge creature in the depths of frozen Siberia. They bring it out from the ice and bring it to (City) to be displayed. It is the first time the creature has been seen by man as it is from the Mesozoic era. The monster is labelled a Tyrannosaurus… but that’s a dragon.

 

We move over to the Daily Planet (Hey, it’s named this time!). Mr. White gets a call warning him that if the monster defrosts, it could come back to life. Because. Mr. White calls up Lois and tells her to get on this case. Clark offers to go with Lois, but she turns him down, saying that he scares so easily he might pass out if he sees the monster. Clark shrugs and says “Superman hasn’t fainted yet.

 

An engineer shows Lois the refrigeration until, but accidentally leaves an oil can in the wrong place. It falls, breaking the refrigeration unit and the monster thaws. “Boy what a story!” Lois says. Everyone but Lois evacuates as the monster thaws, because Lois. The dragon frees itself and starts rampaging. After some panicked cop calls, Clark suits up and goes to save the day. He frees the trapped civilians before finding Lois and freeing her. He tells her to return to the office where it’s safe. She agrees, but then says “And miss the best story in years? Fat chance.”

 

The monster breaks through a dam as it heads out to sea. Superman grabs a mountain and blocks the hole. The monster walks through a bridge. Superman grabs the end and fixes the bridge. The monster heads toward a stadium, just as Lois pulls up to it. Superman grabs some cable and hurls it at the beast, catching it like a bola. Lois gets grabbed by the creature and almost swallowed. Superman saves her and tells her to stay put this time. “Yes Milord,” god, this woman has ALWAYS been sarcastic, I love it. Superman captures the monster. Lois writes a story about it, Clark compliments the story, she asks where he was, and he gives the camera a knowing look as he says, “Me? Well, I must have fainted.”

 

The Bulleteers

 

We open on the Police Headquarters of (City) as it’s hit by a mysterious rocket car. The news gets to Mr. White, who calls in Lois and Clark. Mr. White starts to tell them that he wants them to cover the story, when the rocket car owners do a broadcast saying that they’ll destroy the whole city with their rocket car unless they get the city’s entire treasury. Lois and Clark interview the mayor, who says that Law and Order will stand. They set up a lot of national guards, barricades and weapons and prepare for the worst. Lois prints the story about how the city is ready for the bullet car and the Bulleteers say “bet.”

 

They launch their fabulous rocket car and destroy the powerplant. The city grinds to a standstill and Lois races off to get the story. Clark, left behind, switches to Superman and leaps into the air. The Bulleteers head for a building, Superman gets in the way and punches them out of the way. The Bulleteers race around the sky, destroying buildings and covering Lois’ car in rubble. Superman saves her, leaps up and throws oof the Bulleteers flight path. They throw him of and hit another building. Superman tries to stop them but is buried tin the rubble. Lois follows the Bulleteers to the treasury, sneaks into their rocket car and starts smashing the controls. They get back in as Superman frees himself. He leaps onto the car and starts bending the wing of it. They retract the wings and try to go faster. Superman climbs onto the top of the car, rips open the top, grabs everyone and leaps away. Lois writes a story, Clark compliments her, and she says, “It was easy, thanks to Superman.”

 

The Magnetic Telescope

 

We open on a mountain side where a giant U shaped magnet is pointed to the sky and powered up. We cut to the Daily Planet where Perry white asks Lois and Superman what they think. They think it’s dangerous and hope that nothing goes wrong. The magnet pulls something from the sky, and it crashes through the city and into the bay.

 

The Mayor orders the professor in charge to shut down the experiment. The professor refuses, saying that he is going to use his mighty magnetic telescope to capture a comet, study it, and then send it back out into space. The cops try to stop him, but he seals off his chamber from them. He powers up the telescope and draws the comet towards them. The cops, being idiots, attack the power supply for the magnet, shutting it down and giving the professor no way to send the comet back. Rocks start raining down on the city. Lois, who’d been there the whole time, calls Mr. White to let him know what is going on. Sensing that’s his cue, Clark heads out. He’s driven in a cab towards the telescope, but a falling meteor stops the car. Clark changes into his costume in the backseat and flies out. He saves Lois and then leaps up to try to knock the comet back. It’s too powerful, though and he gets knocked aside. More fragments fall and destroy the city. Superman recovers and flies at the comet again and is once again thrown off. He falls into the power chamber and uses his powers to fix it, giving the magnetic telescope power again. He tells Lois to use the controls and she fires it up. She sends the comet back into space. In the dark, she runs over to Superman and calls him wonderful before giving him a peck on the lips. Clark, because he’s a bit of prankster, swapped back to his normal clothes and says that she’s pretty wonderful herself. Lois asks how he got there, and he says it’s thanks to Superman, winking at us.

 

Electric Earthquake

 

We open on (City) bay where we drop into the water and see cables stuck to everything. We follow the cables to an underwater pod that sends a tub upward. A man gets out and takes a boat towards the city.

 

At the Daily Planet, the man has an interview with Mr. White, Lois and Clark. He tells them that he demands that Manhattan be vacated as it belongs to his people… ohhh, he’s an evil Native American. Weird. They tell him he’s crazy and he walks off in a huff, saying that modern science will prove his point. Lois, being Lois, sneaks after the man and gets into his boat. He drives to his lab, notices Lois and tells her to follow him, as she wouldn’t want to miss this story. He takes her into his lab and straps her to a chair, as a precautionary measure. He powers up his device and extends a periscope. He tells Lois to prepare for the biggest story of her career. He flips a switch, and it sends energy through the cable and causes a massive earthquake.

 

Clark and Mr. White evacuate the Daily Planet, Clark says, “This looks like a job for Superman!” and switches into his costume. He flies into the bay, follows a flow of electricity through the cables and tries to stop it from detonating. It doesn’t work, but he keeps trying. He rips cables free, but the electricity keeps exploding. He follows the cables back to the lab and starts ripping them free, destroying the machine. The mad scientist fleas, leaving Lois trapped. Superman tries to go after him, but he’s briefly trapped by the suction of the water flowing into the lab. He escapes, grabs the scientist, but he warns him a girl is still down there. Superman goes down to free Lois, and the scientist sends a bomb down after them. He frees Lois, escapes the bomb, grabs the villain and sees him arrested. Clark later says that the island looks as good as ever, and Lois says, “Yes, thanks to Superman!”

 

Volcano

 

We open with exposition about a volcano called Monokoa that three hundred years ago erupted and destroyed a city. In the centuries since, a new city has sprung up, and they’re now detecting new seismic waves. Clark and Lois are sent in to interview the scientists. Mr. White gives Clark and Lois their tickets and tells them to try to work together for once.

