#The Royal Flush Gang

[cometzombie]

THE CLOWN COUNTESS OF CRIME

-Punchline: The Gotham Game

[hedgiwithapen]

DHD: Forced to watch for Courtney Whitmore?

The staff flares in her hand, warbling. Courtney’s grip on it tightens.

"None of that," the man with a spade stitched to his jacket says, warningly. "Drop it."

Courtney does. Cosmo's glow winks out as it hits the dirty cement floor of the warehouse. At least they don't seem to know that Cosmo isn't just a weapon.  That it can do things without her direction. That's the only card she's got right now, while they've got Mike by the neck. 

"Wait," she says. "Don't hurt him."

"I told you what would happen if you tried anything," the man says, shaking Mike a little.  Her brother's half an inch taller than her, now, but he's still so small, and the Jack of Spades is strong enough to lift him off the ground. "You tell me. Does attacking my people and running count as 'anything'?"

Courtney's mouth goes dry. "Wait," she says again, instinctively moving to avoid the goons grabbing for her arms. The leader squeezes, and Mike lets out a yelp of pain.  Someone gets an arm around her own neck, holding  her in place.

"Maybe you need a lesson. Just like your mother," the Spade muses. 

"Don't talk about--" Mike starts, cut off when the Jack of Spades pivots neatly and slams him against the wall. The window they'd been going for, high out of reach, rattles lightly.  Courtney screams, trying and failing to surge forward.  

The Royal Flush gang keep a hold on her as their high card hits Mike twice more and lets him drop. Courtney can see the blood on his temple, on the wall.  

"Mike!" she screams again. "Stop it! Stop hurting him!"

The man just looks at her, absolutely no emotion on his face. "The next time you try running, the next time you lift a finger against the deck, he dies. I only need one of you. Understand?"

Courtney nods, suddenly mute. Mike blinks from his heap on the floor, wheezing and dazed with pain. His fingers clench around air, like he’s reaching for her. Courtney wishes she could hold his hand back, hold the staff, anything.  "Good. Behave and maybe you can  convince me to let you see him later." 

[theycallme-ook]

Okay what if… Melanie and Jackie out on a date 👀

We're out here inventing obscure sapphic ships. Carry on my Yuri soldiers

[starryoak]

Again, on my rewatch of Batman: The Brave and The Bold, it suddenly occurred to me; how many of Batman’s rogues are metahuman? I was sort of under the impression that there’s not a lot of them, but I was just thinking, how many of them are there? It seems like more than I thought, honestly

-Poison Ivy, obviously she counts what with the whole power of controlling plants. -Ra’s al Ghul, though he’s more magic than meta, obviously not a normal human being -Killer Croc, a mutant, still definitely counts as a metahuman -Mister Freeze... does he count if his mutations are all detrimental? -Clayface, obviously. I’m not even elaborating here. -The Music Meister, who was honestly what inspired this list considering his power may be the strongest of any character on this list despite his silly nature, -Polka-dot Man, if you count Suicide Squad’s portrayal of him as his default characterization, definitely the second most powerful here. -Solomon Grundy, zombies count as metahuman, right? -The Royal Flush Gang, though they were pretty quickly defeated, besides Ace. -Manbat? He exists, I guess, lmao. Never read anything with him in it so I’m going off of his concept literally requiring metahuman abilities

I just find it interesting! I probably missed a couple given how many Batman villains there have been, but it’s kinda neat that Batman has so many human villains instead of metahumans, which only makes the metahuman villains more interesting, IMO, as they stand out among the crowd.

[lehoodcollector]

Batman Beyond King's Ransom

[dispatchdcu]

Punchline: The Gotham Game #5 Review

Punchline: The Gotham Game #5 Review #punchline #thegothamgame #DC #dccomics #comics #comicbooks #news #dcu #dcuuniverse #art #info #NCBD #comicbooknews #previews #reviews #joker #punchline #batman #detectivecomics

Writer: Tini Howard and Blake Howard Art:  Gleb Melnikov Colors:  Luis Guerrero Letters: Becca Carey Publisher: DC Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: February 28th, 2023 Punchline has taken over The Royal Flush Gang, started a major drug enterprise in Gotham City and framed Catwoman for releasing toxic chemicals over several city blocks.  And she’s just getting started!  In Punchline: The Gotham…

[batmanofthewestcoast]

The Gotham Game Sequel - The Painful One

So last week @blueskyerising asked what I had planned if I was able to head over to DC and write a Harper-led sequel to Punchline: The Gotham Game. However, I would like to adjust my answer.

