#The Laughing Fish

[inbarfink]

[twistedtummies2]

Year of the Bat - Number 8

Welcome to Year of the Bat! In honor of Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and Richard Moll, I’ve been counting down my Top 31 Favorite Episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series” throughout this January.

  TODAY’S EPISODE QUOTE: “But they share my unique face! Colonel Whathisname has chickens, and they don't even have moustaches!" Number 8 is…The Laughing Fish.

Many have claimed that part of what made B:TAS so great was that, in many ways, it’s episodes felt less like typical short superhero stories of the time, and more like “mini movies.” The production values, uses of colors, shadows, and angles, and even the quality of the voice cast all made for a series that felt cinematic on its best outings. “The Laughing Fish” is a great example of this, as it features so many of the points that have led to the show’s stellar reputation. While the story it tells isn’t especially deep or complex, its especially dark and unsettling tone, along with its marvelous storytelling, makes for arguably the single greatest Joker-centric outing in the entire series. This episode combines elements of three (well, technically four) separate Batman comics together: the plot, and even a good chunk of the dialogue, is taken from the famous two-part story “The Laughing Fish/Sign of the Joker.” The grand climactic sequence where Batman’s final confrontation with the Clown Prince of Crime takes place is ripped from another famous story, “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge,” which many credit as the story that officially brought Batman out of the Silver Age and into the darker Bronze Age of comics. Finally, the final scene of the episode is based on a bit from the story “Dreadful Birthday, Dear Joker!” As someone who has read all of these comics, and loves all of them, I honestly feel that the combined elements of the stories used here – along with some original bits and pieces – makes for a story that is honestly stronger than any of them separately. It’s another case where the Animated Series showed its merits, and improved on already magnificent material through its own attributes.

The plot begins with a strange epidemic in Gotham: all of the fish in the harbor have turned a hideous shade of white and green, with their mouths twisted to resemble the Joker’s own warped smile. The toxin is harmless, as it only affects the fish, not people, but naturally folks are quite disturbed. It’s soon revealed that this is part of an elaborate scheme the Joker has made up, to try and copyright all the fish in Gotham, so he can make a fortune via the royalties and residuals. Of course, one can’t copyright fish, by law, so the Joker goes on a rampage, attacking paper pushers and bureaucrats till his demands are met. This all culminates in a showdown at an aquarium, where a captured Harvey Bullock and Batman are forced to duel with a Great White Shark.

This is one of Mark Hamill’s greatest performances as the Joker, no doubt. Part of this is because it carries so much from the comics, which I think helps lend his performance a sort of “authenticity,” for lack of a better word; it’s one of the reasons so many people say he simply IS the Joker: he got to do a lot of the villain’s best stories, this episode being a great example. “The Laughing Fish” showcases the Joker’s greatest values, as he has many great and funny moments, but there’s also a viciousness to his voicework in this outing that’s particularly notable. On top of that, this episode gets borderline horror-story-levels of creepy, as the Joker’s victims are given near-lethal doses of his patented Joker Venom, and the visuals this conjures up – plus the dead-eyed grins of the titular fish – make for some unnervingly memorable imagery. No one dies in the episode (unlike in the comics, doubtless due to the show’s need to keep things “safe” for the kiddies), but that doesn’t stop the scenes from being truly horrifying to behold. It’s one of the Joker’s most frightening tales, and illustrates why he’s such a great villain for Batman to face. The inclusion of original elements – such as Harley Quinn – does not lessen the impact of the episode, and every single voice artist is at the top of their game, not just Hamill. Both Conroy and Sorkin are just as magnificent, not to mention the other supporting players, such as Bob Hastings as Commissioner Gordon and Robert Costanzo as Bullock. Everything, really, is at 100% here: the writing, the direction, the animation, the characters…it’s arguably the definitive Joker episode of the show, and for that reason above all else, it deserves placement in the Top 10 for me.

Tomorrow we move on with Number 7! Hint: “How could you? I worked with you, trusted you, and you never told me?!”

