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Off My Mind: Joker Pulls a Boner

What is the story with the Joker's boner?


No Caption Provided

No Caption Provided
A couple weeks ago I tried clarifying the story behind the image of Batman saying "Quiet or Papa Spank!" If you've seen that, you've probably also seen the image above. I felt this panel also deserved an explanation. Once again, this really did happen. 
 
  When did this happen? It was in Batman #66 from 1951. That means the word "boner" had a completely different meaning than it does today. 
 
The story dealt with the Joker trying to commit a wacky crime. His plan was to rob the electric company by turning off the power. He had one of his henchmen pull the fuses for the building ten minutes after he enters. Taking an elevator up to the 24th floor, he begins his crime. Do you see where the "boner" is coming in? With the power out, there's no elevator. Going down the stairs, the Joker and his henchmen run into Batman and Robin. In order to make his escape, he has to leave his loot behind. The newspaper quickly declares that "Joker Pulls Boner of the Year." In other words, the Joker goofed up. Hence, the use of the word "boner."
 
That won't be the last we'll see of the word "boner" in this issue. 
 == TEASER == 
No Caption Provided
As the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker is the one that usually makes the jokes. He vows to make the city regret ever mentioning the word "boner." By the time you finish reading this story, you will as well. 
 
 Joker then decides to take the "great boners of all time" (such as the Battleship Missouri getting stuck in mud, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Trojan Horse, etc) and turn them into crimes. Are there more boners in the story? Yes. There are many many more boners. The entire story is only twelve pages (there's two other stories in the issue). Throughout Joker's attempt to create boners whenever he can, we end up with lines such as: 
  • "It was quite a boner!" 
  • "Stung by his boner, Joker lashes back!" 
  • "Batman will make the boner of the year" 
  • "What does he mean, Bruce? How can he force you into a boner?" 
  • "I'm worried about the boner he's preparing for you." 
  • "Batman's greatest boner!" 
 
It might be funny seeing the word "boner" used over and over but after nearly forty times in twelve pages, it gets to be a bit much. There's just too many boners in this story. What have we learned today? The meaning of words have changed over the years and Joker really likes pulling boners

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133 Comments

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Transformers1024

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Edited By Transformers1024

@g_man: I think this may be the best arcticle in the CV archives! This literally made my week!

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thesilverbeatle

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Edited By thesilverbeatle
@GothamRed said:
regardless of what it means, using those lines out of context must be a great conversation starter.  "Say have you heard the story about Batman's greatest boner?"
"so... how can someone force you to have a boner?" XD
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IceCreamMikey

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Edited By IceCreamMikey

interesting...

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Migz13

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Edited By Migz13

LOL.

I kinda hate what happened to the English vocabulary, now that were looking back at these things and seeing double. It kinda messes things up for what the old things are originally meant for.
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Primmaster64

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Edited By Primmaster64

LOL

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Omarpool

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Edited By Omarpool

 "I'm worried about the boner he's preparing for you."
 
This one was my favorite..

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tobiasPUNK

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Edited By tobiasPUNK
@theMockingNoob:  it was mentioned in the article:

The newspaper quickly declares that "Joker Pulls Boner of the Year." In other words, the Joker goofed up. Hence, the use of the word "boner."
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KenTheProfile

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Edited By KenTheProfile

the strangeness of words. words mean things in one time and something in another.  
even diffrent places. 
 
The best example is Fanny. Here in the US a term for butt. but in  england  it's a word beging with c that people call woman the hate.
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Primmaster64

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Edited By Primmaster64

lol

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darksoul7th

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Edited By darksoul7th

Im scared! XD!

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ComaCalm

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Edited By ComaCalm

High pitched giggles ensued when reading this. I've now posted it on FaceBook...  
I wonder what words commonly used in today's comics will sound dirty in 50-60 years?
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JOKERCATEXE

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Edited By JOKERCATEXE
@Team_Eamonn said:
" Don't you just hate it when someone laughs at your boner. "

Maybe if he would stop pulling it?

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Primmaster64

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Edited By Primmaster64

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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Team_Eamonn

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Edited By Team_Eamonn

Don't you just hate it when someone laughs at your boner.

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TimDrakeRedRobin

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Edited By TimDrakeRedRobin
@Illyana Rasputin said:
"
"

OH MY GOD...That is Outstanding... =]
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N7_Normandy

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Edited By N7_Normandy
@Ryonslaught said:
" dwl ah the beauty of a changing English language :) lol "
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BKole

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Edited By BKole

So, Superdickery then?

