Batman: The Animated Series, a brbtv report

Season 2

557 “Shadow of the Bat I”

September 13, 1993

Written by Brynne Stephens; directed by Frank Paur.

A couple of Rupert Thorne’s thugs are loading contraband when the police arrive. Thorne flees to the roof, where Batman apprehends him. Deputy Commissioner Gil Mason is only too happy to claim this one, along with several other recent criminal collars. But as Barbara Gordon is practicing her gymnastics and chatting with her father, Gil arrives to arrest Commissioner Gordon — for allegedly taking bribes from Thorne! Barb smells a setup and appeals to D.A. Janet Van Dorn, to no avail. The police department organizes a public-support rally for Gordon, and Barb decides that Batman’s presence at the rally will offer a nice boost. But Batman won’t stop investigating Gordon’s frame-up to attend the rally; he sends Robin instead as he chases down the lead that the forged documents implicating Gordon came from somewhere other than Thorne. Barbara takes matters — and the cape and cowl — into her own hands to make sure Batman is there. In the midst of the public appearance, she foils an assassination attempt on Gil Mason. Summer Gleeson captures her on video, and soon all of Gotham is talking about this new “Batgirl,” whose cowl is ripped off (by Robin!) to reveal flowing, flaming long hair! “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert voices the second season’s new Bat-teammate. This is the origin episode for Batgirl, a departure from her 1967 Detective Comics issue No. 359 origin story, where she crafted a “Batgirl” outfit for a costume party and encountered the Killer Moth on the way to the event, thrusting her into a crimefighting role. Barbara refers to her stuffed bear as Woobie, and it’s revealed in the novelization of this episode that this is a reference to the way, as a child, she pronounced her mother’s middle name, Ruby. The book also includes a scene where Batman drops in on Arkham Asylum in his investigation, having a rather romantically charged encounter with Poison Ivy, who asks about Harvey Dent (her “oak”!) and expresses her attraction to the Caped Crusader.

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561 “Shadow of the Bat II”

September 14, 1993

Written by Brynne Stephens; directed by Frank Paur.

Batman has gone underground as Matches Malone to infiltrate a new syndicate in town and find out who’s framing Commissioner Gordon for bribery. We’ve learned that Two-Face is in on the scheme. Robin has spied something curious on the video of the public-support rally: Gil Mason knew shots were going to ring out before they did. Hmmm … Barbara Gordon, meanwhile, is enjoyed her stint impersonating Batman and inadvertently becoming the new “Batgirl” — she makes some modifications to the costume and heads back out. She and Robin cross paths as they both tail Gil Mason, then the twosome becomes a threesome at the subway station where Gil meets up with Two-Face and Matches Malone must flee the increasingly chaotic scene. Gil and Two-Face step up their plan for Gordon, busting him out of jail to off him, just as Batman and Robin are trying to free themselves in the flooded old subway station. Gil has his eye on the Commissioner’s job – then the mayor’s seat – along with the Commish’s darling redheaded daughter. The mysterious new Batgirl steps in to bust up the scene and rescue her father. Batgirl’s crimefighting is appropriately rough at first (she even gets unmasked at one point!). There’s some nice romantic interplay here between Batgirl and Robin, as there was in the comics of the 1970s and as there will be later in this series. That interplay is expanded just a bit in the novelization of this episode. Batgirl’s costume has blue gloves and blue boots, which would change to yellow, matching her comic-book outfit. We get to see a glimpse of Gotham City’s equivalent of the Statue of Liberty in this episode.

552 “Mudslide”

September 15, 1993

Written by Alan Burnett and Steve Perry; directed by Eric Radomski.

An intruder gains access to the Tarnower Financial Building, disguised as a security guard, and Batman finds Clayface at the scene. But Matt Hagen’s molten form is looking a little sluggish these days. His girlfriend Stella, a scientist, is helping him regenerate with a special suit. Batman discovers that Clayface’s molecular structure is breaking down. Stella, once a medical consultant on Hagen’s films, has discovered a new isotope that could help him retain his shape permanently. And the keeper of this experimental compound? Wayne Biotechnical labs. Clayface breaks in and steals himself some. The special effects with Clayface are always a delight, and in this one, he even shoves Batman’s smaller frame all the way inside his body to smother him. As someone who has the last name Bates and has heard the Norman Bates jokes all her life, I had to be amused that this humor was even worked into the storyline for Stella, whose last name is Bates and who at one time owned a motel, Batman says!

