The Joker's Robbery of Gotham National Bank

The Joker's Bank Robbery of Gotham National Bank
General Information
Location:	Gotham National Bank
Result:	Goons killed The Joker gets away with the money Gotham National Bank Manager gets gassed with unknown substance

The Joker's Bank Robbery of Gotham National Bank was the first appearance of Joker and first crime he got away with without being caught by the police.

Plan

A textbook "take-over" robbery, Joker's plan called for three masked thugs (including himself) to enter the bank's lobby and subdue the employees, customers, and security guards, while two others swung onto the roof from an adjacent office building, one to disable the silent alarm before it could be tripped, and another to open the vault.

Unknown to any of the thugs, Joker had also arranged a sequence of double-crosses, that would end with him being the only one left alive at the same moment the robbery was completed.

Execution

Happy and Dopey arrived on the roof, and Dopey, after disabling the alarm, was shot in the back by Happy, who made his way to the vault.

Joker (disguised as Bozo), Grumpy, and Chuckles stormed into the bank lobby to pacify the persons within. This included an ingenious touch by which Joker placed live grenades into the terrified customers' hands and pulling the pins, ensuring that they could do nothing with their hands except hold on.

In a surprise, Chuckles was killed when the bank manager (a mob employee) opened fire with a shotgun. Grumpy was wounded, while the Joker shot the manager in the leg. Grumpy then went to the vault, which Happy had opened despite the hidden electric trap. Grumpy shot Happy as ordered, and loaded several duffels with the cash inside.

Believing that he had been set up, Grumpy pointed his gun at Bozo, but was run over by a school bus driven through the front window. Joker and the driver loaded the cash into the bus, then Joker calmly shot the driver and began to leave, but couldn't resist showing his face to the manager, and the security cameras.

The Joker then drove the bus away, merging smoothly into a line of other school buses, just as the police started arriving from the opposite direction.

Trivia

• This clip was played at Comic-Con and also shows the part where they smash the Batsignal.
• The Joker's bank robber mask is available with the Best Buy version of the DVD (or Blue-Ray) and the DC Collectible Joker.
• The masks of Joker's Thugs are available as Crime Scene Evidence with the Movie Masters Gotham City Thug figure.

• They include, The Joker's mask, the bus driver's mask, a mask called Tears of Joy (the mask of the figure itself and the mask of Grumpy), a mask called Kiss of Death (mask of Happy), and a mask called Tears of Anger (Chuckles mask).