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Ryonslaught

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Edited By Ryonslaught

dwl
ah the beauty of a changing English language :)
lol

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Bigheart711

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Edited By Bigheart711

O_O

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NightFang3

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Edited By NightFang3

LMAO!!!!

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Eyz

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Edited By Eyz

I love having a look back at o^l' English Language texts :P
Always fun^^

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Beast_in_the_Shadows

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@Illyana Rasputin said:
"
"...  Wow...
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Journey Into Chaos

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Is it just me or is anyone's else mind in the gutter? 

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zoist

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Edited By zoist

" I'm worried about the boner he's preparing for you."  HAHA!

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MrMiracle77

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Edited By MrMiracle77

It is my firm belief that within 47 years the entirety of the English language will be one collective double-entendre.

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Theworldbreaker

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Edited By Theworldbreaker

There are many more boners.
Stung by his boner 
"Batman will make the boner of the year  " 
How can he force you into a boner? " 

"I'm worried about the boner he's preparing for you."  
"Batman's greatest boner!"     these all made me rofle.

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EatinTheScreen

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Edited By EatinTheScreen

I don't even...what?

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Jonny_Rogers

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Edited By Jonny_Rogers

I can safely say I wasn't expecting to see that today....

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Illyana Rasputin

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Edited By Illyana Rasputin
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Metatron_Da_Don

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Edited By Metatron_Da_Don
@TimDrakeRedRobin said:

" @ngroove said:

"Two Words: GROW UP.  That joke, "context", ripping upon an outdated comic, is so old.  Back  when, "boner" meant goofup, a "g-word" meant "happy", an "j-a word" meant, well, "jerk", but was much less publically uptight than it is today ( I recall I once read Harry Osborn casually say it in "Amazing Spider-Man" or so around the late 60s, or was it the early 70s?)   going even further, "a-word" meant "donkey", still is 1/10,000th of the time, the other "f-word meant "cigarettes", and so on, so on.  Seriously, I don't crack up on Flinstones and their theme song " have a g- old time" because I understood, back then, the word, it was most public consciousness meant "happy" been that for decades.     Just, grow up people.  "

Dont be such a buzz kill dude. if your too much of an adult for this topic then dont read it. Don't try and ruin everyones fun "mother teresa". so quit being a jack off and jerking around all the people who see this topic as nice gay fun. Telling others how to live life is one of the worst boners you can pull. So calm down and go smoke a fag, or if you don't smoke then picture something soothing like riding an ass accross the grand canyon while getting blown by the wind.  P.S. ...all puns intended... =]  "

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No Caption Provided

 
Could.not.resist.
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N7_Normandy

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Edited By N7_Normandy

interesting................

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The_Jokes_On_You

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Edited By The_Jokes_On_You
@Deadcool said:
"
 
 
"

0_0 oh my.....
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The_Jokes_On_You

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Edited By The_Jokes_On_You
@KasadyCarnage:
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha 
 
 
I love you......
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fedspaz

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Edited By fedspaz

Reminds me of this... My son has gotten into reading the Hardy Boys' mysteries.  There are a lot of phrases and terms used in those books that we need to explain to him.  Mostly because they are really dated.  Usually gives me a chuckle though.

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hushicho

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Edited By hushicho

 It's likely that in fact the word was used with full awareness of all meanings. The writers of comics were and are adults, and working in comics -- which are some of the least highbrow literature in existence -- never, ever separates anyone from the most prurient of vernacular. Since comic stories had to (and have to) go through several people's approval before being printed, this was probably a jolly time for them to see if they could get away with saying 'boner' as many times as could be plausibly packed into a single comic.
 
Comic writers and artists have a long history of these little inside jokes and gestures. Perhaps the best-known is Power Girl's breasts, which were gradually but noticeably enlarged in every subsequent issue she appeared after the first, to see if they could get away with making her bust as vast as possible and to see if anyone would notice. 

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Michiel76

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Edited By Michiel76

Well if we are talking about words you should not see in any comic today, who can remember this classic?
 

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Nerx

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Edited By Nerx

what a boner
            blunder

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Ston3face

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Edited By Ston3face
@Big:  teehee!
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Gothic Storm

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Edited By Gothic Storm
@theMockingNoob:  It was mentioned in the article... G-Man states,  [[The newspaper quickly declares that "Joker Pulls Boner of the Year." In other words, the Joker goofed up. Hence, the use of the word "boner."]] 
 