 

They head to the volcano, Lois is able to get in, but Clark “lost” his press pass, so he has to go back for a new one. Lois obviously has it, she’s just being cheeky. Clark heads in to get his new pass as Lois gets the rundown on the plan to protect the city from the lava. Unfortunately, the Volcano erupts early. They try to set off the explosives to create a path for the lava to drain into, but the machines are damaged. Clark sees all of this and goes, “This looks like a job for Superman.” He changes and flies up to stop the eruption. He hurls balls of magma into the ocean as Lois tries to scale down the volcano on a cable car line. Superman is briefly disabled by the heat but recovers and saves Lois. He grabs the cable car full of explosives and hurls it at the volcano, blocking the lava. He returns Lois to the docks and then flies up to set off more of the explosives. When the trigger doesn’t work, he forces the lines together, setting them off. The lava flows into the water, ending the danger of the explosion.

 

Clark and Lois head back to the mainland. Clark compliments Lois on her writing, and Lois makes a snappy come back about how it’s a shame he wasn’t there. He notices his press pass in Lois’ purse and laughs that he might have been if he had that pass. Dude is a good sport about these things.

 

Terror on the Midway

 

We open on, obviously, a midway. We see carnival games and sideshow attractions as Clark and Lois take photos of the circus for a story. Lois heads into the big top for the show, and a large gorilla seems to pay special attention to Lois. The woman can never have a normal night out. Clark leaves… because.

 

As the show starts, a misbehaving monkey pulls a cable and frees the gorilla. The gorilla enters the big top, interrupting an elephant conga line and other performances. The gorilla snarls and everyone starts to panic. The Gorilla, Gigantic, gets tangled in ropes by the circus security, but he breaks free and destroys more of the circus.

 

Clark sees cop cars racing towards the midway and heads back that way. In a taxi. I swear this man is always forgetting he can FLY!

 

Lois stays behind to take pictures of Gigantic and helps a little girl escape. Clark arrives and forces his way through the panicking crowd to try to get ot Lois. He stops to help calm a rampaging elephant. Bullets start flying and it’s only then that Clark suits up. He wrestles a panther into submission and puts it in its cage. He catches more animals as Gigantic chases Lois. The Gorilla almost gets Lois, but Superman leaps to her aide. The struggle with the gorilla causes a fire to break out. Superman beats the Gorilla with a good sock to the jaw and throws him in the acrobats’ safety net before grabbing Lois and then putting out the fire. Lois types up the story, Clark compliments lucky Lois, and thanks Superman she got to write it.

 

I think we’ll stop there for tonight. There’s still another hour worth of shorts on the Complete Superman Collection movie, but again, it’s just a lot of Golden Age Superman to digest. It’s not bad, really, it’s just… 1940s. It was interesting to see how elements of the character developed as the shorts went on. By the time the third short aired, they’d finally named the Daily Planet. And as Superman was animated flying more and more, we see the classic, “Faster than a Speeding Bullet, More Powerful than a Locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!” updated to “Able to fly higher than any plane.” I don’t know why the plane line is less impressive than super leaping, but it is. There’s really not much to say about Lois and Clark in these shorts as they’re not really doing much in terms of character. Just about all the shorts involve Lois getting in danger covering a story, Clark saying, “This looks like a job for Superman!” and then saving the day. This isn’t a bad formula, especially for shorts, but it leaves me little to work with in terms of analysis. They’re both well-acted, they’re played by Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander, their voice actors for the Superman radio drama. As the series goes on, they’ll be replaced by Lee Royce and Barbara Wilcox, due to some behind the scenes issues and funds drying up. It is also weird to see all of the mad scientists and villains that Superman battles throughout the shorts run. Almost all of them are nameless, and most of the villains could be swapped out for any other. But this was in the early days of Superman, I suppose, so a lot of his more iconic villains simply hadn’t been made yet. It made me laugh to see how much Superman’s power fluctuates between stories. Sometimes he’s strong enough to hurl mountains, other times a Gorilla is more than a match for his strength. Just some fun, Golden Age inconsistency. It’s still a fun set of stories to watch, and I highly recommend them. Next time, the second half of the shorts. Have a good night and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 20

Joker's unleashes his masterplan.  

I just want to take a moment to pay my respects to Eric Bauza and Sir Patrick Stewart. Eric Bauza was a prolific voice actor, his biggest roles being the voices for the male Looney Toons. He died earlier this week due to hypertension cardiovascular disease. He was 46. And Sir Patrick Stewart died earlier today due to complications due to Alzheimer’s and Dementia. He was 86. Two big deaths that hurt bad. Rest in Peace, gentlemen, you were spectacular.

 

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader the Joker made his grand entrance. The Criminal Clown murdered Hattie Tetch with his Joker venom, causing her to die laughing. He came in and promised to Gotham that he would murder the mayor at the stroke of midnight and then the city would burn. Batman rushed to the studio to try to stop him, but Joker unloaded a shotgun into Batman’s chest for his trouble. He’s fine, he had a metal plate over his heart. Gordon and the cops focused on protecting the mayor while Batman hunted the Joker. Mayor Jessop chose to follow Detective Flass over Montoya because he’s a dumbass. Batman realized that one of the Joker’s henchmen used to work for the Riddler and so checked out Stumpers. The goons were all there, with a Joker decoy. They all died laughing as well. Joker calls Batman on the club’s phone and says that Batman can’t stop him. Batman races to Miss Kitty’s massage parlor, a frequent hangout of Flass’. He burst into the building and fought his way to the cops to try to grab Jessop, but Flass holds him off with a knife. As they fight, Jessop dies laughing. Alfred patches Batman up at the cave and finally begins his autopsy on Thorne. Unfortunately, every corpse killed by the Joker venom sit up and start releasing a toxic gas. Cops at GCPD get infected, as does Alfred. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Ep 20: The Laughing Death

 

We open with Alfred laughing manically, but instead of laughing until he dies, he mutates, growing into a smaller version of Blockbuster. Alfred attacks Batman while muttering his darkest thoughts. He calls Batman a fop and a loser, someone who has no friends except his faithful lapdog, Alfred. Batman actually calls him Alfred to get him to stop attacking, which works for a second, but then Alfred throws Batman across the room. He lands near the chemistry set and grabs a dart gun and a needle full of a anti-toxin they’d been working on. He hits Alfred with it, he passes out and reverts to normal.

