BW Media Spotlight

What is a hero without villains to fight. Since Batman and Robin don’t kill their enemies they have a rogues gallery as famous as they are. the show bible says this about the villains:

Many of the villains faced by Batman will combine an eccentric, outrageous sense of criminal “fun” with deadly efficiency. After all, if they’re going to give a character as extreme as Batman a run for his money, they’ll have to be pretty extreme themselves.

. . .

Also, we insist that our writers put some thought into the internal logic of the villains’ actions. Specifically, what does the villain want and what do they plan to do with it when they get it. Although greed is a good motivation, the more thought we put into the manifestations of this greed, the more satisfying it will be. Beyond greed, the motive and plan of the villain should be made clear so we have a sense of where the story is going and what Batman must thwart in order to emerge victorious. The same goes for those stories which are “mysteries”. We have to know what Batman is wondering if we’re to care about his discovery.

Which would also help us try to solve the mystery along with him really. While original villains were created they used Batman’s classic gallery a lot, splitting them between the floating Stonegate prison and the worst mental institution in America, Arkham Asylum. Not all of Batman’s foes had serious mental issues. Some were just regular criminals. The bible also asks that they refrain from restoring to too many death traps like the old live-action series. They weren’t outright banned, just that they didn’t want to get into that rut, as fun as it was to watch Adam West and Burt Ward try to escape those traps. They do challenge Batman (especially if he doesn’t have the right tool and has to improvise with what he has) but there should be more than that.

There are nine villains with large profiles and a section on potential other criminals for the Dark Knight to face. So what we’ll do is two per installment and then the smaller list. (It was going to be three and maybe it will be later on, but Joker and Penguin’s profiles are very long.) And we begin with three of his most popular, the Joker, the Penguin, who teamed together during two visits on The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. Fun fact. Of course we have to start with the Clown Prince Of Crime himself. Even the show bible gives him first place.

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