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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 8, 2021 12:03:51 GMT -5
This will be a mini-thread, as there were only 9 issues of the series, plus an unpublished 10th script, which got printed some decades later.
Didn't know of the 10th....where was this printed?
2019, as a stand-alone and in The Joker: The Bronze Age Omnibus.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 8, 2021 12:12:41 GMT -5
This series started somewhat before I was buying comics, but it caught my eye after I started because I loved all things Batman. I bought issues 8 & 9 off the newsstand and later picked up most of the issues through mail-order. I've likely not read any of them in well over 25 years. It's probably a good thing I haven't because my gut tells me it would not have held up for me.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 8, 2021 12:28:32 GMT -5
This series started somewhat before I was buying comics, but it caught my eye after I started because I loved all things Batman. I bought issues 8 & 9 off the newsstand and later picked up most of the issues through mail-order. I've likely not read any of them in well over 25 years. It's probably a good thing I haven't because my gut tells me it would not have held up for me. Joker number seven is one of my favorite Lex Luthor stories. Top Three easy. I read it a few years ago and it holds up very well.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 8, 2021 12:45:40 GMT -5
This series started somewhat before I was buying comics, but it caught my eye after I started because I loved all things Batman. I bought issues 8 & 9 off the newsstand and later picked up most of the issues through mail-order. I've likely not read any of them in well over 25 years. It's probably a good thing I haven't because my gut tells me it would not have held up for me. Joker number seven is one of my favorite Lex Luthor stories. Top Three easy. I read it a few years ago and it holds up very well. Glad it worked for you. And I'm not saying dispositively that it wouldn't for me. But your taste in comics and mine are wildly divergent.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 8, 2021 14:50:20 GMT -5
The Joker #3Get ready for a memorable one, as we get a meeting of demented minds! Creative Team: Denny O'Neil-story, Ernie Chan-pencils, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (PBHN)-inks, Julie Schwartz-editor Synopsis: Our friends Benny and Marvin lost their job with the wealthy billionaire, but have been hired as security guards at a museum. wouldn't you know it, they are guardiang a jeweled clown mask, that Joker wants to steal? Down to the unemployment office, guys! Jack Ryder is on the scene, interviewing the curator about the robbery and the man IDs the thief... Benny and Marvin tell Ryder they thought it was thr Joker. Ryder believes them, since he is the Creeper and he didn't steal the mask. he goes to investigate, as The Creeper. The Joker, meanwhile, takes a page out of Diabolik's playbook and uses a crane electromagnet to nab an armored car, transporting the world's first joke book (printed in Latin). The Creeper spots his heist, from a distance. He bounds down there and does a Michael Jackson on the windshield of the Jokermobile and then trades blows with the Clown Prince of Crime. Joker does a bit of rope-a-dope and suckers in the Creeper, then hits him in the mid-section, with gimmicked coattails, then strangles him into unconsciousness. The Joker takes him back to the Ha-Hacienda and ties him up, while he plans his next gig. See, no slashing up faces, no photoshoots of gunshot victims....just lunacy and an audience, for a clown! He hits upon the idea to rob Sandy Saturn, the creator of his favorite comic strip, Cashews (should have made it Pecans). Creeper wakes up, but has no memory of what happened (and he lost his activator, in the fight) and Joker convinces him that Sandy Saturn beat him and tied him up and he rescued him. They go to catch Sandy. Sandy is a bit of a