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Shot to the Heart / Liar Liar
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Main Story
Written by Dan Slott
Pencils by Ty Templeton
Inked by Terry Beatty
Colored by Lee Loughridge
Lettered by Phil Felix
Cover by Kelsey Shannon
Asst. Editor Harvey Richards
Editor Joan Hilty
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Back-Up
Written by Ty Templeton
Penciled by Rick Burchett
Inked by Terry Beatty
Colored by Zylonol
Lettered by Phil Felix
Editor Joan Hilty |
Issue #05 - Shot to the Heart / Liar Liar
Cover Date - October 2003. Released August 20th.
Private detective Harvey Bullock is chained to a suitcase that everyone wants — including a marksman named Deadshot! Can Batman keep him off-target? Plus, in the backup story, learn how Bullock lost his badge! |
Review
There aren’t a lot of characters
in the DCAU more bizarrely appealing than Harvey
Bullock. On the surface, there’s little to like there.
He’s fat. He’s loud. He’s oafish. He passionately hates
the main protagonist. A deeper look, however, will
reveal several endearing qualities: his tenacity, his
dedication, and his loyalty. Above all else, though,
Bullock is likeable because he’s so darned relatable.
Batman, in both his effectiveness and his underlying
altruism, is so far removed from audiences that he’s a
character more easily admired than understood or
sympathized with. But Bullock lives in a world of
endless legwork, long hours, late nights, stale donuts,
cold coffee, and missed opportunities. That we
can all relate to. And thus the true beauty of Bullock
is revealed: he’s the everyman, the average schmoe doing
his best to clean up the streets, however much he may
screw up in the process.
So it’s no surprise that, when the first arc of
Batman Adventures rolls around, we find ourselves
asking: just where is he, anyway? Dan Slott addresses
the matter in #5, also the first issue where he takes
over the writing chores on the main stories.
As Bruce Wayne’s relationship with Julie Madison gets
progressively more serious, Detective Bullock, now a PI,
contacts Batman with some choice information. Some
forces don’t want that information to get out, however,
so Bullock is forced to work with Batman to survive.
The premise is rather clever… Bullock is at his most
interesting when forced to work alongside Batman, and
this issue informs us (rather cleverly) that Batman has
gone as far as to hire Bullock to try and find
information on the Penguin. That development is
perfectly rational, and speaks volumes about Batman’s
desperation to uncover some dirty secret that will allow
him to oust Cobblepot from his mayoral position. The
chemistry between the two crime fighters is an absolute
blast, and we get more than few genuinely funny, and
genuinely exciting, scenes. Deadshot makes a welcome
cameo, and thankfully his debut Justice League episode,
“The Enemy Below”, is referenced.
The back-up is a cute little story that reveals why
Bullock lost his badge. It’s largely inconsequential,
but still fun. It’s worth noting that, as of this issue,
the covers are drawn by Kelsey Shannon. Though Bruce
Timm’s covers for the first four issues are adequate,
Kelsey Shannon really nails the covers from #5 on,
providing stylish and intriguing visual hooks for the
content within.
It would have been fairly easy to wrap up the
Penguin-as-mayor subplot here, revealing some dirty deed
that would get Cobblepot out of office. But Dan Slott is
a bit more adventurous than that, and the revelation of
who’s really trying to kill Bullock is a huge twist,
both completely unexpected and totally logical. It
deepens the Penguin’s subplot considerably,
intelligently resolves the Julie Madison romance angle,
and does an excellent job setting up this second arc.
Slott gets Bruce Wayne back into his Matches Malone
persona towards the end of the issue, establishing a
tantalizing glimpse ahead at an arc revolving around
being undercover. And the cliffhanger, which brings back
a classic DCAU-exclusive character, is the kind of thing
that will drop your jaw. This issue’s a great standalone
story on its own merits, but as bait for the upcoming
arc, it’s even more enjoyable. |
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