Just Another Batman Blog

  This is one of the newest Batman villains to be introduced. James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez created Punchline seemingly as a replacement for Harley Quinn following her upgrade to anti-hero status. Punchline's first appearance is in Batman #89, February 2020 as part of the Joker War storyline.  Punchline could have been just another Harley Quinn clone. Harley Quinn, after all, has become enormously popular, even before the Margot Robbie portrayal made her a household name and a cosplay staple. Aside from the Joker connection, their stories diverge greatly.  Alexis Kaye (no clunky name allusion this time) develops a crush on the Joker all by herself, and seeks him out. This reminds me of Charles Manson fandom among young people, even up to his death in prison, including  this story of Star from Missouri  from 2013. Unlike Harley Quinn, the Joker doesn't need to manipulate Alexis Kaye's emotions to twist her into a psychopath. She already is one, and the Joke...

She is DC's Bonnie Parker. She is Gotham's Mallory Knox. She is Mary Brunner in clown makeup, and a murderous Esther Greenwood. Harley Quinn is the most unlikely star of the Batman villains rogues gallery. Considering how mostly male and mostly sexist the comics industry was (and still is, although it has become better) in the 90s, the development of Harley Quinn is pretty interesting. As you scroll down, I have added additional Harley Quinn art, which shows the evolution of the character's costume, from completely covered catsuit, to almost nothing. Pretty indicative of the male dominated industry. Initially, she was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for the Batman Animated Series as a sidekick and foil for the Joker in episode 22 "Joker's Favor". Arleen Sorkin should also get credit for creating Harley Quinn as well, as her blueprint for the character was used by Paul Dini. Harley Quinn initially was supposed to be a one act character. She fits i...

I've written about arguably the best hero/anti-hero in the history of comics before. The Batman was introduced in 1939 by DC comics in their Detective Comics issue number 27. The creation of Batman was influenced obviously by Zorro, the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Shadow, and the Phantom, and less obviously by Sherlock Holmes and Doc Savage. However, as I've stated before, what has made this particular hero the most popular among the pulp heroes listed above is not so much the flying rodent paraphanalia, or even the comic medium, but rather his villian/rogues gallery. For example, the most famous Sherlock Holmes villain is Dr. Moriarty, but most would have trouble identifying another. I'd be surprised if anyone could name a Doc Savage villain (John Sunlight), or Zorro, or The Shadow (he knows, though, he knows). Villains, in fiction, are pretty necessary when telling heroic stories. Heroes, especially in comicbook mediums, need antagonists, foils, to match up against. Witho...