Batman: Hizzonner the Penguin & Dizzoner the Penguin

Hizzonner the Penguin

"No Robin, I want to conduct a campaign that deals with the issues. I'm convinced the American electorate is too mature to be taken in by cheap, vaudeville trickery. After all, if our national leaders were elected on the basis of tricky slogans, brass bands and pretty girls, our country would be in a terrible mess, wouldn't it?"

This episode may, after a few episodes fiddling with the standard formula, start in what by now is the traditional way, It may even, in its opening scene, be uncomfortable close to the plot of "The Penguin Goes Straight/Not Yet He Ain't". But none of that does matter. What does is that this is one of the finest pieces of political satire that I've ever seen, pitting Batman against the Penguin for the position of Gotham City mayor- and therefore issues vs. razzmatazz.

The Penguin's campaign is populist, one would almost be tempted to say Trumpian except that Penguin is merely corrupt rather than malevolent, with free champagne, copious baby kissing, lots of cheerful fun, and massive rallies with free champagne. He even has the real Paul Revere and the Raiders as his official band.Batman, meanwhile, speaks to tiny audiences droning on and on, offending voters by his refusal to kiss babies. Everything drips with gleeful satirical wit, and I love it. As Penguin says, "I can use all my slipperiest tricks, and now they're legal."

Dizzoner the Penguin

"I'm flattered, gentlemen, But I thought your party had a candidate for 1968?"

The cliffhanger resolution, following one of the coolest deathtraps ever, is a bit of a cheat: the Dynamic Duo have acid-proof costumes. Also a massive cheat, and enormous fun, is Penguin's splendidly devious behaviour during the television debate although, of course, he's not a patch on Trump. And, if Penguin wins, he plans to appoint the Riddler as commissioner and the Joker as police  chief...

Fortunately, Batman is right not to trust the polls, is elected mayor (he quickly hands over to Mayor Linseed, surely a bit dishonest?) and after the usual fight manages to defeat Penguin: we end with what again looks like a normal episode. But then we get the priceless ending, very topical, as both parties ask Batman to be their candidate for president- and the episode brilliantly predicts that a Vietnam-worn Lyndon Johnson will not be seeking re-election in 1968. Surely this is a contender, with its real satirical bite, for best two-parter ever.