SPIDER-MAN Episode Seventeen - September 30, 1995

The Mutant Agenda

Story by John Semper, J. M. DeMatteis, & Steven Grant.  Teleplay by Michael Edens.

Summary:  Concerned with his growing mutation, Spider-Man seeks the aid of Professor Xavier.  At Xavier’s mansion, Spider-Man encounters the X-Men.  After an initial misunderstanding, he explains to Xavier his condition, but is dismayed to learn Xavier can’t help.  Beast takes pity on Spider-Man and suggests he meet with Herbert Landon.  After saying goodbye to Spider-Man, armed men kidnap Beast.  Later, Beast awakens to discover Landon is his kidnapper.  Wolverine tracks Spider-Man’s scent from the abduction site, as Peter Parker attends Landon's demonstration.  The Hobgoblin interrupts, seeking revenge for Landon’s earlier double-cross.  In the alley outside of the exhibit, Spider-Man confronts Hobgoblin.  Their fight is interrupted by Wolverine, who attacks Spider-Man.

Continuity Notes:  

• This story is based on the '90s miniseries Spider-Man: The Mutant Agenda, which was an attempt to crossover the Spider-Man newspaper strip's continuity with the comics, and somehow also involve the X-Men.  And now that I'm reminded that it exists, I guess I'm under some obligation now to review the thing...

• The ongoing storyline this season focused on Spider-Man’s body mutating, for reasons I can’t begin to recall.  This eventually led, of course, to Spider-Man growing six arms.
• Spider-Man’s life is saved during the Hobgoblin’s attack when a mysterious force holds the ceiling in place long enough for him to escape.  
• Herbert Landon is working on a cure for mutation, based on research Beast worked on earlier to slow his own progressive mutation.  This isn’t compatible with the comics’ continuity, but does fit the previous X-Men episode “Beauty and the Beast,” which established that Beast slowly grew into his furry form.
• Spider-Man stumbles into the Danger Room and discovers a squad of Sentinels, who have been redesigned following their appearances on X-Men. 

"Actiiing!":  Spider-Man’s response to meeting Storm is to talk to his own special abilities.  “Power of webshooters -- get real sticky!”  

I Love the '90s:  The Spider-Man series heavily relied on CGI-constructed buildings and background elements.  They didn’t look so great in the mid-90s, and they haven’t aged well at all.

Review:  When Spider-Man debuted in 1994, it was only a matter of time before a crossover was announced with X-Men.  I believe this was the only time that Marvel had two shows on the same network simultaneously, so it would seem to be a natural fit.  One problem, however, is that the two shows had noticeably different animation styles.  X-Men debuted in the final days of the G. I. Joe era of animation, whereas Spider-Man came along in time to benefit from Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski’s visual reinvention of the superhero cartoon with Batman: The Animated Series.  (Yes, I know Batman: The Animated Series aired before X-Men, but it only beat it by a few weeks.  The X-Men producers had no way of knowing that B:TAS would change the way action cartoons are designed for the next two decades.)  That means that the X-Men designs are heavily detailed with “realistic” superhero anatomy, while Spider-Man designs tend to be more angular and with much fewer detail lines.  Not nearly as expressionistic as the Batman designs, but also a far cry from anything inspired by Jim Lee.  Putting the different design styles in the same cartoon would’ve looked, at the very least, somewhat odd.  So, that means the X-Men are getting a slight makeover.  

