Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tales from The Quarter Bin--Rappin' With Robin

UPDATE: One of our commentators may have found the origin of the "famous routine." Video embedded below.

While Dick Grayson is attending Hudson University, another famous person has decided to get a college education, too: "Actor-singer-dancer-comedian" Davy King!!


I know what you're thinking...that life story sounds suspiciously like that of famed entertainer Danny Kaye. Well, you're right, it does...but don't worry, they explicitly acknowledge in the credits that they're doing this as a tribute to him:

Now, you might be asking, why turn the Robin back-up strip from Batman #252 (1973) into a vehicle for Danny Kaye? And I guess the only answer is...why not??

Anyhoo, a series of accidents have plagued the campus since Danny Davy arrived. (SPOILER ALERT: Davy's agent is losing money while Davy is attending classes, so he's staging accident to persuade Davy that the college is cursed, so Davy will leave and go back on tour. Seriously). And while Davy is entertaining a ton of tykes at Dick Grayson's charity boys club, there's a big explosion, and they're all trapped inside while Robin rousts the bad guy. Don't worry, though:

And how did he do that?

Oh, man, this deserves a closer look:





Now, I have to admit that I'm not familiar enough with Danny Kaye's material to know if there was a real "famous routine" that this was based on, maybe where he pulled a Billy Joel or Michael Stipe on famous names of the time, or if Elliot S! Maggin was just freestylin' here. If anyone out there knows, drop a line or link in the comments section.

But whatever the basis, we have Danny Kaye "racing through the names of super-heroes in rhythm," including several non-DC heroes!! And that's worth the quarter this comic cost me, and then some!!

Seriously, DC Borscht Belt comedians know of the Submariner and Human Torch? Maybe he wasn't from Earth-1...

UPDATE: Anonymous (bro, get a name...we're all friendly here!!) has found the bit that was doubtless the inspiration for Davy King's "famous routine":

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 21, 2010 at 12:25 PM

    The one that springs to mind is "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)," in which Kaye pattered through a series of Russian composers' names. The song's by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin.

    There's a recording of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh-wOvuOHPE

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  2. snellDecember 21, 2010 at 10:36 PM

    You're probably right on there, Anon. The video is now amended to the main post.

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  3. La Belle EsplanadeDecember 22, 2010 at 8:36 PM

    Thanks for adding the clip. Who can hate Danny Kaye? It's nice to see some culture here on Slay Monstrobot. Happy holidays.

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