Batman The Animated Series
Happy Birthday, Batman. Today, the Dark Knight Detective turns 80 and he doesn't look a day over 75! I keed, I keed. March has been a big month for Batman. Last week, "Detective Comics," the series that introduced him to the world, hit issue 1000. It's only the second comic series to hit that particular milestone. Batman continues to be one of the most popular comic book characters out there. Not too shabby for an octogenarian. It's the perfect time to check in on "B: TAS."
[Batman and Robin are watching re-runs of Love That Baby]
Robin: "Remember that time when Poison Ivy nearly smothered us in those vines? The ones with the really sharp thorns?"
Batman: "Yes."
Robin: "This is worse."
The stars of a TGIF-style cancelled sitcom, "Love That Baby" are being abducted. The Dynamic Duo get involved and it becomes clear that the star of the show, Mary Dahl, is the one behind the abductions. Baby-Doll has a disease that stopped her aging and she's ready to re-live her glory days, if anyone is watching or not. Can Batman and Robin stop this revival before it even gets going?
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| Progeria |
Introducing new characters in B: TAS is a hit or miss proposition. For every Harley Quinn there is a Red Claw (more on her later) or a Terrible Trio. Leave it to Paul Dini, creator of Harley Quinn, to get the introduction of a new character just right. Mary "Baby-Doll" Dahl is perfect. She's creepy. She's scary. She's weird. She's sympathetic. It all works really, really well. The concept of a woman who never ages could have gone completely off the rails, but Dini keeps it somewhat grounded. This is not someone who is stuck in adolescent. Baby-Doll has grown and matured. She's tried to be an adult. She's looked for acceptance and to be what she thought she needed to be, but she was rejected. She's lived in this warped perception for so long, that it's not a huge shock that she would try to re-create the time when she was happiest in her life.
It was super interesting to watch this episode in the context of today, where we are revival crazy. Baby-Doll could've just pitched it to the network and someone probably would have picked it up. Or maybe they wouldn't. I loved the running jokes about how bad this sitcom was. The humor was another standout element to this episode. From Robin's running commentary on "Love That Baby" to the Baby-Doll "Macbeth" videos. It's very natural and fitting.
The climax walks sort of a tight rope between being really emotional and effecting and being overly melodramatic. It never tipped over onto the wrong side and it helped humanize Baby-Doll and that ending scene of Batman and Baby-Doll embracing was emotional and haunting.
I'm not sure if we see Baby-Doll again after this, but if it's a one and done, then its the perfect episode for her.
Grade: A
Alfred Pennyworth: [after being drugged with a truth serum] "You'll get nothing but gibberish out of me, madam. I came from haunts of cootenfern and knicker sudden Sally. Uh... dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum, and bicker down the valley."
Red Claw: [shakes her head] "And people wonder why no one takes Britain seriously anymore."
It's a normal day at Wayne Manor. Alfred is lint rolling the Batsuit, admonishing Dick for being shirtless while he does his bar routine. Then, he gets a call from an acquaintance named Frederick that sends him back to London. It turns out that Alfred has a secret past with British Intelligence and international terrorist, Red Claw, wants to use information that Alfred and Frederick have in their noggins to detonate warheads in the middle of London. Can Alfred hold out in time for the Dynamic Duo to arrive?
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| Bozhe Moi |
Was anyone really clamoring for the return of Red Claw? Did anyone watch her original episode and think, man, there's still a lot to explore with Red Claw. Maybe she's more than just a low rent, Black Widow rip off. More than just a cheap female villain to introduce in the same episode as Catwoman. I certainly didn't, but apparently the writers of B: TAS thought there was. I can see why, I guess. They want to send Alfred to London and give the episode an international flavor so why not bring back the only really international villain the show has had. The sad thing part is that Red Claw is still a super boring villain. She's very generic and doesn't really bring anything to the episode. There is some nice bantering between her, Alfred and Frederick, but is that enough. Her plot is very "every James Bond villain ever." I'm going to use these nuclear missiles to hold this random city/the world hostage. *Yawn*
Alfred's backstory has been explored in the comics. He was a member of the British Secret Service. It enriched him and made him more than just a dutiful, doddering butler. I'm all for B: TAS utilizing that backstory or bringing it into this universe, but the execution here is super lackluster. I was just left wanting more. I wanted to see Alfred be more of a badass. It was great seeing him try to work against the truth serum, but for an episode that feels like it was meant to be a showcase for Alfred, it falls really flat.
You can usually depend on strong action sequences to buffer a weaker written episode of B: TAS, but they fall a little flat here, as well. I did enjoy Red Claw going after Batman in the Batwing, but it was over too soon. I did like she tore his cowl off. I'm actually surprised more villains don't go that route. Batman did seem pretty unconcerned that Red Claw saw his entire face. Maybe she couldn't see it since she was behind him?
I did enjoy the animation as per usual. I especially enjoyed the atmospheric effects of London, specifically the fog. Clearly, the animators were enjoying going somewhere other than Gotham for a change. It was fun watching Batman and Robin ingratiate themselves into the British police community. But again, I was left wanting more. Lots of missed opportunities in this episode.
Grade: C+
Happy Birthday, Bats! I'll never tire of watching your animated adventures. Next up, Ra's al Ghul tells a story of Jonah Hex and Riddler goes straight.
On Batman's birthday, what is your favorite memory of Batman? Your favorite Batman related media? Favorite Bat villain? Red Claw? Let me know in the comments.
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