BATMAN: “THE JOKER GOES TO SCHOOL” (1966)

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *good*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *psychological, sociological*

The Joker’s second appearance, again written by Lorenzo Semple, improves on the villain's first BATMAN ’66 outing. Though the Riddler and the Joker are both associated with humor, the Riddler is much more the clever narcissist; he has henchmen, but in essence he works alone. The Joker, though, has a greater penchant for bringing out the worst in human nature. One can find this both in certain early stories like “Wanted: Practical Jokers” (BATMAN #7, 1941) and in the better-known story of the evil clown’s corruption of his sometimes girlfriend Harley Quinn.

We’re back to an all-original TV script here, as the Joker runs a scheme at Woodrow Roosevelt High, the very seat of learning attended by Bruce Wayne’s youthful ward. For reasons unknown, vending machines at the school start dispensing high-priced bounties—cash money, stocks, and other valuables. At the same time, a handful of jukeboxes in Gotham bars reveal that they’ve been equipped with automated rifles, which keep the bar-goers at bay while thugs loot the registers. Though there’s nothing that technically ties the Joker to these endeavors, Batman and Robin are instantly sure he’s the culprit. His motive, though, seems obscure. Though the episode is filled with corny warnings about the way “easy living” seduces young people to criminality, Batman thinks it unlikely that the villain is simply trying to convert honest youths into crooks. But he gives a little lecture to some prominent students about the dangers of the Crown Prince of Crime—and lo and behold, the Joker himself shows up to disrupt Batman’s moral lecture. Apparently the career crook is out on parole, since the heroes don’t try to arrest him for escaping prison. Further, Joker even frustrates the Duo’s desperate attempt to pinch him for “loitering” through his knowledge of jailhouse jurisprudence.

The big revelation to the audience, though, is that though the Joker’s henchmen are just ordinary dropouts turned to crime, he’s made a major conversion of head cheerleader Susie, a member of Dick Grayson’s own class. Susie has chosen to aid the Joker’s scheme because he buys her lots of pretty baubles, and later Batman casts her in the role of Eve, being tempted by the serpentine clown.

The automated jukeboxes don’t play a major role in the story, though it’s suggested that this venture gains Joker enough seed money for his real gambit. Joker traps the Duo with one of his trick vending machines, and sets them up for a death by one-armed bandit—even though the fiend claims that the game isn’t rigged against them. The heroes never learn the truth or falsehood of this statement, though, for they’re saved from electrocution by a citywide power blackout. Susie, though, is present for the attempted deathtrap, and unlike Zelda, she suffers no last-minute remorse about sparing the white knights.

The heroes use voice-recognition technology to ferret out Susie’s complicity with Joker, and this leads to a scene in which Dick Grayson goes undercover at one of the “bad student” hangouts, trying to convince Susie to recommend him to the gang. This is the episode’s strongest camp scene, since one of Joker’s thugs challenges Dick to smoke a cigarette—and goody-goody Grayson instantly reveals that he can’t hold his smoke to save his life. However, this botched spy game does make clear to the villain that Susie’s been pegged as his ally, and thus she becomes a liability.

The Joker’s sinister scheme is finally revealed on Woodrow High basketball court. The players, highly favored to win their next game, use one of the vending machines, and it gives them the full answers to a major test. Joker and his hoods happen along to take a picture, and the players realize that their possession of the answers will disqualify them—making it inevitable that their opponents will win. Joker plans to win big by betting on the less favored team. However, Batman and Robin reach Susie in time to save her from the villain’s tender mercies, and her intel allows them to foil the fiend’s plans and put him away.

The Joker’s plan to fix a high school basketball game would have no more chance of succeeding in real life than his earlier attempt to steal an ocean-liner. However, where the first plot lacked resonance despite its grandiose conception, this humbler concept proves much stronger, if only because it’s the Crown Prince of Crime messing with school kids. As corny as Batman’s speeches against easy living may be, they’re ably counterpointed by the utter heartlessness with which the Joker attempts to poison Susie with a gift of perfume. Thanks to the Susie scenes—including an end coda where she goes away to a troubled girls’ school rather than prison—one can more easily overlook a blah deathtrap and an unremarkable end fight-scene.