This is Your LIFE, Bruce Wayne! Batman: Gotham Adventures 33 Review

What difference can one Batman make? Ed Brubaker and Brad Rader's "World Without Batman" answers that very question. Batman is standing alone in Gotham Cemetery anguishing before his parents' grave. If ever there was an opportunity to uncover Batman's secret identity - this is it! Batman standing in front of the Wayne tombstone - there's a giveaway! Fortunately, The Phantom Stranger is the only witness. 

He presents for Bruce Wayne an opportunity to see a world unfold had Thomas and Martha Wayne lived. Bruce's life is better for it. He ends up marrying Selina and having two sons. Dick Grayson's and Tim Drake's lives do not turn out so well. Barbara Gordon becomes a policewoman. Harvey Dent is a total nervous wreck.

The story unfolds very much like "It's a Wonderful Life", in that Bruce Wayne becoming The Batman affected and influenced others around him. Bruce was there for both Dick Grayson and Tim Drake. He was there for Barbara. He was there as much as possible for Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent.

There's no getting around that Batman has made an impact. Bruce's sacrifice has meaning for the living more than for those that have passed.

Brubaker's story is compelling. Rader is backed by inker John Lowe, with Loughridge and Harkins on backup.

A rare guest-appearance by The Phantom Stranger really makes this story. 

Batman: Gotham Adventures 33 earns four stars. 

The Scarecrow Says "Boo!" Batman: Gotham Adventures 32 Review

The Scarecrow's re-designed look is just horrible. For an animated series that is supposedly aimed at kids and should be somewhat family friendly, The Scarecrow now is more horrific and scarier. There was nothing wrong with the original design. It was cartoony or cartoonish enough. Legend has it that the Batman characters were re-designed for a more cartoonish look. That may work for some characters. It really does not work for The Scarecrow. Since when did he become taller?

"The Remote Controller" finds Batman and Robin coming across a man having a heart attack. While trying to provide aid, they are overrun by panicked Gothamites. They avoid being crushed in the stampede and get the man to Gotham General before stopping by Commissioner Gordon's office to view The Scarecrow's video. Using a form of mass hypnosis, the former Professor Crane convinces everyone watching of panic! Chaos in the streets all because Crane dictated it!

The thing is to find Crane and undo the damage!

Scott Peterson and Tim Levins are back, with Beatty, Loughridge and Harkins on backup.

The Scarecrow has managed a wicked plot that Batman and company must unravel!

Batman: Gotham Adventures 32 earns three stars.

"Chaos Theory" Batman: Botham Adventures 31 Review

Ty Templeton and Terry Beatty capture the mad random chaos that is The Joker! "Madness and Chaos and All 'cause of Me!" finds The Clown Prince of Crime plunging Gotham into an electromagnetic blackout! He captures the engineers at Eastern House Research Laboratories (obviously a one-off of Westinghouse) and the electromagnetic pulse generator. Just as he is about to launch the pulse, he pauses, expecting Batman to swoop in and stop him. However, Batman is otherwise preoccupied.

The pulse is quite crippling considering the progress and advancements in modern technology. Telephones and automobiles are out along with everything else electrical. The purpose is to plunge the city into chaos. Rioting and looting. Bringing out the worst elements in the city.

As The Batman Family races to restore order, The Joker has trouble taking credit. In all the chaos, conspiracy theories abound. The Joker forgot to televise his announcement and claim before launching the blackout.

It's a pretty simple, silly, by-the-numbers Joker story, with just a bit of a spin. Beatty and Zylonol handle the art chores with Harkins on Lettering.

Batman: Gotham Adventures 31 earns three stars.  

"Whubba!" Batman: Gotham Adventures 30 Review

"Whubba." A hilarious *choking* stutter.

Commissioner Gordon summons Batman when a young boy goes missing from a military facility. The concern has to do with his condition. Following the trail, Batman comes upon the doctor that was on duty when the boy's parents removed him from the facility. When Batman catches him by surprise, he spills some of his coffee! And "Whubba."

The boys condition leads Batman to Arkham and Clayface. The former actor, Matt Hagen, might be able to teach the boy some mental self-control over his form. Hagen starts a riot leaving Arkham that Batman has to quell. Later, he tries to upgrade his deal. The boy makes a stand on right and wrong.

