The Rubberface of Comedy is an episode of season 1 of The Batman. It premiered on April 30, 2005.
Synopsis for "The Rubberface of Comedy"
On the rampage with his newly created substance-altering “Joker Putty,” Joker is out to remake artifacts and landmarks in his image. With his new "putty" he's able to melt and alter the texture of any surface, to warp it in his own vision like silly putty. One of his operations, a bank heist, wasn't thwarted by the police, which angers the chief. Both the police and The Batman are hot on his tail. Meanwhile, Chief Angel Rojas demands both Joker and The Batman be brought to justice under his "Zero-Tolerance" policy against all criminals and freaks. When Detective Ethan Bennet suggests they work with the Batman, Rojas reprimands him for the idea and demands he choose sides.
Meanwhile, Joker is reshaping a statue, until Batman arrives. Punch keep Batman busy, while Joker reshapes the statue. The 2 detectives then arrive. Punch and Judy try attacking Batman at the same time; he dodges and they literally knock themselves out. Batman goes to stop Joker, but Ethan comes to arrest Batman. Joker and the 2 thugs manage to escape, and Ethan tries capturing Batman. Batman throws him away, but he almost goes off the railing, so Batman catches it instead of following Joker. Yin catches Ethan and Batman goes away.
At the Wayne Manor, Bruce decides to let his best friend Ethan in on his secret identity, to gain a new ally in his fight against Gotham City’s underworld. Meanwhile at the GCPD, Rojas is disappointed and furious with the detectives' failure, and warns Ethan that one more failure and he's fired. Later at a diner, Bruce and Ethan are talking about recent events. Just before Bruce tells Ethan about his secret, both get alerted about Joker. Ethan goes to the scene and Bruce suits up. At a gallery theatrical, Ethan tries to arrest Joker, but Punch knocks him out. Later, the police come to investigate and Yin follows Ethan's GPS unit. Even more later, Batman comes to investigate. He finds a lead to an abandoned amusement park. At said amusement park, Joker tortures Ethan mentally.
Batman finally manages to make use of the lead, and goes to the amusement park. As Batman arrives, he finds that the police already got here and arrested Punch and Judy. This eventually leads to a dramatic showdown between Joker, in a showdown “fun house” no less, the Batman, and Detectives Ethan Bennett and Ellen Yin. During the struggle, Bennett inhales fumes from a broken canister of “Joker Putty,” instantly having an ill effect on the cop. Eventually, Joker is captured, the Batman disappears, and Bennett is suspended for crediting Batman with Joker’s capture, and failing to apprehend the Dark Knight.
Later that evening at Bennett’s apartment, he is still feeling ill from gas inhalation earlier in the day. After receiving a phone call from Bruce Wayne to meet tomorrow to discuss some important matters, he stumbles towards the bathroom. He peers in the mirror, looking sickly. He rubs his face and is shocked to discover… his skin begins to melt.
Appearing in "The Rubberface of Comedy"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Gotham City Police Department
- Penguin (In a photograph only)
- Mr. Freeze (In a photograph only)
- Bane (In a photograph only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- No notes.
Trivia
- The episode shares plotline similarities to Batman: The Killing Joke. Most notably, Joker, in both stories, captures a close friend to Batman and attempts to drive them insane, simply to prove that only "one bad day" can break anyone's sanity.
See Also
- 1 Images from The Batman (TV Series) Episode: The Rubberface of Comedy
- Episodes of The Batman (TV Series)
- Images from The Batman (TV Series)
- Gallery for the The Batman (TV Series) series
Recommended Media
- None.
Links and References
- None.
Footnotes