JuJuBit: Bull's-Eye

 Our next JuJuBit figure profile is BULL'S-EYE.

or, as he is less actionably known, Leapo the Clown.

As you may remember, Bull's-Eye is the completely original one-of-a-kind clown-like villain who used to battle Green Arrow in the Golden Age.

There's no backstory as to how his face got That Way (or whether he just wears elaborate make-up while lounging around the hideout).  You don't have to be that deep to be Green Arrow's nemesis.

"Battle" is rather a strong word.  

God, I love Bull's-Eye.  Never any elaborate traps or devices; he simply clobbers Green Arrow with whatever happens to be lying around. He's an improv comic.

Mostly Bull's-Eye made a fool out of Green Arrow (no challenge there) until the very end where he would be caught through some turn of bad luck. As if being a Green Arrow villain were not bad luck enough!

Bull's-Eye schtick was that. he was a former acrobatic clown ("Leapo") whose specially was dodging projectiles, making him the perfect living target to confound Green Arrow.

Confounding Green Arrow is fun but not especially difficult.

The JuJubit sculpt was based on this image of B-E:

That signature is George Papp, co-creator of Green Arrow.

Given his schtick, I knew that his Heroclix dial would need to grant him "Leap/Climb" (a mobility power that allows easily change elevations and escape from opponents) and some other powers that might make him difficult to hit.  I also wanted him to be a low-cost figure so that he would be easily added to teams; a "harasser" rather than a "tentpole".

So, I chose this dial:

Some obscure Marvel menace, I believe.

It has two "move and attack" powers (Running Shot and Charge) and three "hit avoidance powers" (Deflection, Combat Reflexes and the Super-senses granted by his team ability), all of which is perfect for his M.O. of attacking on the go and being hard to hit.  The trait that grants leap/climb and a free change of elevation screams "Leapo"!  And he has power Ranged Combat Expert and Close Combat Expert (which shows he's both a crack shot and wicked hand-to-hand opponent).  The Wildcard team ability (that's the Question Mark in a circle) allows him to fit in on any team of villains.  Plus, he's got TWO starting lines, meaning you can play him at a more threatening 50 points or at a still spicy 25 points.

It looks like this on his customized card:

I have a lot of customized Green Arrow villains in Heroclix (e.g., the Red Dart and the Octopus), but Leapo is going to be my favorite!

"The "Round-the-World Crimes!", #1

 Let us visit our favorite time-stranded hero,

Yes, in the Golden Age, they called him "THE Green Arrow".  Not just in the logos, but the characters in the story did it, too.  If you think "The Batman" sounds silly, try saying "The Green Arrow" every time.

I say "time-stranded" because we must never forget that current continuity asserts that our modern-day Ollie (and Roy) were stranded in time (the 1940s, specifically).  I forget how and why, because I don't care. What I care about is the fact that THESE Golden Age The Green Arrow stories aren't some Earth-2 version of Ollie; they are actually OUR Ollie.  Meaning that Ollie adapted to the 1940s with GUSTO and appears to have loved it.  No whining about 'fat cats' and 'the little people'.  Just fighting dumb-@$$ villains like The Octopus.  It makes me love The Green Arrow.  Kind of.

Another character I love is The Green Arrow's nemesis, the hilariously unsubtle Joker-manqué, "Bull's-Eye", whom he faces off against in today's tale,

"The 'Round-the-World Crimes"
In the Golden Age, they still remember that it's actually "around-the-world" and accordingly used an apostrophe when dropping the "a".  

I appreciate how the "crime clown" motif was adapted for The Green Arrow.  Bull's-Eye is a former circus clown acrobat.

I can't tell you how much I love the name "Leapo".  
This being the DCU, I bet his real name is Lee Povitch.

He is so agile that the Quivering Duo can't hit him with their arrows.   This angle makes him a perfect foil for The Green Arrow and just different enough from the Joker to be his own man.

This Bull's-Eye story, however, is PARTICULARLY Jokeresque, as you will see.

"That Baleful Buffoon" isn't as awesome a sobriquet as "The Harlequin of Hate", but everything in Star City just hews to a lower standard.

One of the Joker's earliest schticks was announcing his crimes (and the murders that facilitated them) in advance as act of bravado, daring the authorities to stop him.

There's no reason work should be boring, you know.

The Joker does this for giggles.  Bull's-Eye does it out of necessity, because otherwise there is zero chance The Green Arrow would ever get near him.

Star City's motto: "We Grade On A Curve."

Bull's-Eye literally places a bull's-eye symbol to mark the place he intends to target, so that The Green Arrow can't miss.  Ollie's a phenomenal archer, but, as previously discussed, he's not really a detective.

Ollie and Roy costume up and head to the Tourism Agency, where, exactly as advertised, Bull's-Eye is pulling a caper.  

So, how long do you think Bull's-Eye & Co. had to kill time at World Tours Inc., waiting for the The Green Arrow to finally show up?
"Mr. Eye, perhaps you'd be interested in bundling a trip with hotel and rental car arrangements? It saves money and maximizes your freedom abroad!"

Note that there's none of that "THE Green Arrow" nonsense for Bull's-Eye. He has zero respect for or fear of Ollie.  I wouldn't be surprised if he already KNOWS Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow and just doesn't want to spoil the fun.  Bull's-Eye is everything the Joker wants to be and doesn't need to kill anybody to prove it.

"For the thrill!" = out of pity

Ollie and Roy do their usual "pin 'em to the wall with arrows" bit.

"It's South America for me!"
"It's <blank> for me!" is classic Golden Age prose. You hear it at least once in every JSA story, even though I don't think any real person has ever used the phrase this way.

Next comes this disturbingly ribald interchange:

"Can I choose... both?"

Bull's-Eye brushes off The Green Arrow's empty threat and leap(o)s off to freedom.

C'mon; you know the Joker is never actually this much fun.

I don't know how The Green Arrow wound up ass-on-floor during that interchange, and I don't care.  It's just the natural result of Leapo, a buffoon by choice, interacting with The Green Arrow, a buffoon by nature.

But now the story gets VERY Joker-y.

"Local yokel"? Yowtch.

Usually, I am inclined to be very sympathetic toward Leapo for his lack of recognition (and a decent challenge). But, realistically... YOU were the one who chose to be The Green Arrow's nemesis, Leapo. Don't be surprised when that doesn't exactly earn you a world of respect.

There's nothing more Jokerish than getting pissy about poor press and then coming up with a scheme to turn that situation around (thematically, if possible).

"Gotham City will rue the day it mentioned the word BONER!"
I think we all rue that day, Joker.

Please stop texting me these pics, Joker. You're no Jared Leto.

So, too, then, Bull's-Eye, who decides to stab back at the idea that he's just a "local" by promising a ROUND-THE-WORLD crime-spree. WITHOUT LEAVING TOWN!

See, the Joker (or even the Penguin) would have just shot that guy on the spot.  But Star City simply doesn't have enough suitable manpower to enable such behavior.

Tomorrow we learn just what Bull's-Eye has in mind (and how he helps The Green Arrow keep up with him).