- Here we come, from another planet, terrorizing the inhabitants of Gotham City and forcing them and the rest of the world's population to their knees with the demands I shall issue from my awe-inspiring spaceship!
The Joker's Flying Saucer is an episode of season 3 of Batman. It premiered on February 29, 1968.
Synopsis for "The Joker's Flying Saucer"
Gotham City is flooded with reports of an imminent Martian invasion - in reality another convoluted scheme from the Joker, whose henchman Verdigris is posing as a Martian and creating disturbances around the city. Several more of Joker's underlings pose as frightened citizens to intensify panic, all so their employer can extort Gotham with his latest invention: a fully operable flying saucer.
While Batman and Robin confer with the police on the supposed invasion, Verdigris chances upon the Batmobile and hides a bomb inside. Shortly after, the Dynamic Duo return to the Batcave and deduce Joker's involvement and overall plan, which is relayed to Alfred and Commissioner Gordon - who unthinkingly relays it to Barbara. Subsequently, both Alfred and Batgirl begin patrolling the Wayne Foundation's Metal Research Wing, which contains the beryllium Joker needs to finish his craft.
Unfortunately, the pair are soon caught by the Joker, who takes Batgirl as a hostage and orders Alfred - whom he mistakes for a mad scientist - to help build the flying saucer. Simultaneously, Verdigris' bomb explodes, destroying much of the Batcave but not its owners, whose Anti-Thermal Bat-T-Shirts had neutralized the blast. Moments before Joker's flying saucer launches, Batman reestablishes contact with Alfred, who smuggles a sample of "homing beryl" into the saucer's hull, forcing the saucer to return to its launch site after a short flight.
On landing, Joker and his gang are immediately confronted by Batman and Robin, who - along with Batgirl - beat them into submission and expose the "invasion" as a hoax. Once the faux Martians are re-incarcerated, Batman and Robin turn their attentions to rebuilding the Batcave - until a famed Gotham jeweler reports a suspicious man and woman turning invisible before his very eyes.
Appearing in "The Joker's Flying Saucer"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Joker
- Chartreuse (Final appearance)
- Emerald (Final appearance)
- Mrs. Green (Single appearance)
- Professor Greenleaf (Single appearance)
- Shamrock (Final appearance)
- Verdigris (Final appearance) (Impersonates a Martian)
- Dr. Cassandra (First appearance) (Cameo)
- Cabala (First appearance) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Bonnie (Voice)
- Mayor Linseed
- Bunko Artist (Mentioned only)
- First Minister of the Presidium (Mentioned only)
- Governor Stonefellow (Mentioned only)
- Martians (Mentioned only)
- President Lyndon B. Johnson (Mentioned only)
- United Nations (Mentioned only)
- Warden Crichton (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Earth
- Gotham City
- Barbara Gordon's Apartment
- Flying Circus Hill
- Abandoned Launching Pad Factory
- Gotham City International Airport
- Bat-Copter Port
- Gotham City Police Headquarters
- Gotham City Public Library
- Gotham Park (Mentioned only)
- Gotham River (Cameo)
- Gotham State Prison (Mentioned only)
- Spiffany's Jewelry Store
- Wayne Foundation (Mentioned only)
- Metals Research Wing (Mentioned only)
- Batcave
- Atomic Pile
- Russia
- England
- Londinium
- Westminster
- Big Ben (Cameo)
- Palace of Westminster (Cameo)
- River Thames (Cameo)
- Westminster
- Londinium
- Petronoviskoff (Mentioned only)
- Gotham City
- Mars (Mentioned only)
- Saturn (Mentioned only)
- Sun (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Anti-Thermal Bat-T-Shirts
- Batcomputer
- Current Criminal Activity Bat-Disclosure Unit
- Batgirl's Utility Belt
- Automatic Fuse Extinguisher
- Batphone
- Batpoles
- Beryllium
- Green Time Bomb (Destroyed)
- Homing Beryl
- Intercosmic Two-Way Thermophone
- Interplanetary Microphone
- Mope Diamond
- Auxiliary Circuit Bat-Regenerator (Mentioned only)
- Titanium (Mentioned only)
Vehicles:
- Bat-Copter
- Batcycle
- Batmobile
- Joker's Flying Saucer
Concepts:
- Mother Machree (song) (Mentioned only)
Notes
- Much like the Penguin in "Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin", the Joker strangely does not recognize Alfred, despite being humiliated by him in a previous episode.
- Although the at first suspected Martian invasion in this episode is revealed to just be an elaborate hoax concocted by the Joker, the 2017 comic Batman '66 Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 later seemingly confirmed the existence of actual Martians in the Batman '66 universe with a cameo appearance of the Martian Manhunter.
Trivia
- According to Batman, Section 32, Subsection 14 of the Gotham City Penal Code declares it "the duty of every good citizen of Gotham City to report meeting a man from Mars in a public park".
- The shots of Joker's flying saucer "in action" consist of stock footage from the 1953 film Invaders from Mars.
See Also
- 0 Images from Batman (1966 TV Series) Episode: The Joker's Flying Saucer
- Episodes of Batman (1966 TV Series)
- Images from Batman (1966 TV Series)
- Gallery for the Batman (1966 TV Series) series
Recommended Media
- None.
Links and References
- None.
Footnotes