The Comprehensive Evolution of American Comics

Dozens of people wearing clown masks poured into the spacious theater, all of them armed. Some held guns, others batons, and still others carried large bags.

"Put all your valuables in these bags," the leading masked man announced, his gun sweeping across everyone in the audience, the threat unmistakable.

Although some audience members had guns, facing dozens of kidnappers, one gun wouldn't be enough. Even if they managed to kill one or two, the rest would kill them. The best course of action was to cooperate. Guns were only for last resort self-defense; resistance was unrealistic.

Most importantly, these people wore clown masks or clown makeup. Anyone living in Gotham knew what those masks represented.

The Joker, Gotham's most vicious criminal, was lawless and without rules. No one wanted to mess with him.

Accompanied by several bag-carrying accomplices and escorted by their comrades, they began collecting valuables from the audience, much to the chagrin of Gotham's wealthy.

They had just experienced a super-virus outbreak yesterday, and today, hoping to relax with a show, they ran into these malevolent stars. Their luck was truly terrible.

"Hurry up, don't dawdle!" a kidnapper barked at a male audience member, who was reluctantly removing his expensive watch, hesitating just as he was about to drop it into the bag. It was his dating essential, only brought out to impress his date.

"Damn it! You like watches so much, how about a bullet!"

The guard behind him couldn't stand it any longer. He stepped in front of his companion and pointed his shotgun directly at the man's forehead, the force causing the man's neck to twist.

"I'll give it! I'll give it!" The man frantically tossed the hot potato into the bag, realizing that money wasn't as important as life.

Although the man became cooperative, the kidnapper wasn't going to let him off so easily. He reversed the shotgun and slammed the butt into the man's head. Luckily, the man was agile enough to dodge the full blow, but the butt still struck his shoulder. A crack was heard, followed by the man's cry of pain.

Seeing the man's plight, his female companion couldn't contain her fear and screamed. The Joker gang kidnapper was even more annoyed and immediately pointed the gun at the woman.

"Do you think I wouldn't dare to shoot!"

The woman, facing the gun pointed at her, was like a duck with its throat squeezed, leaving only a terrified expression. But the kidnapper wouldn't spare her.

Just as the kidnapper was about to pull the trigger, the man who had been knocked to the ground grabbed his pants. The kidnapper looked down and saw the man looking at him with a pleading expression.

"Please, let her go."

"Then you die in her place!" The kidnapper lowered the gun and aimed at the man.

Giovanni, witnessing the violence, felt a surge of anger. His hand continued to reach inside his top hat, ready to teach these ignorant punks a lesson.

"Boom!"

Thunder rumbled. Before anyone could react, the shotgun-wielding kidnapper flew backward. They looked up and saw a burly man standing next to the man, holding the kidnapper's shotgun.

"Good job." Yang Le, who had transformed into an Asgardian, praised the man on the ground. He slightly exerted force, and the shotgun twisted and deformed like putty, turning into a pile of scrap metal in an instant.

Casually discarding the scrap metal, and ignoring the rapidly escalating romance between the man and woman due to the man's heroic act, Yang Le quickly scanned all the kidnappers in the theater.

"Where did you come from, you freak!" The leading kidnapper provoked Yang Le, pointing his gun at him. "Believe it or not, I'll turn you into a hornet's nest!"

As he spoke, the kidnapper pulled the trigger. His neurotic behavior was clearly learned from his boss, the Joker, but he obviously hadn't grasped the essence.

Yang Le didn't speak. He simply extended his palm in the shape of a gun. A bolt of lightning quickly appeared on his index finger and fired. After melting the incoming bullet, the small current split into dozens of even smaller currents, striking each of the kidnappers equally.

After a series of twitches, the Joker gang kidnappers uniformly collapsed to the ground. Their bodies were charred, and if not for the occasional twitch and faint groans, one might have thought they were electrocuted.

"The crisis is over, everyone," Yang Le announced loudly. "Now, those who lost their valuables can retrieve their belongings. Remember, no taking advantage of the situation."

Watching Yang Le's display of power, Giovanni silently removed his hand from his hat. Suddenly, he seemed to catch something out of the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, he saw Wonder Woman hiding behind the screen.

…

"I see." Giovanni stroked his chin. Just now, his magic performance had ended. After all, a robbery had occurred, and even if he wanted to continue, the audience was in no mood to watch. Helpless, he could only announce that it would be held the next day.

The performance was moved to the next day. With nothing else to do, Giovanni listened to Yang Le and Wonder Woman's purpose for coming. But after learning the whole story, the famous human magician couldn't help but feel a headache.

"Please, Giovanni, I need your help," Wonder Woman requested.

"It's not that I'm unwilling to help you, Wonder Woman," Giovanni rubbed his temples, saying with distress.

"It's just that, as a magician of orthodox origin, my contact with those heretical and unorthodox paths is limited to confrontation. Circe, the witch who has survived since the age of the gods, I don't even know where she might go. You might need to find a mage who is not so orthodox to help with this matter."

Seeing this, Wonder Woman no longer pressed him, but instead asked, "Can you recommend someone?"

"This…" Giovanni was stunned for a moment, lowering his head to think. Having already refused a companion's request once, he prepared to find a more reliable mage, but before he could think of one, a voice suddenly rang out.

"I can recommend someone."

A crisp voice came from the doorway. Everyone turned to look and saw a girl with jet-black hair standing in the doorway. From the girl's beautiful appearance, one could tell that her relationship with Giovanni must be close.

"Zatanna?" Giovanni looked at his daughter in surprise.

"Who is it?" Wonder Woman hurriedly asked.

Facing this long-established superhero, Zatanna showed no stage fright, and confidently said.

"Constantine."