To be honest, most of the redesigned X-Men don’t look half-bad.  There are some noticeable mistakes (Cyclops’ trunks are mis-colored throughout the episode, Beast’s face is framed by black fur for some reason, and Gambit’s eyes and headpiece are improperly colored as well), but these are perfectly acceptable designs for most of the cast.  Essentially, the models have been simplified a bit and the faces appear slightly cartoonier.  I wouldn’t have minded the regular X-Men series using these designs for the rest of the show’s run.  Maybe it would’ve lead to more consistent animation, but given AKOM’s track record, who knows.  One clear advantage X-Men does have over Spider-Man is actual hand-colored cel animation.  Spider-Man was apparently the first regular cartoon series to use digital coloring, and much like the show’s CGI, it’s an ugly remnant of a bygone era.  Everything’s too bright (except when the colors suddenly appear washed out), the lines around the characters look jagged, and the contrast between background and foreground elements just looks bizarre.  Also, even if legendary studio TMS is credited for animating this series, the actual animation in this two-parter is usually no better than AKOM’s work.  The very brief flashback to Peter’s childhood fishing trip with Uncle Ben looks like a clip from an anime series with a reasonable budget, but the rest of the episode looks clunky and awkward.

Spider-Man did have decent writing in many of its early episodes, however, including scripts from several writers that comics fans will instantly recognize.  The majority of this script works quite well, ignoring the insane coincidence that has Beast recommend Spider-Man seek out Herbert Landon, just as Herbert Landon’s men are spying on Beast and plotting to kidnap him.  Not only did Beast not know that his former colleague is now evil, but he just happens to be stalking you right this moment, Hank!  This one is hard to overlook, and the X-Men’s eagerness to attack Spider-Man might be annoying based on your tolerance for hero vs. hero fights, but the rest of the episode moves along at a steady pace.  Spider-Man is characterized as you would expect him to be, neurotic yet funny, getting in a great jab at Storm’s ridiculous speech pattern while also making his current crisis seem reasonably sympathetic.  The X-Men, every member here even if it’s only to announce his or her presence, are written fairly well.  There’s no room for every character to receive a lot of attention, so it’s understandable that the script has narrowed the cast down to Wolverine and Beast.  Beast and Spider-Man share a natural affinity for science, and recognizing that Beast can relate to Spider-Man’s plight is a nice way to bring the characters together.  Wolverine is the member that every kid wants to see Spider-Man fight and then team up with, so of course he’s here.  Cal Dodd is great as Wolverine as usual, and hearing him paired with Mark Hamill’s Joker Hobgoblin is a lot of fun.  So, overall, it’s not a bad start for the crossover.  It’s far from perfect, but most of the problems are endemic to Spider-Man as a series anyway and not this particular arc.

Credit to http://marvel.toonzone.net/spideytas/ for the screencaps.

X-MEN Episode Fifty-One - September 23, 1995

Courage

Written by Sandy Scesny and Michael Edens

Summary:  Morph returns to the X-Men, while Sentinels attack Zydex Industries and steal a new experimental plastic.  When Wolverine and Morph investigate, Wolverine discovers that Morph isn’t psychologically ready to return to the team.  Later, Master Mold sends the Sentinels to kidnap Henry Gyrich, Bolivar Trask, and Professor Xavier.  Morph disobeys Cyclops and follows the team in their battle to rescue Xavier, whose mind Master Mold wants to use to kill all mutants.  Eventually, Morph overcomes his fear and is able to destroy Master Mold. He decides, however, that he needs more time before he can rejoin the team.

Continuity Notes:  

• The cast this episode consists of Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Storm, Wolverine, and Xavier.
• Storm is wearing her outfit from Uncanny X-Men #312 again in the episode’s opening.
• Master Mold is only a head following his defeat in “The Final Solution.”
• Morph briefly transforms into Strong Guy, Sasquatch, Angel (in his early ‘70s costume), Omega Red, and Longshot in the episode.  The implication is that Morph actually has the powers of the characters he’s imitating, which would’ve made him the most powerful member of the team, actually.
• How exactly Bolivar Trask survived his not-too-vague death scene in “The Final Solution” isn’t explained.  Since their last appearance, Trask and Gyrich have been hiding out in the jungle, arguing like an old married couple.

Production Note:  Unlike the previous two episodes, this episode features the standard closing credits, a montage of previous scenes with the theme song used as the backing music.