[jedivoodoochile]

📺: “The Laughing Fish”, ‘Batman: The Animated Series’

🎬: Bruce Timm

🖊️: Paul Dini

📅: January 10, 1993

[themetalhiro]

hold that posture

[1071png]

Mihawk's gone from babysitting Zoro and Perona to babysitting Crocodile and Buggy

[nibeul]

yeah, everybody leaves

[id: It's a drawing of Aizawa and Yamada standing against a darkening sky. They are both wearing their hero costumes—a black jumpsuit with a brown belt and grey capture weapon and studded leather jacket with a large pop-up collar and leather pants—and appear somber. Aizawa, depicted with tan skin, is clutching his goggles tightly in one hand while the other hand is in his pocket. Yamada, drawn with paler skin and dirty blond hair, has both his hands in his pockets. Shadows cast over their upper bodies while light illuminates underneath the curve. /end id]

[id: It's the original Horikoshi illustration of Aizawa, Yamada, and Kurogiri. Yamada and Aizawa are both wearing their hero uniforms. Kuroigiri is very faintly sketched behind them. /end id]

[laurrelise]

picture this: it’s your second week at the commission. your boss is a fucking fish. your coworkers are way too friendly. your higher-ups’ biggest concern is a random ex-employee who you’ve never met, her next being her fashion game. and her daughter is just running around wreaking absolute havoc.

and then one day the meanest 13-year old you’ve ever seen in your life walks in, finishes his case in 10 minutes, and immediately after gets recognized as the best worker in the room full of adults.

im quitting on the spot wbu

[hyunpic]

HYUNJIN | SKZ-CODE EP. 52

[puppetmaster13u]

Mermay Special Prompt 3

“Are you kidding? No one goes to Gotham, that place is like,” Aquaman made a motion with his hand, a not-quite grimace on his face. “Like things should not be living in the water, like it should be impossible, and things should be dead, but they aren’t and it’s like, like the equivalent of an undead apocalypse over there!” 

Bruce rolled his eyes behind his cowl, taking a sip of his coffee as the others continued drinking. Socialize, they said, it’ll be fine they said. Well excuse him, but the waters weren’t that bad. Sure there were always dumped bodies, and chemicals from the rogue attacks, but it was far worse at one point.

One thing he’ll always be relieved for is how the… curse (thank you broken statuette back in the beginning of his vigilante career that fused with the other many curses of Gotham) made the people of Gotham actually care about the waters around them. 

Though also, he couldn’t help but thank anything that might be listening for the fact that the curse only interacted with Gotham waters, because losing legs with any risk of a drop of water would be downright annoying. 

“No dude, you don’t understand, no one goes there for a reason! That shit is horrific- someone saw a big thing with bits of rebar stabbed straight through it and still chased after a big alligator-thing!” Oh. Oh that had been him. Oops. Hopefully his kids didn’t find out about this, but they were probably already on the cameras. Dammnit. 

[tezzbot]

Playtime :]

[antikr1sta]

Meursault...

"Looks like he's learned from his mistakes and wont miss now" ;^)

[lil-lemon-snails]

✨ fish moon 🐟✨

Dropping this very silly magma doodle here for your consideration (thank you @daycarefriendpickup again for hosting!)

This was a weird one akjfhgds @lurking-loaf and I couldn't decide what to do for this weekend's magma session so we ended up drawing each other A Shape (tm) to work off of! Which means any formal complaints regarding this piece can be forwarded to him lol /silly

[lunamo23]

Sooo with all the new Grian designs popping up, I’m jumping on the flying fish bandwagon

Anyways, Scar has a new exhibit in his zoo after Grian was claimed by the ocean. Exactly how he convinced Grian to get in the tank…. Who knows😆

[sososososouspicious]

I found my new fave cc ngl 🙏🏻 GEM IS GREAT !!!!!!

[werewolfhooligan]

it is halloween

[hussyknee]

TIL the Australian guy that put on the single greatest piece of improv theater ever caught on camera during his wrongful arrest passed away this August from cancer.

For those who don't know: in 1991 an investigator who suspected this man of credit card fraud called the cops on him at the Chinese restaurant where he was dining with a friend. To expedite the arrest, he led the police to believe they were arresting a high profile criminal of some sort.

Police surrounded the restaurant, corralled the waiting media (who had somehow gotten wind), and interrupted Karlson's lunch.

"He was as calm as anything," former police detective Adam Firman says of the moment he arrested Karlson in the restaurant.