565 “The Worry Men”

September 16, 1993

Written by Paul Dini; directed by Frank Paur.

Veronica Vreeland returns from Africa with a flourish — and a pack of “worry men” for all her friends: little dolls you place under your pillow to make your worries disappear. Bruce spies what appears to be an ancient Mayan witch doctor watching Veronica’s party, so Batman checks the guy out. Later, after a “good night’s sleep,” Bruce, along with several other wealthy Gothamites, take cash out of the company to offer up to this witch doctor. And none of them remembers a thing. Batman discovers that Ronnie’s cute little worry men each contain a microchip that makes a person susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. He suspects the Mad Hatter. Levar Burton voices Bruce’s buddy Hayden Sloane.

553 “Paging the Crime Doctor”

September 17, 1993

Written by Mike W. Barr, Laren Bright, Martin Pasko and Randy Rogel; directed by Frank Paur.

Some thugs encounter Batman on the way out of a successful gig and injure him as they tussle. Rupert Thorne, meanwhile, has an argument with his brother Matt that leads to a heart attack. Matt, a physician who lost his license but still practices in the underworld, knows Rupert needs surgery and believes in Rupert’s promises of getting him his medical license back. Matt pays a visit to an old friend, Leslie Thompkins, who just finished patching up Batman. Thorne’s thugs coerce Leslie (in a particularly dark and disturbingly suggestive moment) so that she assists Matt in the surgery. Bruce and Alfred then investigate the “Three Musketeers” — Matt, Leslie and Thomas Wayne. Veteran actor Joseph Campanella voices Dr. Matthew Thorne.

"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm"

A full-length theatrical film released on Christmas Day 1993, then released on video in April 1994 and DVD in December 1999.

Written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko and Michael Reaves; directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce W. Timm.

Long before 2004’s “The Batman” animated series, this feature film highlighted Bruce Wayne’s earlier crimefighting days as the Batman. It also introduced the character of Andrea Beaumont to the animated Bat-realm. In the story, key Gotham mobsters are disappearing at the hands of a dark vigilante: First Chuckie Sol, then Buzz Bronski. Batman is suspected in the murders. But it’s really the work of the darkly shrouded figure of the Phantasm, a new character bent on revenge. Bruce’s former girlfriend Andrea returns to town, and we see flashbacks of their relationship in Bruce’s younger days. In fact, things got so serious that Bruce decided to hang up the cape and cowl for her. “I didn’t see this coming,” Bruce cried at his parents’ tombstone, “I didn’t count on being happy.” But Andrea mysteriously broke off their engagement and left town. Back in the present day, as Batman investigates the mobster hits, and Sal Valestra is the next to fall, he finds that Andrea — and her father — are connected to them. He also learns that the Joker is the last living “business associate” on the Phantasm’s hit list. A glimpse of the pre-transformation Joker is given, as he worked as a bodyguard for mobster Sal Valestra in his younger hood days. The cast is the same as in the series, with some special additions: Stacy Keach is Carl Beaumont, Abe Vigoda is Salvatore Valestra, Hart Bochner is City Councilman Arthur Reeves, John P. Ryan is Buzz Bronski, Dick Miller is Chuckie Sol and Dana Delany (Lois on “Superman”) is Andrea. Marilu Henner is credited for additional voices. That’s no Gregorian chant at the beginning, by the way; it’s actually the names of the WB crew chanted backward to the show’s theme music. And did you catch that Tia Carrere was singing the song over the closing credits, “I Never Even Told You”? In the novelization of this movie, we learn that Bruce had just finished up four years of college when he met Andrea, making him about 32 in the current day and meaning his debut as Batman was at age 22.

The wonderfully dark “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” hit the theaters in 1993 and focused on the early days of the Caped Crusader, following the continuum of “The Animated Series.” It was released on VHS shortly thereafter, then went to DVD in 1999.

