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about_facesBack during that mystical period known as the nineties, Batman writers Alan Grant and Doug Moench decided--for whatever reason--to give the Scarecrow a bizarre laugh that went "HAROO HRAAA" or sometimes "HAROO HRAAII."
At least, I think it was meant to be a laugh. Maybe it was meant to be the Scarecrow version of "BOOGA-BOOGA!" which would indicate that it was intended to be spooky or something. Personally, it just solidified my teenage perceptions of the Scarecrow as an annoying character who was neither cool, fun, nor--worst of all--scary. It wasn't until the CATverse that I realized just how enjoyable and chilling the character could and should be (if you're unfamilar with CATverse, this post will tell you everything you need to know about why that version is, IMO, the superior Crane), but the actual Scarecrow from the comics still largely leaves me cold.
That said, as with most things involving Grant and Moench, I've recently looked back on those older comics and have found so much to enjoy, and that especially goes for their "HAROO HRAA" Squishy. Although I must confess, much of that amusement stems out of how it reminds me of Billy West's impersonation of Richard Nixon on Futurama:
So yes, strange as it is, the thought of Billy West growling, "I'm Jonathan Craaane, the--" (shakes jowls) "--MASSSSSTERRR OF FEARRRR. HAROOOOOOOO!" honestly helped endear me to Grant and Moench's Scarecrow. I had wanted to compile every single Scarecrow laugh, but life being what it is, I had neither the time nor resources.
Thankfully,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lego_joker--stalwart regular 'round these parts and all-around good guy--took the task upon himself, and provided collages of every single time "HAROO" from the comics. It's kinda awe-inspiring, if not likely to cause madness and/or seizures.
It... begins...
Note: These images in their original forms were HUGE, so I had to shrink them a bit for the sake of everyone's eyeballs and sanity. If any sources aren't legible, let me know and I'll try to resize them accordingly, or else I'll just tell you the source outright.
...
Yeah, my reaction right about now is something between *applause* and:
But wait, that's not all! As a bonus, I just remembered that Moench snuck one onto a Scarecrow trading card for Fleer's Batman Master Series, which were reprinted in the coffee-table book Batman Masterpieces: Portraits of the Dark Knight and His World. I'm going to devote an entire post to that deck/book in the near future, but for now:
Something about actually seeing it spelled out in regular text as opposed to stylish sound-effect comic-book lettering just makes it all the more bizarre and awkwardly hilarious. Seriously, what the hell is "HAROO HRAA/HRAII" supposed to be? What the hell does that sound like out loud? Can you imagine a voice actor on a Batman cartoon trying to do it out loud without it sounding weird and silly? I'm certainly having a hard time with that myself.
At least I'm not the only one who's taken a shine to this oddball trait of Scarecrows past. In the months since I first declared my amusement of the laugh, I've seen it pop up as a meme among a handful of fans on Tumblr, thus creating the unholy alliance of comics and the internet. As such, I shall leave you with this image created by Tumblr user TheLoad:
At least, I think it was meant to be a laugh. Maybe it was meant to be the Scarecrow version of "BOOGA-BOOGA!" which would indicate that it was intended to be spooky or something. Personally, it just solidified my teenage perceptions of the Scarecrow as an annoying character who was neither cool, fun, nor--worst of all--scary. It wasn't until the CATverse that I realized just how enjoyable and chilling the character could and should be (if you're unfamilar with CATverse, this post will tell you everything you need to know about why that version is, IMO, the superior Crane), but the actual Scarecrow from the comics still largely leaves me cold.
That said, as with most things involving Grant and Moench, I've recently looked back on those older comics and have found so much to enjoy, and that especially goes for their "HAROO HRAA" Squishy. Although I must confess, much of that amusement stems out of how it reminds me of Billy West's impersonation of Richard Nixon on Futurama:
So yes, strange as it is, the thought of Billy West growling, "I'm Jonathan Craaane, the--" (shakes jowls) "--MASSSSSTERRR OF FEARRRR. HAROOOOOOOO!" honestly helped endear me to Grant and Moench's Scarecrow. I had wanted to compile every single Scarecrow laugh, but life being what it is, I had neither the time nor resources.
Thankfully,
lego_joker--stalwart regular 'round these parts and all-around good guy--took the task upon himself, and provided collages of every single time "HAROO" from the comics. It's kinda awe-inspiring, if not likely to cause madness and/or seizures. It... begins...
Note: These images in their original forms were HUGE, so I had to shrink them a bit for the sake of everyone's eyeballs and sanity. If any sources aren't legible, let me know and I'll try to resize them accordingly, or else I'll just tell you the source outright.
...
Yeah, my reaction right about now is something between *applause* and:
But wait, that's not all! As a bonus, I just remembered that Moench snuck one onto a Scarecrow trading card for Fleer's Batman Master Series, which were reprinted in the coffee-table book Batman Masterpieces: Portraits of the Dark Knight and His World. I'm going to devote an entire post to that deck/book in the near future, but for now:
Something about actually seeing it spelled out in regular text as opposed to stylish sound-effect comic-book lettering just makes it all the more bizarre and awkwardly hilarious. Seriously, what the hell is "HAROO HRAA/HRAII" supposed to be? What the hell does that sound like out loud? Can you imagine a voice actor on a Batman cartoon trying to do it out loud without it sounding weird and silly? I'm certainly having a hard time with that myself.
At least I'm not the only one who's taken a shine to this oddball trait of Scarecrows past. In the months since I first declared my amusement of the laugh, I've seen it pop up as a meme among a handful of fans on Tumblr, thus creating the unholy alliance of comics and the internet. As such, I shall leave you with this image created by Tumblr user TheLoad:
