Language is fluid and the meaning of a word can change over time. And that’s the reason it’s not weird The Joker launched a wave of “Boner Crimes” against Gotham in 1951’s Batman #66.
To be clear, in this context, a boner is referring to any sort of misstep or mistake one may make – and nothing else – so some background is needed. In an especially embarrassing failure, The Joker and his gang attempt to rob the Gotham Electric Company, only to see their escape foiled because nobody realized that cutting the building’s power would render the elevators useless. Ditching the loot and resorting to the stairs, the criminals barely escape Batman’s clutches and Joker is indignant to read the next day’s headline: “Joker Pulls Boner of the Year!”
Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime exclaims, “So! They laugh at my boner, will they?! I’ll show them! I’ll show them how many boners The Joker can make!” The headline seems to have sparked inspiration: “This emphasis on boners has given me an idea for a new adventure in crime! Gotham will rue the day it mentioned the word boner!” Joker concocts a plan to commit crimes based around the biggest “boners” in recorded history, with his first strike recreating the 1950 grounding of the USS Missouri, except this time it’s a ship filled with diamonds for the taking. The next day, the headline reads, “Stunned By His Boner, Joker Lashes Back! Loots Stalled Liner!”
Promising he’s designed “a special boner just for Batman,” Joker continues his spree. His next crime is based on the failed infrastructure of The Leaning Tower of Pisa, which Joker calls “one of the great architectural boners in history!” The clown destabilizes a mansion’s tower to gain access and rob the building, declaring that its designer, “…didn’t bargain on The Joker – and his boner crimes!” The Joker takes over Gotham’s airwaves to gloat about his feat, promising, “more boner crimes to come,” and that, “soon, Batman will make the boner of the year.”
“What does he mean, Bruce?” Robin asks. “How can he force you into a boner?” Unsure of the cryptic message’s meaning, Batman suggests the pair, “…continue our study of the great boners of all time.” Joker eventually launches his Batman boner, with his master plan being to trick the Batplane’s navigation and make it land in England instead of California. And that’s it. That’s the entirety of his sinister “special boner.”
But it actually works and this perceived lapse somehow turns public opinion against Batman, with the following day’s papers declaring it was “Batman’s Greatest Boner!” But as Joker holds a celebratory dinner, The Dynamic Duo bust through the door, revealing they’d already deduced and planned for his plot to discredit them. After taking The Joker down and restoring their good names, the final panel sees Joker behind bars as Batman triumphantly declares, “Let’s hope we’ve the last of things like boners – and Jokers!”
It’s hard to wrap up a story as silly as this in any serious manner, so instead here’s just some more choice quotes from Batman #66:
- “But only a sense of humor like The Joker’s could think of translating boners into crimes!”
- “Those boner crimes are making us look bad! And I’m worried about the boner he’s readying for you!”
- “It is well that I am ready to trick him into his boner!”
- “You were so busy forcing me into a boner, you forgot you were committing one yourself!”
- “Our city – and indeed our nation – owe you an apology, Batman! Actually, they committed the greatest boner of all – by losing faith in you!”