“House & Garden”

May 2, 1994

Written by Paul Dini; directed by Boyd Kirkland.

Pamela Isley has straightened herself out — and gotten married? It seems too hard to believe of the new “Pamela Lillian Carlyle,” so Commissioner Gordon and Batman pay her a visit as they’re investigating a string of poisonings of single, wealthy men. They meet hubby Steven Carlyle, Pamela’s new stepkids Chris and Kelly, and Pamela’s yearning for “something more” in her life. Dick Grayson, meanwhile, is having a little romance with a fellow coed when Batman calls and asks him to investigate Steven, who’s a professor at GSU. But Dick disappears from his dorm room, then Batman gets menaced for ransom by a big plantlike creature. So is the plant lady’s new life really as idyllic as it seems? Megan Mullally, who would go on to the sitcom “Will and Grace,” voices Cindy, while Steven Carlyle is Peter Strauss.

“Sideshow”

May 3, 1994

Written by Michael Reaves and Brynne Stephens; directed by Boyd Kirkland.

Killer Croc breaks out of custody as he’s being transported, and Batman intervenes. They both end up thrown from the train and into the woods in the middle of nowhere. Croc washes up at a farm inhabited by former circus freaks. It’s a sanctuary, and they invite Croc to live with them there. He tells them a lie about where he came from, and he learns of their $50,000 nest egg. But Batman catches up to him at the farm. He’s quickly overcome, though, as he tries to convince the farm’s occupants of the danger of Croc. JoBeth Williams voices the conjoined May and June. The 6’8” Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “’Til Death” voices the giant, Goliath.

"Avatar”

May 9, 1994

Written by Michael Reaves; directed by Kevin Altieri.

The oldest Egyptian document known to man — the Scroll of Osiris — is the target of a thief. Batman tangles with the thief and gets hit by snake venom, then realizes the thief is the assumed-dead Ra’s al Ghul. Batman travels to Gibraltar, where he sees Talia. They go to Cairo and the secret compound of Ra’s. There, they find him and learn of his quest for the power of an ancient and immortal Egyptian queen. But after Ra’s leaves them for dead, his encounter with the queen is not a pleasant one. The voice of Thoth Khepera, the queen, is quickly recognizable as that of Nichelle Nichols of vintage “Star Trek” fame. In the company of Ra’s and Talia, who know his identity, Batman spends much of this episode talking and acting like himself but looking like Bruce Wayne.

"Trial”

May 16, 1994

Written by Paul Dini and Bruce W. Timm; directed by Dan Riba.

Batman is taking some hits from D.A. Janet Van Dorn, who sees the Caped Crusader as Commissioner Gordon’s “pet nut.” Bruce meets with Janet, but then she disappears. Batman gets a note from the abductor, and when he makes the requested meeting, he finds Poison Ivy and Harley. Janet is locked in a cell at Arkham Asylum, set for a date in court with the Rogues Gallery. Her appointed task? Defending Batman on the charge (her own!) of creating this Rogues Gallery in the first place. If she gets him off, they both go free. If not, she goes down, too. Joker is the judge in this mad trial, while Two-Face is the prosecuting attorney. The Ventriloquist and Scarface, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, Riddler, Harley Quinn and Scarecrow also show up. Stephanie Zimbalist voices Janet Van Dorn.

"Harlequinade”

May 23, 1994

Written by Paul Dini; directed by Kevin Altieri.

Joker gets his mad hands on a big, dangerous bomb, and Batman appeals to Harley Quinn to find him. She gets a (fun-filled) ride in the Batmobile on the way to her former “love nest” with Mr. J. Then they pay a visit to one of Puddin’s associates, mobster Boxy Bennett. To give Robin secret entrance to this club, Harley resorts to a little distractionary musical ode to the Joker and his homicidal tendencies. Still, Joker’s nowhere to be found. Except that Harley’s already figured how he’s kidnapped Mayor Hamilton Hill — and set the bomb.

Alan Burnett talks up the “Green Lantern: Emerald Knights” animated feature at WonderCon in San Francisco in April 2011. I got the opportunity to interview both Burnett and Bruce Timm on camera at the event for ComicsContinuum.com and its accompanying Detroit TV show.