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.

 

 

Angel and the Batman! Batman: Gotham Adventures 26 Review

And now for something completely different.

Word in the underworld is that everybody is looking for Kristov. Batman: Gotham Adventures 26 opens with Batman crashing a club and busting up all the underworld patrons for information on Kristov. He and Tim Drake follow the lead to a warehouse where they encounter FBI Special Agent DePaola. One of DePaola's agents shares information in Russian, which Batman is able to understand. He and Robin follow the lead further and find that Kristov is an infant.

Peterson's story just turns bonkers. To keep Kristov safe from everybody, Batman keeps the baby with him. All. The. Time. Because he's not sure if even Ra's al Ghul is looking for the baby and won't track him back to the Batcave and Alfred.

Peterson and Levins have fun showing Batman making the rounds of Gotham, carrying Kristov. This wraps up when The Caped Crusader stops a mugging - simply by using the built-in fear he's established. He tells the gang of muggers that if they do anything at all to upset the baby, he will make them very sorry. The story of every new parent everywhere. The mugging victim and even the muggers offer helpful suggestions. The victim even shops for supplies. Alfred helps him over comms with changing a diaper and feeding. This is very thick cheese.

Batman provides an ultimate solution for Special Agent DePaola and the mobs to insure Kristov's permanent safety.

It's a fun, wacky story. Stretches credibility, even for Batman. It might be considered "camp" simply for the premise itself. Your mileage may vary.

"In Arms", Batman: Gotham Adventures 26 earns three stars.    

NEW Teen Titans

On Monday, The Nerdist broke a story about the line-up for TNT Network's Titans series, based on the DC comic book team Teen Titans. The line-up was revealed as Dick Grayson's Robin; wheel-chair bound Barbara Gordon - who may be Batgirl or Oracle - Hank Hall's Hawk and Dawn Granger's Dove; the Rachel Roth Raven from Geoff Johns' run on Titans and Princess Koriand'r of the planet Tameran, Starfire. Titans, on TNT is said to be drawing heavily from the Marv Wolfman and George Perez era, The New Teen Titans. Warner Bros. has declined comment on the story revealing the line-up. Here's the thing, though. This line-up isn't really representative of the Titans. It may very well be the line-up, bringing together different eras through the characters. It just feels like something is missing.

First off, it's very bird-centric. That's the most obvious thing that jumps out at me. "Huh! They're almost all birds!" Robin, Hawk, Dove, Raven, Batgirl. Starfire is the only one that can actually fly, though. It's also very Bat-centric and Gothic. Robin, Batgirl and Raven all fit that very mystic, gothic Batman-family genre. It's also a very volatile team. Hawk, Starfire and Robin are known for the serious "warrior" mentality. This isn't a very well rounded line-up. My first reaction was, Where's Donna Troy's Wonder Girl? Where's Mal Duncan? Where's Lilith? Where's Gar Logan's Beast Boy? I'm assuming that they're not going to be anchored down with Garth's Aqualad. Wally West's Kid Flash is probably licensed to the CW's The Flash series. Roy Harper's Arsenal is on Arrow. I have to confess that I'm not watching Arrow, so I don't know if Mia Deardon is part of the cast. That would mean that Speedy would be completely unavailable to the series. Supergirl is scheduled for CBS, and there's been talk of crossovers with The Flash and Arrow on CW - which is a pretty interesting concept - but no mention in The Nerdist story about a crossover with Titans. Yet.

And then it hit me. The genius of the Marv Wolfman-George Perez era of The New Teen Titans. Maybe you realized it a long time ago.

Victor Stone, codenamed Cyborg, is probably one of the greatest new characters in the history of comic books. He is so important, that he replaced J'onn J'onzz, The Martian Manhunter as a founding member of the rebooted Justice League. He's gone from having cybernetic parts to actually having Boom Tube technology from Jack Kirby's New Gods. With Cyborg as part of the Justice League now, the shift is from science fiction to science technology. The Justice League was very science fiction. Superman, Green Lantern, The Martian Manhunter, all alien in nature. A good majority of the adventures the Justice League had in the Silver and early Bronze Ages were in space. They moved their headquarters from a cave, like Batman's, to a satellite orbiting the Earth. Since the end of the Space Age, and the mothballing of the US Space Program, science fiction and aliens are not that big a deal anymore. But science technology is.