 

At GCPD, the Laughing Blockbusters escape the morgue and head deeper into the building. Outside, Joker quotes WB Yeats’ poem The Second Coming, “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / the falcon cannot hear the falconer;” An apt poem for him to read, s the last lines are, “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold/ Mere Anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

 

In GCPD, Barbara is meeting with a client, a Mr. Merkel, who had to have a gag put on him to keep him from biting. Their interview is interrupted by some loud thumps outside the room.  Barbara goes to investigate, only to find the rampaging Laughing Blockbusters. Bullock is among their number and he calls out to Arnold Flass specifically. Montoya grabs Barbara and pulls her out of the Laughing Blockbuster’s line of sight. Flass just barely sneaks around behind Bullock and escapes through an exit. Barbara and Montoya watch in horror as Bullock attacks Merkel, killing him in a splash of blood. Creepily, Merkel also turns into a Laughing Blockbuster, his snapped neck righting itself as he crab walks away. The two women rush off to find Gordon.

 

Back at the cave, Batman begins to figure out the phases of Joker’s plan as Alfred cleans up. Phase 1: Injection, causes uncontrollable laugher and eventually death; Phase 2: Incubation, a toxic gas builds up in the body that escapes when it hits saturation. Phase 3: Blockbuster, self-explanatory at this point. Alfred tries to stand up, but he’s still woozy, and Batman helps him to a chair.  Their anti-toxin seems to work, but Batman is confused because the gas only seems to last a few seconds and thus can only infect people close by. It’s far too slow to be an effective epidemic like that. Batman heads out to investigate. Alfred tries to apologize for whatever he said or did while Blockbustered, the transformation seems to cause memory loss, but Batman says to not worry about that. He asks Alfred to whip up as much of the anti-toxin as he can.

 

Batman races towards GCPD, but Joker hits the Batmobile with an RPG. Joker greets his “Brother” and asks if they can begin. He fires another rocket, destroying the Batmobile. Batman grappling hooks up to him and the chase begins. Joker runs off, just barely dodging a pair of bat-a-rangs he through. Batman races after him, the two headed for a tower that’s under construction.

 

Montoya and Barbara look for Gordon. They’re slowed by a Laughing Blockbuster who starts to charge them, but Gordon leaps out and knocks him down a flight of stairs. The three head up to Gordon’s office as they can barricade themselves inside. They dodge a group of monsters, but Gordon is clearly exhausted and they help him to a chair. Barbara looks at the phone and clearly wonders if/when Batman will call.

 

Batman enters the tower. Joker stays just out of sight as he taunts Batman with his accomplishments. He’s been in Gotham for months without Batman’s knowledge, and removed Thorne and Jessop singlehandedly. He also takes credit for Riddler’s death, but I think he’s reaching there. Unless somehow he gave Thorne mental health problems, or was the one that told the Riddler to shake down the Forrests somehow. Batman follows his voice into the construction site. He leaps from the dark and slashes Batman’s back. He disappears again. He promises that tonight he’ll remove the police and the citizens, destroying their illusion of order. He attacks Batman from behind again, but he anticipates Joker this time, and they grapple. Joker is impressed with Batman, but pulls another dagger and slashes his chest. He says that there’s still mercy in Batman’s heart and call it an anchor, dragging him down. They grapple some more, Batman forcing him to drop the daggers. Joker kicks him off, saying that he’s nearly ready before escaping up an elevator shaft.

 

At the cave, Alfred picks up when Barbara calls. He apologizes that Batman is busy this evening. They compare notes about the situation, Barbara confirming that the infection is spreading and Alfred confirming that he’s working on an antidote. Alfred is horrified to learn that the Laughing Blockbusters are in the streets already. Barbara says that the infection seems to spread via biting, and Alfred dubs that phase four. Their conversation is interrupted as Gordon starts laughing. We see he was bitten on the side of his neck. He mutates, screaming at Montoya and Barbara to run as fast as they can from him. They do, just as Gordon throws his desk.

 

Flass makes it to the lower floor, abandoning his fellow officers to try to escape. Bullock finds him, though, and starts hunting the other corrupt cop. He follows Flass into the locker room and starts ripping doors off them to try to find Flass. Flass hides is able to shoot him in the back and Bullock drops. He starts to gloat, saying that he was always the weak link. That no matter how simple Flass made a scam, Bullock would mess it up. He kicks the body, but then Bullock grabs his leg and crushes it. He slams Flass into a vending machine, grabs him by the neck and starts to strangle him. Flass tries to talk him down now that he’s in danger again, calling him “buddy,” but he proves that’s a lie immediately by shooting Bullock in the stomach this time.

 

Alfred listens to the news as he makes the anti-toxin, the Laughing Blockbusters are rampaging through the streets. Civilians are ordered to stay in doors, but if they must go outside, to not do it alone and to bring protection. We see some families barricading themselves inside and some climbing onto buildings. Laughing Blockbuster Jim Gordon hunts Barbara and Montoya, but they trick him into a cell, knocking him out with a fire extinguisher and then locking the door. Barbara says that he’ll be safe in there and the two head out to try to save the city, despite Montoya’s objections that Barbara stay somewhere safe.

 

Joker leads Batman higher into the tower. Joker calls him a surprisingly poor student, saying that he doesn’t need the shadows, or anything or anyone else. Batman leaps out at him, saying he’s not the Joker’s brother. He pummels the Joker, bursting onto the outside of the tower. They hear screams and laughter from the people below. Joker says that the ‘ants’ down there are no better than the elites they serve. Batman demands to know why Joker is doing this. He throws Batman off of him and down to the street below. He says that he’s a teacher before running into the elevator and completing the thought, “And I suppose now I am teaching you.” He pulls out a German pistol as he does. Batman saves himself with a grappling hook and he chases Joker to the very top of the tower.

 

Joker mutters that Batman is clever, and that he was clever too, before his eyes were opened. Batman lunges at him and knocks the gun away. Joker pulls out another knife, and they get into a melee fight.

 

On the street, Barbara takes a police force armored van to run over some Laughing Blockbusters and try to save people camped out above the movie theater.

