Comments on: Penny for your Bat-Thoughts?

Question: Penny for your Bat-Thoughts?

Spyder's Game — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:56:29 -0800

Why does Batman keep a giant penny and a huge replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Bat Cave?

Very often, when you see depictions of Batman's hideaway, it includes a giant penny (sculpture?) and a (possibly life size?) T Rex just sitting around. Why is this? I know he's a detective. I know he's got some astounding computer/information gathering equipment that helps his detective work but... what's with the penny? And the dinosaur?

By: mattdini

mattdini — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:03:43 -0800

According to Wikipedia regarding the penny:

In the episode "Almost Got 'Im", Two-Face uses a giant penny in an attempt to either crush Batman or kill him from the impact, whichever side the giant coin landed on. Batman managed to free himself from the coin by slicing open the ropes. While telling the story of this to other Batman villains, Two-Face commented that Batman got to keep the giant coin. It is seen later in the series, in the Batcave. This story was later retconned as the official comic origin of the penny.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batcave

By: mattdini

mattdini — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:04:27 -0800

Oh.. also regarding the T-Rex:

The New Batman Adventures

In the 1998 episode "Mean Seasons" from The New Batman Adventures, Batman and Batgirl are forced to fight a giant mechanical T-Rex. The comic book tie-in to the Justice League Batman - Batman Adventures #12 - features a short called "The Hidden Display" which tells how a young Dick Grayson persuades Batman into keeping a robot T-Rex early on his career, which eventually leads to the Trophy Room of the Cave. Either one of these tales could be how the animated Batman obtained the dinosaur. An extensive training area allows Barbara Gordon to take on robots as part of her training.

By: Spyder's Game

Spyder's Game — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:08:46 -0800

Good Lord! Is there a wikipedia entry on everything?! Nice work mattdini!!

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:13:02 -0800

Read that page more carefully! Those explanations are from the new animated series; there are Golden Age stories that explain why you've seen the T-Rex and penny in the Batcave for 60 years:

The T. Rex comes from an adventure on "Dinosaur Island" (Batman #35, 1946); the penny was originally a trophy from Batman's encounter with a penny-obsessed villain named the Penny Plunderer (World's Finest Comics #30, 1947).

By: Zed

Zed — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:03:18 -0800

This reprint volume is about the Batcave, and, according to the customer reviews, answers these questions (with the original stories.)

A giant penny also features in "The Joker's Crime Costumes" from Batman #63, Feb/Mar 1951. When I read it in The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told, I thought that was the origin of the penny.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:25:54 -0800

Just be aware that there may have been multiple "origin stories" for the penny or dinosaur. This doesn't just apply to the two movie series, which have now had three actors playing two versions of Two-Face, but the various animated and live adaptations, and crucially, multiple reboots of the comic books themselves. Sometimes a story will be re-told with new elements, then retconned in, or even retold again to conform to an earlier story but with some of the new stuff incorporated.

But I think you got the basic idea for these two items.