Wikipedia

Tony Zucco

Anthony Zuccois a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byDC Comics.First appearing inDetective Comics#38 (April 1940), Zucco is a mobster responsible for murdering the parents ofDick Grayson,which leads to Grayson's adoption byBruce Waynea.k.a. Batman and becoming the latter's sidekick and originalRobinandNightwing.

Tony Zucco
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceDetective Comics#38 (April 1940)
Created byBill Finger(writer)
Bob Kane(artist)
Jerry Robinson(Illustrator)
In-story information
Alter egoBoss Zucco
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsMaroni family
Black Lantern Corps

The character has appeared inBatman: The Animated Series,voiced byThomas F. Wilson,andThe Batman,voiced byMark Hamill.Richard Zeppieri portrayed him in the first season of theDC UniverseseriesTitans.

Publication history

edit

Tony Zucco first appeared inDetective Comics#38 (April 1940) and was created byBob Kane,Bill Finger,andJerry Robinson.[1]

Fictional character history

edit

Pre-Crisis

edit

Antonio Zucco (originally calledBoss Zuccoin his first appearance) is a Mafiacrime Bossor thug inGotham Citywho is responsible for the death ofDick Grayson'sparents.Throughout the years, Zucco's role in Robin's origin remains largely the same.

Earth-Two

edit

Zucco tries to extort Haly's Circus, where the Flying Graysons are the main attraction. When the ringmasterC.C. Halyrefuses to pay him protection money, Zucco has his henchman Blade sabotage the trapeze ropes, causing the Graysons to fall to their deaths. After overhearing Blade talking to Zucco about committing the sabotage,Dick Graysonis subsequently adopted byBatmanand becomes his partner Robin, helping him to arrest Zucco.[2]

Some years later, Tony Zucco had become senile and was seen in a hospital. When Robin was affected by the Stream of Ruthlessness and fought his way passedInfinity Inc.to get to Zucco's hospital room to have his revenge on him for being behind his parents' death, Robin finds that Zucco doesn't remember him.[3]

Earth-One

edit

On Earth-One, Tony Zucco's history and his showdown withBatmanand Robin is the same as his Earth-Two counterpart.[4]

Post-Crisis

edit

Batman: Year Three

edit

Zucco is an Italian immigrant who is orphaned at a young age when a gang of criminals murder his parents for refusing to pay protection money. Zucco is sent to an orphanage, where he is cared for by Sister Mary Elizabeth. She tries to counsel Zucco, but he is a lost cause; consumed by anger, he prays only for the deaths of the men who killed his parents. As a young man, he runs away from the orphanage and joins one of Gotham's major crime families.[5]

After Batman apprehends him for murdering Dick Grayson's parents, Zucco is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences inBlackgate Penitentiary.After serving seven years of his sentence, he files for a parole hearing and testifies against other Gotham criminals. He professes remorse for his crimes, but hides an ulterior motive. Before he was sent to prison, Zucco previously hid a ledger containing incrimating evidence against the mafia in the orphanage where Dick briefly resided following his parents' deaths, and wants to retrieve it before the orphanage is demolished. Wanting to keep the truth from Dick,Alfred Pennyworthgoes to the parole hearing and pleads for the judge to keep Zucco in prison, but Dick soon learns of his release. Despite Alfred's attempts to stop him, Dick races to Blackgate to confront his parents' killer. As he steps out of the prison, Zucco is killed by a rival crime Boss.[5]

Batman: Dark Victory

edit

InBatman: Dark Victory,Zucco is portrayed as a low-level thug working forSal Maroniand a member ofCarmine Falcone's criminal empire. He and minor family head Edward Skeevers are put in charge of drug smuggling. Zucco attempts to take over Haly's Circus to use its trucks for his smuggling activities, kills Dick Grayson's parents as a demonstration of power, and disappears. He is later found by Batman and Dick Grayson and has a fatal heart attack, confessing to various crimes before dying.[6]

Blackest Night

edit

InBlackest Night,Zucco is revived as aBlack Lanternbefore Robin andRed Robinforce him to retreat.[7]

The Black Mirror

edit

InThe Black Mirror,it is revealed that Zucco has a daughter named Sonia, who is the head of the GGM Bank under the alias of Sonia Branch.[8]Dick Grayson, who has become Batman, hopes that Sonia is not as corrupt as her father. However, he is disappointed when he realizes that Sonia manipulated him into subduing rivals who wish to take over her bank. Due to a lack of evidence, Sonia remains beyond the reach of the law.[9]

The New 52

edit
Tony Zucco inNightwing(vol. 3) #18 (May 2013, DC Comics), art byJuan Jose Ryp.

InThe New 52(a reboot of DC Universe's continuity), Zucco disappears after being arrested and is presumed dead. However, his daughter Sonia informs Nightwing that he is still alive and working in Chicago under its mayor Wallace Cole, who has declared him legally dead. Zucco later helps Nightwing battle thePrankster,whose father he killed.[10][11][12]

Infinite Frontier

edit

InInfinite Frontier,Zucco appears to have another daughter named Melinda who is the mayor ofBlüdhaven.However, later issues reveal that John Grayson is Melinda's father, making her and Dick half-siblings. Melinda's mother Meili Lin was forced to marry Zucco and had a brief relationship with John while staying with Haly's Circus.

Zucco is eventually released from prison and returns to Blüdhaven to fill in the power vacuum of the criminal underworld afterBlockbuster's death. He reunites with Melinda and attempts to steal the Eye of Kahndaq before being defeated by Nightwing. Afterward, Melinda visits Zucco in prison and disowns his family name.

Other versions

edit

In other media

edit

Television

edit

Film

edit

Elements of Tony Zucco are incorporated intoBatman Forever's depiction ofTwo-Face(portrayed byTommy Lee Jones).

Video games

edit

Tony Zucco appears as a character summon inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[18]

Miscellaneous

edit

Tony Zucco appears inYoung Justice#6.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^Greenberger, Robert (2008).The Essential Batman Encyclopedia.Del Rey. p. 385.ISBN9780345501066.
  2. ^Detective Comics#38. DC Comics.
  3. ^Infinity Inc.#6. DC Comics.
  4. ^Batman#213. DC Comics.
  5. ^abBatman#436-439 (August–September 1989). DC Comics.
  6. ^Batman: Dark Victory#0-13 (November 1999 - December 2000). DC Comics.
  7. ^Blackest Night: Batman#3 (December 2009). DC Comics.
  8. ^Detective Comics#876 (April 2011). DC Comics.
  9. ^Detective Comics#878 (August 2011). DC Comics.
  10. ^Nightwing(vol. 3) #0 (November 2012). DC Comics.
  11. ^Nightwing(vol. 3) #15 (February 2013). DC Comics.
  12. ^Nightwing(vol. 3) #18 - #24 (May - December 2013). DC Comics.
  13. ^All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder#1 (September 2005). DC Comics.
  14. ^All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder#7 (November 2005). DC Comics.
  15. ^All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder#8 (January 2008). DC Comics.
  16. ^Justice League(vol. 2) #25 (February 2014). DC Comics.
  17. ^ab"Tony Zucco Voices (Batman)".Behind The Voice Actors.RetrievedJuly 23,2024.A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  18. ^Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013)."DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide".IGN.RetrievedJuly 23,2024.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tony_Zucco&oldid=1269657152"