 

Joker and Batman fight, Joker saying that he’s doing all of this to show Batman something. Batman asks what he means, Joker says to show him what they both are. Batman calls him a monster. This infuriates Joker, he grabs his gun and shoots at Batman, saying that HE doesn’t get to say that. They’re the same! He sees the trail of blood that Batman left and follows it. He says that he destroyed Gotham with a bit of chemicals, destroying the illusion of order. Joker says that Batman can dance in the glow as they all burn up in his cleansing fire. Batman attacks him with a board, saying that the ‘insects’ down their have lives, families, and him! Joker shoots the board from his hands. Joker says they make him weak. They are alike and thus above the rabble. Batman starts to laugh, and Joker asks what’s so funny. Batman replies, “How wrong you are. I am not alone.” We then see Alfred fly by in the Batwing as he unleashes the anti-toxin into the air. Joker shrieks in anger and starts shooting at Batman as the fog covers everything. He says that Batman will learn his lesson, there is no other way, no other teacher.

 

Groundside, the Laughing Blockbusters revert back to normal and pass out.

 

Joker says that this is no cure, these are just more anchors pulling him down. He shoots into the fog and gets Batman in the thigh. He starts to gloat, saying that Batman is still teachable, and that he’ll watch as Gotham burns. Batman hurls a bat-a-rang at him. Joker dodges it. He says that he’ll leave Batman for now, but he’ll be back and he’ll teach him. The bat-a-rang boomerangs back, as Batman says that he talks too much. It slices a cable holding rebar, causing it to drop and one piece impales Joker. He says that this is still good. Batman can’t win, he’ll never win, but he’ll learn. He starts to do his iconic cackle as he leaps off the building and disappears into the smoke.

 

Later, we see that Bullock and Flass are in a hospital room together. Bullock is in a neck brace with an arm immobilized and his stomach bandaged, but is alive, so that’s good for him. Flass has a busted leg and lots of cuts and broken bones. Bullock has no memory of what happened, but because he and Flass were found together and he’s still under the delusion that they’re friends, he thinks they fought the monster together until they passed out. Flass, who is a jackass but isn’t stupid, agrees with this version of events. He’s got his fall guy back in line

 

Gordon and Batman meet on the roof of GCPD. He says that they haven’t found the Joker’s body, but it’s only been a day. The fall combined with being impaled makes it seem like that should be the end of it… but it’s the Joker. He’s survived worse. Batman agrees with me, saying that they NEED to find the body. Gordon notices that Batman is different after the incident, saying that this one got to him. Batman says that he almost destroyed Gotham. Montoya and Barbara join them and basically tell Batman to lighten up and take the win. Gordon swears that they’ll see to it that Gotham rises again.

 

Overall, I liked this show a lot. I think season 2 had a fair share of problems, but overall, it was a solid season of television. This version of Joker was incredibly grim, but that works surprisingly well. Matthew Needham’s slight German accent added a lot of menace to the character, and his insistence that he was trying to ‘teach’ Batman that he’s above everyone else is just delightfully psychotic. Initially, it was weird to hear the Joker talk so much without a single laugh, chuckle, or chortle, but that does make his final laugh all the more impactful. I have zero doubt that he survived the fall, he’s the Joker after all, but the fact that it’s left ambiguous works well. He’ll be on Batman’s mind forever until they face off again. That’s a perfect little plot to follow Batman on for a potential season 3, Batman dealing with his PTSD and paranoia that the Joker will be back. Their fight was really well done, with lots of punches, slashes, shots, and bruises. Even without the rebar through his gut, I’d say Joker is going to be out of it for a while, just from the concussion Batman definitely gave him with all those punches to his face. His plan was a bit… silly. I mean, he could make a poison the kills in seconds that is spread through injection. If he just made that stuff airborne, Gotham would have been dead by 12:30 and there wouldn’t have been anything Batman could do about it. But then, where’s the fun in that? I liked the side plot with Flass and Bullock. We didn’t see a lot of them together after Bullock got demoted, but it was clear that Bullock was furious about being shut out by Flass. Whatever part of the Blockbuster formula that made him fixate on that hatred would obviously zero in on Flass for being just the worst friend. The shot where Bullock was strangling Flass while Flass shot him in the gut was a hell of an image to cut away from. It feels slightly like a copout to let Bullock survive that much trauma, but I assume they’ve got more planned for him, so whatever. It was also nice to give Barbara and Montoya something to do besides hide. Capturing Gordon to keep him from hurting people and then saving civilians was heroic as hell. And Alfred is the MVP of the episode, manufacturing all that anti-toxin and then releasing it on the city just in the nick of time. Regardless of universe, Alfred comes in clutch. So ya, I had fun with this episode and the season overall. I’m really curious to see what villains they’ll bring in if they get a season 3, as a lot of the big names have been axed. There’s Poison Ivy, Man-Bat, Professor Pyg, Clock King, Condiment King, Sportsmaster, Scarface and Wesker, Killer Croc, and a few others but I don’t know, I’m not sure how many could be a season long antagonist like Joker or Thorne. Ra’s al Ghul, I suppose, but I don’t know how well he’ll fit in this setting. But that’ll be something we can discuss when/if a season 3 is announced. DC’s projects seem to be up in the air right now due to the Skydance monopoly. But they have announced an Absolute Batman run and I know Warner Bros was always hesitant to have multiple Batmen going at once. So, who knows? We’ll just have to wait and see. Next time, I think we’ll be going WAY back, but that’s all I’ll say right now. Have a good night, everyone, and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 19

A rather dower Clown Prince of Crime has entered the scene.  

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, we finally learned what happened to Rupert Thorne. Just after the Riddler’s murder, GCPD discovered Thorne’s car in Gotham Bay. Batman noticed a heavy truck tread leading up to where it was dumped and so began to hunt trucks. At the same time, Carrie Kelly (one of the orphans from Nocturne, the one that saved Batman’s life) is sneaking out of her new home to ‘fight crime’ as the Crime Smasher. She dresses up as fictional DC hero, the Gray Ghost and does little acts of heroism like finding lost dogs and stopping vandalism. Her bike gets run over by a Subzero Icehouse truck, and she tracks the truck to its distribution center. That’s where she crosses paths with Batman, who angrily tells her to go home out of fear for her safety. Carrie initially goes home, but is chased by Harvey Bullock, who has a vendetta against her, and decides to head back as the Grey Ghost doesn’t give up on cases. And it’s good that she did, as Batman was knocked out by Mr. Zero, a serial killer with a fixation on turning people into frozen statues. Carrie frees Batman before he can be frozen and the two work together to stop Zero and his goons. We see that two of his victims are Rupert Thorne and his son Mattie. The episode reveals that Zero has been cleaning up for the criminals of Gotham, taking the victims of various murders to make this macabre art. Batman and Carrie beat the villains, but Carrie is extremely freaked out by all this and makes it clear she’ll be retiring the Crime Smasher for a while. Batman does apologize to her for being harsh, but we’re not sure if she heard it. Carrie sneaks’ home, just barely beating Bullock and getting to humiliate him when he accuses Carrie of sneaking out. Batman tries to get Zero to divulge who hired him to take out Thorne. Zero almost spills, but he’s shot in the throat and head by an unseen gunman. The episode closed on Batman looking at the Frozen, dead Rupert Thorne. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Ep 19: Dead Before Dawn

