Ally Babble

An endlessly voluble fellow for whom incessant jabbering is both a valued hallmark and a way of life. Batman No. 30/3 refers to him as "that amazing man who is never down in the mouth… that original individual who was vaccinated with a phono­graph needle… that human walkie-talkie…".

In August-September 1945, after Ally Babble has successfully silenced a persistent lap dancer living directly above a man named Jasper Quinch, Quinch offers to pay Babble $5.000 to dispose of thirteen other pet peeves that have bothered him for ages, including a subway guard at a particular subway station who persists in pushing people into overcrowded subway cars (Babble gives the guard a taste of his own medi­cine by shoving him into a subway car) and motorists who drive in such a way as to splash muddy water on passing pedestrians (Babble hauls one such motorist from his vehicle and losses him headlong into a large puddle).

As Ally Babble races about the city wreaking his zany vengeance on the perpetrators of Jasper Ouinch's "fourteen peeves," a series of complaints flow into police headquarters, and the constabulary set out in search of the "lunatic" responsible for the damage. At one point, criminals Hoiman and Shoiman hear about Babble's antics and decide to capitalize on them. While one of Babble's angry victims is chasing him through the streets, Hoiman and Shoiman break into his home and rob it. Later, when Babble enters the Clown Club, a club for practical jokers, in order to continue his ridiculous reign of terror - practical jokers are one of Jasper Quinch's fourteen pet peeves - Hoiman and Shoiman invade the club and attempt to make off with its solid gold anniversary cup, only to be apprehended by Batman and Robin. Ally Babble returns to Jasper Ouinch's house with the Dynamic Duo, but Batman, Robin, and Ouinch become infuriated with Babble's incessant jabbering and finally boot him out the door­ way and into the street.

In April-May 1946, after a gypsy fortune teller has promised him that the four tea leaves in his cup will bring him financial reward, love, a voyage, and the ability to bring happiness to other people, Ally Babble puts each tea leaf in a separate envelope and lets the wind carry them away one at a time, on the assumption that following the windblown envelopes will enable him to find the various rewards promised by the gypsy.

The tea leaf bearing the promise of financial reward floats onto a trolley car which has been commandeered by a gang of criminals who hope to steal a briefcase full of valuable bonds from a passenger who is the presi­dent of a bond company. Batman and Robin thwart the theft and apprehend the criminals and, because the Dynamic Duo never accept rewards for their crime­ fighting exploits, Ally Babble ends up with the meager $1 reward offered by the bond-company president.

Soon aftenvard, while he is racing through the streets in pursuit of the envelope containing his love tea-leaf, Ally Babble inadvertently saves the life of a young woman about to be run over by a car. The grateful girl rewards Babble with a kiss, and Babble assumes that he has fallen in love.

The envelope containing the voyage tea-leaf sails into a hospital whose therapeutic equipment includes a lounging area for patients resembling the deck of an ocean liner. Inside the hospital, Babble collides with some criminals who, disguised as doctors, are attempt­ing to make off with the hospital's radium supply. When Batman and Robin arrive on the scene, a pitched battle begins, during which Babble becomes com­pletely intoxicated afler accidentally inhaling some pure oxygen. The battle concludes on the hospital's simulated boat deck - symbolizing Babble's promised voyage - and it is the zany antics resulting from Bab­ble's oxygen-induced intoxication which ultimately facilitate the capture of the criminals and the recovery of the radium.

Laler, after the radium thieves have been turned over to the authorities, Babble finds that he has grown suddenly hoarse. The hoarseness, Batman observes wryly, must be the legacy of the fourth tea leaf, since Ally Babble has now brought happiness to others by losing his voice.

1. ↑ Aug/Sep '45: "Ally Babble and the Fourteen Peeves!"
2. ↑ BM No. 30/3: "Ally Babble and the Fourteen Peeves!"
3. ↑ BM No. 34/2: "Ally Babble and the Four Tea Leaves!"