That's why Cyborg was an awesome New Teen Titan. It's pretty confusing that he's still part of the animated Teen Titans Go! series and yet has been added into the Justice League, first through Smallville, the Justice League comic book reboot and is part of the Superman sequel. During the Wolfman-Perez era of New Teen Titans, Vic's adjustment and his personal life was an ongoing sub-plot. He was angry over being handicapped and he was bitter toward his father. How he coped made for some great stories. Plus his friendship with Gar Logan was pretty cool. The pair were a super-hero Odd Couple. From what I've read of the rebooted Justice League - which is just a few issues past the six issue secret origin arc - Vic's Cyborg feels like the odd man out. He's supposed to be the core of this new Justice League just as he was the New Teen Titans. He's taking the place of The Martian Manhunter, who for years maintained a psychic link between all the members. Now, it's a communications link. I don't think I'm the only Titans fan that wishes Vic was back at the kids' table.

In addition to Wolfman and Perez's Cyborg, they created Raven and Starfire. They complimented the gizmos and gadgetry. Raven brought mysticism, and Starfire brought science fiction to the team. The New Teen Titans greatest enemies was Raven's father, the demon Trigon. Another rogue was the charismatic cult leader, Brother Blood. Both were in Raven's mystic wheelhouse. Blackfire, another Titans foe, was Starfire's sister. The Titans fought a couple of alien races bent on recapturing Starfire and enslaving her home planet.

What didn't work in the first two incarnations of Teen Titans was straight-forward super-heroics. The Classic Teen Titans were written by old dudes that were on the wrong side of the generation gap. The stories and dialogue showed that they were trying but really had no idea what young people in the '60's were like. A lot of the stories put the Titans in situations where they took a stand against adults. Forgettable villains like Mister Twister and Ding-Don-Daddy turn the Titans into something like a Beatles movie or a Beach movie with Frankie and Annette. The Titans greatest foe of the Bronze Age was Dr. Light, who was only practicing on them, so he could take on the Justice League. He turned out to be a pretty lame adversary.

I feel sorry for the creative teams that have come after Marv Wolfman and George Perez. They really did something unique. They took the team and made it something more than just a super-hero comic book about hitting bad guys. As a fan, it's hard to see what Dan Jurgens and Geoff Johns have done and what Wil Pfeifer is doing, without comparing it and becoming nostalgic about "the good old days". It's gotta suck when an announcement is made like The Nerdist, featuring the Titans line-up for TNT and see the line saying that the show will rely on the New Teen Titans era of the '80's. Sure, that's pretty much the era that any fan is familiar with.

I'd like to see a live actions Titans series or film that mirrors the great stories that I've enjoyed. Something that encompasses the three new characters that Wolfman and Perez created. Something that involves technology, mysticism and science fiction.

That would be pretty cool. Who knows, maybe these are the characters that can do that. What do you think?

Batman 1966 Fantasy Casting: Robin, the Boy Wonder

[Note: As this post was fomenting and as I was composing it, word broke Thursday, September 5th, 2013 that Batwoman creative team J. H. Williams and W. Haden Blackman would be leaving the ongoing comic book series, citing editorial differences; specifically that DC was prohibiting Kate Kane's marriage to same-sex partner, Maggie Sawyer. The creators maintained that it was not so much the same-sexness, but the marriage. Over the last few years, previously married characters, like Superman and Barry Allen, had been re-booted as single. Superman's marriage to Lois Lane has been undone, and now he has begun a high profile relationship with Wonder Woman. Previously, the Amazing Amazon was linked to non-powered Steve Trevor. This new relationship launches a new Superman/Wonder Woman book. Also, in the last few years, Sue Dibney, the wife of Elongated Man Ralph Dibney was murdered by Ray Palmer's crazy ex-wife Jean Loring. Longtime partners Hawkman and Hawkgirl/woman were separated, as were. Jay and Joan Garrick, by a recent line-wide re-boot. It seems only Aquaman and Mera have a stable relationship...although it is unclear as to whether or not they are married or just partners.]

Let's talk about Dick Grayson. Robin, the Boy Wonder. The original sidekick. He, and Jimmy Olsen, were originally created to make Batman and Superman more approachable and kid-friendly. The idea was that Robin and Jimmy would draw readers in, because they were the "stand-in" for the target reader. Young boys would be able to see themselves in adventures right there along-side The Dark Knight or The Man of Steel. It was ideal. While it worked for Jimmy Olsen, it became problematic over the years for Dick Grayson.

