| Review Move over Joker, it’s time for another appearance by The Penguin. I guess the
first three times just wasn’t enough. The eighteenth episode into the series and
this will be the fourth appearance by The Penguin. Fourth. I realize he
has one of the stronger backgrounds of the villains in the show, but do we need
to see him this much? Regardless, the episode holds pretty strong, which is a
relief. After stealing a mind control device, which emits a sonic soundwave, to control
a vicious vulture, he finds that his device doesn’t entirely work on his
feathered friend. Instead, the high pitched sound manages to find its way to
Arkham Asylum inmate Dr. Kirk Langstrom, who uncontrollably turns into the
Man-Bat and falls under the Penguin’s spell. As you already know, The Batman
gets involved to sort this whole mess out. While not entirely inspired, this episode is better than the Man-Bat’s first
appearance in the series. His design is amazing, and seeing him and Batman
tussle is something to behold. The animation between these two characters is
certainly dynamic. The Penguin pretty much sits on the sidelines the entire
time, controlling most of the unfolding events. While his character can be
overbearing and annoying at times, he’s handled fine here. The subplot with the raccoon leads to a predictable moment during a crucial
Batman/Man-Bat sequence, but falls flat for the most part. It even spawns a
groan-worthy “sidekick” joke towards the end of the episode. After a bit of a stumble with episodes #17 (“JTV”) and #18 (“Swamped”), this
series is starting to get back on track. While this has nothing to do with the
quality of the episode (which was good), I really wish they’d cut back on The
Penguin just a bit. Why not give the Man-Bat his own episode instead of sharing
one with the Penguin? Same reasoning applies to “The Cat, The Bat, and The Very
Ugly.” A host of new villains, including a bad guy created just for this cartoon, are
still on the way. With any luck we’ll be able to enjoy the variety without
having to peg on the established villains. Give both The Penguin and The Joker a
rest for awhile. While the episode didn’t suffer from the inclusion of ol’ Ozzy
Cobblepot, it would be nice to see him just keep his distance. | 