You just have to read the WHOLE article sometimes. Trust me, I'm bad about skimming articles too sometimes. *whistles innocently*
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InnerVenom123

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Edited By InnerVenom123
@TimDrakeRedRobin said:
" @ngroove said:
"Two Words: GROW UP.  That joke, "context", ripping upon an outdated comic, is so old.  Back  when, "boner" meant goofup, a "g-word" meant "happy", an "j-a word" meant, well, "jerk", but was much less publically uptight than it is today ( I recall I once read Harry Osborn casually say it in "Amazing Spider-Man" or so around the late 60s, or was it the early 70s?)   going even further, "a-word" meant "donkey", still is 1/10,000th of the time, the other "f-word meant "cigarettes", and so on, so on.  Seriously, I don't crack up on Flinstones and their theme song " have a g- old time" because I understood, back then, the word, it was most public consciousness meant "happy" been that for decades.     Just, grow up people.  "
Dont be such a buzz kill dude. if your too much of an adult for this topic then dont read it. Don't try and ruin everyones fun "mother teresa". so quit being a jack off and jerking around all the people who see this topic as nice gay fun. Telling others how to live life is one of the worst boners you can pull. So calm down and go smoke a fag, or if you don't smoke then picture something soothing like riding an ass accross the grand canyon while getting blown by the wind.  P.S. ...all puns intended... =]  "
LMFAO
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Gothic Storm

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Edited By Gothic Storm

Just leave it up to the kids to make something out of nothing. I did get a chuckle though out of seeing this panel, but only because I knew the kids out there were posting this on their facebook walls. Yeah it's funny, but everyone should know the comics code authority would never have let them put anything remotely derogatory in the comic and then sell it to kids.
 
Ah how times have changed...

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Big

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Edited By Big
@TimDrakeRedRobin:
What, I was just trying to understand when the Joker pulled his boner. :D 
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TimDrakeRedRobin

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Edited By TimDrakeRedRobin
@ngroove said:
"Two Words: GROW UP.  That joke, "context", ripping upon an outdated comic, is so old.  Back  when, "boner" meant goofup, a "g-word" meant "happy", an "j-a word" meant, well, "jerk", but was much less publically uptight than it is today ( I recall I once read Harry Osborn casually say it in "Amazing Spider-Man" or so around the late 60s, or was it the early 70s?)   going even further, "a-word" meant "donkey", still is 1/10,000th of the time, the other "f-word meant "cigarettes", and so on, so on.  Seriously, I don't crack up on Flinstones and their theme song " have a g- old time" because I understood, back then, the word, it was most public consciousness meant "happy" been that for decades.     Just, grow up people.  "

Dont be such a buzz kill dude. if your too much of an adult for this topic then dont read it. Don't try and ruin everyones fun "mother teresa". so quit being a jack off and jerking around all the people who see this topic as nice gay fun. Telling others how to live life is one of the worst boners you can pull. So calm down and go smoke a fag, or if you don't smoke then picture something soothing like riding an ass accross the grand canyon while getting blown by the wind. 
 
P.S. ...all puns intended... =] 
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TimDrakeRedRobin

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Edited By TimDrakeRedRobin
@Big said:
"So, the boner takes place when Joker is going up on the erect building, and then, after one of his men cuts the electricity at the base, Joker has to go down on the building through the stairs.Then he runs into Batman and Robin and has to slip out the rear end of the building and leave his sac behind. Wow, that's a boner. :p "

wow....that was great. you really have to keep an eye on the more subtle jokes in there xD
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Big

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Edited By Big

So, the Joker is going up on the erect building, and then, after one of his men cuts the electricity at the base, Joker has to go down on the building through the stairs.Then he runs into Batman and Robin and has to slip out the rear end of the building and leave his sac behind. Wow, that's a boner. :p

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Emerald Dragonfly

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@CATMANEXE: Exactly. Too much freedom today. And nobody to show such a free speakers as you all are where is their place and how to shut the mouth up.
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defaultdefaultdefault

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@ngroove: 
get your baseballs out of my yard first sonny and i'll think about it.
and stop making that popping noise with your mouth. there's serious people
trying to talk about serious important matters here. seriously.
 
really though, your upset because people are *gasp* having fun...
with a word, and being pervs?
 
and? freedom of speech. plug your ears and close your eyes.
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sa5m

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Edited By sa5m
@NXH said:
" LULZ XD "
me to XD
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ngroove

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Edited By ngroove

@CATMANEXE:
Correction: anyone who cracks up to that former phrase of mistake, and twists it to sound immaturely perverted, pervert the comic in itself, today; grow up. 

 
 Chances are, more the young people, is cracking up to it, assuming it means what it means today, rather than those who read it once, and knows what it meant better.    
 
To those who is young, knows what it meant then, but still cracking up to it anyways, because it sounds like what it is today close enough; grow up.  Seriously.