It was a peaceful, sunny day in Gotham City, perfect weather for the Annual Gotham Benevolent Society Father-Son Picnic And Charity Fundraiser. As the potato sack race was winding down, a half-dozen hefty policemen were straining to carry an enormous veiled object to the stage. Commissioner Gordon stood at the dais, sorting through his notes and adjusting his microphone.

"May I have your attention..." There was a squeal of feedback from the microphone. "May I have your attention, please!" The crowd quieted, looking up at the white-haired gentleman. "I've just received word that this year we've collected over fifty thousand dollars in donations!" There was applause from the audience. "And I would like to thank millionaire Bruce Wayne, seated here with his young ward Dick Grayson" he gestured to the duo seated behind him holding small trophies for coming in third in the peanut-rolling contest. "Both for his generous monetary contribution and for this," he pulled the cover off the object the policemen had placed on the stage. "This giant solid gold piggy bank encrusted with precious gems, into which your money has been placed for safekeeping!"

The crowd 'oohed' appreciatively.

"The piggy bank and the money therein will be turned over to the Gotham City Orphanage and Foundlings Home, where it will be..."

"WUXTRY!"

Startled, the Commissioner searched for the source of the interruption, finally spotting a old fashioned newsboy in a sweater and cap brandishing a newspaper and making through the crowd. Puzzled people holding potato sacks parted to let him through.

"WUXTRY, WUXTRY, read all aboooout it! Police picnic robbed! Thieves get away with valuable giant piggy bank!"

"What?" Commissioner Gordon gaped.

Police Chief O'Hara jumped up from his seat on the dais. "The piggy bank? Stolen? Sure'n, it's not true! It's right here!" He and Commissioner Gordon exchanged shocked stares.

Dick Grayson leaned toward his mentor. "Gosh, Bruce! What's going on?"

"I don't know, Dick." He looked around. "But we'd better be on our toes."

"People, people, please!" The Commissioner tried to calm the murmuring crowd.

The newsboy was now standing right next to the dais, a rolled up newspaper clutched in his fist.

"WUXTRY, WUXTRY! Valuable golden piggy bank stolen! Culprit believed to be The Joker!"

"See here, lad," Chief O'Hara bent down to address the boy. "What's all this about, then?"

"Take a look for yourself, sir!" The newsboy held the paper up as if to hand it to the police chief, then squeezed the base. A cloud of brightly colored knockout gas sprayed out, rendering everyone on the stage unconscious. The newsboy leapt onto the stage, laughing wildly and swinging the newspaper around to spray the crowd. The people nearest the stage collapsed. Others fled. Still cackling, the boy yanked off his cap to reveal a wild shock of dark hair, a single white streak running through it down to the right eyebrow.

"EEEEHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Three boys and a girl rode up on bicycles, bounding off to join the villain on the stage.

"Oh gosh, Toddy! You really done it!" The girl in the black mini-dress and matching go-go boots embraced him.

"Of course, Selene," he smirked. "Did you have any doubt?" He turned to the others. "Jack, Mark, Heath, get those ropes tied around the legs of that pig! And hurry it up! We don't have much time!"

"Sure thing, boss," Jack responded, tightening a knot. "But would you mind telling us why?"

"Yeah," Heath added, struggling to make a sheepshank. "This thing weighs a million pounds, I bet! Ain't no way we're gonna be able to budge it!"

"Oh, ye of little faith!" He cackled.

Reaching into his pocket, Odd Todd produced a small gadget which he aimed at the golden pig. When he pressed a button, a strange, shimmering ray enveloped the porcine statue, which suddenly rose into the air like a helium balloon.

"My degravitinator gadget!" He struck a pose, then motioned to the others when the pig started drifting away in the breeze. "Grab the ropes, grab the ropes!"

The boys seized the ropes, tying them to the handlebars of their bikes. They mounted up, Odd Todd taking the bike the girl had been riding. She climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around him. The golden pig sailed through the air behind them as they rode through the streets of Gotham City.

