The Smark Avengers - Silver Age Batman Villains

Episode Date: August 7, 2026

The Silver Age was an iconic time for super hero comics as it gave birth to some of the most iconic versions of the medium’s most beloved figures. Green Lantern Hal Jordan, The Flash Barry Allen, and the rise of Marvel Comics line of heroes are just a few who were created and thrived in the Silver Age. Comic mainstays from the Golden Age like Superman and Batman also adapted to the new era of comics under the Comics Code Authority and with it came the changes in villains. In a previous episode, Corey walked Jon and Dylan through Batman’s rogues gallery from the Golden Age which saw such famous characters as the Joker, Catwoman, and Two-Face but also some less than memorable and certainly less than iconic characters as well. This week Corey is back with another Power Point Presentation to introduce Jon and Dylan to the insane rules of the Comics Code Authority and the world of Batman villains in the Silver Age! 🦇 Tune in at this Bat-Time on this Bat-YouTube-Channel as Corey showcases such villains as: - The original take on Mister Freeze - The second version of Clayface - Calendar Man - Polka-Dot Man - Kite-Man - Zebra Man - The Rainbow Creature - Gaggy - And more! This is a great episode for Bat-fans and trivia lovers alike! 💬 Join the discussion: Who was your favorite Silver Age villain? 👍 Like the video if you enjoy comic book related discussions and humor 🔔 Subscribe for more comic deep dives, reviews, rankings, and debates Click the link for Dylan's radio show!: http://www.bouncedigitalradio.co.uk Click the link for Dylan's Twitch stream: http://Twitch.tv/spookylaroux Click the link for Jon's Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/bigjonbowski/ Click the link for Corey's show "Large Old Cup": https://open.spotify.com/show/2YHMppnl9inQevwLIxR64f Also be sure to check out New Number Ones posted every week on the Smark Avengers YouTube channel!

I've, uh, so, uh, I've officially been diagnosed, by the way, with what's been wrong with me. Okay. Uh, I have, uh, A, I have abnormal blood, which is exciting. Abnormal blood. Yeah. Basically, like, uh, I am deficient in, like, several things. And it's, it's made me borderline anemic. Jesus.

Yeah. Okay. And, uh, I also. have pneumonia and I've had pneumonia for a month. Yep. So that's been, that's, that's, that's been great.

Doesn't sound great. No, it's not. No. Like you said, that, that explains the whole coughing up blood thing. Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah. I'll do it. Have they stuck you on like antibiotics or anything?

Well, the downside is it's the third time I've been put on antibiotics this month. So it's like a really, strong one. And if it doesn't work, then I think that officially makes me antibiotic resistant. And I don't know what happens after that. Just get some new lungs.

Yeah, seriously. It should be easy to find. But yeah, I had to get like blood work and x-rays done for them to figure that out. Hmm. It's not good. No, not optimal. Not optimal.

Not optimal. normal. But, oh, well. Oh, well. What a blaze way to look at your own health. Yeah. Hi, everybody. Welcome to Smart Avengers. My name is Corey and with these Dylan and John. How's it going, guys?

Hello. Pretty good. So that's the explanation. All things considered. Yeah, we're doing. That's the explanation for why I've been coughing throughout episodes the last like month or so. We're relatively fine, considering.

We're just a little more. Seemingly are healthy. well we're more we're melting we're melting yeah uh well so today uh you know it's really hot in the uk and it's really hot in america so i thought we would spare ourselves being sweaty messes on camera and return to a favorite staple of mine uh which is introducing you guys to villains of dc comics from certain time periods so we've done an episode that was dedicated just to aquaman villains. We've done an episode dedicated to Wonder Woman villains and we've done an episode dedicated to the Golden Age of Batman. And today we're going to be doing an episode dedicated to the

Silver Age of Batman. So there will be, there's not going to be any repeats on this one in a sense. Like we won't be talking about like what Joker or Two-Face or whatever we're up to in the Silver Age. Because we covered those guys already in the Golden Age and did the comparisons to the present time. But that's not to say there are not going to be some familiar faces on this one. So I think there's going to be some really good ones there, like people you recognize, people you are never going to have seen before. And I have a feeling I think I know who Dylan's favorite or least favorite is going to be.

When you say favorite on least word, is it the same person? Yeah, it could go either. You're either going to really like him or really not like him. So I think is he a Peter well? Maybe. I don't know what his hard drive looks like. Okay. So that being said, this is a, this is a bigger PowerPoint slide, so we should probably

go ahead and just jump into it. Let's do it. All right. As you guys can see here, this is the Silver Age world of Batman villains, which I actually think that actually might be a Golden Age Batman image there. So real quick, though, before we really dive into who these characters are, Let's define what the Silver Age is. So the Silver Age of Comics ran from 1956 to 1970,

which saw an increase of sales in Superior Comics after there had been a decline in the late stages of the Golden Age. So in the decline, that's when horror, crime, war, and, like, romance comics were selling a lot, but that did cause the creation of the Comics Code of Authority after concerns were made that comic books were leading to a rise in juvenile delinquency. And the Comics Code Authority's 1954 rules required Batman stories to avoid sympathetic criminals, excessive violence, leading to lighter, more family-friendly tales, and the removal of darker elements, as the rainbow costume Batman image here illustrates. Yeah, can I real quick ask a question? Go for it, brother.

Fight this picture. Yes. I don't know if you know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Yeah? Okay. What the fuck? Yeah, I think I can't remember the exact story, but I think he's, he's fighting a villain that has like some sort of a color beam.

And if he wore like every time that he fought him, like he was hit with the color beam and like he wouldn't, he wasn't going to be able to move or something. So yeah. The record, do we have to explain to the Spotify listeners why I just said what the fuck? Yeah, yeah. So by the way, if you're choosing to this on Spotify, bad choice for an episode to listen to. visual elements on this one. But yes, this is an image, a very famous image, of Batman dawning a red but looks very pink Batman costume

with Robin asking him, you know, hey, yesterday you wore the green one, why are you wearing red? And he's like, I have to wear a different colored bat costume every night. Which McFarlane made action figures of each of those colors. So like if you are, if you have the monetary means and the desire to track them all down, you can buy every single one of those Batman colored costume figures. I couldn't imagine a bigger waste to buy money.

Action figure collectors are a breed of people. That is for sure. Oh, fucking let me tell you, man. I used to work with a guy and game, and he, a lovely guy, but he had a shed. in a shed at the back of his house dedicated to just

lactable stuff and a lot of it was like Star Wars toys in a lot Star Wars toys it was ridiculous I'm like holy fuck dude you want to spend your money on like

I don't know trip to Spain or something like is it all is it all Star Wars or like never think of putting some aside for your family you know what you mean? you know.

A fool and his money are soon parted. He wasn't a fool. He was a very smart man. But he loved Star Wars. So in my eyes, in my eyes, he wasn't cool. He liked Star Wars, you know? Fair enough.

He's good, man. So, uh, that would be, I mean, we can keep it all in if you want. I didn't tell you what his name was. No, you didn't. So it's, he still has, uh, an anonymity on his side. Also, he's not looking at a list of the show.

