BATMAN-71-The Zodiac Crimes



























 

BATMAN-71-The Zodiac Crimes

 

Joker uses, “Boy Blunder” again (I think Mad Hatter might have also in the last two parter) and one of the henchmen disguised as one of the Twins pop stars uses, “Wonder Boy.”

 

The jewel store manager doesn’t recognize Joker under the cowboy hat? Love the Jumping Beans. Penguin has real presence this time…well, he always does, but here his menace seems almost murderous and love his getaway on a high wire from Joker’s distracting Boom Bug (?).

 

Venus (Terry Moore of the great original MIGHTY JOE YOUNG) is a good henchwoman who turns too easily but whatever. Love the opening with Joker invading Gordon’s office with a floating wand stick that can burn and does to Gordon and O’Hara’s hands.

 

The BatCave makes a new sound…or I haven’t been noticing that but it sounds like a computer sound and may have been used in LOST IN SPACE and the other Irwin Allen shows here and there.

 

Burt doesn’t seem to have that problem in this episode until that is he starts (expertly I might add) swinging to the Twins’ music and then the problem starts! And depending on your POV or prudishness, when he and West throw the spears to wrangle the Penguin at the opera house, look away or check …it out?

 

Alfred almost yells Bat Phone as Dick is practicing the tuba (didn’t he already join the band or was that the choir?).

In any case, a really fun episode with a great idea behind it.

 

Bruce Wayne and Harry of Harry’s Hair Lair belong to the same golf club. Though we’re sickly treated to the same footage of the Batmobile taking off (and seat belts put on) and arriving at Gordon’s office (and the same pedestrians are there from the first episode! Over and over again) at least the Bat Fight in this episode is unique in that…the Bat music doesn’t play but the fight and captions occur over an opera singer’s singing! Funny! The audience looks like a clip from the 1950s or 40s!  The singer, for his continuing to sing through the fight, is kidnapped. At one point it looks like both Batman and Robin are holding Joker’s wrists and someone he gets free of both of them!

 

The photo Batman shows Gordon of the statue Virgin Bereaved is clearly a made up Venus.

 

The cliffhanger: With Penguin back in prison under Crighton, Batman and Robin find themselves under an 8 ton meteorite which is about to fall. This after another Bat Fight (and another good one as Joker, seems more murderous than usual, uses a spear against them both and then has a one on one spear fight with Batman---and it’s odd that Joker praises his “fencing” when Batman just punches the Joker to end it). The cliffhanger music sounds like a new variation of the cliffhanger music first used in the CatWoman episode where she put them under magnifying lenses and it’s far too short but also very, very good. The duo were apprehended by Venus’ sprinkling

 

This episode is very fun and having Joker and Penguin together is wonderful. Good plot, good humor, some danger and TWO good Bat fights.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LOST IN SPACE-the two unaired pilots NO PLACE TO HIDE

Image
  NOTE: Since both unaired pilots are inferior to THE RELUCTANT STOWAWAY, THE DERELICT, ISLAND IN THE SKY, THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH, and THE HUNGRY SEA, I have decided to put both unaired pilots after these five episodes--since these used stock footage from both pilots---as for readers to be able to compare the unaired pilots to the much better versions seen in the episodes. Both pilots are important, however, because they give us some background not given in the aired episodes. There is less development of characters and situations, however in these unaired pilots.      UNAIRED PILOT NUMBER ONE The Jupiter II was originally called the Gemini 12 and could travel at 18412 miles per hour. The TV man commentator is the narrator, not Dick Tufeld. The countdown is started in this story at 6 minutes and 40 seconds. The credits start right away with DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL music. The Robinsons will stay in their suspended animation slumber for 98 years. Alpha Control mentions th
Read more

LOST IN SPACE-THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH

Image
  THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH TELEPLAY-CAREY WILBUR STORY--SIMON WINCELBERG DIR-LEO PENN MUSIC-HERMAN STEIN, BERNARD HERRMAN   NARRATION: Last week as you REMEMBER, Will had slipped away from the spaceship to try and repair the Chariot, unaware that the renegade Robot, programmed to obey only Dr. Smith's voice orders, was loose in the area.   TEASER-fully recapped   Will is in the Chariot as the camera pans across it. He is cold and not having much success at fixing the land vehicle. He guesses he was wrong about it. "I gotta get back to the ship. What?"   He sees the Robot coming over a hill. He goes out, "I wanna talk to you about the way you ran off."    Robot repeats Smith's orders, "When unessential personnel are found alone, destroy."   He blasts a tree and moves closer to Will. Will climbs up the Chariot, "Go back, do you hear me? Go..go back. Go back." He repeats this several times. Robot fires electric betw
Read more

DOCTOR WHO: THE STAR BEAST

Image
  DOCTOR WHO: THE STAR BEAST "I hate that."   Okay, the opening is pure RTD DW and it’s not bad. The one thing I can say that makes Donna look stupid is giving all her money away so her husband can keep working. What a dope. He says it was for charity and who knows if charities are really on the up and up and all that money went where it should go. The humor is again, as in most of RTD, from the circumstances and the character relationships and so far, it doesn’t jar or unbalance the plot or the viewers. Nice start.   Donna is stupid. You can’t help others if you can’t help yourself.   And…yawn. UNIT. UFO news report. Yawn. Boring.   In a few short bursts of dialog, RTD makes it so that we instantly relike Donna, this Doctor, and Sylvia. And through Donna, her husband and Sylvia’s dialog, like this new Rose to boot. He’s a master at getting us to like these characters, creating realistic characters, and at making the dialog natural and realistic. Was I foolish
Read more