grouch (a-hole, really) and he kicks out his bodyguards (why does a cartoonist need bodyguards? Well, Al Capp....) and then the Creeper turns up. Sandy sicks the bodyguards on him and they lose, then Creeper carries off Sandy, returning him to the Ha-Hacienda and the Joker. Joker tells Creeper he can go watch tv, while Joker talks to Sandy. Creeper watches the news, with William Batson, sitting in for Jack Ryder (this is Earth-1, so this isn't Billy Batson, aka Captain Marvel) and Creeper finds something familiar about Ryder's name. He still can't remember, though. The Joker tells sandy to write a note to his agent, demanding $1 million, in ransom and he also wants to be drawn in the strip, kicking Charlie Cashew. Sandy likes that bit and puts his all into it... Joker then puts a bomb in a satchel and covers it with papers, telling Creeper he got a confession out of Sandy and he sends him to police headquarters to deliver the evidence. Creeper does as told, then Joker watches from a distance and hears the explosion, at police headquarters. Joker celebrates, while we learn how the Creeper survived... The Joker returns home to find Jack Ryder in Sandy's place and they scuffle, but the maniac is too much for the Mouth (Ryder is a jerk, on tv) and he pins him to the drawing table. The activator falls out of Joker's breast pocket and Ryder makes contact and transforms into the Creeper, then decks the Joker and hauls him off to jail. Thoughts: Probably the best story of the series and one of the best Creeper stories, ever. It was good enough to be included in the Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told collection. It also influenced the BTAS take on the Creeper, when he was added to the later run of the thing (when paired with Superman, as The New Batman/Superman Adventures). Ernie Chan is given a massive boost by Garcia Lopez (PBHN), one of the best artists to work at DC. Garcia Lopez (PBHN) often gets missed when they talk about the greats, since he didn't have long runs on things, and did a large chunk of his time on Superman, as well as DC's licensed product models. JLGL (PBHN), though, is the name that constantly pops up when artists name the greats in comics. he was an artist's artist, from day one and elevated anything he touched. He nicely complimented Irv Novick, last issue. He gets to do the penciling, next issue, though he gets saddled with Vince Coletta, as an inker. Rather see him ink his own stuff; but, time and all. JLGL (PBHN) defined the Joker's look, in the Bronze Age, following on Carmine Infantino's take, which, itself, drew on the classic Jerry Robinson design (yeah, I'm siding with Robinson, on this one, not Kane!) I would have loved to have seen JLGL (PBHN) on a long run on Batman, given how he handled the rogue's gallery, as can be seen in this t-shirt (which I own) Great issue. Next time, Joker meets Green Arrow and Black Canary. Guess who ends up needing rescue? ps Sandy Saturn and Cashews is obviously a take on Charles Schulz and Peanuts, except Sparky was a nice guy, beloved by those who knew him (though he did have his issues, as his son has related, including an affair). The personality sounds a bit more like Al Capp, who could be a miserable SOB, especially in his later years (where he notoriously got into an argument with John Lennon, at his "bed-in"). I assume Denny picked Peanuts because it was the top strip, plus the sight-gag of Joker kicking the Charlie Brown stand-in; but, shoehorned a nasty personality on Sparky, for comic effect.
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Post by brutalis on Jul 8, 2021 17:08:07 GMT -5
I have all these issues on my Kindle so they can be read anytime. Remembering to my youth, I think I had 2 issues I traded for with a neighbor. Nothing quite as much fun as over the fence trades during the summer for comics you missed out on or had to put aside on favor of more favored series. I was a Marvel Zombie for collecting but had lots of DC reading thanks to my cousin and pi ther kids in the neighborhood.