Likely not. So, real quick, though, to get back to it, I decided, like, what did the Comics Code of Authority actually detail? So I looked it up, included it here. So there was a period of time up until, like, probably the late 90s, early 2000s, where if you were to buy a comic book, you would see this stamp on the front cover, approved by the Comics Code Authority, which meant that the comic book inside abided by these rules. And here's a, I've found all the rules and put them out here and just kind of go through. real fast. Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals. Rule two, scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited, scenes of brutal

torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated. Physical agony, but not mental agony. No. Rule three, criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or do occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation. Four, policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be represented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority. Five, all scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory, or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.

A lot of those are very redundant. What I love of what a project is, it's a land of the free. Yep. Well, that's okay. There's, there's, there's more. Oh my God. Yeah, there's a lot of rules. Was it rule six, I want to say?

No comic magazine shall use the words horror or terror in its title. Seven, all lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated. Eliminated. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published. only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue, and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader. Fuck me.

Nine. In every instance, good shall triumph over evil, and the criminal punished for his misdeeds. 10. If crime is depicted, it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity. I love the idea of somebody deciding. I fucking love committing crimes. Scenes dealing with or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires, and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited. What?

12. Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden. Mm-hmm. 12. Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities. Obviously, as time went on, they revisited these rules. and lightened them up. If we do a Bronze Age episode of this,

I will find the updated like 1970s and 80s versions of these rules. These are the original rules from the 50s. Well, I was going to ask, what point did they go, we just got rid of this shit. This is not working. Gradually, they just dropped it.

It was a very slow process. Like I said, you could still find Comics Code Authority stamps in the 90s. I also would like ask a question a quick. They said, female shall be drawn realistically with like exaggeration about any physical qualities. men can still be shown drawn unrealistically with like giant fucking penises that's that's fine

I think that I think there just weren't well I mean here's the thing they were definitely you know some of those books going around for sure but they weren't they weren't necessarily on the newspaper stand I love the idea even but those books that like the females are drawn like hyper realistically and the dudes are these fucking comic ask Rob life feel grotesquely unproportioned monsters. That's fine. I lost count. I want to say 13. Suggestive and

salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable. Poster. 14. Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product. Clothed figures shall never

be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals. nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure. Elicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes as well as sexual abnormalities are unacceptable. Kind of fair. Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden. And seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.

Those are the original Comics Code of Authority rules. how often before these rules are written were they just drawn like rampant sex things all the time? Crime and horror comics were very, very popular. Romance comics didn't really have any of that, but yeah. We got to step in. There's way too much rape being shown, drawn on a little picture.

Like, we got to cut that down. Yeah. What the fuck? Yep, yep. So with the comics code of authority out of way, we'll keep these rules in mind as we start to go through whose Batman's enemies in the Silver Age were, and we'll see just how this

was applied. So we're going to start up first with a heavy hitter. It's Mr. Freeze. Wow. What? So Mr. Freeze first debuted in Batman number 121 in February of 1959. However, he was called Mr. Zero first, and his name was changed to Mr. Freeze in 1966 when they adapted the character for the 1960s TV show. His silver age origins is a lab accident,

causes him to need cold temperatures to survive, but does not include the ailing wife angle that was introduced for the animated series post-crisis. He was main focus was on stealing gems and diamonds for an undisclosed reason. And on the TV show, when he was first adapted, the character was intended to be Austrian, thus making Arnold Schwarzenegger technically an accurate portrayal.

Can we really talk about how this guy has no neck? Look how happy he is, though. He's like, this is the happiest image I've ever seen in my entire life. I love his little grease gun that has two pointers. He's just, that's his little freeze gun. Yeah, like I say, he looks downright neighborly. Is he that like an oil can or something? He appears to be in a boat, yes.

What the fuck? So, yeah, that was the first. This is the introduction to Mr. Freeze. Everyone knows and loves him. or Mr. Zero. There was a lot of that, by the way. Just as a heads up, there's a lot of this character is known by this name, but they were introduced as something entirely different.

Mm-hmm. All right. So, any further thoughts on the man who was Mr. Freeze? I'm glad he changed his costume. Yeah. I'm surprised as well, he never changed his name to Dr. Freeze, because, I mean, fairly he was a scientist, so. Yeah, that is interesting how he was never Dr. Freeze.

Just a regular man. Yeah, he was just humble, you know. A normal man. Because you get those people every now and then that's like, I have a doctorate in education, so you have to call me doctor. You're like, nah, okay. He was just so humble. He has like 50 different PhDs, but he doesn't have people knowing about it. He spent six years at Free School, and he was like, no, I'm not going to, I'm not going to throw that in anyone's faces.

No, no. It's a humble man. Nobody ever graduates from Free School. Only him. Is it because their grades are frozen? It's because it's abnormally boring. Ah, there you go. All right, were you ready to move past Mr. Freeze?

Yeah. All right. Up next, someone else we all know in love. Poison Ivy. Hello. She first debuted in Batman number 181 in 1966. Her real name was originally Lillian Rose and didn't take up the name.

named Pamela Isley until post-crisis continuity when Neil Gaiman renamed her and recreated her origin. However, her origin is still very similar to what it used to be. She was a talented and attractive biologist, but botanist from Seattle who was seduced by a criminal into stealing an ancient artifact that contained an ancient herb. She was then poisoned by that very herb when her criminal partner determined that she knew too much. And as a result of the herb, Ivy became immune to all plant toxin and use them to manipulate men into assisting her with her crimes.

So the modern day adaptation of Poison Ivy, she has green skin and she can control plant life and stuff. Not the case here. She was just someone who was immune to toxin and just could kind of like, like blow it out like powder and stuff. Very similar again to the Batman and Robin take on the character to a degree. Because that version of Poison Ivy really wasn't like commanding plant life for the most part. She was just kind of blowing her little love dust everywhere.

right but that's a very situational power to have isn't it to be immune to toxins yeah i'm gonna rob this i'm like well i don't have any toxins but i do have this gun yeah well why why have a gun when you can blow a powder in a security guard's face and have him rob the bank for you that is true that is true right fair enough all right uh any further thoughts on poison ivy before we move forward looks good yeah no she's Very realistic. Very good art for her. Yeah, correct.

Very realistic. Not over-exaggerated at all. Now, mind you, 1959 to 1966, the art did jump by miles. That Mr. Fries with his little goofy face. That was... That was the Mr. Freed.

It was about 10 years later. The art improved. All right, up next. Clayface 2. He first debuted in Detective Comics number 298 in December of 1961. So the first clay face was Basil Carlo who we talked about in the Golden Age and he was the actor who just

wore a mask that looked like a character he used to play and he would stab his rivals with knives. This clay face is more of the one that we're familiar with. So this is Matthew Hagen, who is a treasure hunting thief who found a pool of special clay that allowed him to shape shift if he coated his body in it. So the clay face transformation would wear off after a number of days and he have to go back to the the pool of clay to regain his powers.

But he was seemingly killed off during crisis on infinite Earth's way back when. And they sort of like consolidated all of the clay faces into one. So as you can see here on the art, we have an example of how his powers worked. I mean, he looks a bit like the thing. If he'd been left out in the sun too long. Yeah. Just a wet rock, man. But I mean, what else is clay, right?