"He was happy to go with us. Well, as happy as you can be, to be arrested. Until he saw all the media. And that's when he just went berserk."

The lines Karlson delivered have since become classic quotes in internet culture.

"Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!" Karlson declares to the cameras as he's wrestled into the police car.

...

"As soon as we drove away, he stopped and he said, 'That was fun,'" Firman says.

"There was no fight getting him out of the car. Nothing. It was all put on for the cameras."

The drama behind the rant

The Brisbane police who arrested him that day didn't know that Karlson had been a criminal and a serial prison escapee. He was also a part-time actor.

By the time he was 34, Karlson had spent most of his life in homes and prisons.

His first escape was in 1966. He was on a train going from Boggo Road Gaol to face a breaking, entering and stealing charge at Maryborough Magistrates Court. He got out of his handcuffs and jumped off.

Two years later, after he had been locked up in McLeod Prison Farm on Victoria's French Island for another theft, he convinced a local fisherman to give him a lift to the mainland.

Three months after that, he was picked up in a stolen car carrying safe-breaking tools in Parramatta. Just before his trial, he impersonated a detective and walked out of his court cell. Finally, he was captured in an apartment on Sydney's North Shore.

That's when his life took a dramatic left turn.

Sentenced to eight years in Parramatta Gaol, Karlson was put in an unusually large cell with an inmate named Jim McNeil.

This chance encounter would become destiny manifest.

McNeil had heard about Karlson impersonating a detective, and he thought it was hilarious.

He welcomed Karlson into his cell. The two men bonded over making foul-tasting alcohol in the cell's washbasin from raisins and yeast, and shared histories.

They had both grown up poor, even by the standards of their rough-and-tumble neighbourhoods. Adults had abused them physically and sexually. And they'd both stolen and scammed a few shillings for their families when they saw the chance.

After encouragement from Karlson, McNeil wrote a play about cellmates who brewed grog. They put it on in prison, and Karlson played a leading role.

Both had discovered talents they didn't know they had. McNeil kept writing on his smuggled typewriter, and Karlson kept acting. The plays became a hit among young Sydney intellectuals, many who had been campaigning for prisoners' rights.

Within four years, their work got them out on parole a combined 13 years early.

Best friends

Karlson and McNeil's friendship continued outside the prison gates and they moved into a house in Richmond together.

The two men stuck out like sore thumbs in their new-found scene of artists and intellectuals.

Neither man had set foot in a theatre, but McNeil's plays were already being performed across Australia. He felt that, with the success of his plays, he'd never need to resort to crime again. On radio and in the press, he would give didactic rants about the brutality of the justice system.

Karlson, meanwhile, got parts in the prime-time crime dramas Homicide and Matlock Police.

They remained close.

"The lovely bloke. I love him," McNeil told an interviewer around the same time Karlson named his son Jim McNeil Karlson.

Karlson described them as best friends.

But McNeil's alcoholism killed him in 1982.

Karlson couldn't travel to the funeral in Sydney for legal reasons.

"I … with a bodgie [fake identity], booked up hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of flowers and wreaths," he says.

Final days

McNeil's plays weren't subtle. They were screeds aimed at a society that arrested and tormented unfortunate men for petty crimes.

"The message is: look what you're doing to people," he told one interviewer.

He went on to tell a story about an Aboriginal cellmate. "He was illiterate, he was poor. He had nothing. And he stole thruppence ha'penny. And then he got three and a half years. That's a penny a year.

"Prison is the best way to show what's wrong with the outside."

His final play was about two cellmates in Parramatta. He named it 'Jack', and finished it in a drunken haze.

"Do you know I'm here?" shouts Jack the character. "Do you give a f*** where I am? No. No, you don't give a f*** where I am. Pricks. Democrats."

Fifteen years later, Jack Karlson declared "Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!" to the waiting cameras and an enduring audience.

It would be his most unforgettable performance.

From 7news:

So how did Karlson improvise a performance so poetic, so theatrical and so amusing?

“Of course, I was somewhat influenced by the juice of the red grape."

Karlson spent his last years as a painter, incidentally selling many paintings of his own infamous arrest, and helping make a documentary about his life that's yet to be released. He died aged 82, surrounded by family and was widely mourned.

"Tata and farewell" legend. Hope the internet never forgets you. ACAB forever.