Joker on his own made for interesting reading as the writers had to be creative while doing more with him than being a homicidal killer. Placing morality and laws in place in the stories so the clown prince had to "lose" without being locked away in prison must have been difficult but helped make the series stand out. Uniquely doing it's own thing and very different than a Dr. Doom solo series to create.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 10, 2021 13:38:26 GMT -5
The Joker #4Black Canary relegated to damsel-in-distress, again. Sigh....................... Creative Team: Elliot S! Maggin-writer, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (PBHN)-pencils, Vince Coletta-inks, Julie Schwartz-editor Synopsis: A bus rolls across the Archway Bridge, into Star City. The bus, itself, came from Gotham and carries only the driver, who hails a young woman, opening her flower shop. He wants to buy 11 roses, not 12 and he presents them to the proprietor, Dinah Lance... Something about his features........ Dinha is stunned and the driver leaves, providing narration as he exits. he tears off, laughing, as he careens down the street, to the Port Authority terminal, where he crashes the bus into others, parked there and says it will be easier to ship back to Gotham, in small pieces. He tears through the depot and escapes from the police and then removes his disguise.... Meanwhile, Oliver Queen is rather jealous of the roses, given to his girl by the nut. Dinah thinks he is eccentric, but harmless, until Ollie gives her a description of the man and tells her he stole a bus in Gotham and crashed it there, nearly killing someone. They then hear a police band radio, with an alert about a jewel robbery and mass murder, just up the street. Dinah has a customer, so Ollie goes it alone to investigate, as Green Arrow, without showing off his abs. The radio continues with reports of water main breaks and fires, but it turns out to be the Joker, feeding false information over a police radio. He waits on the roof above Dinah's shop; and, when he sees her exit, he snares her in a net. Dinah's last customer calls for help and Joker hits him with a pea shooter dart, which sends him into fits of laughter and death, by the time Green Arrow finds him. Joker communicates with a henchmen and tells him they are going to steal the star over the Archway Bridge. Green Arrow is at police HQ, reporting Dinah's disappearance and raging that they aren't doing anything, when a report comes in about rattling on the bridge. GA takes off. At the bridge, the henchman's truck has some kind of tuning fork extended, creating vibrations that shake the bridge, until the star is about to fall from its cables. The Jokermobile emerges from the back of the truck, with Joer driving and Dinah tied up in the passenger seat. He catches the star, while telling Dinah he isn't responsible for his actions, the State is, since he resides at an institution for the criminally insane! GA turns up and fires an Arrow-Line, then fires a bolo arrow which wraps around the steering wheel of the Jokermobile, pinning it in position, causing the car to crash. He fires another arrow into the brake pedal and stops the car. Joker throws something at him and GA fires an arrow to intercept, but piercing the object releases laughing gas and GA is stricken, on the ground, as Joker escapes. When he recovers, GA checks in at the police station, as they hunt for the truck. They found it, abandoned. While this goes on, Joker proposes marriage to Dinah, who rejects him, but his proposal is interrupted by his goon, who says they are putting the star back. Joker goes over there and his goon raises him on a hydraulic platform, with the bound and gagged Dinah as hostage. GA turns up and fires an arrow through her bonds and Joker takes off and Dinah gets her one moment of offense in the issue... ...executing a leg-scissor to bring Joker down. GA delivers an uppercut, but Joker's strength is greater than it looks and he battles GA, atop the bridge tower. GA gets tossed off, but manages to fire an arrow line to the next tower and swing over. he fires another and tells Dinah to cross the line. Joker severs the rope before she gets too far out. GA works fast to rescue Dinah.... Joker loses his footing and plummets into the river, to his apparent death. Thoughts: Spectacular issue! Elliot Maggin had ben writing Green Arrow stories in the pages of Action Comics and handled the character well. I wish I could say the same for Dinah, here, as she is reduced to playing damsel-in-distress. Dinah Lance