Tony Zucco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tony Zucco is the name of a DC Comics mobster. He was introduced in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) and is most well-known for his connections to the origin of Robin.
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[edit] History
Tony Zucco (originally just "Boss Zucco" in his first appearance) was a mob boss, or simple low level thug (his position of power varies a bit in the continuity) of Gotham City who was responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's parents. Despite some variation, the basic recurring themes were that Zucco tried to extort the Haly's Circus; the circus where the Flying Graysons were the main attraction. When the ringleader refused to pay Tony, he sabotaged the act causing the ropes of the Graysons act to break sending the parents of Dick falling to their deaths. Grayson was later adopted by Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) and he became Robin. Both of them were able to locate Tony Zucco and send him to jail.
[edit] Batman: Year Three
The Batman: Year Three storyline centers on a ledger that Zucco owns, kept safely in a hidden location in the orphanage Dick Grayson was housed after his parent's deaths. This ledger contains details on every single underhanded operation in Gotham to take place, and was enough to incriminate any crime boss for life. In the story, he is released for parole 49 years early in his bid to get it back, as the orphanage will be torn down soon, along with his ledger. When his parole is accepted, despite the efforts of Alfred Pennyworth, he steps out of the prison saying "It's like I said, Taft - I'm going to be a KING!" instantly before he is brutally gunned down by a helicopter.
[edit] Batman: Dark Victory
In this version of the character Zucco (dubbed Anthony "Fats" Zucco) is portrayed as a lower member of the criminal Falcone family under the Maronis. He and another minor family head, Edward Skeevers, are put in charge of trafficking illegal substances. After constant attacks by other enemies such as the Penguin, Zucco decides to start a new method of smuggling these substances. He only lets Skeevers in on the secret, beliving that its success will make their minor families greater than the Falcones and the Maronis. and attempts to take over Haly's Circus in order to use it's trucks for drug trafficking. He is shown to be quite nervous, as he is constantly sweating. He kills Dick Grayson's parents in order to show the circus owner that he means business, and then quickly goes underground. He is later found by Batman and Dick Grayson, who is not yet Robin, and is chased down a dark alley by Grayson until he dies from a heart attack, confessing to various crimes as he dies.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Batman: The Animated Series
Tony Zucco appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Robin's Reckoning", voiced by Thomas Wilson.
Tony Zucco started off as a young man eager to make a name for himself in the racketeering business, as well as with the mob. On the side he would strong arm companies to take up "insurance". One business he hit up was Haly's Circus. He sabotaged some equipment which led to the death of Dick Grayson's parents, a death which both Dick and Bruce Wayne were witnesses to. Zucco's brashness infuriated his uncle, mob boss Arnold Stromwell, who disowned him.
Batman, who as Bruce Wayne adopted the young Grayson, went after Zucco with a vengeance, which increased the mobster's paranoia. After a couple of brief run-ins with Batman, Zucco escaped and hid out in an abandoned amusement park on the edge of Gotham. Nine years later, Batman and Robin catch up with one of Zucco's henchman, and learn that the mobster has returned to the city. After a fight with Batman and Robin, Zucco was arrested and convicted of double murder. He now resides in prison with a life sentence.
[edit] The Batman
Tony Zucco appears in The Batman episode "A Matter of Family", which introduced Dick Grayson/Robin into that series. In this series, he is voiced by Mark Hamill. In this version, Zucco has several brothers who act as his underlings and acts as Gotham's mafia don. They are all involved in circus acts. His brothers are a strong man, a lion tamer, and a juggler. As for Zucco, his skill was knife-throwing. In his childhood he worked in the circus as part of a knife-throwing duo with his father, with Zucco throwing the knives while his father was bound to the giant target wishing he put Tony on piano lessons. Zucco was to toss the knives to hit the target without hurting his father, but this ultimately resulted in his dad's death after Zucco missed. The circus background gives the Zuccos a larger connection to the Graysons.
When John Grayson refused Zucco's offers of protection money, he was attacked by Zucco's henchmen. Dick had called the police minutes after Zucco first appeared in their big top tent and the call was intercepted by The Batman who quickly took down Zucco and his brothers, even managing to knock one of his brothers out, allowing the police to take him away. Swearing revenge on The Batman and the Graysons for the loss of his brother, Zucco planned the death of the Graysons by removing two nuts from the railings of the Graysons' trapeze act. After the murder of the Graysons, Batman cornered every one of Zucco's henchmen until he found the whereabouts of Tony Zucco. When Zucco gained the upper hand in a fight with Batman at Haley's Circus, Zucco strapped Batman to a knife-throwing wheel and recounted his childhood in the circus. When Zucco was about to do the same thing to Batman that he did to his father, Dick arrives in his Robin costume and battles him long enough for Batman to free himself. At one point Dick has the chance to enact revenge on Zucco for the murder of his parents when Zucco falls from the same platform as the Flying Graysons. Dick chooses to spare Zucco, who is then arrested by Gotham Police. After this, Dick Grayson officially becomes Batman's sidekick Robin.
