Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Penny Plunderer


Joe Coyne (get it?) works hard to earn just pennies, gets fired for pitching pennies on the job, and when he tries becoming a thief he robs a cash register full of only pennies. In jail, he gives a truly impressive villainous rant: "When I get out, I'll get back at coppers and pennies! I'll fight coppers - with pennies! Every job I pull will involve pennies! My crime symbol will be pennies!" Committing penny-themed crimes, stealing antique penny banks and a rare one-cent stamp, the Penny Plunderer is mostly remembered as the man responsible for the giant penny that can be seen in the Batcave to this day.

Pros: Although the animated series had a much more clever origin (Two-Face strapped Batman and Robin to a giant penny which he launched into the air, given them a 50/50 shot at being crushed, but they landed face up), the Penny Plunderer's giant penny has appeared in hundreds of comics, so even though he only appeared the one time, he's somewhat legendary (his appearance collected here, the story ends with him being sentenced to death, which seems very un-Batman-ly).

Cons: Pennies 60 years ago weren't that much money, but with inflation they're practically worthless.

How I'd do it: I guess you could make him a militant anti-penny crusader

Casting Guesses: The drawings of Coyne kinda look like Ian McShane.

Verdict: Nope. But now that I think about it, Ian McShane could play a pretty great Batman villain.

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