Miscellaneous Note:  Beast quotes “Ozymandias” while examining a captured Sentinel head, although thankfully he chooses a section outside of “Gaze upon my works…”

I Love the '90s:  Beast copies the info he receives from the Sentinel onto a large floppy disc.

Review:  Morph hadn’t made a real appearance on the show since the Season Two finale, which I think blunts the impact of his return this episode.  I can honestly remember a time when kids cared about Morph, but after his disappearance at the end of the second season, the show went on to much bigger and bolder things.  Was anyone really thinking about Morph by the time they were through watching “The Dark Phoenix Saga?”  Morph’s a remnant from the early episodes, and enough years had passed by this point that the core audience of the first two seasons had very possibly even given up on Saturday Morning TV.  And even if you really wanted to see Morph rejoin the team, of course he isn’t, because the producers have an arbitrary rule against that.

None of this means the episode is necessarily terrible judged on its own merits.  A major problem is that it’s simply misplaced.  Nestled in-between the Lady Deathstrike two-parter and the beginning of the original Phoenix serial, I could see the story still having an impact.  Reviving the Sentinels and Morph in the same episode is a smart decision considering their pasts together, and the story’s structured in a way that allows Morph to have some bonding time with the team, especially Wolverine, while the Master Mold threat builds in the background.  And Master Mold’s scheme to use Xavier’s mind to kill the mutant population even foreshadows the ending of the second X-Men movie, something I didn’t notice until I re-watched the episode.  The episode’s mainly let down by the animation, which seems cruder than it’s been in the previous few episodes.  Morph looks particularly bland, which someone probably should've fixed since he is the star of the episode.  Also, the original voices of the Sentinels and Master Mold have been recast, which is a major disappointment.  These are not deep, menacing metallic voices.  They sound like the automated messages you hear when you call the bank.  These guys aren’t going to stomp on mutants like roaches, they’re going to politely guide you towards the next calling option.  If the original actors weren’t available, fine, but surely there are more than a few bass voices in Canada.

Credit to http://marvel.toonzone.net/xmen/ for the screencaps.

X-MEN Episode Fifty-Five - September 16, 1995

One Man's Worth (Part Two)

Written by Gary Greenfield

Summary:  Bishop, Shard, Storm, and Wolverine travel back to the future, hoping to use Forge’s time machine to arrive a few minutes before Xavier’s death.  In this new reality, Forge doesn’t recognize his former allies.  Meanwhile, Fitzroy realizes that Master Mold is going to betray him.  He finds the rebels and gives them a holographic message to send back to his earlier time-traveling counterpart.  Bishop and his allies escape a Sentinel attack and travel back to 1959.  When Fitzroy sees the message from his future self, he abandons his attack on Xavier.  Time begins to revert to normal, and Wolverine and Storm say their final goodbye.

Continuity Notes:  The Forge of 2055 now resembles his “Age of Apocalypse” counterpart.  The Sentinels of the future also have their AoA designs in this new future.

"Actiiing!":  Fitzroy’s partner Bantam appeared last episode, and while his voice was unusually grating, he barely spoke, thankfully.  This episode, he speaks quite often, making it clear that this just might be the worst voice in the history of this series.  This is Jar-Jar Binks level annoying, I swear.  

Review:  “One Man's Worth” concludes, bringing us some of the most imaginative uses of time travel in the show’s run, admittedly, but not doing much to change my opinion that it’s a wasted opportunity.  As amusing as it is to see the characters go back in forth in time, running into people who don’t remember them or even their earlier time-traveling selves, the story never fully explores the ramifications of alternate realities, making the AoA elements mere window dressing.  Kids ignorant of the source material might’ve enjoyed the brief cameo of new toys on sale this Christmas, but I doubt the fleeting glimpses were enough to assuage fans who actually recognized the material from the comics.  Instead, they’re a reminder of what the story could’ve been, which automatically makes the main storyline dull by comparison.  The show’s done time travel numerous times at this point, so there’s nothing really special about the concept by the fourth season.  Even if you have a decent hook for the time travel plot, and this two-parter actually does, the story needs something else to separate it from the previous Bishop episodes.  I realize that the censors wouldn’t allow much of the AoA material to air, but some effort could’ve gone into exploring what exactly the world is like without Xavier.  Instead, the bulk of the episodes are spent in 1959, the least interesting era of the story.  Maybe it’s the easiest to animate, but it’s the least entertaining to watch.

