The Batlord

"Joker's Favor" is the tale of Charlie Collins, a poor put upon nobody, and his fateful meeting with the Joker on a dark road. After offending the maniacal clown, Charlie is forced to agree to doing him a favor... one which is not called in until two years later, when the Joker decides to crash an award ceremony honoring Commissioner Gordon.


————————————————


The Batlord: So, how was "Joker's Favor"?


Trollheart: Absolutely loved every minute.

The perfect Batman story.

The chance meeting leading to that guy Charles being used by the Joker.


The Batlord: Fantastic! I was worried that Joker's toned down characterization wouldn't gel with you.


Trollheart: No I loved it. The way he could be so off the cuff one minute and then deadly serious the next.

With accompanying music.

Harley Quinn was a gas too.

I particularly loved "Here's your two cents, now what ya gonna do to me?"


The Batlord: One thing we haven't covered yet that I was waiting to get into when we did the Joker is the voice casting of the show. Kevin Conroy as Batman, and Mark Hamill as the Joker are two of the best voice casting choices of all time IMO.


Trollheart: I don't know Conroy, but Hamill is brilliant in the part as the Joker.

Mind you, again the series sequence was fucked up. This was listed as "Prophecy of Doom". Very confusing.


The Batlord: Yes. Conroy's voice as Batman is pretty much the voice I hear in my head whenever I read a Batman comic. And Mark Hamill just nails the Joker. His campiness just contrasts so perfectly with that malevolence just under the surface. And that fucking laugh! It so perfectly personifies the Joker. He laughs like he thinks every horrible thing he does is hilarious, and yet from his tone, he isn't actually expressing anything other than sadistic pleasure.

He feels no joy or happiness, only cruelty.


Trollheart: And yet the way his expression changed when Batman had him, and he thought he would be caught, to say nothing of the part with the bomb being used against him.

Showed him for the coward he actually is, when he started calling Batman for help!


The Batlord: I thought that was a great throwback to The Killing Joke, where he says that anyone can be just like him. They just need one bad day. And then the poor schlub he'd been tormenting just turns the tables, acting just like the Joker. Except just like in The Killing Joke, he still retained his humanity in the end.

A perfect "Fuck you!" moment.


Trollheart: It's a while since I read that so I'll take your word. Nice to see Harley chained up!

Thought it was kind of strange Joker would be just driving a sedan. I assumed he had a Jokermobile or something of that nature. Looked weird to see him behind the wheel of an ordinary car.


The Batlord: First appearance ever of Harley Quinn too. She was actually created purely as a one-off character for that episode, just because the writers needed someone to bring in the cake.

And then her popularity just snowballed.


Trollheart: I can see why.


The Batlord: Her character was developed much more in later episodes, and she even had four almost all to herself which are among the best of the series.


Trollheart: Do you think Charles knew that the bomb he had was a joke one? He looked desperate enough.


The Batlord: It seemed like he did, though I don't know how he would. Perhaps a bit of handwaving, but it still worked.


Trollheart: "Handwaving"?


The Batlord: You know, using a plot element that doesn't really make sense, and glossing over it in hopes that nobody will notice. Handwaving being like a magic trick or illusion I suppose.


Trollheart: Oh, ok, I see. Did you notice how, when they cut to Charles in his new identity just before the Joker rang, that the sky was really dark and stormy overhead, contrasting with the idyllic playing ball with his kid? Thought that was a nice touch.


The Batlord: I did not. Nice catch.


Trollheart: Yeah, it really gave you the impression something bad was about to disturb this perfect family scene.

Do you think the Joker planned all that, over two years, fitting Charles into his plan, intending to kill him, or was it just an opportunity for him that he couldn't pass up?

The premise seemed very weak, in that regard.


The Batlord: I think my favorite thing about the episode was how it perfectly expressed the Joker's inner thoughts. Not only is he so spiteful and egotistical that he can't let even a bit of road rage pass without tormenting some no name guy, but he's so in control of his hate and anger that he can keep it in check, all the while never letting it go so that he can stalk a man for two years before exacting his revenge.

The reason he chose that particular time was probably just whimsy.
He's the Joker after all. A mastermind who still makes decisions whenever it suits his fancy.


Trollheart: Pretty obvious he wasn't going to let him go back to his family. You think Charles realised that at all?


The Batlord: I'm sure he didn't trust the Joker to just let him go, but what are you gonna do when the Joker has you by the balls?


Trollheart: Plus they were watching his family.

Joker certainly has a massive ego though doesn't he? You can see how he's the total opposite of Batman, in temperament and motives.

And yet in some ways they're quite alike.


