BATMAN, WE ARE THE GREATEST: The Best Comic Book That Never Was
The FULL STORY behind a NEAL ADAMS birthday commission that’s taken on a life of its own…
A BIRTHDAY SALUTE to the legendary actor… — UPDATED 4/22/26: Hey, it’s Jack Nicholson’s 89th birthday! Time for our annual salute to the legendary actor’s Clown Prince of Crime! This piece first ran in 2016 in slightly altered form. Dig it. — Dan — You can thank me for Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Really, you can. When I was, I dunno, 10 or 11 — right around the time I was reading this — I would write to DC Comics with my dream cast for a Batman movie, and the only actor I wanted as the Joker was Jack Nicholson. Wouldn’t you know that a decade later, he was cast in Tim Burton’s Batman. So you’re welcome! By the way, if it were a Ra’s al Ghul movie, I’d want Christopher Lee as the Demon’s Head (click here for more on that coolness) and Caroline Munro as Talia (click here for more on that awesomeness). But back to the Joker. Jack Nicholson is 89 — he was born April 22, 1937 — and so I figured the best way to celebrate his birthday is with his 13 best quotes as the Clown Prince of Crime. I’m even going to rank them! Here goes: 13. “I have given a name to my pain, and it is Batman.” 12. “Hello, Vinny. It’s your Uncle Bingo. Time to pay the check!” 11. “We have a flying mouse to kill, and I wanna clean my claws.” — 10. “Nice outfit.” 9. “I didn’t ask.” (OK, it was as Jack Napier. But still.) 8. “Rememberrrr youuuuu… are my Number One-uh… guyyyyy!” 7. “I’m glad you’re dead!” — 6. “My balloons. Those are my balloons. He stole my balloons! Why didn’t somebody tell me he had one of those… things?!” 5. “This town needs an enema!” 4. “You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?” 3. “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” 2. “You can call me… Joker. And as you can see, I’m a lot happier.” — 1. “Wait till they get a load of me.” — MORE — The Complete BATMAN ’89 WEEK Index. Click here. — 13 THINGS I Still Love About BATMAN ’89 (Mostly). Click...
A 60th ANNIVERSARY SALUTE: The one-time second-rate Batman villain debuted in April 1966… By CHRIS FRANKLIN Poison Ivy first bloomed 60 years ago in Batman #181, on sale April 19, 1966, with a cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, a story by Robert Kanigher, and interior art by Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella. After first using her seductive, poison kiss on the Caped Crusader, she returned just two issues later in Issue #183, and then largely disappeared. She’d been created with the Batman TV show in mind — the producers wanted more female villains — but never made it on screen. (She was, however, written as Catwoman’s assistant in an early draft of the two-parter that guest-starred Lesley Gore. By the time the show aired, she’d evolved into “Pussycat.”) So while Ivy didn’t take root in Gotham right away, she did spread throughout the DC Universe — but not until the ’70s. Even then, she rarely made solo appearances, instead popping up on various teams of bad-guys: She appeared in Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane battling the Thorn, joined the Injustice Gang, the Super-Foes and the Secret Society of Super-Villains across issues of Justice League of America, Super Friends and the SSSOV’s own title. She even fought Wonder Woman in a pair of tales in World’s Finest Comics. But other than a few appearances together with other Bat-rogues and a one-off confrontation with Batgirl and the Huntress in Batman Family, she was more of a utility villain, rather than a true foe of the Masked Manhunter. In the 1980s, she returned to Gotham City, even with a fair amount of hype, matching wits with Batman in his own title and Detective Comics. But then Crisis on Infinite Earths came, and in its aftermath, Ivy got a new origin — but one tied to the Atom villain and Swamp Thing supporting character Jason Woodrue. She appeared in Swamp Thing, Secret Origins, the acclaimed Black Orchid mini-series, and joined the Suicide Squad. So, what made her one of the definitive Batman villains who spring to mind when you get past the eternal four of Joker, Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler? Batman: The Animated Series. Poison Ivy’s inclusion as one of the Dark Knight’s recurring foes firmly planted her in the upper echelon of his rogues gallery. As with many lesser-developed villains, the showrunners rethought...
The FULL STORY behind a NEAL ADAMS birthday commission that’s taken on a life of its own…