Credit to http://marvel.toonzone.net/xmen/ for the screencaps.

X-MEN Episode Fifty-Four - September 9, 1995

One Man's Worth (Part One)

Written by Richard Mueller

Summary:  The timeline is disrupted again, after Trevor Fitzroy and Bantam are hired by Master Mold to kill Professor Xavier in the year 1959.  Bishop and Shard travel from 2055 to the new present day created by Xavier’s death.  They recruit two of Magneto’s followers, Wolverine and Storm, to help them correct the timeline.  They arrive in 1959 and befriend Charles Xavier at Bard College.  However, after Nimrod attacks, they’re unable to stop Xavier from accidentally triggering an electronic fuse.

Continuity Notes:  

• The new present day created by Xavier’s death strongly resembles the Age of Apocalypse, which means several AoA creations and redesigns make cameos.  Mimic also makes an appearance as one of Magneto’s soldiers, while Giant Man, Wasp, Black Widow, and a bizarre variation on Captain America appear fighting for the pro-human side.  
• In 2055, we see the first animated appearances of Shard, Fitzroy, and Bantam.  Malcolm and Randall also make their debuts.  Oddly enough, they’re shown fighting Sentinels while wearing their XSE uniforms, even though in the cartoon’s continuity, the XSE actually works with the Sentinels to police mutants.
• Storm (now with ‘80s Mohawk) and Wolverine are a married couple in the new reality.  Their kiss just might be the first interracial kiss in Saturday Morning TV history.
• A montage of Xavier’s life shows him studying blueprints for the school, which contradicts both the comics and cartoon continuity that the X-Men’s school is the mansion he grew up in.

Approved By Broadcast Standards:  Fitzroy feeds off one of Master Mold’s human employees in order to open his time portal, with the added dialogue of “He’ll be fine in a few days” tacked on to assure us he isn’t dead.  Fitzroy’s power is, of course, fatal for his victims in the comics.

Production Note:  This is the first episode to feature scenes, complete with dialogue, from previous episodes during the closing credits.  

Review:  The fourth season premieres with…what is this exactly?  Obviously “Age of Apocalypse” is an influence, but we’re also dealing with Master Mold, Nimrod, Bishop and an assortment of justifiably forgotten figures from his timeline.  I’m sure most fans of the comics wanted to see “Age of Apocalypse” represented in some way on the show, but losers like Fitzroy were well past their sell-by date at this point.  Who really wanted Bantam in their AoA adaptation?  I can appreciate that Bishop has earned his role as the “time cop” of the series’ continuity, but throwing in so many forgettable, poorly designed figures from his timeline needlessly complicates the story.  The episode is already trying to introduce an entirely new reality within twenty minutes, so the lengthy detour into Bishop’s future to establish even more characters just seems like an odd choice.  One reason why “Age of Apocalypse” was able to connect so well with the audience was Marvel’s full commitment to the idea.  For four months, the readers were actually living within the AoA.  The cartoon only gives the viewer fleeting glimpses, as the story is obviously more concerned with setting up yet another time travel adventure.