But wet rock. That is true. is true. My body is hard again, so you know, that's good. All right. Well, Corey. All right. Bad for you. Next. Firefly, too. So he first debuted in Batman number 126 in September of 1959.

So the very first Firefly debuted in the Golden Age. And he was sort of like kind of very similar to Mysterio, where he was this out-of-work special effects artists who use light and optical illusions to commit crime. This version of Firefly is Ted Carson, who is a wealthy socialite who gambled away his family fortune and took to crime to get the money back. So there was a trend here where there were sort of Batman but a villain gimmick characters a lot. Like we talked about this in the Golden Age. We didn't talk about when we were talking about the first Firefly, but when we were talking about the original take on Deadshot, where it was like another wealthy guy who used his money and resources to put on a costume but commit crimes.

stead. So Ted Carson was another Batman but a villain gimmick. So industrialist background used gadgets, had a weird little costume, as you can see from this green and yellow stripe number with wings. And he used a light ray on his head that would

disorient his enemies and he had a sound wave device that would break glass for him. Good. Okay. Up next. Calendar Man. So we're familiar with Calendar Man. He first debuted. Detective Comics number 259 in September of 1958.

The calendar man that I think we are very familiar with is the one from the long Halloween, who has the tattoos that circle around his head that just are the abbreviated months. But yes, this is Julian Gregory Day, play off the Julian and Gregorian calendars. His crimes originally all had a relationship to the date that they were committed. The theme being to a day of the week or to a holiday or special anniversary. and he would plan his entire crime around that particular day. He would often also wear different costumes, which would correspond to the significance of the date.

But he does have a main costume, as you can see here. That includes a cape made out of the tearaway pages from calendars. And, of course, you know, went on to play a very huge role in Long Halloween storyline as an advisor to Batman in a very Hannibal Lecter-esque way. Also played by Sean Gunn in the DCU. Really? Yep.

What if Sean? Yeah, which movie was that? That was the suicide squad. He makes, he's, uh, he's, uh, it's seen making fun of Pocodot Man. Fair enough. Yep. So yeah, what do you think of, uh,

calendar man's original costume here with the, uh, numbers. Not much. I mean, it's quite something. I like how weirdly blousey the top is. I don't know why. Yeah. Gives him some room.

He's got the Buccaneer boots as well. We love a Buccaneer boot. The cape is a very weird design, though. Like, surely people would just be pulling off the pages from it. Yeah, I mean, it looks kind of just based off this cover, that that's, they're just falling off. Yeah. I also don't know why he's like twice as big as Batman or Robin. It's probably like the little belt, like they kind of tie together.

Yeah. Yeah. That's also covered in numbers, it looks like. It has to be. Of course. You're going to see a lot more of that moving on. So, okay. After Calendar Man, we have Lord Death Man.

So Lord Death Man debuted in Batman number 180 in May of 1966. He was an insane Japanese criminal mastermind who is immortal in the current continuity, but used yoga to fake his death in the Silver Age. He is also stuck in his skeleton costume and cannot remove it. So after being apprehended by Batman during a gym heist in his very first storyline, Lord Death Man is sentenced to death at his trial and has a heart attack and dies after mocking the judge for thinking he could be killed. He then returns to life and then dies again after another confrontation before Batman realizes that he's simply faking his death. So after he digs him up to find that he's still alive, Lord Deathman is struck by lightning and seemingly killed permanently. Okay, but like the other two times he picked his death.

Yes. So the third time, Batman sees him get struck by light and it goes, this one's for real. Yeah, I think. Yeah, because Lord Deathman did not come back until Grant Morrison brought him back. Thank you, Grant Morrison. Yes. He, he, he, I am Lord Death Man.

Last to catchphrase. Absolutely. The best one. Yeah. That's a T-shirt. But yes, like I said, in current continuity, he is immortal, so he cannot die. Well, he's the Lord of Death, man. Yeah, exactly.

Lord of Death, comma, man. Thank you. All right. After Lord Death, man, we have Blockbuster. So, Blockbuster debuted in Detective Comics number 345 in November of 1965. Blockbuster was an expert chemist who inadvertently turned himself into a mindless brute while testing a formula that would increase his strength. His brother Roland, who was a career criminal, saw an opportunity. to manipulate his brother into committing crime for him.

Ultimately, Blockbuster was defeated when Batman chose to reveal his real identity to him and treat him with kindness, which made, you know, Blockbuster not so angry and vicious. Blockbuster was an original member of the Suicide Squad and died on a mission to face the monster brimstone that was unleashed by Darkside in the legend storyline. And ultimately, Roland would get his hands on the Blockbuster series. make some modifications to it and become the new blockbuster and retain his intelligence to become a very big part of Nightwing's Rogue Gallery in Bloodhaven. Okay. So, uh, I always thought his sandals were weird. I don't know why.

Yeah, I know handles, yeah. Yeah. What's he crushing there as well? You know, at first, because, like, you're just so used to modern time stuff, I was like, oh, it's like a self- phone. I'm like, well, it wouldn't have been a cell phone in 1965 or whatever this image is from. A brick, baby? I don't know. Why would he be holding the brick?

That's very true. He hates bricks. He does hate bricks, man. He should have been called Brickbuster. Yeah, there you go. All right. After Blockbuster, we have the terrible trio. So, Dylan, we actually talked about the Terrible Trio very recently.

But they first debuted in Detective Comics number 253 in March of 1958. The three members of the Terrible Trio are referred to by the animal masks they wear, the fox, the shark, and the vulture. I have never seen a shark that look quite like that, by the way. He looks kind of like a weird bullet bill. He looks a bit like the weasels from who framed Roger Rabbit. Oh, he does.

Yes. Yeah. So all three members are genius-level inventors who specialize in the domain of their animal masks, so Lancy and Air. And after facing and failing to defeat Batman and Robin on two separate occasions, the trio tried their luck in Portsmouth City, but were defeated by Dr. Midnight, of all people. Are you guys familiar with Dr. Midnight?

The name rings a bell. A member of the JSA. Okay. There you go. But yes, the trio still turned up every few years. Recently, they showed up in a Batgirl run, and very recently they were villains in a Batman and Robin storyline. still get a lot of use to the terrible trio.

Interesting. It's a very sassy image there as well. The shark looks like he's not going to take any guff from anyone. I don't know how they see out of those masks. A normal way. Fair. Okay. Up next.

Professor Milo. Professor Milo first debuted in Detective Comics number 247 in September of 1957. he is a throwback to the mad scientist characters of the Golden Age. So Professor Achilles Milo was a corrupt chemist and scientist who became obsessed with power and torturing others. He was able to create strong and powerful serums and gases that made Batman for a time afraid of anything bat-shaped or related and was designing one that would make Batman want to commit suicide. However, long-term exposure to his own chemicals drove him insane, but he has since reformed and has become an advisor to Batman on chemicals

and as a professor at Gotham University. He reformed. He reformed. He was so anxious to kill Batman, and then he just was like, no, don't worry about it. All those chemicals, they drove him crazy. He finally made an anti-crazy chemical.