isn't Lois Lane; she's Black Canary, expert martial artist and highly experienced superhero, a member of both the Justice Society and the Justice League. Joker is dangerous, but Dinah should have been kicking his but seven ways to Sunday, unless he had gassed her and knocked her out, or something. Surprised and captured in the net is one thing; but, keeping her a prisoner shouldn't have been so easy. The Joker is great here, though; pure lunatic, mooning over Dinah, while stealing the star from the bridge. You are never sure if the romancing of Dinah is real or not. It's played like a whim that comes over him, as he comes into Star City to steal the star from the bridge. Green Arrow is left to handle him and he is given several moments to show what he can do with an archery set. The art is just gorgeous, from JLGL (PBHN) though I wish he was inking himself, rather than Coletta. Coletta doesn't mess with too much, so the fluid movement of the action comes through. If only JLGL (PBHN) had been the regular artist on this (or anything, really, as he mostly did fill ins and short runs). His Joker is iconic and you know the bus driver is him the moment you see his jaw line, despite the balding head. His characters move with purpose and emotion, which is a skill that many comic artists didn't possess. JLGL (PBHN) understood body language and gesturing and his characters look alive because of it. It's nice to continue to see Joker face other heroes; The Creeper last issue and Green Arrow in this one (Black Canary, if you count being a hostage as hero-ing). The issue does bring up a pet peeve of mine, in regards to Black Canary. In the pages of JLA, she got to kick butt, but, if anyone needed rescuing, it was usually one of the women. In the Green Arrow stories, she was an occasional actor, but often just consulted with Ollie. She ended up a prisoner in at least a couple of the GL/GA classics and was usually in the background when the series was revived. In short, she was often reduced to the girlfriend of the hero and/or a hostage. Down the road, there is a Brave and the Bold issue, where she teams up with Batman and not only ends up captured by the Penguin, she has her costume taken off of her and put on a body double to fool Batman. He sees through it and rescues her; but, this Justice Leaguer has to suffer through being tied to a chair in her scivies! You don't see that kind of thing happen to the male heroes. It shouldn't be happening to the women. Even Mike Grell, whose work I love, had her sliced up by a maniac, for GA to rescue, in Longbow Hunters. If she is good enough to be in the JLA, that kind of thing should not be happening....not easily, in any case. Grell at least tried to redeem himself by giving Dinah some fights and/or sparring sessions, to show how good she was; but, that kind of points a finger back at her earlier treatment. Luckily, she fell into the hands of Chuck Dixon, who let her go out and kick ass. The situation wasn't unique to DC, as Black Widow ended up being rescued by Daredevil, during their romance, quite often, and the female Avengers, more often than the male, were the ones getting rescued, from the villains. Spider-Woman, with all of her powers, got taken down by a nut in a hangman's costume and tied up, only to break free once she woke up, yet she lacked the strength when the nut lassoed her. It's both lazy writing, to have the heroine in distress, while also pandering to the audience, by offering scenes of bondage and terror, as we have illustrated in the Wertham/Pre-Code thread. They may not have been as lurid as pre-Code days; but, it was still being used to sell comics, even in a toned-down fashion. If you look at DC under Infantino, there is a period where just about every other month you see Lois Lane, Wonder Woman and Supergirl tied up and in danger, on their covers. This is the same Infantino who drew two Spider Woman covers, two issues apart, with her bound or chained. About the only male character this kind of thing happened to was Mister Miracle, because it was part of the gimmick. Next time, it's all in the cards, as joker battles The Royal Flush Gang!
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 10, 2021 14:05:30 GMT -5
Joker Four was one of the first Green Arrow stories I read and it’s a pretty good one. It wasn’t until later that my distaste for poor Oliver developed. I got a beat up copy of Joker Four at a used book store where used comics were two for twenty five cents. And I remember really liking this story back in the late seventies when I first read. Such great art.