The more and more we talked about Harper, and the topic of her getting brainwashed and corrupted by Punchline, the more it's grown on me.

But I want to introduce something that has been absent since the original Punchline one-shot.

Let's make the premise terrifying.

Harper, in her attempts to bring Punchline and The Royal Flush Gang, becomes infected with the nanites that The Royal Flush Gang stole and have been weaponizing. For whatever reason, Harper's tech (which was originally developed to combat Mad Hatter's nanotechnology at the time) fails, and Punchline realizes she has a new plaything.

Alexis begins exerting her control over Harper's autonomy, and has Harper admitted as a member of The Royal Flush Gang. Harper's stuck, conscious and aware, but unable to do anything but watch. During the day, Alexis has Harper act normally, going to work at Gotham City Public Works and the Thompkins Clinic, but has Harper work for Punchline at night. While this is going on, and The Royal Flush Gang gains power in Gotham, Punchline is taunting Harper. Isn't it fun? Isn't it better to stop pretending? You're just like me! I'm freeing you Harper, I'm letting you be your true self! You're not a Bluebird anymore, you're my Six of Spades! And you're doing such a great job! I love you, you're my favourite toy!

That's when things get a bit fuzzing for me, and time passes, but inevitably The Royal Flush Gang gets the Batfamily's attention. During a sting operation, Bruce, Tim, and Cass take out a Royal Flush Gang facility, stopping whatever's going on there, only to find out from Oracle that Punchline is out on the other side of town, apprehended by police.

But it's not Alexis.

It's Harper.

From there the story would shift to how I wished the Punchline backups functioned, following Harper's pre-trial. Alexis has taken her claws out of Harper for the time being, but the psychological damage remains.

Harper is deemed unfit to stand trial, and is sent to Arkham Tower.

[That's all I've got for now, there's a lot I'm still working on, and I'll probably work on the premise more in the coming weeks.]

[gothams-black-rabbit]

Anyone want to meet Jack's parents?

Well, adopted parents but I am sure you are all curious who raised him and how he came to be the way he is.

Father - King of Spades Mother - Queen of Spades Sister - Ten of Spades

Just send a Ask or let me know who you wanna know more about them, let me know :)

[incorrectbatfam]

I feel like Bruce is really, really thankful for Cullen sometimes. Finally, one kid who looked at vigilantism and said “screw that noise.“ Bruce doesn’t have to worry about Cullen fighting clowns in his underwear or trying to run Gotham’s entire crime scene or jumping off buildings by the power of Cape or threatening people with swords. This one is normal and Bruce will never see him on the eight o’ clock news cussing out the Riddler.

Bruce: I just want to say, Cullen, although I love the rest of my kids equally, it's a relief knowing you would never get yourself in trouble with this messy vigilante business.

Cullen, climbing out the window to see his Royal Flush gang member boyfriend while wearing a jacket Midnighter gave him: Yeah, for sure.

[nixienewt]

Terry McGinnis for the *squints* 8 Batman Beyond fans

[hedgiwithapen]

mike and jakeem in as much trouble or danger as you'd like with "take me instead"

Jakeem stared at the man in the hoodie, very consciously suppressing the nervous laugh in his chest. This was Blue Valley. He'd have expected weird mutant gorillas, giant robots, the undead, honestly just about anything before some random white dude some Vegas poker tournament jacket and a gun. 

But it was still pointed at Mike, expected or not. Jakeem tried not to check his watch, not wanting to twitch. How long could it take to get to Canada and back with poutine? Yz can't be that far away. He could feel the empty pen in his pocket, though.  