The Batlord: I had to search for the perfect Joker episode to do TBH, since he can't be the murderous madman that he'd become by that point. A lot of Joker episodes, especially the early ones, weren't actually that great. Mark Hamill still managed to elevate the part, but the stories were often too campy. But with this episode, the writers really showed ingenuity in getting around the strict edicts of their network overlords. It was a stroke of genius to show his malevolence in such a terrifying way (especially that scene in the beginning when the Joker confronts Charlie in the woods, like some inescapable horror movie villain) while still somehow keeping it in the confines of a children's show.


Trollheart: Yeah they really nailed that. You could feel for the guy as his car died, and then he's off stumbling through the woods. Then the two cents land at his feet...


The Batlord: It was also one of those episodes that wasn't Batman-centric. They had a lot of those, and they were generally pretty fantastic, as they often played around with "normal" comic book storytelling tropes.


Trollheart: Yeah, a real everyman thing. Sort of like that TNG ep, "Lower Decks". That was great.


The Batlord: Characters at the center of the story who could have been boring were somehow developed in a half hour in such a way that they became interesting in their own right.


Trollheart: It was funny/pathetic how Charles tried to explain to the Joker all the bad things that had happened to him that day, as if that would make a difference.


The Batlord: "And Bonnie's making meatloaf." LOL


Trollheart: Nice link at the end: "Wonder what Bonnie's making for dinner?"


The Batlord: I also really liked the scene when the Joker decided to crash Gordon's party. Harley starts cheering and whistling, the Joker takes a cheesy bow, and then expects his henchmen to start clapping even though it seemed like just some goofy clown antics. A subtle way to drive home just how insanely egotistical the Joker is.


Trollheart: Yeah she's a real cheerleader isn't she? Almost as mad as he is. Another father figure?

The bomb was brilliant, with the Joker's face and the eyes as the countdown timer dials.


The Batlord: Her relationship with the Joker will get explored later on. It's really one of the more compelling dynamics in comic book history. She comes off as a bimbo without a mind of her own, but she actually has a much deeper personality than she shows on the surface. She pretty much dumbs herself down to appease the Joker's need to dominate his underlings.

Not that she does so unwillingly. Her personality has just been completely subordinated by the Joker's own.

But we'll get more into that later.


Trollheart: I loved the line "What favour?" "I don't know! I haven't thought of it yet!"


The Batlord: "Well, look at the size of that cake, man! She can't open the door and push it in all at once. Think!"


Trollheart: "The Joke's on you, Commissioner!"

Batman was so peripheral in it, he was almost like a deus ex machina or something wasn't he?


The Batlord: Another great little tidbit was when Harley gave Charlie the gas mask. Like she and the Joker were maintaining the illusion that they were going to let him go until the very end. The very last punchline.


Trollheart: Oh, I missed that one.

I mean, I saw her give him the mask but didn't make the connection.

I think he had an idea once he saw the glue on the doorknob though.


The Batlord: And yeah, Charlie using the improvised Bat-Signal was more handwaving. If there's one problem with the writing of the show, it's that it often falls back on plot points that are just a bit too convenient.


Trollheart: Yeah, like how did he even know about that?


The Batlord: Comic book logic, man. You just kind of have to accept it sometimes.


Trollheart: And of course it would just be there, in an unlocked, unguarded room where anyone could get at it.


The Batlord: And why was there a giant bat sculpture suspended in the air in the first place?


Trollheart: Indeed. Totally batshit crazy.


The Batlord: The look of the Joker is great, too. The eyes are just so creepy. And the smile with those yellowed teeth.


Trollheart: The smile is scary as shit.

And when his lips droop down in a scowl...

He's probably the greatest comic book villain ever created.


The Batlord: I'd recommend reading The Man Who Laughs. It's a modern graphic novel retelling the first ever Joker story from back in 1940. It really gets into his head in a way that makes you realize that underneath the whimsical facade, there is really nothing but pure hate for the world and everyone in it. He's sort of like a demon that way, hating the living simply for being alive.


Trollheart: Who wrote it?


The Batlord: Ed Brubaker. I forget what else he's done off the top of my head, but he's a fantastic writer.


Trollheart: I'll look for it.

Got it.

Downloading now.


The Batlord: You won't be disappointed. One of the all-time great Joker stories. Right up there with The Killing Joke.


Trollheart: Looking forward to it.


The Batlord: So is there anything else you'd like to mention?


Trollheart: I don't think so. Think we've covered it all.

Hope there'll be episodes as good as that one in the future.


The Batlord: Yes, there are many, many episodes of the same caliber.

So, as always, Batman out. Trollheart is Robin. So he doesn't matter.

__________________