The Rubberface of Comedy

**"The Rubberface of Comedy"** is the twelfth episode of the first season of *The Batman* and the twelfth episode overall. It is the the first of a two-part story.

## Synopsis

Joker returns to Gotham with new henchmen, and commits crimes through the use of a new invention called Joker putty, a chemical compound that morphs anything and everything into either springy rubber or putty. As Bruce prepares to don the cape to stop him, he starts to wonder if he should reveal himself as The Batman to his friend Ethan. Meanwhile, Rojas implements a zero-tolerance policy on freaks, and instructs his detectives to arrest both Joker and Batman, but matters take a turn for the worse, when Ethan is captured by Joker.

## Plot

On the rampage with his newly created substance-altering “Joker Putty,” the 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 Rojas demands both the Joker *and* The Batman be brought to justice under his "Zero-Tolerance" policy against all criminals and freaks. When Officer Ethan Bennett 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 and Judy 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 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 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 the Joker. Ethan goes to the scene and Bruce suits up. At a gallery theatricum, 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 the Joker, in a showdown “fun house” no less, the Batman, and Officer Bennett and Officer Ellen Yin. During the struggle, Bennett inhales fumes from a broken canister of “Joker Putty,” instantly having an ill effect on the cop. In short, the Joker is captured, the Batman disappears, and Bennett is suspended for crediting Batman with The 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, aka The Batman, to meet tomorrow to discuss some important matters, we see him stumble towards the bathroom. He peers in the mirror, looking sickly. He rubs his face and is shocked to discover… his skin begins to melt.

## Cast/Characters

* Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth
* Steve Harris as Detective Ethan Bennett
* Ming-Na as Detective Ellen Yin
* Kevin Michael Richardson as The Joker
* Jesse Corti as Chief Rojas
* Punch and Judy
* Neil Ross as Robinson Sprang
* Bane (shown in a photo)
* Penguin (Shown in a photo)
* Mr. Freeze (shown in a photo)

## Events

- Character debuts:

* Punch
* Judy

- Wayne Manor is repaired after the events of *Bird of Prey*.

- A flashback of Joker's origin is shown.

- Ethan is suspended from the GCPD.

- Ethan begins turning into Clayface.

## 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.
* Joker kidnapping a law official and turning him into a criminal would be repeated in the 2008 film *The Dark Knight* where his Nolanverse counterpart kidnaps Harvey Dent and turns him into Two-Face.
* This episode marks the first two-episode story-arcs in *The Batman*.
* Joker's famous alias "The Clown Prince of Crime" is used as of this episode.
* This is the first episode to be split into two parts.
* In other sources the episode is written as The Rubber Face of Comedy.

## Errors

* When Punch gives the putty gun to Joker, his hand looks the same as Joker's hand.

Hand error.