10 Lame Batman Villains I Dare The Gotham Writers To Use

8. Penny Plunderer

You know the giant penny that you see in most classic renditions of the Batcave? That originally was a memento of a fight with this guy, though DC later retconned it away and credited it to Two-Face instead.

I think that was a mistake, because the Penny Plunderer has one of the best “only in comics” origins ever. Because his first trouble with the law came after he was caught stealing pennies, Joe Coyne decided that pennies and “coppers” were the cause of all his problems. Remember, this was 1947, so “coppers” was a slang term for police that was probably still in use at the time.

You should see where this is headed, and if not, just check out the panels above. Using unassailable comic book logic, Coyne declares that all of his jobs will revolve around pennies, and that the lowliest coin will be his symbol. Had he simple aimed higher back when he was a simple thief, he could have been the $100 Bill Plunderer, and except for the lack of alliteration, that would have been so much better.

Or maybe not. The giant penny was so silly that it would have been fine to just leave it alone as the result of a case involving such a goofy villain, but DC had to go and give the green light to having Two-Face as the responsible party. As if Harvey Dent doesn’t get enough time in the spotlight already.

As for a Gotham angle, maybe there’s a copper shortage of some sort because crime is so bad, like when people start stripping abandoned homes for their copper pipes? Honestly, that’s all I’ve got.

Next: No. 7: The Eraser