 

We open with Hattie Tetch doing a news report on Gotham hosting the World’s Fair. Shame they don’t know about that whole “Devil in White City” situation we had IRL, they could be preparing for their own HH Holmes. Anyway, Hattie is pro-fair, as she feels like it’s just what the city needs to get back on its feet after the crime filled few… decades Gotham has been dealing with. In the cave, Alfred is listening to the broadcast as he performs an autopsy on Rupert Thorne’s body. Partway through her broadcast, Hattie starts laughing uncontrollably. It starts as just a light chuckle but quickly develops into the full body laughing stroke that Joker loves so much. Alfred, thinking quickly, patches the radio to the Batmobile, as Batman is on patrol. Hattie’s crew try to help her, but some goons come in with tommy guns and start unloading on Hattie’s staff. They miss her, but she’s hit the rictus grin phase of the Joker poisoning, so like, she’s has seconds. Batman asks Alfred for the number of assailants (four) and tells Alfred to stay on the line as he is in route.

 

Joker walks in, shoving Hattie’s body from her chair and taking over the broadcast. He tells Gotham that it’s 8:43 pm and they have 3 hours and 17 minutes before he murders Gotham’s Mayor Jessop. He intends to use this murder as his proof to Gotham that no one will be able to stop him and swears that all of Gotham will be dead by dawn. We see Barbara, who’d been watching the broadcast, make a worried call to her dad with that pronouncement.

 

Alfred describes Joker to Batman, and he’s ordered to record it. Which, given the time period, involves getting a full reel-to-reel projector in place. He updates the criminal count to 5 and then tells Batman that Joker ‘terminated’ the recording. Batman doesn’t answer as he enters the Monoscope picture’s lot. He busts in just as Joker and his men try to leave. He orders Joker to stop, but Joker simply responds, “No. Not yet.” Batman makes short work of the goons and tries to cut off Joker. Joker nonchalantly says, “You’re blocking my way,” before pulling out a shotgun and blowing Batman back. We see he’s alive, he had a metal plate on over his chest as a 40s era Kevlar vest. Joker simply walks by Batman’s crumpled form and exits the building.

 

Montoya comes into the GCPD office, and the cops are frantically trying to figure out how to stop the Joker’s threat. She comes into Gordon’s office as he orders more guards on city hall at least until they move Jessop. She lets him know that the studio is a mess, as Hattie’s entire production staff were murdered along with her. She offhandedly says that it could have been worse, it could have been a live studio audience. Gordon tells her to not even think that. She also informs him that Batman had been there, they found one of the bat-a-rangs, but he’d left before they arrived. Gordon heads to the morgue to oversee Hattie’s autopsy. Montoya wants to go with, but he orders her to take the lead on Jessop’s protection detail. She tells her to move him to the Tri-Corner safehouse. We get a close up of a clock, it’s 9:40.

 

Barbara is brought into the morgue as a body was recovered from the bay and they wanted her to identify if he was one of her clients. The body is bloated and smiling, Barbara confirms that’s Barry Vance, she hadn’t seen him in six months. Both Barbara and the medical examiner agree that he looks like he was hit with the same ‘thing’ that killed Tetch. Barbara asks her to forward all the info she gets to GCPD and the medical examiner agrees.

 

We see a montage of the city as Gordon issues a safety warning. He promises that GCPD will have a 24-hour watch on Jessop until this is handled and tells the civilians to stay indoors for the duration of the treat. We see people boarding up their businesses, making last minute food runs, and generally panicking. Barbara, who is driving through downtown, mutters that fear spreads like fire.

 

Montoya arrives at City Hall; Bullock is one of the uniformed officers stationed outside. She enters Jessop’s office and the old sexist demands to know where Gordon is. Montoya says that he’s working the case and that they have a safehouse ready for him. Jessop says that he’s putting Flass in charge of his security detail, and overruling Gordon’s decision to put Montoya in charge. He claims that Flass has earned his trust, unlike Gordon and the rest of the department. Considering Flass is the single dirties cop in Gotham, Jessop should really reconsider his friends. Montoya tells Flass that the Tri-Corner safehouse is set up and that’s where Gordon wants Jessop. Flass thanks her for the info and bids her farewell.

 

At GCPD’s morgue, Barbara informs her dad about her client, that he suffered from the same symptoms as Hattie, who is laid out before them. Gordon is spooked to learn that the Joker has been operating in Gotham for that long unnoticed. Barbara points out that they don’t know who he is or what he wants. Batman makes himself known by saying, “he told us what he wants.” He comes over and starts examining Hattie’s body without asking. He sees an injection mark hidden near Hattie’s fingernail. Montoya comes in, is unsurprised to see the Gordons with Batman, and updates Gordon on the Jessop situation. She confirms that he’s not at any of their safehouses. Batman takes a cheek swab and hair sample from Hattie as well. Gordon says that he can’t protect the mayor and find this ‘joker’ (This is the only time they call the Joker ‘joker,’ by the way, I’m just using his name for readability). Montoya spells it out to Batman that they need him to stop Joker.

 

At Jessop’s office, they fit him with a vest and Flass tells the mayor that they’re ready to move him. As they leave, Bullock is waiting outside and tells Flass to put him on this detail. He sees this as his chance to get promoted back to detective. Flass unfortunately isn’t a loyal friend, and he tells him to buzz off. Bullock says that Flass owes him; that he took the fall for Dent’s murder, so he deserves Flass’ help. Flass tells ‘Sloppy Joe’ that that is his mistake, he thinks he can ‘earn’ things, like in Flass’ eyes is about what you take. He walks off, leaving Bullock looking angry.

 

At the cave, Alfred says that he has just gotten Thorne’s body thawed out enough to start the autopsy. Mr. Zero kept him well preserved, it seems. Alfred has also been distracted by the chaos of the evening. He says that he’d been reviewing the Tetch murder video as that seemed more pressing. He apologizes for only getting a few seconds of footage before Joker shot the camera. Batman notices the goon that handed Joker the gun was one of Riddler’s men. He leaves, telling Alfred that maybe muscle isn’t all that Joker took from Riddler. We get another clock close up, and it’s 10:43.