Under a Bob Smith-Terry Beatty cover, Scott Peterson and Tim Levins show a melancholy, sentimental story. Hagen as Clayface is a tragic figure. One can feel sorry for some vanity that drove Hagen to the condition he's in. Some choices are just plain bad. Nearly all Batman stories are about poor choices. A good choice is Beatty, Loughridge and Harkins backing Levins.

"Deals" is a heartfelt story, providing some redeeming qualities for Matt Hagen's Clayface. Batman: Gotham Adventures earns four stars. 

Hope to Sea You Later! Batman: Gotham Adventures 29 Review

A quiet night in the Batcave for Tim Drake is disrupted when the Batmobile recklessly roars back and The Caped Crusader staggers out then collapses. Mumbling deliriously and incoherently, the clues he drops for Tim and Alfred are "ozzie fish", "blue rings" and "fish tanks"! The pair situate Batman in the medical wing of the cave. Alfred takes a blood sample and suggests that Tim find Poison Ivy. His first stop is The Iceberg Lounge, and proprietor, The Penguin. With a little convincing, Tim manages to get Ivy's location from Mr. Cobblepot.

Harley and Ivy are hiding out, "on the down-low", when Tim catches up with them at Gotham Botanical Gardens. Harley nearly shoots the place apart, before Ivy is able to analyze the blood sample. 

Tim is able to piece together the mumbled clues, which leads him to Gotham Aquarium and Goggles McCracken and his crew.

Chuck Dixon's story with Joe Staton pencils is incredibly riveting. Can. Tim. Save. Batman. In. Six. Hours?!?! The thrilling story is under a Craig Rousseau and Terry Beatty cover, with Beatty, Loughridge and Harkins backing Staton.

"Six Hours to Kill" is a nifty spotlight on Tim's ingenuity. Batman: Gotham Adventures 29 earns four stars.   

Out Riddled Using an Enigmatic Scale! Batman: Gotham Adventures 28 Review

The Riddler stories are enjoyable and satisfying simply because they are sophisticated and intelligent. They are intricate and challenging. Edward Nigma's main goal is to outsmart The Darknight Detective, so his riddles usually have a double meaning. A false "surface" meaning, with the real meaning cleverly hidden within the semantics. As a reader, one feels slightly wittier and smarter than either The Riddler or The Batman in being able to deduce the solution. 

Writing Riddler stories has to be challenging and difficult. More difficult than writing a mystery. To lay out a plan through riddles that may mean more than one thing, while confounding The Caped Crusader and the reader. What's disappointing about the tie-in book to Batman: The Animated Series and the subsequent animated series is that writers, such as Scott Peterson, just simply abandon the premise. Or reveal that Batman wasn't focusing or paying attention to the riddles.

Here, Nigma once has a lofty and bold plan all laid out in riddles. Yet, the real clues come from musician Jack West, The Riddler's captive. Batman, Robin and Nightwing simply abandon focusing on the riddles and focus instead on the message from West's background music. Interesting that West would use an Enigmatic Scale.

While Peterson's story is still enjoyable, Levins' art, with Beatty, Loughridge and Harkins is definitely eye-candy. Fewer panels, grandiose images. It's awesome how Levins carries the story and injects wit and humor. A nice zinger is that Nigma has lied to The Joker's henchmen in order to get them to work with him. He's also appropriated the Ha-Hacienda... as a squatter.

The only downside is that Peterson has presented a minor character that out-riddles The Riddler.

"Notes", Batman: Gotham Adventures earns three stars.

 

 

He Knows What Evil Lurks... Batman: Gotham Adventures 27 Review

Batman and Batgirl visit Law professor Sven Svenson in prison. He's been convicted of murdering mob boss Billy Chang. There's an eyewitness. The case against him was rock-solid and airtight. Even Commissioner Gordon is convinced he's guilty. The question is: Why?

Batman decides to dig deeper. 

He visits Pieter Danner, the eyewitness. Danner admits that Gino Tivolli threatened him. He was going to recant but didn't want to face perjury. 

Unfortunately, Professor Svenson shouldn't have involved The Darknight Detective.

Swedish Mafia and Swedish Mob Boss are funny Easter eggs of a joke. Peterson and Levins offer yet another gripping suspense mystery. The more Batman digs the more dirt he actually uncovers. Beatty, Loughridge and Harkins are in fine form under a mysterious Bob Smith, Terry Beatty cover.

The final page, final panel lesson is pretty much the sound of one hand clapping.

"Lessons", Batman: Gotham Adventures 27 earns four stars.