Those Wonderful Toys

A chess set fashioned after the Gotham Rogues, undoubtedly a creation of The Z.  Riddler used it as a snappy little prop/conversation starter for a sitdown with Batman in (fittingly) The Gotham Rogues when Joker, Poison Ivy, Clayface and the others were his weapons in the war with the Gotham mobs.

The Chessboard from The Gotham Rogues now on display in the Cat-Tales Virtual Visitor Center

“Interesting choice. Most people would have made him the king.”
“Most people are idiots,” Riddler observed. “King is not only the weakest piece on the board, he’s the most predictable. Moves one square, can’t put himself in check, and because he’s so gosh-darn important, he doesn’t move at all until there are no options left. Bishop, on the other hand, can wreak havoc just by existing. Move the pawn sitting in front of him, it’s a whole new game board.”
Behind Batman’s mask, Bruce looked up sharply. It was a shockingly brilliant analysis.
“Diagonal moves,” Batman noted. “Psychologically more erratic, amidst the squares and straight lines of the board.”
Eddie shook his head, dissatisfied with the idea.
“No, to play that game, the most psychologically irrational movement is the knight’s… I didn’t want to do that. You were going to see it. That seemed… needlessly rude.”

Too tantalizing to retire, it showed up again in Inside an Enigma, and now it’s back again – this time on display in the Cat-Tales Virtual Visitor Center in Second Life.

Also on display, a Catarang.  In Not My Kink Catwoman takes over Batman’s patrol while Bruce recovers from an injury (in Armchair Detective).  By Week 5, she’s earned a little gift.

I never realized he made the first batarangs himself. I’ve used Kittlemeier from day one for my things. But this, he made it himself.

Such a sweet scene. Of course the deceptively idyllic moment couldn’t last, but that year the chapter that was “a short and sweet taste of life in the Batcave” made a Christmas present for readers who hadn’t had a holiday tale for quite some time.

Both items are on display for a limited time Virtual Visitor Center.