 

Jessop is moved to Flass’ preferred safehouse, a strip joint called Miss Kitty’s. Jessop says that Flass is a good friend to have, and Flass says he scratches the mayor’s back for scratching his.

 

We move to Stumpers, where Joker is playing solitaire while his goons loiter. Batman busts in, turns out the lights and beats the snot out of everyone. He finishes by flipping the table and grabbing Joker… only to learn that this was a decoy. He’s just a normal goon with painted skin and dyed green hair. The goons all start Joker Lauging, Joker having clearly poisoned them all for this. Batman holds onto the fake Joker until the man literally breathes his last breath. The phone rings and Batman picks it up. Joker says that he’s fighting the inevitable. He tells Batman that the mayor dies in 27 minutes, and he’s just the beginning. He asks if Batman really thought that they could hide Jessop from him. The man surrounds himself with corruption and cowardice, Joker says that they’re delivering Jessop to him without even knowing it. Batman demands to know where Joker is, but he hangs up.

 

Batman races around to try to find Jessop. Barbara arrives at GCPD and gives Montoya coffee. Montoya thanks her but says that Barbara should be locked down at home. Barbara says she has a client meeting, and the job waits for no man. Montoya answers the phone when it rings and passes it onto Gordon when she learns it’s Batman. Batman tells the commissioner that Joker is using Riddler’s former goons and that he killed them. Batman asks where Flass took Jessop, and Gordon says he’s got no idea.

 

Batman radios into Alfred and asks him to get their file on Flass and to tell Batman Flass’ frequent hangouts. Alfred lists a couple, but obviously “Miss Kitty’s (air quotes) Massage Parlor” stands out. Batman races to it. Alfred gets back to his autopsy work and we see it’s ten minutes to midnight.

 

At Miss Kitty’s, Jessop is panicking, but he keeps repeating to himself that he’s going to be fine. Flass reassures the mayor, but Jessop starts to panic when they hear somebody fighting the cops outside. It’s Batman. He knocks the cops around and makes it to the upper floor. When Flass sees the shadow under the door he orders the men to open fire. They shoot the door up so badly that it’s more of a window now. They go to investigate, but Batman bursts through the wall beside the door. He makes short work of the cops and tells Jessop that he’s coming with Batman. Flass pulls a knife on him and they fight some more. Batman gets stabbed in the shoulder, but he knocks Flass away. At the stroke of Midnight… Jessop starts laughing. Classic mastermind Joker, he only gave them the illusion that they could stop him. Jessop laughs himself to death on a hooker’s bed. Flass gets up and prepares to shoot Batman in the head. Batman dropped a gas pellet and escapes. Flass fires several shots but only hits the mayor’s corpse.

 

Jessop’s body is brought to GCPD and put along side Hattie’s as Batman gets patched up by Alfred at the cave. Batman says that no one else besides GCPD was at the place. Alfred wonders if one of the corrupt cops killed him, like Flass himself. Batman doesn’t think so. He asks if Alfred has any updates from Thorne’s body, but Alfred is just about to start the autopsy in earnest. Batman says that the precision required for this Joker toxin means that the man is a borderline genius. Batman realizes that Joker had this planed down to the second, both with Hattie’s murder and Jessops.

 

We cut to GCPD where the cops on staff ask why they’re keeping the bodies here. His buddy says that the morgue is full, so they’re keeping them on ice here for now. As they talk, Hattie’s body starts sitting up and laughing. She’s followed by the other victims, and every one of them unleashes a green mist from their mouths.

 

At the cave, Batman tells Alfred to check Thorne’s hands, under the nails. As Alfred works, Thorne’s body also gets up and starts laughing, unleashing the gas. Alfred is the only one exposed. He starts laughing hysterically just before the credits roll. Joker poisoned ALFRED. He’d better be ready for when Batman comes for his hide.

 

Well, that was certainly an entrance for Mr. J. I’ll start by saying that it annoys me that they don’t name him. I know, this show isn’t big on giving their villains their iconic names, but like, come on, if I hadn’t called him the joker, this’d bee six pages of “The White face man” or “Mr. Green Hair.” Other than that, I do think this is a very interesting version for the character. A Joker who still develops his trademark laughing gas, but who himself hasn’t laughed once. This isn’t the first time that a serious Joker has been done, I’ve read this happened in the Golden age and there’ve been Elseworld stories with a grim, serious Joker, but it’s my first time experiencing it. The fact he doesn’t laugh makes it feel like he’s trying to infect the town with something that he’s incapable of doing. I fully expected at least a wisecrack when he shot Batman, but nope, just a shotgun blast and walk away. It was eerie. This is also a solid ‘mastermind’ version of the Joker. His plan is complicated, to the point where Batman acknowledges it. And while his plan came at the cost of sacrificing far too many Batman villains (Blockbuster, Mr. Zero, Hugo Strange, Hattie Tetch, Rupert Thorne), that at least highlights how BIG this plan is. The man had so many plates spinning in the air, and they’re all about to drop at once. Batman rushing around to try to figure out how to stop him was really nice. Regardless of universe, Joker fills Batman with enough instinctual unease that Batman never takes him lightly. I do wonder if he could have done something for Jessop if he hadn’t had to track him down. Probably not, as Alfred hadn’t even gotten started on the exam, much less on figuring out a cure, but maybe. The extremely corrupt mayor dying on a bed in a ‘massage’ parlor is poetic. So, the plan, phase one, infect a bunch of people with his Joker Toxin. Phase Two, murder the mayor to put the city on high alert. Phase Three, start infecting people, especially cops, with Joker venom. Phase Four… well, that’s what we’ll see next time. Next time, Joker tries to destroy Gotham once and for all. See you there. Have a good night and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 18

 Time to put the Thorne situation on Ice.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Riddler finally met his match. Rose Forrest was a meek young woman living with her father, she just wanted to sell flowers and meet her prince charming. Her ex-cop father spoke sternly to Eddie Nygma when the mob boss came in for his protection money, so Riddler murdered him with a Tommy gun. This caused a psychological break in Rose (mental health problems are implied to run in her family via her mom) and creates a new, seductive persona eventually dubbed Thorn. Thorn seduces Riddler, the two going on a crime spree together. Batman tries to stop them but is caught and almost killed due to being poisoned by Thorn’s bladed whip. They stick him in a car and shove it off a cliff, but Batman escapes. He finally tracks Riddler to his club and tries to bring him in, but Thorn takes him away. Riddler’s girlfriend Lily tries to protect him but has a breakdown when she realizes that Riddler is definitely leaving her. She mutters that things were going so well until they shot up the flower shop. At the flower shop, Thorn reveals who she really is with a bouquet that reads “Burn in Hell.” She murders him with a tommy gun and then skips town. At the cave, Alfred is upset for the poor girl. He was a regular at their shop and had given Rose his condolences earlier. Batman tells him that she’ll probably get out of town, but he’ll be ready if she comes back. In the episode’s final moments, the remnants of Thorne/Riddler’s gang is scooped up by the Joker for whatever he’s planning. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Ep 18: Zero Hour

 

We open with a pair of mobsters gunning down a rat. Once he’s dead, one of the mobsters asks if this was an ‘off the books’ hit, and his friend says not to worry, he already called the guy. An armored ice truck pulls up and three men get out, the first two are obvious henchmen, but the third is very odd. He’s a large Black man with blue hair and a neck brace with an electronic voice box built into it. The man looks over the corpse, says that it has holes, which he doesn’t like. The goons shrug and say that’s a hazard of their line of work. They pay him, and his goons take the body away. He warns the two that they shouldn’t call him again for a body like this. He wants the corpses without a visible sign of damage, or there will be no more business from him. The squad get in the truck and drive away.

 

At the Batcave, Alfred crosses out Riddler’s picture and asks if this’ll mean a reduction in mob activity. Batman doesn’t think so, if Thorne is out for revenge, it won’t stop just because the Riddler is dead. Alfred points out that it’s weird that Thorne has been MIA for so long. He wonders if maybe this is just an all-out gang war instead of Thorne still being butthurt about his arrest. Batman doesn’t think so, as he believes mobsters display their kills to show off, the fighting right now has been oddly bloodless comparatively speaking. Aflred says that he investigated air and train travel out of Gotham and neither Rupert Thorne nor his son Mattie’s names had been seen on any ticket purchases. He thinks that maybe they’re running under false names. Their investigation is interrupted by their police scanner letting them know that Thorne’s car has been found. In Gotham Bay.

 

We jump over to Carrie Kelly, one of the four orphan Robin homages from the Nocturne episode, who has had a pretty big win since we last saw her, she’s been adopted. She’s riding her bike home when she sees an old lady putting up missing posters for her dog. Carrie takes one of the posters before she’s grabbed by Harvey Bullock. The now officer Bullock tells Carrie that curfew is at 5 pm, and that she’s out past it. He takes Carrie back to her parents and tells Carrie’s new mom that an orphan like Carrie is a half-criminal, so she needs to be watched constantly, or she’ll run all over town. Carrie’s mother, I’m going to call her Maria after her voice actress Maria Canals-Barrera because she doesn’t have a name in the show, ‘thanks’ Bullock for seeing Carrie home safely, but points out Carrie is only ten minutes late. Bullock tells her to keep Carrie and her bike off the street, he handcuffs the bike to their front gate for emphasis, and warns that if she’s smart, she’ll see if the orphanage has a return policy. Bullock storms off, almost getting hit by a car as he walks away. Maria waves and thanks Bullock again, but if looks could kill he’d drop dead on the spot. She slams the door and shakes her head at how Bullock can find so much time to harass her ten-year-old girl. Carrie begins to apologize, saying that she’s sure that she’s not what the Carson’s had been expecting when they adopted her. Maria cuts her off and says that Carrie is a delight. A little rough around the edges, but she was too back in the day. Her dad, I dub him Kevin after his voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, pops out of the kitchen to say dinner is ready.

 

After dinner, her parents discuss Carrie and how she’s adjusting. Maria thinks that Carrie is having trouble settling in. She thinks Carrie needs to make friends, if only so she’s not as easy of a target for Bullock to harass. Kevin says that Carrie just needs a little more time. She’s a good kid with good parents. He shouts up to Carrie to tell her to finish her homework and head to bed. Carrie agrees, while setting up a decoy in her bed and preparing to sneak out. She dresses up in a Gray Ghost costume, quoting the character, “The road of life takes many turns, but crime is a dead end.” She’s dubbed herself the “Crime Smasher” and is going to go out to help the community.

 

A reminder, the Gray Ghost is an in-universe fictional superhero, the star of a radio drama and early tv series. He’s a sort of Batman character for Bruce Wayne to look up to. He was introduced in the original Animated series back in the 90s and was an homage to Adam West, who also voiced the character.

 

Carrie slips out and uses her lockpicking tools to get her bike free from Bullock’s cuffs. She rides around town, her cape flapping in the wind as she looks for Bingo, the missing dog. She is able to track the dog down, finding it thanks to a paint paw trail. She delivers the dog to his owner, anonymously, and rides off to find her next case.

 

At the bay, they pull out Thorne’s car. Gordon orders his men to get photos of the car and then to get it back to GCPD for more tests. He sees Batman and goes to speak with him covertly. Batman and Gordon agree that Thorne was either killed or kidnapped. There is a tire trail of a much heavier car that leads to where Thorne’s car was dumped, but that’s the only clue they’ve got. Gordon laments the fact that Riddler is dead, as he might be the only one who could confirm what happened to the Thornes. Batman doesn’t think Riddler was involved at all, he was an opportunist, not a planner. They need a body, regardless if its dead or alive to prove a crime. Batman slips away as Gordon says this, as he often does.

 

Carrie continues her ‘Crime Smasher’ activities. She stops some hoodlums from breaking into a store with brick with her fireworks, and practices shooting with her slingshot. Her training is interrupted when an armored ice truck drives by, almost hitting her, but hitting her bike. She sees it has Subzero Icehouse advertised on the side. She shouts that it’s illegal to leave the scene of a crime. She repeats the line that “crime is a dead end” while holding her handlebars.

 

At GCPD, Gordon is spending his evening sketching out a concept for the Bat signal when Batman calls him. Gordon is impressed that Batman has something already, as it has only been three hours and that’s fast even for him. His list is pretty exhaustive. 15 companies in Gotham use private delivery trucks, none with a fleet bigger than 5, 8 are the wrong model, 2 were locked down for safety violations, so he’s narrowed it down to five potential options. Gordon tells Batman to keep him posted and if he can get a little more info to Gordon, he can put men on it. He begins to say that they work well together, but Batman hangs up before he can finish. He scribbles out the signal idea.

