COMIC REVIEWS
(by Aaron Maurer)
BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES
ISSUE: "Claws" (#4)
WRITTEN BY: Ty Templeton
PENCILED BY: Rick Burchett
INKED BY: Terry Beatty
ISSUED: July 1, 1998
DATED: September, 1998
RATING: **** (out of 5)
"And then suddenly, there he was between us, this
giant wall of
man...coiled with rage...With an unfamiliar look in his eye. Because I'd
crossed the line. He'd finally seen the real me...The kind of cruelty I'm
capable of. He was never supposed to have seen that. I always knew it was
the one thing about me he could never forgive..."
--Selina Kyle explaining Batman's reaction to her attack on Amy Mercedes
SUMMARY:
Catwoman relates the story of "the night my heart broke...
twice" to one of her pet cats: she helps Batman apprehend a gang, and
as she is chasing a member down, he tells her that if she lets him go,
he will take her to an illegal testing lab where cats and dogs are
having strange chemicals tested on them. She lies to Batman, and then
the man takes her to the Mercedes Cosmetics lab. When she looks into
the building, at all the sick animals, her heart breaks. The animals
need around the clock care, so Catwoman finds "someone special" to do
the job - Amy Mercedes, the company's owner. Batman visits the crime
scene and sees evidence of Catwoman's involvment. Selina reveals why
she is so mad about the testing to Amy; she dyes her hair with Mercedes
products. Batman finds the building in which Amy is being held, and
stops Catwoman from harming her, telling her that "Your heart's in the
right place, but this has to end." Batman releases Mercedes, and, as she is
leaving, she hits a cat. While Batman is catching the animal, Catwoman
leaps into a rage, scratching Amy across the face, leaving her a set of
whiskers all her own. Selina says that Batman could never forgive her, and,
as she left, he never turned to look at her even once. Her heart broke for
the second time. Selina then explains that she's been one step ahead of the
lawyers ever since then, and that she hasn't run into Batman since, either.
She doesn't want to, though; she can never look into his eyes again: it
would only break her heart once more.
COMMENTS:
I've never really cared for any of the Catwoman episodes of
the animated series (exceptions being "Batgirl Returns" and "You Scratch My
Back"), but I loved this issue. The psychoses of the villains have always
appealed to me, as have the possibilites of some of them regaining normal
lives (I liked "Double Talk" and "Second Chance" a lot). I am always
disheartened when they don't, and at the end of this issue where it appears
Catwoman will never be able to truly contain
her anger enough to be a hero, I was deeply affected. The summary above
and these comments cannot do this issue justice; Rick Burchett and Terry
Beatty's artwork brings this standout to life, and it should be a crime
to miss it. Also adding to to this issue is an elaborate sightgag (the
gang at the beginning of the issue is the cast of Seinfeld) as well as
the audience getting to see Catwoman's old costume in the new style.
CRITICISMS:
All previews of this comic mentioned that it would reveal the secrets
behind Catwoman's new look. This issue doesn't do that. It reveals why
Selina has dark hair on the show, but the costume is never even mentioned.
I assume that the new costume is a reflection of her somewhat darker
personality (now that Batman has seen her dark side, she has no reason to
hide it any longer), but I, or anyone else can't be sure. Also, I loved the
art in this book, but some panels seem wrong or out of place (i.e. bottom
right, page 6; or upper middle, page 21). These are minor concerns, though.
BOTTOM LINE:
If you're looking for answers behind Catwoman's costume
change, you won't find any. If you're looking for a powerful story with
great artwork, than you will.
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ANIMATED NEWS AND RUMORS
NEW NEWS
-New KidsWB! weekend!SUPERMAN and ANINMANIACS is gone! WE now have a
double dose of SYLVESTER & TWEETY and a triple does of THE NEW
BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. The weekday programming remains the same.
The new schedule is (in eastern time):
8:00am-PINKY AND THE BRAIN
8:30am-THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
9:00am-THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
9:30am-THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
10:00am-MEN IN BLACK
10:30am-PINKY AND THE BRAIN
11:00am-SYLVESTER AND TWEETY MYSTERIES
11:30am-SYLVESTER AND TWEETY MYSTERIES
-Ty Templeton will (temporarily) no longer be doing covers for
BATMAN:GOTHAM ADVENTURES. He will now only concentrate on writings.