Judging the episode on its own merits, and trying to leave any baggage from the source material behind, I can see a few redeeming moments.  Opening the story in media res as twenty-ish Xavier faces death in the 1950s is a great idea, creating one of the best teaser openings the show has had in a while.  Since the plotting of the show is normally so linear, the episodes rarely begin with shock introductions, outside of the occasional dream sequence.  This was a clever way to throw the audience off-balance and immediately create the sense that this might not be the standard two-parter.  The romance between Storm and Wolverine is another idea I like, as it gives the audience just a taste of how alternate realities can diverge in unexpected ways.  Wolverine’s reluctance to “fix” reality because he knows it will end their relationship is played well, and you have to give the creators credit for frankly addressing racism in the scenes set in 1959.  (I tend to dislike the way everyone is portrayed as racist in stories set in the 1950s, but dealing with the topic so bluntly on a Saturday Morning cartoon is rare.)  It’s also fun to see the AoA cameos, even though all of the alternate reality scenes feel rushed, and the animators clearly haven’t figured the designs out.  Judged as an “Age of Apocalypse” adaptation, this will surely disappoint.  Viewed as the latest time travel storyline for the series, it’s more tolerable, but the story feels needlessly convoluted, as if the producers weren’t sure where exactly they wanted to go with this.

Credit to http://marvel.toonzone.net/xmen/ for the screencaps.

ROBIN #9 - August 1994

 

The Triumph

Credits:  Chuck Dixon (writer), Tom Grummett (layouts), Ray Kryssing (finishes), Albert De Guzman (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Robin returns to the Batcave and is relieved to find Bruce inside instead of Jean-Paul.  He tries to go about his daily life as Tim Drake, but is exhausted following the previous forty-eight hours.  The next night, he responds to a hostage situation at a museum.  Robin tricks the criminals into revealing their locations over their walkie-talkies, allowing Batman to pick them off.  After Robin helps Batman finish the final criminal, Batman assures him that the job is still his if he wants it.

Review:  Oddly enough, this issue marks Bruce Wayne’s full return as Batman.  Since DC didn’t make a big deal about it, there’s a sense that the other shoe is about to drop.  Dixon leaves a few hints regarding Bruce’s attitude that “changes must be made,” but he spends the vast majority of the issue touching base with the series’ ongoing subplots and giving the audience an old-school Batman/Robin team-up.  The museum fight scene is fun, and it’s worth noting that Batman actually cracks a smile at one point, but the best moments of the story deal with Tim Drake’s normal life.  I can’t imagine that launching this ongoing series in the middle of a massive crossover event did the continuing subplots any favors, but Dixon is able to explore how exactly the major upheavals in the Batman’s world can impact Tim’s life.  If you really did just endure six straight issues of fight scenes, you probably would fall asleep while on a date with your girlfriend.  The small human touches are what made the Robin series so enjoyable throughout the ‘90s.  Hopefully these brief glimpses in the Knightfall trades will encourage anyone who missed out on the book the first time to hunt down the back issues.

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #63 - August 1994

Climax

Credits:  Denny O’Neil (writer), Barry Kitson (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Willie Schubert (letterer), Digital Chameleon (colorist)

Summary:  Jean-Paul refuses to relinquish the title of Batman.  He taunts Bruce by destroying his father’s portrait and then retreats to the Batcave.  Bruce digs up the hole he fell through as a child on the day he discovered the cave.  He confronts Jean-Paul in the Batcave and manipulates Jean-Paul into following him back up the hole.  In order to fit, Jean-Paul must remove all of his armor.  When dawn breaks, the light entering the hole blinds Jean-Paul’s eyes through his night-vision lenses.  He realizes Bruce truly is Batman.  Bruce allows him to leave, wishing Jean-Paul well.

Review:  I only purchased one issue of “Knightsend” off the stands, and this is the one.  I imagine I wasn’t alone.  If you were even slightly interested in comics at the time, you knew about the massive Batman event that been raging for years, and that this issue was the big Batman vs. Azrael fight.  Even if I missed virtually all of the build-up to this moment, I still viewed this issue as a satisfactory conclusion (not knowing that Bruce Wayne was still months away from truly returning.)  I also loved the art, which I thought had a strong Jim Lee influence.  That’s the only time I can recall linking Barry Kitson to Jim Lee, but I can still kind of see it this issue.  Somewhat realistic figures, strong chins, battle armor, heavy emphasis on detail lines; it also didn’t hurt that this issue had “Image coloring” as well.

