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.