 

Carrie checks the phonebook and finds the ad for Subzero Icehouse. It’s in ‘old Gotham’ which is a dangerous part of town, but it’s her only lead, so she goes for it. Oh, to have the stupid confidence of youth again. She finds the business and their trucks. She is excited to have tracked them down, but is surprised when Batman gets the drop on her. She tries to convince Batman that she can help him, as she did save his life once, but Batman isn’t having it. He tells her that the scum he fights wouldn’t hesitate to kill her and yells at her to go home. I feel like this is Bruce Timm trying to keep people from getting their hopes up for a Robin to show up. Carrie runs off, crying because her hero yelled at her.

 

The goons bring a body into the Icehouse. Batman checks out the truck and finds a big pool of blood. The goons sneak up on him and one puts a gun to his head. Batman beats them up and locks them in the truck. He investigates the Ice House. He finds something that surprises him, but before he can react further, a block of ice falls on him, knocking him out. The boss, Mr. Zero, is impressed with the Batman. He dubs him a perfect specimen and thinks that Batman will be his master work. Mr. Zero frees his goons and tells them to get to work.  

 

Carrie kicks a can in anger, saying that Batman is a jerk. She sees a billboard for the Wayne Manor Estates, which tell her to ‘live the good life.’ She asks how she do that, right as Bullock grabs her. He was staking out the area near her house as he was sure she’d sneak out again. Carrie mouth offs to Bullock, which really pisses him off. He warns her that he’s done a terrible things to folks for a lot less. She calls him scum. Bullock almost takes a swing at the girl, but thinks better of it, saying that a few years in Juvie will straighten her out. Before he can get her in the car, though, she kicks him in the balls and runs off. She escapes Bullock and heads back to the Icehouse, saying that the Gray Ghost never abandons a case, and neither does Crime Smasher.

 

I thank god this is a show, because this kid would absolutely get killed in real life doing this.

 

She breaks into the warehouse and as a look around. She finds the office is covered in cobwebs. She finds the cold storage area and the thing that surprised Batman, a creepy statue of a guy. It seems to be frozen solid. She finds Batman stuck in a tube of some kind. He starts to scold her, but as he doesn’t have any other option, she tells him to pull the lever beside him to get him free. She gets him out and he says that he needs his belt. Carrie says they need to get out of there. The lights come on and we see a lot more frozen statues… including one of Rubert Thorne. Mr. Zero comes in, saying that he won’t let a moppet steal his masterpiece. Batman tells Carrie to go, but she pulls out her slingshot and asks Mr. Zero if he really thinks she’s intimidated by a wannabe Basil Carlo. Carrie fires a rock at Mr. Zero, who knocks it aside with his giant tongs. The rock shatters Mattie Thorne’s head… revealing brains. Carrie is horrified to learn that the statues are all frozen corpses. Batman tries to fight Mr. Zero, but he’s still sluggish from being partially frozen and is knocked aside. Carrie slips away and shoves over the statues to bury Mr. Zero in ice. She grabs Batman’s belt, but Mr. Zero grabs her and sticks her into a crane’s claw. He tells Carrie that he’s going to dunk her in liquid nitrogen and turn her into a frozen angel. Batman rushes Zero and keeps him from dunking Carrie. They fight as Carrie uses the utility belt to free herself. She uses a flashbang to blind Zero and then a heavy ball to move the crane. Zero’s goons come to help him. Batman knocks one into the nitrogen, freezing him, and then Carrie tosses him the belt. The two are able to disable the other goon, and then both quote the Gray Ghost before doing a Kamen Rider kick to knock down Mr. Zero.

 

Carrie is happy to learn that Batman also liked the Gray Ghost. He says he used to, he found the character… inspiring. Carrie is obviously overwhelmed by all the death that she’s witnessed tonight, and says that Batman can handle wrapping this up. Batman thanks her for saving him, again, and starts to apologize for yelling earlier, but Carrie ran off already. Ya, Bruce, it doesn’t feel so good, does it?

 

Carrier runs home, only to be cut off by Bullock. She dodges his grab and uses her might ‘being a child’ powers to outrun the overweight Bullock. She climbs up her fire escape and gets into the house just before Bullock rings the bell. Kevin and Maria answer the door and are shocked by Bullock being there so late. He says that Carrie snuck out and demands to see the girl, but Carrie is a master at quick changes, so she’s already in her PJs and sleepily asks her parents what is going on. The Carsons close the door on Bullock, Carrie giving him a wink as the door clicks shut.

 

Batman meanwhile has Mr. Zero tied up and demands to know who killed Thorne. Mr. Zero says that a client wanted Rupert Thorne out of the way, so he was paid to get rid of him, and he got to make his art, everyone wins. Batman threatens to toss him into the liquid nitrogen, and Zero relents. He starts to say who hired him, but is shot in the head and neck before he can finish. Batman turns to try to see who did it, but he’s alone in the warehouse. The episode ends on Rupert Thorne, frozen forever with his rictus grin.  

 

I’ll be honest, they wasted this version of Mr. Freeze. I know they used the older name of the character to separate him from the iconic Freeze from Bruce Timm’s original Batman: The Animated Series. But it’s so weird that Timm took a one note villain with a weird gimmick into a multi-dimensional, award-winning tragic antagonist… and turned him back into a one note villain with a weird gimmick. The statues were creepy as hell, I’ll give them that, but it’s a far cry from Mr. Freeze’s monologues. Design wise he was okay. The blue hair was distinctive, and the voice box was an interesting idea… but I can’t help feeling like he was all set up. Like, why did he have a voice box? When did he get started freezing corpses? How long has he been operating in Gotham? No answers, just a creepy artist that got his brains blown out. At least with guys like Basil Carlo and the Penguin there’s a chance they could come back for more, killing him just felt like a waste. Especially when keeping the secret of who hired him is a moot as hell point, since we’ve only got two episode’s left and the Joker is definitely getting revealed next time. Just a waste. It was nice to see Carrie again, and that her life has been going well except for Bullock. I assumed this version of Batman wouldn’t get a Robin, it’s a bit too focused on the grim noir aesthetic to have room for the boy wonder, but this was a nice little homage to Batman’s sidekick. As I said above, though, it’s a good thing this is a show, because Carrie would absolutely be dead by the end of this confrontation in a more realistic scenario. Her little wink of victory at Bullock was just perfect. I liked that they worked the Gray Ghost into this story as well, as nods to happy memories from Bruce’s childhood helps to break up the misery that was his life post parental death. I like that he apologized to Carrie, and that she didn’t hear it, as it was fun to see Batman be the guy who didn’t notice someone left before he was finished for once. So ya, this episode had some interesting ideas, and I liked seeing Carrie, but it left me feeling like it was incomplete. Next time, the Joker’s masterplan is finally unleashed. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social