I just had it to himself. I like his Mo Howard bowl cut as well. Yes. Of the time haircut. We were all fans of the Three Stooges. All right. So after Professor Milo, I think this is where it's going to start getting a little weird, if it hasn't already. Yep, Pocodot, man.

That's about right. So Pocodot Man first debuted in Detective Comics number 300, the monumental 300 issue of the comic. And they're like, you know who we need to introduce? PolkaDot man. However, he was introduced as Mr. Pocod. In February of 1962, he wore a bizarre costume covered in spots that he could remove and the spots could be used and turned into. to deadly weapons and bizarre escape vehicles, etc. And his first outing, he attempted to rob locations that were spot and dot theme slash name.

He went on to successfully sue Gotham police for police brutality after Detective Harvey Bullock viciously beat him while bringing him into custody. And ultimately became a joke character who was unceremoniously killed off when the gang he was interned on one another. And of course, he's gotten a lot of recent play due to the aforementioned the Suicide Squad. movie where he's played by David Asmalshian. Mm-hmm. Where I think in the movie, the spots are, they come out of his skin because he has infected with a multiversal virus by his own mother. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that sounds so many. The eye holes of that mask are bothersome to me. It looks like he just does not have eyeballs. Well, what if they're not eye holes are just... Dots. They're just, I mean, that's, I think that was the point of just making them look like more dots. More dots. All right.

So, after Pocodatman, we have the Clue Master. So Clue Master first debuted in Detective Comics number 351 in May of 1966. He is a failed game show host who turned to a life of crime. He leaves clues behind at the scene of his crimes to taunt Batman, but they are explicitly not riddles. Because the riddler does not care for. for very obvious reasons. The Clue Master then went on to become a member of the Injustice League

and then the Justice League Antarctica with other down-on-the-luck villains. And very famously, his daughter is Stephanie Brown, who is the fourth Robin, the third backgirl, and spoiler. Wireless. Yes. Clue Master.

Those little pellets on his outfit are little glass capsules that contain gas and flashbangs and what have you. What can a clue was that supposed to be? It's to get one. Get a clue. And he smashes a vial.

Okay. Okay. Up after the clue master, we have Catman. Not the king of cats, who we talked about in the golden age. This is Catman. So Catman first debuted in Detective Comics number 311 in January of 1963. He's the son of wealthy trophy hunters. And his name is Thomas Blake, who he was a

a big game hunter himself and poacher, who turned to crime after depleting his family fortune and growing bored with big cats. He modeled his look and his penchant for cat-related crimes and gadgets after Catwoman, and the pair had a love-hate relationship as Catwoman was frequently accused of crimes that he had committed. He's another example of a Batman but bad character, and for many years was a joke character until he was successfully rehabbed by Gil Simone in her Secret Six series, where she made him a bisexual sex icon.

Everybody is willing to fuck Catman in that book. Sure. Why not? So there you go. I can kind of see why Cat Woman would hate him because how is she getting mixed up with him when he's committing crimes when he looks more like Batman than he does Catwoman? Yeah.

Yeah, I think it's all the cat-related things. He also fought with a Cat of Nine-Tales like she did for a while. Yeah, but also he's a man and she's a woman. Yeah. He's also wearing a orange and yellow costume. Yes, and has a cape that only Catwoman had? Yep. Actually, this version of Catwoman, that little hint of green you see is a cape.

He is not in the image. Sure, of course. That's a kid. All right. Up next, though, we have Dr. Double X. Dr. Double X first debuted in Detective Comics number 261 in November of 1958. Dr. Simon X discover that energy oras that surround every human being can be amplified, strengthened, and given enormous powers, and enabled to function separately from the host. Thus, one experiment later, he creates his energy duplicate, Double X.

The separation of himself and Double X caused his fragile mind to shatter in the process. So Double X has enhanced strength, control over electricity, shape-shifting, and flight. and when the machine that created Double X was destroyed and they merged back together again, after repeated use, Dr. X learned that he could just summon Dr. Double X by sheer will. So, there you go.

So that little, like, ghostly image behind him is basically a duplicate of him that has powers. Okay. That's very convoluted. It's incredibly convoluted. I also think his mask makes him look like a chicken.

Like a bread rooster? very very terry taylor and trust me as someone who is a very proud terry taylor hater that's not something you want to be associated with proud of it oh yeah i cannot stand terry taylor okay i watch a lot of like late 80s early 90s like n w a i've seen so many taylor made man matches i fucking hate it he's so boring there was a period of time his tag team partner was Greg the Hammer Valentine, and it was like the perfect remedy for sleep. Wow. Okay.

Yep. All right. Well, enough about Dr. Double X, who we clearly talked about for a good bit there. Let's move on to Kite Man. So Kite Man first debuted in Batman number 133 in August of 1960. He turned his childhood fascination with Kites into a criminal career centered around using various Cites to assist him with his crimes. His real name is Charles Brown, and yes,

he is named after Charlie Brown, and he was killed in post-crisis continuity by the intergang when he refused to join, but in the rebirth era of DC comics, he has found new, found popularity, due to Tom King's use of him and his Batman run, and his own spinoff from the Harley Quinn animated series, which I believe is called,

Hell yeah, Kite Man. Mm-hmm. So, John, it sounds like you're familiar with Kiteman. Yeah, basically from those two things you mentioned, the Tonkin run, and more so from the Harley Quinn animated series rather than the spin-off. But yeah, who doesn't love Kiteman? He does exactly what he says on the tin.

Exactly. And you see in the image there, he's holding up fans to blow these kites at Batman and Robin, who appear to be shielding themselves from them for some reason. Very effective. No one wants to get hit by a kite. Geez. Not at all. All right. Moving on from Kite Man, we have Signal Man. So Signal Man first debuted in Batman number 112 in December of 1957.

He was originally a small time crook, Philip Cobb, learned quickly that he had to make a name for himself if he wanted to be somebody in Gotham. So inspired by the Bat Signal, he decided to make his thing signals. and would use signals to hint at his next crime and to assist him with his robberies. There was a time where he briefly gave up the identity of the Signal Man and became the Blue Bowman after learning how Green Arrow made his trick arrows, but then returned to Signal Man after being defeated. Okay, so he does what? He uses signals to assist him with committing his crimes. That has not cleared anything up.

Nope. Let me look at his cape. He's got all sorts of shapes. He's got treble clefts and diamonds and stuff. and what looks to be Pac-Man? I don't know how that's going to help him commit crime, so... Well, I mean, he has this massive scale in the background for some reason. Okay, that raises further questions.

Signal Man. Can we just, like, get rid of him, please? Let's move past Signal Man. To Zebra Man. So, Superman first debuted in Detective Comics No. 275 in January of 1960. Jacob Baker was a scientist whose body was altered to the black and white-striped appearance that he has after a machine he created exploded.

That explosion overloaded his body with magnetic force, which requires him to wear a special belt to control the magnetic field that he was naturally generating. He was stopped after Batman also was altered into a zebra-like appearance when the same machine overloaded and granted Batman, the same magnetic powers that he used to beat Zebra Man. What? Yeah, don't you know this, the commonality between zebras and magnets, you know?