I read it a few years ago after not looking at it for decades and like you I was very disappointed at the way Dinah was treated. Come on. A story with Black Canary kicking the Jokers ass and knocking him off the bridge would have been awesome.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 10, 2021 14:40:52 GMT -5
Joker Four was one of the first Green Arrow stories I read and it’s a pretty good one. It wasn’t until later that my distaste for poor Oliver developed. I got a beat up copy of Joker Four at a used book store where used comics were two for twenty five cents. And I remember really liking this story back in the late seventies when I first read. Such great art. I read it a few years ago after not looking at it for decades and like you I was very disappointed at the way Dinah was treated. Come on. A story with Black Canary kicking the Jokers ass and knocking him off the bridge would have been awesome. And that's kind of my point; Dinah Lance is Black canary, not Lois lane or Vicky Vale, and certainly not Sweet Gwendoline. However, that didn't stop her being treated that way, far too often in stories. I don't mind bondage and peril being used as dramatic devices, it's part of the genre; but, it should be used evenly. For instance, Gilligan's Island did a few episode where a double of a castaway comes to the island. One featured one for Ginger, who is a mousy, repressed woman, who Ginger and Mary Ann transform until she is a dead ringer for Ginger. She then proceeds to conk Ginger on the ehad and tie her up, to take her place in Hollywood. Standard damsel-in-distress plot, used in many soap operas and the like. However, another episode has a double for Gilligan (a spy) and he also captures Gilligan and binds and gags him, to replace him among the castaways. Equal treatment. In the Avengers tv series, Emma Peel and Tara King ended up in all kinds of peril, usually to be rescued by Steed. however, they also got to kick butt in other episodes and often gave payback to their captors, once Steed had freed them. Steed is saved in a handful of episodes, but not usually from similar deathtraps, more often from being shot or otherwise assassinated. On the other side of the pond, the agents of UNCLE often ended up bound beside their amateur helper, using gadgets or quick thinking to get free. The female amateurs often ended up in peril; but, the heroes were right there, with them. However, in the girl From Uncle, it was usually April Dancer in trouble, to be rescued by her male partner, something actress Stephanie Power carried over into other work, like Hart to Hart. Once in a while, Jonathan Hart would be in trouble with Jennifer; but, I can't recall an episode where Jennifer rescued Jonathan, while the reverse was constant. If you are going to have a strong female partner, especially a superhero, then she should be as capable as the male, unless she is specifically made a rookie, learning the trade. Even then, she should grow from experience. Comics is a boys club and the female characters were too often the damsels. The guys usually rescued themselves. Also, the guys would face elaborate deathtraps and restraints, while the females often ended up in more titillating situations, such as the previously mentioned Brave and the bold team-up, where Black Canary has been stripped of her costume and tied up in her bra and panties. Even Robin, the Boy Hostage, never had that happen to him.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 11, 2021 16:12:51 GMT -5
The Joker #5Music! Creative Team: Marty Pasko-story, Irv Novick-pencils, Tex Blaisdell-inks, Julie Schwartz-editor, Alfred Bester-kibbutzing & Psi-Corps rep The splash page is awash with card puns... Synopsis: At a warehouse, in the middle of the night, a night watchman sits down to his lunch, and finds the Joker has added an exploding whoopie cushion to his chair. The Joker steals a box of novelties and returns to his mobile Ha-Hacienda... A newspaper article gives him his next target, and exposition of paintings. The Joker goes into Wildewood, disguised as the great grandson of the painter and suckers the sheriff into inviting him to be there when valuable canvases arrive. He alerts his goons, waiting back at the trailer. Joker is on the roof of the library, with the sheriff and his security, as a helicopter comes in for a landing (you do have to have a specially built landing pad, for a helicopter, on a roof). At that moment, Jack, of the Royal Flush Gang, sneaks up on a guard, in the roof stairwell, with his lance, but finds him dead from Joker-venom-laced coffee. he signals the rest of the gang and they move in to hijack the helicopter... The Joker has his goons attack Jack, who gave his lance to Ace, and then pops a jack-in-the-box to snare the ski of the helo. The RFG get the paintings first and Queen uses an Eight of Spades t cause the Joker's gang to fight each other (the "quarrel card") and free