One such is The Blue, The Grey, and The Bat (1992), which I probably wouldn't have bought if I had noticed it was written by Elliot Maggin. Elliot "S!" Maggin has much to answer for, writing-wise, such as crap like Magic Monday, Starwinds Howl, "The Headband Warriors of Krypton", and titling both "Costume, Costume, Who's Got the Costume?" and "Villain, Villain, Who's Got the Costume?". Shudder.
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| On Earth-Prime, we have a name for that "invisible aura of radiation around Elliot Maggin" and his writing, but I'm too polite to specify it. |
Still, I was determined to plow through The Blue, The Grey, and the Bat, a very complicated story of undercover agent Colonel Bruce Wayne on assignment from President Lincoln in the Old West.
And then I reached this panel:
Which stopped me DEAD in my tracks.
Why? Because I recognized the joke that Colonel Wayne is telling the punchline from.
Where did I recognize it from? From the time the Joker told it in the only Elliot Maggin story I've ever enjoyed: "Luthor, You're Driving Me Sane" (The Joker, 1977).
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| Now you know what the Joker looks like in an afro-wig; you're welcome. |
Well played, Mr. Maggin. An impressive (and gloriously gratuitous) call-back, some fifteen years later.
Unless, of course, it's just the only joke Elliot Maggin knows.
