Nightwing #19

Even if I knew it was The Prankster, I would have been expecting somebody entirely different!

This is what the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths' Prankster looked like:

Can you imagine a villain like this making it into a modern age comic book? I wish!

Was there a time in our country's history when we thought that crime was synonymous with humor? Why do Batman and Superman have so many villains that like to make murder into a joke? The Prankster was apparently one of Superman's enemies which seems ridiculous. He had no powers except the power of murderous laughter and he was going up against Superman? Maybe that's why he partnered up with Toyman on occasion because Toyman had some really serious gimmicks in his workshop. I can't believe I just implied that Toyman was a threatening figure.

Looking at DC's villains from the silver age, we can see what our society thought about people outside the norm. If you weren't working to be a grown-up in a suit or a uniform with a family and children and a responsible life, you were on the fringe and probably a no-good beatnik anarchic piece of trash. So if you were an adult and into jokes or pranks or riddles or toys, you were considered as bad as bank robbers, kidnappers, and murderers. And since I have zero degrees in social anthropology, I'm pretty sure I've nailed it exactly.

This issue is called "Second City" so I think Nightwing has gone to Chicago to try his hand at comedy. But before he gets his chance to do some improv, he's getting chased down by the Chicago cops because Chicago has a "No Masks" ordnance. I wonder if they shoot at anybody wearing a mask or just guys that can do triple back flips off of buildings?

Before I really get into reading this book, I just want to remind everybody how much I hate comic book stories about the authorities chasing down super heroes. I know most of these books have gone over to the "We Hate Mutants!" and "Vigilantes Cause Trouble!" themes. So I'll try not to bitch about it much and just leave my ranting in this paragraph. Fucking stupid Glorious Godfrey Legends bullshit.

See? This is fucked up. They know he's a hero yet they act snide about it and just tried to put two bullets into his back. These cops are assholes.

But before we get to see how many more times the cops try to kill Nightwing before actually arresting him, the comic book has to revert to the previous day so we can see how Nightwing got into this mess before we get to see how he gets out of it.

The Mayor of Chicago is at some grand opening or something where he says that people's lives were turned upside down by masked vigilantism. That seems like a pretty stupid statement. All I hear from that is "Everybody in Chicago is involved in crime and the cops are crooked and now nobody can get any illegal activity done because the stupid uncrooked masked vigilantes are doing the job the cops would be doing if they weren't all on the take!" Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Nightwing's first night on the town, he meets a crazy woman named Mali and a man that deals in information named Spade. Spade offers a wager with Nightwing. If Nightwing wins, Spade gives him Tony Zucco's location. If Spade wins, Nightwing gives him his identity. But since Spade doesn't have the information about Zucco yet and since the police suddenly swarm all over Nightwing because he's wearing a mask, Spade decides to set up a meet for later. And then we're back at the beginning!

Of course Nightwing gets away from the cops. Although he causes one of their helicopters to crash, mostly due to the pilot's incompetence. And since Nightwing saves them all, he can head back to his apartment with a clear conscience. Besides, he wasn't doing anything but looking for information. The police are the idiots that overreacted because they saw a guy wearing a tiny little mask while standing on the roof of some building.

I assure you, there are pictures in this comic book. But nothing as cool as the Prankster picture from Who's Who. But I think a page with a bunch of information that I don't want to regurgitate is coming up! So I'll scan that in.

My favorite part is how the Mayor doesn't give a shit about someone committing crimes as long as they don't wear a mask. I knew this whole fucking town was corrupt.

As I suspected last commentary, Tony Zucco is part of a crime organization AND he's part of law enforcement! Oh Chicago. Why are you so predictable?

Meanwhile, The Prankster is fucking with some city leader that's also into child porn. Is there not one single good person in Chicago?! Why has DC Comics decided to make their comic book Chicago exactly like real life Chicago? Take that, Chicago!

I wonder what kind of people actually get upset when I make casual statements stereotyping and disparaging wide swaths of people? I wonder how many people believe I believe these things? I wonder if I believe I believe these things? I'm glad I'm not from Chicago or I might have hurt my own feelings and I hate when that happens.

Nightwing #19 Rating: No change. I can't believe DC Comics has a guy named The Prankster and a guy named The Riddler and a guy named The Trickster and a guy named The Joker and a guy named The Puzzler. It's all fun and games until it's all fun and games!