The Search for Charlie Episode 1.6: Seriously? The Joker?

"Why so serious?"

From Sam's Journal: "There are maniacs out there . . . tough guys who want to prove who is boss. My usual sources of informants, some reliable, some criminal, and all expensive, are now spreading tales of a clown. Seriously. A clown. How hard would it be to hide and not be seen if you were a clown. What I'm being told though is bone chilling . . . if real this clown guy would be probably the greatest threat I faced - even greater than Lo Pan. And now they are talking about some guy dressed as a bat . . . 

Key, and dangerous, "associates" of the Joker.

The Joker is a supervillain; though he has no super powers. The Joker is a criminal mastermind and a psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor. As mentioned, the Joker possesses no superhuman abilities, instead his expertise in chemical engineering is used to develop poisonous or lethal concoctions and thematic weaponry, including razor-tipped playing cards, deadly joy buzzers, and acid-spraying lapel flowers. No one knows where this homicidal genius comes from, although a number of theories have been proposed but a definitive one has never been established for the Joker. According to an unreliable source, the Joker is uncertain of who he was before and how he became the Joker: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another . . . if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" The Joker commits crimes ranging from whimsical to brutal, for reasons that, "make sense to him alone". Death, chaos and destruction follow in his wake. Is the disappearance of Charlie some sick, twisted joke? And what about this man - bat?

The Invisible Man.

The Invisible Man refers to himself only as Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and who invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light. He carried out this procedure on himself and renders himself invisible, but he failed in his attempt to reverse it.  His condition has almost driven him mad, making him a practitioner of random and irresponsible violence - and also the perfect assassin.

 " . . . another victim of the Invisible Man."

Mister Remorse.

Benedict Stark is a genius of crime and one of the most evil master-criminals the vigilante known as The Shadow had ever fought. Though he is also known as the Prince of Evil, he calls himself Mr. Remorse. During their first battle, he successfully kidnapped The Shadow's agent, Rutledge Mann. Even after Mann's rescue, Stark brazenly kidnapped him a second time along with four other agents who worked with The Shadow. 

Some have theorized that he is the same Daniel Joshua Benedict Stark that invented electroporation. Electroporation is a method to permeabilize cell membranes for delivery of normally impermeable biomolecules. A microelectroporation system was built to provide

a well-controlled and well-defined environment for quantitative studies of electroporation of Jurkat cells, an immortalized line of T cells; however, it exploded killing several people and only one person survived the blast - a young woman was seen crawling away and then running. She, the only witness to what may have happened has disappeared and Daniel Joshua Benedict Stark was never seen again as he presumably was disintegrated in the blast. 

Mister Remorse faces his nemesis Photon.

Besides the criminals behind the crime insurance racket, Stark, and his henchman, are the only adversaries to unmask the identity of The Shadow and fully disrupt the vigilante's secret organization. He has sold this information to the Joker.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes.

Dr. Anton Phibes, a famous concert organist with doctorates in both music and theology, is believed to have been killed in a car crash in Switzerland in 1921, while racing home upon hearing of the death of his beloved wife, Victoria, during surgery. Phibes survived the crash, but was horribly scarred and left unable to speak. He remade his face with prosthetics and used his knowledge of acoustics to regain his voice. Resurfacing secretly, Phibes believes his wife was a victim of her doctors' incompetence, and begins elaborate plans to kill those he believes are guilty for her death. He is the perfect partner in the lab with the insane Joker.

"It's a laboratory, not a lair. I have to remember that."

Once again some great figures from Pulp Figures - until next time!