A couple moments later, the people on the dais began to stir. When they woke up, they found the discarded newsboy costume and a fake newspaper with a huge picture of The Joker on the front page under the headline, 'THE JOKE'S ON YOU, GOTHAM CITY!'

#

"The gall of it all! The brazen effrontery!" Commissioner Gordon tossed the newspaper on his desk. "Robbing The Benevolent Society right under our very noses! And announcing it beforehand with that... that newsboy!"

Batman and Robin, newly arrived and slightly winded from their round trip from Gotham to Stately Wayne Manor and back, paced the floor of the Commissioner's office, pondering.

"It's vexing," Batman finally said, steepling his fingers. "It's... quite vexing."

"The little skunk-haired hooligan!" Chief O'Hara raged. "Why, if I could get me mitts on him, I'd whale the tar outta him!"

Batman held up a gloved hand. "No need for violence, Chief O'Hara. When one is dealing with so young a malefactor, one must temper discipline with mercy."

"I'm sorry, caped crusader," the Chief responded, chagrined. "But it just makes me blood boil! Do ye have any clue who the nipper might be?"

"The Bat-computer was able to positively identify him," Robin explained, handing the Chief a sheath of papers. "He calls himself Odd Todd."

"There should have a photo of him in the super-criminal master files," Batman added.

Commissioner Gordon nodded, pressing a button on his intercom. "Bonnie, could you activate our closed-circuit TV and show us the file photo of... Odd Todd? Thank you."

The paneling on the far wall of Commissioner Gordon's office slid to one side, revealing a television screen. A picture appeared of Odd Todd in his crazy-quilt suit posing menacingly before a mantelpiece.

"That's him!" Chief O'Hara shook his fist. "The hateful brat!"

Commissioner Gordon looked at the newspaper photo. "Do you really think he's in league with The Joker?"

"I wouldn't put it past him." Batman paced. "The grinning devil! He knows I could never harm a child!"

"Not even one who's a super-crook!" Robin punched his palm.

"But surely he's not much of a threat," Commissioner Gordon responded. "He's a mere boy!"

"A boy, Commissioner, true," Batman nodded. "But hardly 'mere.'"

Chief O'Hara whistled. "Check out this profile."

He handed the Commissioner the papers Robin had given him. Donning his spectacles, The Commissioner scanned the Bat-Computer's print-out.

"Says here he was something of a child prodigy. He used to be in something called The 'Odd Squad...' Odd Squad? Where have I heard that before? Um, yes. The Odd Squad, an organization dedicated to fighting oddness. Oh yes. My daughter Barbara mentioned something about them" He turned the page. "Let's see... Star athlete, electronics expert, master chemist, detective, a BA in engineering, proficient in boxing, archery, fencing, mixed martial arts... Folklorist, poet, botanist..." He flipped through the pages. "Speed typist, gourmand, best-selling author..." He flipped some more pages. "Won a grant for his free-standing metal sculptures..." Flipped some more. "Skilled jazz-fusion trumpet player, computer programmer, award-winning political cartoonist, an artist from the Pollack School..." Flipped some more. "He had a show on Telemundo?"

"He's been on several rampages across the border," Robin told the Commissioner and the police chief. "He was a top agent of the Canadian Odd Squad bureau until he got bored stopping oddness and decided to create it instead!"

"A tragic case, really," Batman looked at the picture. "A boy with so much promise throwing his life away for cheap thrills."

Commissioner Gordon nodded sadly. "If only he could have channeled his energies in some positive manner, like Scouting or organized sports."

"Be that as it may," Batman turned to face the others. "We mustn't underestimate him. He's as dangerous as any adult enemy we've ever encountered."

"And if he and The Joker are in cahoots...!" Robin punched his palm again.

"Heaven help us all." Chief O'Hara crossed himself.