Yeah, of course. That's why zebras are Magneto's favorite animal in the Marvel Universe. That is true. You take Magneto in the zoo. First thing he's going to do is going to want to go to the Africa part of the zoo and check out the zebras. Oh, great. I feel like this is

the fifth or sixth in a row where we've just had something man Yeah, they were really handcuffs when they came to creating characters because they had all those rules to abide by But also the thing that he is is like dreadfully like

uninteresting Like, oh, a signal man He can do signals like uh huh A calendar man, he has a calendar I'm like, uh-huh. Zaberman, something to do with magnets. You're like, um, all right, sure. Like.

So, remember, one of those rules are you cannot make crime look glamorous or cool. So all these criminals are looking like fucking dorks. You don't think that looks cool ripping that fucking door apart? By pushing a button on his belt? Zabre part looks not cool, but ripping that fucking bank apart looks cool as hell. I want to do that Sounds like you want to be Zeperman I mean I want to rip a bank

And if I have to be Zaberman to do that Then I guess that's what I have to do All right well we'll rig a machine to explode near you And we'll see what happens Thank you Corey you're always looking out for me Always looking out for you Dylan Happy birthday by the way Thank you

All right moving past Zebra Man We have The Rainbow Creature So the rainbow creature first debuted in Batman number 134 in September of 1960. The creature, he was born in a freak accident inside of a volcano. Nothing else is known. Nothing else is known. Each of those colors that he has on him do something different.

The red stripe is capable of burning through objects. The blue stripe is capable of making projectiles brittle with intense cold. The yellow stripe turns things into mist. And the green stripe flattens the victim into a two-year-es. the victim into a two-dimensional state. And when one of its colors are used, the stripe is rendered white and it must

be replenished by stealing that color from something else. So Batman and Robin were able to defeat the creature by making it use all of its powers at once and it crumbled into dust when it was completely white. Corey, we've seen a lot of creatures. Yes.

A lot of different villains, a lot of different characters. of varying degrees of like you know creative design and uh this might be the worst one that we've seen i mean the aquaman episode in particular had a lot of like real goof little little sea monsters and stuff but yeah what is the rainbow creature is a rough one why is his torso so big and his so small I don't know And his tiny little Like

Little little gopher hans What do you call meerkat hans Yeah And he's supposed to be a rainbow as well He's only four colors Four colors There's seven colors Like a rainbow in the dark

Why does he have rainbow power From a volcano? Well the We don't know anything else about his origins You know Is he glowing green None of the other colors He's getting ready to use his green power

that will flatten the victim into a two-dimensional state. I don't know if this was the one you were talking about, but I hate this. This is not the one I was talking about. I don't like this. We are not at that one quite yet. This is going to be the thumbnail. The rainbow creature? I hate him so much.

Well, you know, there's still plenty to go. Okay. Up next. Dr. Noface. Okay. So Dr. Noface. first debut in Detective Comics No. 319 and September of 1963. After suffering an accident with his skin rejuvenation ray, Dr. Paul Tent discovered he literally erased his face and was

driven crazy by the trauma. Dr. No Face's main crime is literally just defacing things. Posters, portraits, statues, etc. If it has a face, he wants it gone. So ultimately, he is apprehended after he tries to sandblast the sculpted face of Batman, all. off of Mount Gotham. I have been reading Batman for a very, very long time. Mm-hmm. I have never recalled ever in the background being a mountain range that included a Mount Rushmore-esque carving of Batman's face.

In like 1963, they were like already so confident with Batman. They're like, yeah, well, put your face on a big rock. No, no, it's perfect. You beat up Calendar Man, you beat up whatever the fuck. put his face on the rock. That's all we need. Yep. So ultimately, it's revealed that Dr. Noface isn't Paul Dent because Paul Dent is agoraphobic

and would not leave the outdoors. In reality, Dr. Noface was a career criminal who lost his face after using the same skin rejuvenation ray to remove some scars off of his face. And ultimately, he wanted to frame Dent for the crimes as revenge. So there are two Dr. Nofaces. One was a villain and the other one was just traumatized heavily. also by convoluted for no reason. And weirdly as well, I'm assuming Dr. Paul Dent isn't any relation to Harvey Dent,

two-face? None whatsoever, apparently. Okay. A popular surname in 60s? And remember, at first point, at one point, Harvey Dent's real name was Harvey Kent, but they changed the name to Harvey Dent to separate him from Superman, because they didn't want people to think they were related. Is there another dent out there who's like three-face?

I remember one time there being a three-faced character, and that's not a joke. I like the idea that there might be a different dent, and his identity is just one face. Well, we know Duel a dent. You know, she was... We sure do. She was in Teen Titans.

That's who we know. Honestly, there might be one of the... like PowerPoint presentations that are just for members of the Teen Titans you've never heard of. Because the Teen Titans have had an extensive roster, even though like usually just people think of like Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, you know, the characters from the cartoon. They've had a lengthy roster full of a bunch of fucking weirdos. Good. So that might be a good future episode.

Okay. All right. Moving past Dr. Noface, though, we have gaggy. Oh, oh. First debuting in Batman number 186 in November of 1966, Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy was the original type?

Yep, Dylan, can I tell you? This is the character. I suspect that much. Look at the fucking picture. Go to the YouTube page to whatever time stop this is. And look at the picture of a guy. Maggie.

Please, Gaggsworth A. Gagsworthy. Use his full name. Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy. How much did his parents hate him? So Gagsworth, A. Gagsworthy was the original tightrope walker for Haley Circus before the Flying Graysons were hired. Out of his job as a star acrobat, he was resigned to being a clown and a member of the Freak Show, which he resented for obvious reasons.

So after last... Why do you resent that? That's the role he was born to play. after lashing out of his fellow clowns during performance the Joker saw potential in gaggy and hired him to be his answer to Robin So there was a time When Joker was fighting Batman Robin a 10 year old

12 year old boy Was fighting a full grown dwarf In gaggy Oh I don't why that but guys me like imagine the joker saw this fucking, saw this fucking brick walking in the road.

He's like, do you think Robin is? Because I think I think you should beat up this 12 year old boy. Oh, boy. What's your name, son? Wow.

Oh, I hate him. Oh, he's worse in Rainbow Man. Yeah, I Like he said, I had a feeling that Gaggy would be the one, would be the one. You'd either love him or hate him. There is like nothing redeeming about this character.

You don't like his little dance? I hate Aberth, but him. Why is he like, what is this? So in post-crisis continuity, Joker and Gaggy faced Batman and Robin multiple times until Joker was sent to Arkham and Gaggy was sent to Blackgate prison because he's not crazy like the Joker is. Once out of prison, Gaggy learned that he'd been replaced by Harley Quinn, and he blames her for Joker becoming a super violent psychopath. In any of the continuities, is there any reality where Gaggy just dies and goes away?

There is, so there was a Joker comic series that had these really bizarre backup stories. And in the backup stories, it was like Francesco Franco Villa did the art for it. It was phenomenal. It was really in his style of, like, using a lot of dark colors and orange. But it was just sort of like these weird misadventures of Joker, gaggy, and a clown gorilla named Jack and Ape.