 

The problem for Dick Grayson is that, like Bruce Wayne, his parents were killed. Bruce Wayne's parents were killed by a stick-up man in an alley. A young, orphaned Bruce vowed to wage a war on criminals, and when he reached adulthood he was inspired to take on the guise of a bat and become a Batman. Originally he was a lone figure. His friendship, as Bruce Wayne, with Gotham City Police Commissioner Gordon, kept him in touch with what was going on, but he was a loner. He was a millionaire-playboy. He was engaged to an up-and-coming actress, but that was short-lived. The problem for Dick Grayson, initially, is that he loses both his parents and is taken on in a male-chauvinist environment. His mentor is driven to perfection, and there are few females to counter-balance Batman.

 

A year after Batman made his debut in 1939, it was decided that he needed a sidekick. Something to balance and counteract the dark, Gothic image of The Dark Knight. For a year, Batman had fought monsters and gangsters. When Robin made his debut, he brought along with him the more colorful, and cartoonish rogues, like The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin and The Riddler. Robin made his debut in Detective Comics 38, April 1940. The Joker and Catwoman made their debut around the same time, in the first issue of Batman comics in the Spring of 1940. Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne family butler, was introduced in 1943. In the 1964, shortly before the television series premiered, Dick was given an Aunt Harriet. For twenty-four years, Dick Grayson was focused solely on adventure, crime and criminals. He had a few crushes; the only times he has been paired up as a couple has been with female super-heroes.

Initially, he was paired off with the original Bat-Girl, Betty Kane, the niece of adventurer and female counter-part to Bruce Wayne, Kathy Kane. Kathy fought crime alongside Batman as Batwoman. Betty was a Sandra Dee type. When Batman was being revamped in the '60's and brought to television, the sci-fi approach of the '50's was shaken off, and characters like Batwoman, Bat-Girl and Ace, the Bat-Hound weren't used anymore. Alfred had been killed off and Aunt Harriet added to the cast of supporting characters. Later, Dick was paired with the new Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, who was somewhere between five to ten years older than him. In the comic books, he was later paired with Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman's teen sidekick. Wonder Girl was an original member of the Teen Titans, a group of young sidekicks. Robin was the unofficial leader of the group. It wasn't until a revival of the group in 1980, that Dick was given a girlfriend, the alien super-heroine, Starfire, also known as Princess Koriand'r.

If Dick Grayson were a character in a novel or a play, his story would have boundaries. His story would have some kind of resolution. It would reach a conclusion or an end. There would be a sense of closure. But since Dick Grayson is a comic book character, and his story has been adapted to television and film, his story is ongoing. In an effort to keep him fresh as a character, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, there are certain compromises that have to be adhered to. The first one is that Robin, like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, can never reach a conclusion. Superman fights a "never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way". Secondly, nothing can be introduced to distract from that never-ending battle. Bruce Wayne can never be seen enjoying any thing else outside of fighting crime as Batman.

  

Which explains why Dick Grayson has spent all his time in a male-dominant environment, without a girlfriend - or any kind of significant relationship - and the only contact he's had apart from Batman has been either with other sidekicks, or other super-humans. Now, remember, he's the stand-in for you and I in the audience. Dick Grayson, like Jimmy Olsen, represents you and I, that Batman, and Superman would take us on as a friend, confidant and sidekick. The problem is, that as a sidekick, Marvel's Peter Parker, alias Spider-Man is a better representation than Dick Grayson. Peter is more realistic. He's shy, he doesn't know how to talk to girls. Peter is the underdog that Dick - who is a millionaire's ward - could never be. Unless Bruce was given a completely different approach.

Bruce Wayne never officially adopted Dick Grayson. He was his guardian. He was his mentor. He was never officially his parent. That's because adoption requires two parents. A single person is rarely considered able to raise a child. So, the solution would be for Bruce to be in a somewhat stable relationship, like his engagement to actress Julie Madison. In the comic books, Jule broke off their engagement because, even though Bruce was a wealthy millionaire, he didn't actually do anything. He was idle rich. Julie, like any woman, wanted Bruce to accomplish something. As the head of the charitable Wayne Foundation, that would be possible. Bruce would be accomplishing a better Gotham City in both guises. Taking on an orphan, and raising him as a son, could draw Bruce and Julie together. The conflict could still be there in how Bruce handled characters like Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy), Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Talia Head (Ra's Al Ghul's daughter). Any bumps that would come up in Bruce and Julie's relationship would risk Dick's adoption - and risk Batman and Robin's partnership.

The next step would be, where would Dick Grayson go to school and what crowd would he be part of outside of his relationship with Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner Gordon. In the comic books, his relationships were with other super-heroes and other teen sidekicks. He was the leader of the Teen Titans.

What would his role be on the 1966 live-action Batman television series?

 

"Boy, I wonder..."