#

Meanwhile at The Joker's hideout, an abandoned school building in a rundown section of town, The Joker clapped with glee as Odd Todd and his henchboys led the floating giant piggy bank into the room. It took some twisting to fit it through the door but once inside, it scraped against the ceiling. Todd gestured at the bank and struck a pose.

"Mission accomplished!"

"HEEHAHAHAHAHA! Excellent, excellent! A fine job, my dear protégé in perfidy!"

"Yeah, sure," one of the Joker's henchmen said, looking up at the pig in awe. "But how're we gonna get it down?"

"Oh, Oggie! You've no imagination!" The Joker gestured grandly at the boy in the crazy quilt suit. "Everyone, stand back! Todd, my boy, the stage is yours!"

Smirking, Odd Todd pulled out his de-gravitinator gadget and pointed it at the bank. A flash of light later, the golden pig regained its full weight and crashed to the floor, shattering in a thousand pieces.

"OOOOHOOOHOOO!" The Joker ran over, tossing the money aside as he examined the shards of gold. "Capital, capital!"

"But... But you broke it..." Another henchmen puzzled. "Won't that destroy the value?"

"Not to us, Oogie, not to us!" The Joker laughed and clapped Odd Todd on the back. "We're not taking this little piggy to market, are we, my boy? Instead, he's going to be a guinea pig for our upcoming experiment!"

"Experiment?" The third and last henchman asked.

"Yes, Ook, an experiment! What we're after is far more precious than even a gilded pig!"

"Which ain't saying much, but..." Odd Todd stooped to scoop up some of the money, which he then deposited on a nearby desk. "So, Joker, should we divide the cash up among the underlings or..."

The Joker nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, of course. Let the peons have their lucre! It'll tide them over and it's no use to us!" He turned his attention to Todd. "So, for this caper... A Plus!" Then he scowled at Todd's henchboys as they struggled to get their share of the loot. "Herh, but for henchmen names, D Minus! Jack, Mark, and Heath! Why, it was hardly worth having the monogrammed sweaters made!"

Odd Todd glared. "I have my reasons."

"Huh! Well, I know you do. But it's still egregiously bad form!"

Selene watched the others nervously. "Um, Mister Joker?" She swallowed. "If... If the money's not part of your plan, couldn't... couldn't we give it back?" She wilted a little under the villains' scornful gaze. "Just a little, I mean. It... It would confuse them..."

The Joker snorted. "That it would, girl, that it would! But in all the wrong ways! We want the police to think we were after the money. That way, they'll be completely unprepared for our next move!" He sneered. "And besides, apprentice molls should be seen and not heard!"

A woman wearing an op-art coat over a bright pink body stocking hurried into the room. "Oh, you're back! And Selene, your hair's a mess!" She pulled a comb out of her purse and went to work fixing the girl's hairdo. "You need to be more careful! What if some Hollywood producer should happen to see you?"

"Oh, Mother! In here?"

"Well, in general! You're never going to become a star with that attitude!"

The Joker watched with some irritation. "Delilah, see if you can keep your child quiet! She has a disturbing streak of morality in her! Hardly apropos for a criminal or an aspiring child starlet!"

"Oh, Jokie-poo!" Putting her comb away, Delilah sashayed over to toy with The Joker's green hair. "She's still learning..."

"Well... I suppose..." Brightening suddenly, The Joker turned to the other crooks. "And speaking of learning, The Joker's College of Criminal Knowledge is now in session!"

The kids looked blank. "The...?"

The Joker sighed. "College of Criminal Knowledge." The kids still looked blank. "Like Kay Kayser. Remember? The College of Musical Knowledge? Kay Kayser?"

"Who's she?"

"Never mind, never mind. Pencils ready?"

The kids produced pencils from behind their backs.

"Notebooks?"

They produced notebooks as well.

"How do you do that? Never mind. Time for a field trip!"

Odd Todd grinned. "Where're we going, Joker?"

"The Gotham Public Library! Where better to further your education? HEEHAHAHHAHAHAHA!"

"EEEHAHAHAHAHAH!"

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