Anthony Zucco is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), Zucco is a mobster responsible for murdering the parents of Dick Grayson, which leads to Grayson's adoption by Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman and becoming the latter's sidekick and original Robin and Nightwing.
The character has appeared in , voiced by Thomas F. Wilson, and The Batman, voiced by Mark Hamill. Richard Zeppieri portrayed him in the first season of the DC Universe series Titans.
Publication history
Tony Zucco first appeared in
Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) and was created by
Bob Kane,
Bill Finger, and
Jerry Robinson.
Fictional character history
Pre-Crisis
Antonio Zucco (originally called
Boss Zucco in his first appearance) is a Mafia
crime boss or thug in
Gotham City who is responsible for the death of
Dick Grayson's
Flying Graysons. Throughout the years, Zucco's role in Robin's origin remains largely the same.
Earth-Two
Zucco tries to extort Haly's Circus, where the Flying Graysons are the main attraction. When ringmaster
Jack Haly refuses 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 Grayson is subsequently adopted by Batman and becomes his partner Robin, helping him to arrest Zucco.
[ Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)]
Some years later, Tony Zucco had become senile and was seen in a hospital. Robin is affected by the Stream of Ruthlessness and fights his way past Infinity, Inc. to get to Zucco's hospital room, only to discover that Zucco does not remember him.[ Infinity, Inc. #6 (September 1984)]
Earth-One
On
Earth-One, Tony Zucco's history and his showdown with
Batman and Robin is the same as his
Earth-Two counterpart.
[ Batman #213 (August 1969)]
Post-Crisis
Batman: Year Three
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.
[ Batman #436-439 (August–September 1989)]
After Batman apprehends him for murdering Dick Grayson's parents, Zucco is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in Blackgate 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 Pennyworth goes 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.
Batman: Dark Victory
In
, Zucco is a low-level thug working for Sal Maroni and a member of Carmine 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 his crimes before dying. #11 (October 2000)
In Blackest Night, Zucco is revived as a Black Lantern before Robin and Tim Drake force him to retreat.[ Blackest Night: Batman #3 (December 2009)]
The Black Mirror
In
, it is revealed that Zucco has a daughter named Sonia, who is the head of the GGM Bank under the alias of Sonia Branch.
[ Detective Comics #876 (April 2011)] 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.
[ Detective Comics #878 (August 2011)]
The New 52
In The 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 the Prankster, whose father he killed.
[ Nightwing (vol. 3) #0 (November 2012)][ Nightwing (vol. 3) #15 (February 2013)][ Nightwing (vol. 3) #18 - #24 (May - December 2013)]
Infinite Frontier
In
Infinite Frontier, Zucco appears to have another daughter named Melinda who is the mayor of Blüdhaven. 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 after Blockbuster'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
-
Jocko-boy Vanzetti, a character based on Tony Zucco, appears in All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder.
[ All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #1 (September 2005)][ All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #7 (November 2005)][ All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #8 (January 2008)]
-
An alternate universe variant of Tony Zucco from Earth-Three appears in Forever Evil. This version is a clown who is killed by Jonathan Grayson.
[ Justice League (vol. 2) #25 (February 2014)]
In other media
Television
-
Tony Zucco appears in the episode "Robin's Reckoning", voiced by Thomas F. Wilson.
[ 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.] He is the nephew of crime boss Arnold Stromwell, who disowns him out of disgust over the Graysons' murder and because it lands their family in hot water with Batman.
-
Tony Zucco appears in The Batman episode "A Matter of Family", voiced by Mark Hamill.
-
Tony Zucco appears in the Titans episode "Jason Todd", portrayed by Richard Zeppieri.
Film
Elements of Tony Zucco are incorporated into
Batman Forever's depiction of
Two-Face (portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones).
Video games
Tony Zucco appears as a character summon in
.
Miscellaneous
Tony Zucco appears in
Young Justice #6.
See also
-
List of Batman family enemies