Finally, we’ve reached the actual conclusion.  Yes, DC slaps “Knightsend” on the cover of two more comics shipping at the end of this month, and the final Knightfall trade goes on to reprint the “Prodigal” event, but as for Batman/Azrael, this is the end of the line.  Thankfully, the creator of Azrael and the architect of this event, Denny O’Neil, has stepped in to bring all of this to a close.  I can’t say that this issue is enough to change my opinion of Azrael (a name he’s almost never called in these comics, by the way), but he is far more tolerable in this chapter than he has been for the past several dozen issues.  

O’Neil writes Azrael as an angry young man, lashing out in pain and desperate to fill the loneliness inside of him.  He’s not stable by any definition, but he isn’t a raving loon, which is all we’ve seen of Jean-Paul during the event so far.  It seems as if the other creators latched on to the concept of Jean-Paul being brainwashed as a youth and couldn’t go anywhere else with it.  Brainwashed psychotically violent quasi-religious nut just isn’t a strong enough hook for a protagonist who’s starring in around a thousand pages of Batman comics.  Azrael’s “insanity” became tedious ranting almost as soon as the storyline began, leaving him thoroughly unlikable for way too long.  

I think O’Neil understands that the appeal of the hyper-violent loner vigilante comes from the wish fulfillment of the adolescent males that make (or made) up the bulk of mainstream comics’ readership.  An angry, confused, powerful man lashing out at the world is an easy archetype to mock, but I think it evokes a visceral response in readers at a certain age.  Some readers move on to material like Alan Moore’s Supreme, rediscover old classics, or just abandon superhero comics altogether, but a segment of the audience gets stuck at that point and can’t let go of this stuff.  Having Azrael represent that mindset does make him a respectable nemesis for the traditional Batman, but think of how rarely this dynamic was explored.  It’s obvious early on that Azrael is a poor replacement for Batman because he lacks even fundamental integrity, but the stories rarely made a point deeper than that.  And even if the creators didn’t want to veer too far into meta-commentary, which is understandable, Jean-Paul as a character never developed into much of a leading man.  As I said before, I can genuinely feel for the Punisher when written properly, but this lunatic is often just insufferable.  I don’t know how well O’Neil fleshed the character out in the initial Sword of Azrael miniseries, but his work in this issue shows that there’s at least some potential for Azrael.  (I make no claims of quality for the upcoming Azrael ongoing series.  I remember the reviews on that one.)

Humanizing Azrael and getting him in position to willingly give up the cowl is the obvious mission of the issue, but O’Neil also does a lot of work getting inside Bruce’s head.  I think most people are now familiar with the chestnut about Batman being the “real” identity and Bruce Wayne is the pose.  (O’Neil’s own work with the character might even be the genesis for this thinking.)  O’Neil has Bruce himself question if this is true, as he realizes that he has perhaps been leaning on the Batman identity as a crutch just as much as Jean-Paul.  When Azrael screams, “If I’m not Batman I’m nothing!” Bruce is forced to look at his own life and ask if this is true.  The use of purifying light in the story is a bit “on the nose” of course, but I think it’s interesting to have Bruce also look towards the light and question what place it has in his life.  You would hope that after this lengthy storyline DC could’ve firmly decided just what percentage of “dark” they wanted in their Batman comics.  This issue leads you to believe that we’re going to be seeing a more well-balanced Bruce Wayne in future, and that the dark, obsessive Batman that the fans claimed to want has been displaced.  That might’ve been the plan, but by the end of the decade, we’ll see a Batman that’s even more of a Frank Miller parody than ever.  And then Frank Miller actually does return, and…well, we don’t need to get into that.