And one of them involved Zatanna getting mad at the Joker and making him pregnant. So the Joker gave birth to a smaller version of himself in the comic. It was one of the weirdest things ever. I remember, like, Fox News was, like, Joker impreg? Corey, I asked you if Gaggsworth died. Yes, oh, he died in a lot of those. He died in a lot of those backup stories.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you asked me what the time was, and I told you how to build a watch from scratch. But, uh, yes. Yeah, but yes. Super hot answer. Yeah, yeah. So there are many of those backup stories where Gaggy and Jack and Ape die.

Uh, but they're obviously weirdly out of continuity. So like, you know, they just be. fine in the next issue anyway. Let me just get away from this character. Are you ready to move past Gaggy? I was ready to move past Gaggy as soon as I saw Gaggy. He reminds me a toad. Yeah, definitely.

He's got a toad quality to him. Oh, could dance better than this guy. All right. Looking at me, he's bucking when he should have winged. Yeah, bucked when he winged. An amateur. Fucking idiot. Introducing Gags-Rithee, Gags-worthy,

Dwarf, extraordinary refugee from a circus, and now court-gester to the clown prince of crime. I'm really... Terrible dancer. I don't want to say that we find a new horrible mascot for the show, because it happens every couple of months. Yes.

I don't want this guy to be part of the crew, but... Right there with baby juggernaut, armless tiger man, and cool crock. A weird face guy. And weird face kid. Yeah. If it's good, yeah.

All right. Well, moving past gaggy, because by popular demand. Please. The Eraser. So the Eraser first debuted in Batman number 188 in December 1966. So, yeah, for 20% of the goods, the eraser would assist Gotham's criminals with erasing their tracks when it came to their. heists. Under the mask, the eraser is Bruce Wayne's former college

classmate, Lenny Fiasco. Best fucking name? I read the whole day that was your research. Lenny Fiasco, that's a fucking name. Anyway, he just had a gagged worth a gagsworthy. Yeah. So Lenny Fiasco, who is known to make many

simple mistakes and errors in class. This drove the eraser into being someone who makes sure mistakes don't happen. And his eraser mask is coded in a compound that has the ability to quote, erase anything like footprints and clues basically he just it like just vanishes out of existence

when he rubs his head on it stupid feels more like a tick villain than a Batman villain he absolutely looks like a tick villain uh huh he does this guy I don't like him either all right well

let's move past the eraser and we'll jump straight to the monarch of menace first debuting in Detective of comics number 350 in April of 1966. The moniker of Menace was a royal theme criminal who represented Batman's first failure, as he was able to escape Gotham with the things he stole due to his various gadgets and trickery.

He is soon lured out of retirement after his teenage son, trying to prove himself to his father, dons the monarch of menace costume, but is defeated by Robin. This return to active duty proves to be his downfall, as Batman finally is able to bring him to justice years later. So, hang on. So his son steals the cost. and they get beat up by Robin.

Yes. And then the monarch himself is like, well, no, I have to keep doing crimes. I got to, yeah, I got to redeem my name. My kid has embarrassed me and brought shame to the moniker in his title. You beat up Batman. Who cares if you've got beat up by Robin? Beat up Batman.

Yeah, but now, but then it's like, oh, the monarch of minister, you hear about him? Yeah, the guy who got away from Batman. Yeah, he came back and Robin beat him. Yeah, but no, Batman beat him. He's not got beaten by Batman and Robben. Yeah, exactly. It was full-hearty of his son to do. Pretty stupid.

I'm kind of amazed how this got past the comic code as well, because it looks very much like he's not wearing any pants whatsoever. Hey, they're white. Oh, okay. Of course? Shorts not his skin? No, no. See, his skin has like a peach quality to it. If you look at the hand directly beside the white leg. That's true. Okay.

All right. Moving past the- the monarch of menace we have the Bouncer. The first debuting in Detective Comics number 347 in January of 1966. The Bouncer was a metallurgist who invented an alloy that was bouncy like rubber, but armored to protect the wearer. He was defeated when Batman and Robin stretched their suits to their elastic limit, which would cause their suits to be incapable of regaining their original size and shape. The dynamic duo placed electrodes into their costumes and then circled the villain

while allowing a cold beam to pass through them and quick freeze the bouncer. rendering him inert. I feel like that is probably a thing that works better in a comic book panel as opposed to being written down to the site. You have no idea what the fuck that means. All three of the things that I read that was a part of that plan seemed completely unrelated to one another. Uh-huh. Why did they have to stretch the costume? Why did they need to put electrodes in there?

Where the fuck did the quick freeze beam come from? Did they shoot them with the beam? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's science. Don't question science. So the bouncer would return as a minion for the monarch of menace out of later story as well. Good.

Good. He's still employed. All right. Pass the bouncer. We have The Zodiac Master. So first debuting in Detective Comics number 323 in January of 1964. The Zodiac Master is a fortune teller who, for 20% of the take,

would tell criminals how successful their heist were going to be according to the stars. And each symbol on his costume could be removed and turned into a weapon. So like the Gemini symbol would be two twin flaming flying figures, basically like little miniature human torches that he could like launch at you. The Sagittarius was a destructive jet arrow. Aries, a ram that is also an incendiary device. Scorpio is an entangling mesh net.

And cancer was a crab that can fly and pull. pluck objects up with its claws, while Capricorn, the goat is a battering ram. I have two questions. Yes. So the first question is, 20% of the tick would tell criminals how successful their heists are going to be. Is he get that first? See, say, listen, give me 20% of whatever you make from this heist, and I'll tell you

if it's good or not. And then they say yes. And then he goes, oh, it's zero percent. You're fucked. How does that work? Yeah. How does that? The second thing is, that's a lobster.

That's not a crab. This is our second episode. Well, it's not a second episode in a row, but it's a second time that lobsters have randomly come up. So, John, that's your incentive to listen to our cool crock episode. I will do that. But it's a great episode. The cool crocs in it.

Because he's a cool crock. He's a cool crock. Anyway, yeah, Zodiac Master. I don't know how, like, who's Zodiac, like, whose astrology thing he's reading? Is it like the guy who planned the heist? Is he going to read, like, his horoscope to determine whether or not's going to work? Or, like, how does he discern that?

We have so many questions about this. It's clear they didn't think about this logistically at all. No. Not at all. we mean It's a zodiac master I find this happens

Oh my God Bag of Bones So Bag of Bones First debuted in Batman Number 195 in September of 1967 Ned Cregan was a criminal

who broke it to a scientist's lab and was subjected to a purple ray that caused his skin to turn transparent but granted him radiation powers The scientist gave him pills that would allow him to turn the power off but warned him that every second he spent in his superpowered form, he would lose a day of his life in return.

So opting to risk years of his life in one heist, Cregan dubbed himself bagabones. And after being stopped by Batman, Cregan spent years in prison, and his powers mutated. He grew stronger and more stable, and thus renamed himself the one-man meltdown or just meltdown. I really like that concept, where the more you're in your super-powered form, the less time you'll live. when you come out of it. Yeah. That's a really cool concept that I feel like it did not capitalize on at all in this.

