I don't get it. Sure, I see why a new team of animators might come along and dust off an old standby for a revival, but I just don't feel it was time for a retooling of an animated Batman. After all, Justice League Unlimited, given Bruce Timm's input, is basically the grandson of the original Timm/Paul Dini Batman cartoon of the 1990s, demonstrating there's still plenty of life in that incarnation of the Batman. Still, it's fun to see new takes on familiar characters. I haven't seen the cartoon upon which this new comic-book series is based, but it's safe to say it really differs from previous interpretations. Unfortunately, I don't think the cartoon's creative team -- or the one assigned to this comic book -- really gets the essence of the characters.
The Penguin, assisted by two skilled warrior women clad in kabuki garb, has embarked upon a crime spree, and it boasts the usual array avian motifs. Before long, a pattern to the robberies emerges, leading the Dark Knight to the site of the Penguin's next caper. Also headed in that direction is an ambitious and dedicated young cop, Detective Yin, who finds herself mixed up in a showdown between Gotham City's new hero and his portly and well-armed adversary, Oswald Cobblepot.
Christopher Jones boasts a light style that's well suited to bringing an all-ages story such as this one to life. It reminds me a great deal of Tim Levins's work on Batman: Gotham Adventures, though. The Batman design is clearly different (and much younger), but the Penguin reminds me of the Timm take on the Mad Hatter. Furthermore, Detective Yin boasts the same of sort of confidence and sex appeal one finds in Timm's female figures as well.
The Penguin's methods here are all wrong. The notion of leaving clues is more in line with the Riddler, and what he's trying to accomplish makes little sense. He wants to amass wealth, but only so he can build a robot to exact a small measure of vengeance? The character is all over the map here. Furthermore, the kabuki motif for his henchwomen is never explained.
A Bruce Wayne that likes to rock out on a Fender? A Bruce Wayne that occasionally finds his away into a mosh pit for an evening of fun. Um, no, it doesn't work. Matheny -- and I suspect the new cartoon's creators -- has lost sight of a key quality of the Batman. This Bruce Wayne isn't as haunted by his past, by tragedy, as what is required by someone to be as driven as the Batman. That would be fine if this version of the Batman ignored that past as others have (such as the Adam West Batman or the one who hung out with the Super Friends). But this script makes it clear that the death of the title character's parents is ever-present on his mind.
Despite the problems I had with the story, there's a fun super-hero adventure to be found here. Younger readers will likely be delighted with this basic piece and its Silver Age feel. Older fans, though, should steer clear.