"Look, you don't want to do this," Mike was still reasoning with the guy. "We're just a couple kids in a little town where, uh, lemonade still costs a nickel, you know?" He'd ignored Jakeem's hiss to not make the guy mad, which would have made Jakeem a lot more upset if he wasn't also the one using his own body as a block between them. They'd just been walking on a side street, but there was still no one walking around, at least not close enough to notice anything was wrong. Jakeem gave a panicked glance towards the bell tower. Still too soon. 

The guy laughed, gesturing with the gun. "Two said you were a chatterbox. Move it."

"Who?" Mike asked, and Jakeem could hear the patented Dugan stubbornness in his town just as well as he could see his trying to dig his feet into the sidewalk. "We're not going with you. We're not literal toddlers."

Jakeem found his courage. "You could at least offer candy." When the guy looked at him, Jakeem promptly felt said courage flee. "Or not," he squeaked. 

"Funny. Now come here, Dugan, or I'll have to shoot you."

Jakeem grabbed for Mike's arm, but he tugged free. "Don't hurt him. Leave him out of this."

"I'd prefer too," the gunman said. "Need someone to deliver a message, anyways."

"Then take me instead," Jakeem said, shoving in front of Mike.  The part of his brain that screamed with his older sister's voice told him he was being an idiot.  The part of him that had to think ten steps around a problem to make a good wish argued back. This guy, his boss, or whoever, wanted Mike. Him not having Mike was safest.  All Jakeem had to do was run out the clock, and everything would be fine. It had to be.

"Jakeem, what are you doing?" Mike hissed.

"Trust me," Jakeem said, wishing he trusted himself. 

"Real cute,"  the guy said. "Stay out this hand, kid.  I need this particular bargaining chip."

"Why?" Jakeem asked, wincing. Half of him still screamed at the other half that this was a terrible plan. "We're, we're teammates. Anything anyone'd do for Mike, they'd--" he stopped himself. Would they really do the same for him? He wasn't Courtney's kid brother. Pat wasn't his dad. The guy, with his playing card hoodie, smirked. 

"Don't try to bluff." The gun moved, far too close to Mike again. "You run along and tell Pat Dugan and his wife that the King of Spades wants to have a chat."

[browsethestacks]

Zatanna vs The Royal Flush Gang

Art by Brian Bolland

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

The Royal Flush Gang

There have several different iterations of the criminal outfit known as the Royal Flush Gang.  The gang was originally formed by The Joker after he recruited a group of five young adults possessing metahuman powers.  These individuals had been experimented on by a shadowy facet of the United States military and the experience left them each traumatized, angry and easily manipulated by The Joker.  

Fashioning them with costumes evocative of playing cards, The Joker dubbed the quintet his ‘Royal Flush Gang.’  He then organized a complex attack on Las Vegas that was meant to draw out and engage The Justice League.  Following a tremendous battle, The Justice League managed to defeat most of the gang yet the whole ordeal was revealed to be a ruse orchestrated by The Joker to garner a huge television audience.  With so many people watching, The Joker then unleashed the most powerful member of The Royal Flush Gang: Ace.

Young Ace possessed reality-altering powers and her hypnotic gaze could induce vivid hallucinations, ultimately lead to irreversible madness.  The Joker hoped that scores of people watching on would be driven hopelessly insane.

Fortunately, Batman was able to demonstrate to Ace that The Joker was manipulating her; that he was no better than the governmental agents who had made her childhood so unbearable.  Ace turned on The Joker, rendering the Clown Prince of Crime into near catatonia. Ace then left and released the audience from her influence.  

The youngster returned some time later.  With her powers evolved to the point where she could warp and reshape reality, Ace recruited a second Royal Flush Gang armed with powers she bestowed unto them. And yet her new gang proved no fun so she sent them to battle the Justice League and the foes were soundly defeated. 

Ace’s powers continued to mount and she came to realize that it would all result in her experiencing a fatal cerebral aneurysm.  Batman comfortable the frighten youth as her final moments came and Ace passed away peacefully in the Dark Knight’s arms.   With her death, reality was restored and the rest of the gang reverted to their natural forms.  