Well, we are going towards the end of the silver age in 1967 as well. And we're starting to get to the Bronze Age where they got a little looser with the rules. Well, after this, they say he went to prison where his Paris meets heeded. So he just stayed in his skeleton for him then, yeah? Well, no, because if he did, he'd lose a day in his life. So he was on the pills that made him normally. regular doing. How do you know his powers metated? I don't understand. Because he broke out of prison. You would tell when they mutated it because he was skeleton boy. Yeah, yeah. When he, when his powers

mutated, he didn't turn into skeleton boy anymore. That's why he stopped going by a bag of bones because his, he stopped being translucent. But I'd say before that when he was in prison, he was just a guy. Yeah. So how would you know his pars? I think like he stopped getting treatment and that's like was what led to his powers mutating. There's a storyline he becomes a villain, I think, for black lightning and the outsiders. So I saw a little glimpses of that while I was doing research on him. It is, it is weirdly explained, but it's like, this happens in like the 1970s. So I didn't really pay too much attention to it.

Fair enough. Feels like he should team up with Lord Death Man. Yeah, skeleton crew. Skeleton crew. All right. Up next. the clock. Oh dear.

So the clock first debuted in Detective Comics number 265 in March of 1959. Slugsy Kyle was a small time crook who was captured by Batman and locked up. And while locked away, he became obsessed with two things. Revenge on Batman and clocks

since Batman was making him, quote, due time. So once he was released from jail, once he was released from jail, he made he made a clock-themed costume and filled his hideout with clocks. And his crimeway started with blowing up a clock tower, stealing the watch screws from a wristwatch factory,

and attempting to steal the jewels from a giant pocket watch from the Gotham Clock Fair. Ultimately, he was caught in the giant pocket watches springs and sent back to prison. Can I argue one thing? In this synopsis of the clock, it says he is obsessed with two things. one is the revenge of Batman and the second one is clocks. I would argue, given what you've said to us, that he is obsessed with one thing,

and that is clocks, and Batman doesn't seem to fit into the rest. It's just all clocks. He's insane because of clocks. Batman has fuck all of you. What does stealing the watch screws from a wristwatch factory going to do to really set Batman back a million years?

That was, that part really confused me because they said it was a wealthy wristwatch. watch factory. I'm like, what does that even mean? Even if Bruce Breen had like stocks in that factory, the fucking clock wouldn't know that. No. What fuck? Batman looks like a man who would enjoy a nice

wristwatch. I bet he has several, yeah. Also, what the hell is slugsy as a nickname? Slugsy guy. Why do they call him slugsy? Because he leaves a really weird trail wherever we go. What's that got to do with Fox? Nothing.

No, he's just leaky. Oh, you don't want a leaky clock. You don't want a leaky clock. Listen, we've all been there. We've all out of leaky clock sometimes. Sometimes you've got to go to the doctor. There's this thing going on in America right now where they're saying don't buy lettuce or greens right now. Because there's some sort of parasitic bacteria that makes you basically have dysentery.

Yeah. So that's exciting. What's that got to do with the clock? Well, we were talking about, you know, leaky. Real betrayal he would leave? Yeah. Do you think he had some bad... He had a big...

He had a big Caesar salad for lunch. Yeah. And now he's paying for it. No, I'm obsessed with three things. I'm obsessed with three things. Finding a bathroom. Yeah. Brimmson, Batman.

Clocks, finding a bathroom. Clocks is number one, really. All right. Why is his thing on his head point in? to his fucking nose. I mean, look at... Why is his eyes so far apart? You're just having a lot of fun with the clock.

I didn't think I would, but... Can I tell you when I saw this image? I was like, I did have that thought about it. Like, I think Dylan's really gonna like this one too. This one, I have all the ones we've seen. This is the one that's intriguing me the most. It's been a tale of two cities for you. You've got the joy of looking at the clock,

and you've got the disgust of looking at gaggy. Boy, I hate Kaggie. All right. Up next, we have the Masquerader. Now, this is a cool guy. So the Masquerader first debuted in Detective Comics number 390 in August of 1969. We are at the tail end of the Silver Age with The Masquerator. So the Masquerader made his debut by making sure to tear in rip Batman's costume every encounter they had while escaping. So obviously, after having to, you know, have his.

costume torn, Batman had to go to his personal tailor, Samuel Tweed, who is the tailor of all the bat suits, which I'm sure it was a factoid you didn't know. Has this ever come up, ever? Well, Batman learned that the masquerader had learned of Samuel Tweed, and held him hostage, forcing him

to modify Batman's costume with a special lining that would grow heavier if it didn't absorb moisture. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, real, real quick, real super quick. Yes. So many people have not been able to like figure out anything about Batman or Batman and Bruce

Wayne it's been like such a huge secret and this fucking clown figured out who Batman's Taylor was weird ass fisherman just was like who has fins on his head it looks like for no reason he looks like yeah it looks like if you crossed an Aquaman

villain with a red skull correct that's exactly what he looks like and then he was just like oh yeah this is his Taylor I know that of course I know that the masquerator then lured Batman into a trap with bright lamps above him to heat the moisture out of the air

and Batman was getting crushed inside his own costume. Then the masquerader revealed that the reason he knew about Samuel Tweeds, with being his personal tailor is the masquerator is Samuel Tweed. Okay. Dun, done, done. Yeah.

And Batman escaped by using his bat laser to trigger the sprinkler system, which got his costume wet, thus allowing him to move again and apprehend the masquerator. in terms of like really convoluted storylines that we've heard throughout this this one might be like right at the top moving parts here that are quite coincidental like you know also why the masquerader well he was masquerading as batman's tailor i guess but the whole what i just don't i can't

get my head around this material that makes your costume heavy if it doesn't absorb a moisture. It's like, did he think Batman was like, you know, Prince Edward and he doesn't sweat or? Man, when you're constantly having to

repair Batman suits, you do notice if there's like any perspiration in the pits and the crotch of that costume, my bet. Has you ever been the Pizza Express? And also, like, he puts him in a room with bright lamps, which, like, surely the bright lamps are going to make Batman sweat more. not like take out the moisture.

They were so hot. It evaporated immediately. Jesus. We can, me and John can say for a fact that when it gets really hot, it doesn't evaporate the sweat. It brings more. Just like line the suit with poison or something, you moron. I don't seem a fishing rod.

This is the only image of the masquerader I could find, by the way. I tried to find any other image of him I could, I could, and I was just coming up with nothing. So this is from the cover. Best we got. Best we got. We got the front cover, the inside pages. We're all lost to time. They were all, they all absorbed too much moisture.

I know what that's like. All right. Well, this is the end of our Silver Age PowerPoint presentation. So we will jump back over to. the cameras shortly. Back to that sort of walk through the silver age. So we had all of those rules in place for the comics code of authority. It was not as bombastic as the Golden Age.

Like the Golden Age villains, there were vampires and Nazis and the ugliest man alive. And there was, I'm thinking of like the penny guy, the penny plunderer. There was a lot of like real big bombastic activity there with vampires and werewolves and stuff. So here, we just had a lot of dudes in suits with like really specific gimmicks. Yes. A lot of men. Yes.