Jack. Joker attacks Ace, on his flying card. The RFG escape and Joker is forced to use his knockout gas on his gang (specifically identified as such, not poison gas). he switches back into his Arthur Wilde disguise, before the police reach the roof. He then cons the police into letting him talk to his goons, who they arrested and feeds them a tale of actually being Arthur Wilde... The Joker bugged the RFG and hears the dissension in their ranks and their plan to get the canvases. He and his goons will be waiting. The RFG break into the library and Ace tells the others that the paintings hold the key to the location of Thaddeus Wilde's fortune, which he hid away from his conniving family. Joker has replaced the paintings, which disintegrate, then shares a message mocking them. He then replaces them and puts out a classified ad, challenging them to another card game. They turn up and so does the Joker and they have a gimmick battle... Joker beats them, reveals the secret of the canvases, which unite to form the lost painting, "The Laughing Man," which he takes for his Ha-Hacienda. He mentions he already uncovered the fortune, under the house he bought. When sirens sound, Joker is forced to leave the paintings. He and his goons leave and Joker reveals the joke to his men... The real Arthur Wilde was the night watchmen he blew up and the fortune was in the box of novelties he stole. Thoughts: This was great! Joker one-ups the Royal Flush Gang, who are a bit smug, and plays a joke on the reader, as he has already stole the fortune, but wanted the lost painting. Pretty good misdirection caper. The art looks great, as Tex compliments Irv (I believe both did some teaching, at the Kubert School) and the whole thing is kept lively. I'm guessing that Bester might have provided some of the experise on the gimmicked cards, since they relate to psychological attributes. Bester had worked for DC, via an association with Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff, and Julie was his editor on Green Lantern. Julie was a big card player and I suspect Bester was, too, and Julie consulted him for some of the card lore. Just a guess, though. Might have just as easily been for the painting aspect or the mystery element, as Bester wrote scripts for the Nick Carter radio show, about the detective (where his wife was also an actress, on the show).
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 11, 2021 16:25:00 GMT -5
I love the Royal Flush Gang and this is the first time I ever saw them. I didn’t see them again until a new version of the team fought the JLA several years later when Don Heck was drawing the book.
Doesn’t it turn out that Ten is a robot.
I love this story and when I reread it again a few years ago it didn’t bother me much that it makes no sense.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 11, 2021 16:34:39 GMT -5
Well, it makes sense to the Joker!
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 13, 2021 23:00:31 GMT -5
The Joker #6The Clown Prince of Crime vs the World's Greatest Detective! Sort of...... Creative Team: Denny O'Neil-story, Irv Novick-pencils, Tex Blaisdell-inks, Julie Schwartz-editor Synopsis: In a city several hundred miles from Gotham, a touring company is performing Sherlock Holmes, starring Clive Sigerson. During rehearsal, "Prof Moriarty" confronts "Sherlock Holmes" with a pistol, then fires it and produces an odd effect.... Holmes is smacked in the face and Moriarty unmasks, to reveal The Joker. Holmes sees that Moriarty is the Joker and the Joker is Moriarty. Redundant you say? Hold onto you hats that might require restraint! Some stagehands attack, but Joker's goons take them out and Joker bashes Holmes on the head, with his calabash and the exit, stage right , Heavens to murgatroyd! The police turn up and interview the theater owner, who says nothing was taken and Holmes steps in and reveals that Joker stole the portrait of Fran Carfax, the actress who plays Irene Adler in the play, which is being performed at the Bohemia Theater. It's a Scandal in Bohemia! He says "The game is afoot!" and goes in pursuit of the Joker. The theater owner tells one of the stagehands to go after Sigerson, the actor, who now seems to believe he is actually Sherlock Holmes! The stagehand catches up and Holmes reveals his name is Watson, and deduces he used to be a sailor, because of the roll in his walk and his calloused hands. Watson agrees and starts to tell his nickname, which Holmes replies... At his Ha-Hacienda, Joker reveals the heart of his crime; he is out to make a fool of Sherlock Holmes by carrying out crimes, based on the stories. He flips through The Complete Sherlock Holmes, looking for his next target. Meanwhile, Dock Watson and "Sherlock Holmes" are on a golf course, where they meet up with JB "Red" Wilson, head of a new air hockey league. Out of the water hazard comes Joker's henchmen (in scuba gear) and Holmes defends red Wilson, with