-13 episodes have been greenlighted for MEN IN BLACK.
OLD NEWS
BATMAN TOMORROW has new name!
-Due to promotional conflicts BATMAN TOMORROW has gained a new name! Raving Toy Maniac (http://www.toymania.com) has reported that its new name is BATMAN BEYOND. The
change of name is a result of promotional problems (ie: "Today on 'Batman Tomorrow'!"). The airdate (now mid-November) remains unchanged as does the premise of the show.
-Also BATMAN BEYOND related, DC Comics is publishing a 6 issue mini-series (now rumored to be ongoing) based on the series. It will be written by Hilary J. Bader, pencilled by Rick Burchett and inked by Terry Beatty. First
issue hits the stands around the same time the show premieres.
-For all of you people who get CARTOON NETWORK listen up:
CARTOON NETWORK will air MASK OF THE PHANTASM on Aug 1st as part of their new 'Saturday Night Movie'(which means no Bats on Saturday). This will be the network broadcast premiere of PHANTASM(expect WB to air it next year).
Plus in November CARTOON NETWORK will air SUB-ZERO!
RUMORS
-Everyone knows that the new episode LOVE IS A CROC airs this weekend, right? Well rumor has it that WB is planning on airing another new episode in August. The episode is rumored to be THE ULTIMATE THRILL starring Roxy
Rocket. Is this true? Only time (and the WB schedule) can tell.
-The BATMAN BEYOND mini-series is now rumored to be an ongoing series.
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ANIMATED MOVIE NEWS AND RUMORS
-Well it seems that SUB-ZERO has long surpassed MASK OF THE PHANTASM for video sales. The recent ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY video sales has SUB-ZERO at #5! That I will admit is pretty impressive! The movie hasn't left the
top-ten direct-to-video sales chart since March 17! THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE ON VIDEO!
-On August 18th WB Entertainment will release the three part World's Finest to video. The movie is 80 minutes long...which is kind of odd, seeing how the three episodes combined add up to barely 60 minutes. Included with
the movie will be a mini-comic (probably the adaptation) and an offer for the BATMAN & ROBIN CARTOON MAKER.
Retail price is $16.99 - probably about$14-18.99 in Canada.
-No animated movie rumors this month.
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OTHER BATMAN RELATED NEWS
Movie News
-Look for BATMAN & ROBIN to air later this month or next on HBO (what a waste of commercial time!)
-It looks like Batman 5 will hit theatres no earlier than Summer of 2000. The budget and crew is undetermined at time but WB is expected to make an announcement in August about the film.
-Sadly, Joel Schmacher is still tied to the project as director, but promises a darker, less-flamboyant movie with a smaller, more centralized cast. (Of course, compared to "Batman & Robin", "Batman
Forever" fits all those characteristics).
-Plus:WB is planning on shooting scenes in Vancouver and London to get the spooky 'X-files' type shots in the next movie. Upon visualizing Batman and Robin chasing the Scarecrow through the dark woods (a la X-Files), it
looks pretty awesome to me.
-But now George Clooney is saying that WB is pulling out of BATMAN 5 so what the hell is going on?
-Still no news on whether the Kurt Russel rumors are plausible.
Comic News
-The Batman creative teams for late 1998-99 have yet to be officially released but so far there's quite a list:
Neal Adams
J. Scott Campbell
Kurt Busiek
Mike Deodato Jr.
Karl Kesel
Tom Grummet
more to be names at a later date.There is rumored to be 26 creators signed on so far
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Release dates of BATMAN COMICS for June:
ANIMATED BATMAN/SUPERMAN COMICS:
July 1st (Canada Day..woo-hoo!)
BATMAN:GOTHAM ADVENTURES #4 (1.99 US)
July 8th:
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #23 (1.99 US)
MAINSTREAM BATMAN COMICS
Currently:Gotham has been at the mercy of an earthquake and our heroes try to save Gotham and themselves from the destruction and the criminals that dare kick this city while its down!