Well, because Batman couldn't, Batman couldn't fight women. No, not specifically that. It's like something man. Yes. Yeah. A lot. So Silver Age is also famous for like, this is when Backgirls showed up. up. It's also when the original bat woman and bat girl showed up because there was a different

bat girl. She was bat hyphen girl, kind of like spider hyphen man. So, so yeah, that, you know, well, there might be an episode about them in the future because it is a weird period of time there. But yes. So, like, these female characters were getting introduced, but like Batman didn't really get to interact with him very much. Although I do remember one story where he apprehended a woman by putting her over his knee and spanking her. Oh, dear. Well, was she drawn realistically? She was drawn realistically. And that's fine.

Keep it up. There you go, yeah. It wasn't presented as sexual. It was meant to be very demeaning. It's a normal thing that happens to women in the 60s. Getting spanked? Sure. Sure.

I wasn't there. I would imagine so. I watched Madman. I think I've seen it there. It's a documentary. Yeah, exactly. Everything that happened in Madman is exactly how I happened. That's it.

So, that being said, what were your thoughts on some of these Silver Age characters? Who stood out to you in good ways and who stood out to you in bad ways? I mean, honestly, the two that I hear that the most, a rainbow creature, and gaggy.

I think they were so horrible that I don't remember any of the other ones. Well, I did like Lord Death Man. Lord Death Man was rad. John, of these characters. I am still really confused by the

masquerader. Yeah. His plan to get Batman makes no sense whatsoever. You would think like having a suit that would absorb moisture and crush him and having it heat up under the lamps

and make him sweat a bunch, that would be the obvious thing to do. But we went the opposite way on that one. I think it's Really also just there are so many odd little things they do because the Silver Age was known for silly shit happening. Because I mean, this was like at its most like comics are for kids essentially. So like the Batman Mountain in Gotham for the Dr. No Face storyline, Batman's got his own personal tailor that, you know, makes all of his suits for him. That just has like a regular shop by the sound of it.

Yeah. This is also in the era of Aunt Harriet. I'm not sure if you guys remember or know of the Aunt Harriet character. But she was a part of the 1960 series as well. So not only was Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson living in Wayne Manor with Alfred as their butler, there was also this old woman named, who was Aunt Harriet, who I assume was like a family member of Bruce's. That was staying with them and would like dote after them. but she had no idea that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were Batman and Robin.

So that was like a, I remember that being kind of a thing that happened in the 60s TV show was like a lot of things like, ah, yes, we have to get away from up Harriet. And, you know, Alfred would run interference for them as they went down the bat pole into the bat cave. We've all been down the bat pole. Yep.

So, um, the masquerader was the last one for a reason, because the plan was so. over the top and just ridiculous. I always try to paste them out. So I start with like original like takes on like Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy. And then like just it gets worse as it goes. That's like ultimately my goal.

Oh yeah. Power points. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Mission accomplished. Thank you. I hate to tell you how long it took me to make that.

Because there is, it is a good bit of like research that I put into those. So it is like a surprising. long time putting those together, but it's always worthwhile, in my opinion. Yeah, it's fun. I just, I enjoy seeing you guys laugh. And grimace. And grimace.

Like I said, as soon as I saw gaggy and I went, oh, that's right. Man, Dylan's either going to think he's the funniest fucking thing in the world or the worst. Yep, correct. Yep. All right. Well, speaking of the funniest thing in the world or the worst, John, where are you at in your movie count so far? I am now up to 70013 movies for the year so far Yeah

And the last one that you watched was it the funniest thing, the worst thing, or just something right in the middle I mean it was pretty funny to be fair It was an adaptation of the Shakespeare play The Taming of the Shrew from 1967 with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the two lead roles. And they were very funny playing off each other. I've not really seen Elizabeth Taylor do a lot of comedy roles before, but she was pretty hilarious in it. So check it out.

Yes, very much so. Or with the Shakespearean language as well. but yeah it was good and what did you give it on letterboxed I gave it three and a half stars out of five there you go and John if they want to see more thoughts on other adaptations of Shakespeare that you may have watched over the years

where can they go to find those they can hit letterboxed and find me at Big John Bowsky or one word did you ever see the 90s version of Hamlet that had Bill Murray as Polonius. Oh, no. I remember that being a thing. I was at a,

I was at a Royal Shakespeare Conference, um, years ago. And it was basically just a lot of people who study Shakespeare, reading and doing presentations of like papers that they've written about it. And I was just like watching this guy talk about the, um, the adaptation of Hamlet.

Because it was like after the Baz Luhrman Romeo plus Juliet, movie. So they were like, can we strike gold again and have a modern adaptation of a classic Shakespeare movie? No, not by the sound of it. But did feature Bill Murray as Polonius. So, you know, who doesn't love Bill Murray showing up randomly in something? Bologna has the best line in the players, it's all I believe. Oh, I am slain. I imagine he plays it just like he played his character getting killed in zombie land, I'm sure. Yeah.

but Dylan speaking of the great Shakespearean character Polonius what do you get up to during the week aside from getting stabbed

through a curtain well I try to do that every month every week is unobtainable honestly but every month

you can do that a Monday night I do a radio show on Bynch Digital Radio dot COD UK I do my show from 9-190 clock to 11 o'clock.

UK time. We play a lot of cool rock music on whatever else I like. It's a lot of fun. Check it out. You can listen to it on your web browser, on your own. Monday night's UK time. Games sometimes pitch, spooky room. We draw pictures and animate those pictures on YouTube at Team Crows.

And I, on TikTok at Team Crow Studios. There you go. That's what I do. And as for me, I have my other show. a large old cup where I just did recorded an episode at 3.30 in the morning and told a rather long story about an incident with a football coach turned health teacher who did not know how to properly pronounce the word pneumonia in front of a classroom. And, you know, it's worth a listen, but to give you a spoiler, he wrote the word pneumonia on the chalkboard, looked at the

textbook for a while, turned back to us and said, you could die from Panamania. You could die, because that was the moment of realization I had when I got my test results back from the doctor and it says pneumonia. And I went, oh, no, I could die from Panamania. And this is like, that's karma coming back to me years later after I laughed at this man. He laughed at Bado. I certainly did. Aside from that, though, I have new number ones. The most recent one I did was for a comic by ignition press called Dispatched. That is basically a Jason Statham

movie turned into a comic book where a former Black Ops agent, who is now a delivery driver, is put in a hostage situation where he has to stop the terrorists and save everybody in the building. Nice. It sounds like a movie John would give

two stars to. Oh, maybe three stars. You big fan of Statham? I mean, his movie is basically all the same, but you know, what he does is pretty entertaining most of the time. Yeah, yeah. That's true. But yes,

it was, it was like the writer did a really great job with the lead character in developing him. So, I mean, I gave it a pretty favorable review in that sense. But you could find episodes of new number ones on our YouTube channel along with the video format of this. So if you did

listen to this on Spotify the whole time, watch it on YouTube so that you can see these great illustrations that we have been enjoying as we went through the silver age of Batman's Rokes Gallery. Until next time, though, I think that's going to be all for us. He is. All right. Well, we'll see you guys later.

Goodbye. Bye-bye. Excellent work. Gagsworth, A, Gagsworthy.