The title of the Royal Flush Gang would later be taken up by new criminals who maintained successive iterations of the gang far into the future.  

In a wink to the broader fanbase, The Royal Flush Gang were each voiced by the cast of the Teen Titans animated series. With Khary Payton voicing Ten; Greg Cipes as Jack; Hynden Walch as Queen; Scott Menville as King; and Tara Strong providing the voice for the tragic Ace.  

The Royal Flush Gang first appeared in the twenty-eighth episode of the second season of Justice Leagues, ‘Wild Cards Part I.’  

[ciccerone]

Ace by Asura-00

[dispatchdcu]

Punchline: The Gotham Game #6 Review

Punchline: The Gotham Game #6 Review #punchline #thegothamgame #DC #dccomics #comics #comicbooks #news #dcu #dcuuniverse #art #info #NCBD #comicbooknews #previews #reviews #joker #punchline #batman #detectivecomics

Writers: Tini Howard and Blake Howard Art: Gleb Melnikov and Max Raynor Colors: Luis Guerrero Letters:  Becca Carey Publisher: DC Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: March 28th, 2023 Punchline: The Gotham Game #6 is the final issue of the miniseries and everything is resolved here!  The Joker and Punchline are reunited, but Punchline has no time for his antics, because there’s a war going on in…

[batmanofthewestcoast]

I'm curious about what you'd do with Bluebird if given the chance to write her.

I had to think about this for a while, while I always claim to know what to write involving Harper, I like to think it shifts to match current events in the comics.

If I was able to write Harper, I'd make her the focus character of the book; one thing I dislike about Punchline: The Gotham Game is that Punchline isn't a very interesting person to follow. Harper was originally intended to reflect changes in Gotham's landscape, so let's circle back to that idea. Let her be a public works employee trying to make heads or tails of what's going on Gotham with her younger brother.

I don't think The Gotham Game will resolve the issues with the Royal Flush Gang by the end of issue 6, so they'll be the villains. Every head of a respective suit should be a challenge in their own right, not just Punchline.

I like the idea of each Suit being in charge of something in Gotham. My notes have the following:

Spades: Information

Diamonds: Illicit Goods

Clubs: Technology

Still got to think of something for Heart. Maybe Public Relations?

Ideally, I'd like my own title. Hopeful thinking, I know, but anyone who's read Sword of Azrael knows how much better a story becomes when it's made with a love for the character.

After the last chapter of Punchline, Harper probably is sticking to the shadows, out of the view of cameras and cellphones. Have her and Cullen set up in Tim's hideout in The Narrows (last seen in Batman Eternal).

In terms of length, the series would ideally be six arcs long, more if DC will let me write beyond the framework of the Royal Flush Gang. The storylines would go:

Establish framework and the stakes (2 issues)

Versus Clubs (3 issues)

Versus Diamonds (with a B-Plot involving Cullen finally throwing Ace of Diamonds/Bluff to the curb!) (4 issues)

Versus Hearts (3 issues)

Versus Spades (3 issues)

Versus Royal Straight Flush (and resolution) (5 issues)

After every arc I'd have Harper develop a new piece of tech or tool to add to her arsenal. Maybe reverse-engineer something that was used against her in the previous arc. I know she's started using escrima sticks but I think a cattle prod would be so much better for her. Fits her electricity theme. I'd probably show more of how her current suit still is derived from the New 52 Red Robin suit.

I'd probably also have a one-shot story (maybe an annual) where I could write about how the end of Death Metal (and the dissolution of every Crisis) has affected people in the DC Universe. Imagine living a life and then, suddenly, you have memories of a life different than your own. Imagine your friends and family trying to make sense of it all with this new information. Relationships could stop immediately without resolution and the emotional fallout could destroy a character (if you couldn't tell I'm talking about the lack of Harper and Cass interactions. Heck, Harper having any interaction with the Batfamily for the last six years has been pretty sparse).

I'd stay away from having crossovers with other members of the Batfamily, maybe have Bruce undercover but it's like Where's Waldo? where only after an arc does the audience know where he was. Instead I'd like to incorporate homages and characters from previous books, like Moose and Qadir Ali.