a bit of fisticuffs, in the Marquis of Queensbury style. Dock Watson disposes of the other stooge; but, gets beaned in the forehead by a ball hit by the Joker. Holmes grabs Red's 4-iron and fences with the Joker and disarms him. Joker grabs his bag and fires his clubs, which have a net attached to them. He snares Holmes and gets away. Holmes reveals to Wilson that he must leave, for his own safety, as the Joker has targeted him, as head of the Red-Headed League (he is Red and he "heads" an air hockey "league"). Joker and his goons run off, with the flag from the 4th Hole and Joker reveals he has stolen The Sign of the Four. Holmes and Watson head to the waterfront, where there is a private party on a yacht, for Bruce Parrington, who has returned from Switzerland with plans for his newest hamburger restaurant, aka The Bruce Parrington Plans! The detective and his aid are blocked from entering the party, but use a tug to slip around to the other side of the ship to sneak aboard, while the Joker's goons are ding just that, via the mooring lines. Holmes catches the goons and knocks him out, then realizes the attack is related to the tug, The Baskervilles. Joker is below, cutting off a "dog" (the clamp on a watertight door), and a "dog" is a "hound', and is, therefore stealing The Hound of the Baskervilles! The Joker hurls his acetylene tank at Holmes and flees, but Holmes uses a water cannon to knock him down and out. He remarks that Moriarty met his end at the Reichenbach Falls and Holmes could always predict where Moriarty would strike (actually, he didn't. Moriarty warned him off, before their confrontation). His memory has also returned and he knows he is Clive Sigerson. Thoughts: This was the first of the Joker comics I ever saw and it's one of my favorites. By that point I had neither read the Conan Doyle stories, nor seen the Basil Rathbone films; so, this was one of my introductions to the world of Sherlock Holmes. I was a bit confused, when I first read this, thinking that Moriarty was the real name of the Joker, until if re-read the thing and got the gist of it. This almost seems like a plot from the Batman tv show, though with a bit less camp (not much, though) and would have been a hoot, especially if Alfred was the one playing Holmes and believed he was the detective. The actor's name is also a nod to Holmes, as Sigerson is the name he adopts when he disappears, after Reichenbach Falls, until he returns, in the Adventure of the Empty House. Fran Carfax is a reference to the story, The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, from 1911. The Hound of the Baskervilles joke is a bit of a stretch, since a "dog" is a piece of metal and it's a bit of a journey to "hound." I'm surprised Denny didn't through in a Greek Interpreter, though that would have also necessitated Mycroft Holmes. DC actually tried a Sherlock Holmes series, the same year as the Joker's comic, but it lasted only one issue. Denny O'Neil wrote the story, with ER Cruz on art, with a cover by Walt Simonson... The issue adapted both "The Final Problem," and "The Adventure of the Empty House," the two stories that deal with Moriarty, after a fashion. The Napoleon of Crime is the central figure in the former and the latter deals with his criminal legacy, in the form of Col Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's number two and chief assassin. Moriarty and Moran have been used for many pastiches and films and a few years back, Kim Newman, author of the Anno Dracula series and the Diogenes Club stories, wrote a story collection of Moriarty and Moran as consulting criminals, as a counterpart to Holmes & Watson. The collection is called The Hound of the D'Urbevilles and mixes in other literary figures, such as Tess of the D'Urbevilles and HG Wells' Martians (after a fashion). Like Alan Moore's League of extraordinary Gentlemen, Newman writes metafictions, mixing in characters from other sources.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jul 14, 2021 14:37:14 GMT -5
"Sigerson" was also the name of the title character in the 1975 movie The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. Sigerson Holmes was portrayed by Gene Wilder, who also scripted and directed the film.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 14, 2021 16:03:58 GMT -5
"Sigerson" was also the name of the title character in the 1975 movie The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. Sigerson Holmes was portrayed by Gene Wilder, who also scripted and directed the film. Yeah, I almost brought that up; but stuck with the literary references, since the film series mostly departed from the stories. That film messed me up in Scholastic Bowl, as the question of Holmes' smarter brother came up and I gave the answer of Sigerson, based on the film, since I hadn't yet read the stories. Royally ticked me off when we lost points!
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