DETECTIVE COMICS #677 - August 1994

Flesh and Steel

Credits:  Chuck Dixon (writer), Graham Nolan (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), John Costanza (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Believing Batman to be dead, a furious Nightwing leaps on Jean-Paul.  Their fight takes them into the river, and eventually a casino boat.  Meanwhile, Robin discovers Batman jumped out of the Batmobile just in time to avoid the explosion.  The police storm the casino boat, forcing Jean-Paul to abandon the fight and escape.  He returns to Wayne Manor, where he’s shocked to find Batman.

Irrelevant Continuity:  While listing all of his accomplishments as Batman, Jean-Paul claims, “my father’s killer barks in Hell.”  To begin with, why is he convinced that this random blonde guy was actually his father’s killer?  He only has Selkirk’s word for it.  (Selkirk pointed to literally the person standing closest to him and just named him the killer.)  Also, when did this guy die?  Batman stopped Jean-Paul before he could kill him.

Total N00B:  Nightwing calls Jean-Paul “hammerhead” twice.  I have no idea if this is slang I’ve never heard of before, or a reference to another story that wasn’t reprinted.  (A reference to Jean-Paul's helmet, maybe?)

Review:  There’s a slight variation this chapter, because now it’s Nightwing’s turn for an extended fight scene with Fake Batman.  It’s not a bad fight scene at all, jumping from a flaming bridge, to underwater, to finally a casino boat, and I guess there is some catharsis in seeing Nightwing face the guy who usurped his inheritance in a way.  (In retrospect, Nightwing's reaction to this insanity should've played a larger part in the storyline.)  Plus, the art is great, especially on the final splash page that has Batman triumphantly emerging to confront Jean-Paul in the mansion.  Still, it’s another all-action chapter that’s just a prelude to The Big Fight, which got old several issues ago.  There’s also some odd continuity going on, as the lengthy subplot regarding the killer of Jean-Paul’s father is suddenly over, even though nothing in the previous chapters provided any closure.

SHADOW OF THE BAT #30 - August 1994

 

Wild Knights, Wild City

Credits:  Alan Grant (writer), Bret Blevins (penciler & inker), Todd Klein (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Catwoman is injured while leaping off Selkirk’s helicopter.  Batman jumps off to save her, while the helicopter crashes into the top of a bridge.  Jean-Paul confronts Batman once again, but accidentally sets himself on fire when his flame weapon touches leaking helicopter fuel.  After he falls into the river, Robin and Nightwing unsuccessfully search for him.  Batman and Catwoman rescue Selkirk and his men.  To spite Catwoman, Selkirk throws the neural enabler into the river.  Later, Batman hacks his way into the Batmobile, unaware that Jean-Paul booby-trapped it.  Jean-Paul reemerges, boasting that now there is only one Batman.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Gordon is in his office when he’s informed of the fire and explosions at Selkirk’s penthouse.  This contradicts Batman #510, which had Gordon getting berated by Mayor Krol when the news comes in.

“Huh?” Moment:  The blue portions of Jean-Paul’s armor turn red after he’s set on fire.  It remains that color until the end of the storyline.

Review:  More of the same, only more time is killed by giving Batman a fake death scene.  The next chapter plays the concept straight during the opening pages, even though I doubt anyone fell for the bait.  (The solicitations for the finale in Legends of the Dark Knight #63 had been out for months at this point, so everyone knew that Bruce and Azrael were having their big fight at the end of this month.)  Looking back, I’m kind of surprised DC didn’t go for a serious attempt at killing off Bruce at some point in this event.  After building up the drama of Bruce picking the wrong replacement, what happens if Bruce dies before he can rectify his mistake?  I could see the creators getting a few months of material out of the concept.  (Perhaps the “Death of Superman” event automatically ruled out any attempt to seriously sell Bruce’s death, though.)  Regardless, we’re marking more time with repetitive action scenes and a cliffhanger that fools no one.  I understand that Alan Grant was bored out of his mind having to work on this material, but I wish he could’ve found some way to break up the monotony.