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Main Story
Written by Ty Templeton
Pencils by Rick Burchett
Inks by Terry Beatty
Colors by Heroic Age
Lettering by Ken Lopez
Cover by Kelsey Shannon
Asst. Editor Harvey Richards
Editor Joan Hilty
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Back-Up
Written by Dan Slott
Pencils by Rick Burchett
Inks by Terry Beatty
Colored by Heroic Age
Lettered by Brosseau
Editor Joan Hilty |
Issue #13 - Swan Song / Knight Light
Cover Date - June 2004. Released on April 21st.
Who’s in charge of Gotham City? The Penguin and Batman face off over it — but you’ll be surprised by the answer! |
Review
It should be obvious by this
point that there are many things Batman Adventures
does well. But if the series’ appeal had to be
summed up in a single aspect, you’d be hard-pressed to
find a better example than the running Penguin-as-mayor
subplot. It’s a deceptively simple twist on the status
quo, opening up a wide range of story possibilities
while re-establishing Batman as an outlaw, a role he’s
always been compelling in. It’s also the one dangling
thread that just had to be resolved the end of the
series’ run. And in Issue #13, that’s exactly what
happens. Kind of.
As the Penguin’s job performance as mayor grows
increasingly more controversial among Gotham’s
population (giving Jim Gordon a nice few moments of
quiet dignity in the process), Batman comes to the
Penguin with some potentially devastating information
he’s uncovered… and a choice.
When Batman claims that he has evidence demonstrating
the Penguin’s election to be fraudulent, he offers him
the option to step down, an option which the Penguin
takes after some serious deliberation. None of this is
particularly surprising. Instead, the inevitable twist
comes afterwards, when Batman reveals that he was
bluffing to a large extent- he has no such concrete
evidence, and is instead making the claim on the basis
of an educated guess. At first, it seems like a rushed
conclusion, and on a certain level it probably is. All
things considered, however, it’s a surprisingly clever
take on things. It leaves the reader guessing, and
allows them to draw their own conclusions, in addition
to illustrating Batman’s fearlessness and Cobblepot’s
lack of confidence. There’s also the strong possibility
that the Penguin steps down simply because he doesn’t
like the job, as implied by the opening pages. At any
rate, it’s a deliberately ambiguous ending, and those
are often the best kind. The air of uncertainty is
layered with mystery and even the possibility of moral
compromise, and the result is surprisingly compelling.
If nothing else, it’s given fans something to ponder in
great depth for the next few years, and that’s nothing
to sneeze at. The Penguin, perhaps most valuably, is
effectively re-established as a threat.
Ty Templeton uses the Batman family particularly well in
this last chapter, with both Tim Drake and Barbara
Gordon making valuable contributions that Batman himself
might have overlooked, while still not undermining the
Dark Knight’s star status. It’s a fine line to walk, but
Templeton pulls it off well.
The backup, meanwhile, is subtle yet appropriate. A
silent story, it casts Batman as a hero in the
traditional sense, stripping away most of the dark
trappings and reminding the reader of the character’s
underlying altruism, idealism, and respectability. It’s
a nice reminder, amidst all the darkness associated with
Batman, that he’s fundamentally a hero, and though it’s
not revolutionary, it’s cute and touching in its own
way.
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