July 1st:
BATMAN ANNUAL #22 (2.95 US)
BATMAN:GOTHIC tpb (new printing) (12.95 US)
BATMAN:SHADOW OF THE BAT #78 (1.99 US)
JLA:WORLD WITHOUT GROWN-UPS #2 (4.95 US)
July 8th:
AZRAEL #45 (1.99 US)
BATMAN #558 (1.99 US)
JLA:YEAR ONE #9 (1.99 US)
NIGHTWING #24 (1.99 US)
July 15th:
BATMAN-Full Circle (relist) (5.95 US)
BATMAN:OTHER REALMS (tpb) (12.95 US)
CATWOMAN/WILDCAT #2 (OF 4) (2.50 US)
YOUNG JUSTICE #1 (2.50 US)
July 22th:
BATMAN:GORDON OF GOTHAM #4 (1.99 US)
BATMAN:LOTDK #110 (1.99 US)
CATWOMAN #61 (1.99 US)
DETECTIVE COMICS #725 (1.99 US)
JLA #22 (1.99 US)
ROBIN #57 (1.99 US)
WARNING!As of August or September DC cover dates is raising all 1.95 US comics up to 1.99 US! Effects on other priced comics are unknown at this time.Stay tuned!Candaina prices on all 1.95
comics will be raised from 2.75 to 2.85.(now that's fair,sheesh!)
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Animated Batman/Superman sites:
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
http://www.batman-superman.com
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://www.batmantas.com
KIDSWB!
http://www.kidswb.com
http://www.wbanimation.com
THE ANIMATED BAT
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/7382/index.html
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED HOMEPAGE
http://www3.sympatico.ca/quartet/home.htm
SUB-ZERO
http://www.warnerbros.com/subzero
SUB-ZERO:THE DEFINTIE GUIDE
http://www.batman-subzero.com
TWO-FACE'S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND TERROR
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BRIAN'S BATMAN PAGE
http://members.aol.com/bdavis2613/main.html
RAVING TOY MANIAC
http://www.toymania.com
CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN
http://www.xse.com/leres/batman.html
THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN F.A.Q. SITE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/1216
THE BRUCE TIMM ARTWORK ARCHIVE
http://home.rr.nycap.com/cataldo/timm.htm
These are some of the best Batman:TAS sites on the web at this time. Most sites are updated or have been recently and all are up and running. Now...chances are if you've watched Batman on WB!
There's also a chance you've watched Superman:TAS and probably loved it! Well if so here's a site that is the best Superman:TAS site on the web! (But it
hasn't been updated since the May 2nd weekend).
SUPERMAN:TAS
http://www.rain.org/~stas/
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SITE WORTH CHECKING OUT!
Wondering what episodes you haven't seen of Batman? Or possibly your missing that one SUPERMAN episode.Whatever the case is you should do yourself a favor and check out this site:
BRIAN CRUZ'S WB CARTOONS PAGE
http://pages.nyu.edu/~bpc200/index.html
This site contains some of the most up-to-date info on all WB animated shows and to most up-to-date (its up before The official KIDS' WB! schedule usually) schedule! You won't be sorry!
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Answer:'D'
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CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:
BATMAN and all related property is a registered trademark of DC Comics. Visit DC Comics website at:
http://www.dccomics.com
DC Comics is owned and operated by Warner Brothers. Visit their website at:
http://www.warnerbros.com
Kids'WB! is a part of Warner Brothers. Visit the Kids' WB! site at:
http://www.kidswb.com
If I've left any out I'll probably be suee and homeless within a year so please tell me.
CREDITS LIST:
EDITORS: James Grayson-Harvey and Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
BTAS REVIEWS: Bob Evatt
EDITORIAL: Laura Hysert
COMIC REVIEWS: Aaron Maurer
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane (who else?)
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Well here's it is! The first newsletter dedicated to Batman/Superman! I hope you've enjoyed the sneak peek at this hopeful newsletter! As time goes on we'll be adding more features!
Editors of B:TAN are as follows:
Richard James Grayson-Harvey
Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
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