The Giant Penny and the Penny Plunderer: the enduring legacy of a loser villain

[about_faces]

Like many or perhaps even most comics fans, there was a time when I naturally assumed that the giant penny in the Batcave was--alongside the robot T-Rex and the big Joker playing card--a trophy from some previous clash with Two-Face. Well, either that or the time the Joker dressed up as Simple Simon and used a giant penny to try busting open a bank

Comments

[surrealname]

HA!

[about_faces]

Sometimes, this era of Batman can be thoroughly entertaining. Or maybe I'm just getting older and looking to enjoy more silliness. Either way.

[box_in_the_box]

Joe Coyne? Seriously? As Seanbaby suggested on Cracked.com, old-school Batman could have cut Gotham's crime in half simply by seeking out pregnant women who planned on giving their kids thematically contrived names and punching them in the stomach.

And thus, we have the only villain alive to swear vengeance upon currency.

[about_faces]

Joe Coyne? Seriously? As Seanbaby suggested on Cracked.com, old-school Batman could have cut Gotham's crime in half simply by seeking out pregnant women who planned on giving their kids thematically contrived names and punching them in the stomach.

I don't think Joe Coyne is all that contrived. Now, if the Penny Plunderer had been a girl named Penelope Farthing...

--Henchgirl

[box_in_the_box]

[about_faces]

Glenn Beck needs to be made into SOME kind of supervillain, but I'm not sure what. Sometimes I feel like the closest equivalent is a deranged Funky Flashman by way of Glorious Godfrey.

Holy shit, how does that even work?

Well, as that same Seanbaby article showed us, Commissioner Gordon used to be all, "No, no, please take my crime scene evidence! You deserve it!"

[mcgeejabberwock]

'I've also ripped out the telephone wires!' Oh, for the good old days before mobiles when it was easier for writers to create cheap suspense.

I first heard of the Penny Plunderer in this obvious troll fanfic where he was called 'one of the most powerful villains in Gotham'. (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7316861/3/Batman_Hero_of_Gotham) So Coyne does have his fans after all.

[about_faces]

Sometimes I think we need to have less modern technology in Batman stories, since I always loved a Gotham city that was a mix of art deco and modern, with Tommy Guns and alongside giant computers. Anyone who enters Gotham should be required to trade in their cell phone for a rotary phone!

Oh good lord. Well, I suppose that's better than a certain infamous Catwoman fic author deciding that Coyne hates pennies because he woke up one morning after a bender only to discover that he had a new "I HATE PENNIES" tattoo.

[barcavolio]

Oh man, this was glorious and far better than researching James I! Thank you, distracting powers of the internet... The copper/pennies panel nearly made me die, good grief Silver Age you're so much fun. The Batman Forever kind of fun. I love that film...

I'm not sure about America, but here if you melted down a penny it would be worth more than its currency-value, because of the copper content, so they're pretty useless as a form of money. Handy if you have access to a melty-thing though. (I failed metalwork at school. Can you tell?)

Oh, I nearly forgot - you used to be able to buy penny sweets with them, but now penny sweets cost 2p. Bah.

[about_faces]

The Batman Forever kind of fun. I love that film...

I need to do a proper review of that movie. I hate it from so many angles, but there's so much more that I love, despite myself. Mainly, I want more Harvey and Eddie. Their scenes together are gold.

[barcavolio]

They really are glorious. "Has anyone ever told you you have a SERIOUS IMPULSE CONTROL PROBLEM?" Why yes, I can pretty much quote the entire film off by heart. Don't hold it against me XD

[about_faces]

Don't hold it against me

There was a time when I actually might have, but thankfully, I've since learned to enjoy good, clean fun, even when it's bad. :)

"HEY TWO-FACE, SHOW ME HOW TO HIT A GUY!"

[martin_l_gore]

"Choosing the path taken by weak fools, Coyne turns to crime..." You've got to adore the subtlety.

[about_faces]

SUPERSTITIOUS AND COWARDLY LOT, MAN.