Every installment of I Love Ya But You're Strange I spotlight strange but ultimately endearing comic stories. Here is the archive of all the installments of this feature. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have a suggestion for a future installment!
Today we take a look at one of the most famous (infamous?) strange comics of all-time (one I can't believe I've never gotten to until today), "The Joker's Comedy of Errors" by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Lew Schwartz and Charles Paris (Kane penciled in the Batman and Robin figures, Schwartz penciled everything else and Paris inked both of them) from 1951's Batman #66 (Wow, in the present day Batman '66 is awesome and in the past so was Batman #66!)...
The comic opens with the Joker causing a blackout at the electric company and using the blackout to rob the company of their payroll. However, with the power turned off, they were unable to take their loot with them as they escaped via the stairs. The next day, the Gotham City newspapers give Joker some guff over his screw-up, or if you prefer, his "boner"...
In one of the greatest moments of inspiration in comic book history (surpassed only by that rich guy who decided to dress up as a bat after a bat flew into his window), the Joker decides to embrace his boner and commit a series of crimes inspired by OTHER famous boners from history....
You have to love how freaked out Batman and Robin are.
The Joker's boner plans sort of devolve a bit at this point, as he stretches the theme a bit too far when he breaks a criminal out of prison by having them recreate how John Dillinger broke out of prison with a wooden gun (with the theory being that the guard who fell for it committed the boner).
Comissioner Gordon is now well freaked out, especially at the boner the Joker might make Batman pull...
Batman then figures out that Joker is going to reenact the Trojan Horse in a new movie being made about the Trojan War. Batman and Robin stop them, but Robin lays an egg, as it were, by slipping while they are trying to catch the Joker and the Joker got away.
The Joker, though, is confident that he'll be able to win the day...
The Joker's plan involves, of course, a powerful directional beam transmitter (as all Joker schemes are wont to do) that he uses to confuse Batman in the Batplane from flying not to California to testify in a court case against a criminal but to Europe, thereby re-enacting "Wrong Way" Corrigan's 1938 flight from New York to Ireland instead of his scheduled flight to California...
However, did you know that Corrigan almost certainly flew the "wrong" way on purpose? He clearly wanted to fly across the Atlantic but was not given permission to do so, so he instead "accidentally" did so. Well, just like Corrigan's "boner" was really for his own benefit, so, too, was Batman's boner, as you'll soon see...
An awesome story from Finger.
If you have suggestions for future editions of I Love Ya But You're Strange, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com