Plot summary: Batman investigates a string of break-ins at pharmaceutical companies, leading him to the terrifying Man-Bat. Somehow neither sues the other for gimmick infringement.

(Originally published on The Reel World July 11, 2020)

Welcome to the first stop on my ongoing trip down memory lane with the undisputed KING of the superhero cartoons, Batman: The Animated Series. Some people think there’s some semblance of a debate with XTAS, but that isn’t even the best X-Men cartoon.

In each edition of the column I’ll recap the episode, place it on an ongoing ranked list, choose my favourite performance and highlight the villain(s). Spoilers in advance: I don’t think ‘Heart of Ice’ is going to be my number one.

Notes

Original Air Date: September 6^th, 1992

Directed: Kevin Altieri (1)

Written: Mitch Brian (1)

Animation: Spectrum Animation Studio (1)

Music: Shirley Walker (1)

This was the intended first episode of the series, but the popularity of Batman Returns led to the network insisting ‘The Cat and the Claw, Part 1’ lead off the broadcast season. I’ll be sticking to the intended order if you hadn’t guessed

Alfred is voiced by Clive Revill (aka The Emperor) here rather than series regular Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (what a name!) Revill only performed the role three times.

The episode title is taken from Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.

Langstrom’s experiments would form the basis of later Batman mad scientists Dr. Emile Dorian (‘Tyger, Tyger’) and Abel Cuvier (‘Splicers’)

This is one of the few times Batman is shown bleeding, and Bruce Timm had to fight for it with censors.

Recap

SOMETHING is flying around the Gotham skyline. Something with bat wings. Something that infiltrates Phoenix Pharmaceuticals and terrifies a security guard who was recording a radio audition into his Dictaphone. The unseen creatures tosses the guard out a window, but he of course lands safely in water because this is a children’s show.

Assuming this Man-Bat is in fact Batman – and honestly, who can blame him? – Detective Harvey Bullock pleads his case to Mayor Hamilton Hill to assemble a task force to arrest the masked vigilante. Despite Commissioner Gordon’s protests, the request is granted, with District Attorney Harvey Dent promising to assist.

Batman brings up other recent pharma burglaries to Alfred (actually one is listed as a “buaglary”, which isn’t a crime as far as I’m aware) that didn’t get the front page treatment because nobody was injured.

‘The World’s Greatest Detective’ is spotted breaking in by a pair of lab techs making out in an empty room, so only gets a few minutes to analyse the evidence before he has to flee from Bullock’s task force.

Bruce takes his evidence to Gotham’s leading bat expert, Dr. March, who reluctantly agrees to analyse a hair, and then palms the billionaire off on his daughter, Francine, and her husband, Kirk Langstrom. The couple dismiss the idea the sound recording – which is very clearly a huge monster – could be a bat, making Bruce look like a big ol’ dumb-dumb.

Unsatisfied, Batman analyses the evidence himself. Dr. March telephones to confirm the hair comes from a brown bat and the audio is of a bat and a starling fighting, but Bruce will have none of it as his computer ruled both of these assertions out.

Act three begins with Batman sneaking into Dr. March’s lab too late to witness Kirk Langstrom burning evidence. He confronts Langstrom who does a supervillain monologue about cross-species genetics before transforming into Man-Bat and attacking. This leads to an extended sequence with Man-Bat flying through Gotham while Batman hangs onto him for dear life via grappling hook.

Bruce eventually manages to trick Man-Bat into flying into a wall and knocking himself out. Reversing the transformation after analysing the chemical concoction, Batman returns Kirk to Francine.

Best Performance

This is a battle between two actors doing multiple voices. I really like Richard Moll’s bored security guard doing little radio skits, and he’s pulling double-duty as Harvey Dent, a role he’ll get to expand on a great deal in the future. There’s a lot of range here, as the guard’s normal and radio personality voices are distinct from each other, as well as Harvey. He also tosses in the voice of the Batcomputer for good measure.

But the thing Kevin Conroy is consistently praised for is his best-in-class ‘Batman voice’. Many actors have attempted this, with Christian Bale taking it to a ridiculous extreme, but none better than Conroy, and there’s something truly jarring and remarkable about seeing the Bruce voice coming out of Batman’s mouth when he takes a phone call. This is the most pronounced the difference will ever get, and it’s impossible to overlook such an indelible impact on the character. Plus he voices a blimp pilot, albeit one who sounds mostly like Bruce.

Honourable mention to René Auberjonois in a guest role as grouchy bat expert Dr. March.

Ranking

Obviously this is a default ranking for now, and while I don’t think this is in contention for the top 10, it is one of the best statements of intent I have ever seen from a show pilot. The immediate communication of the look and feel of the series, the rapid delivery of information about the villain, the interpersonal dynamics between the law enforcement factions, the relationship between Bruce and Alfred, the distinction between Bruce and Batman. All of this is achieved in five minutes.

It also puts a great deal of emphasis on detective work over extended brawling or wacky gadgetry, though both of those are present. In fact, Batman clinging on for dear life while an enormous bat monster flies between skyscrapers is one of the more thrilling things that will happen on the whole show. I also enjoyed Bruce having to flee from trigger-happy cops while also saving one of them from getting blown up.

1. On Leather Wings

Rogues Roundup

Man-Bat (Marc Singer) (first appearance)

Choosing Man-Bat as the villain of the very first episode of your Batman show is an extremely ballsy move. But that was entirely the point. Even in 1992, fans had seen a lot of Joker, Catwoman and Penguin, and for as much as the show owes to Tim Burton’s movies, there was a clear desire to establish their own identity. The series leans in a slightly more supernatural direction, so giving Kirk Langstrom his highest profile appearance ever right off the… bat, was a high risk/high reward endeavour. It’s different, it gives Bruce something to unravel, and it gets you up in the air to show off the acclaimed Gotham City skyline that the art team painstakingly designed.

They also keep Man-Bat’s appearances to shadows and brief peripheral flashes for the first act, again playing into the visual palette and tone of the show. His transformation is pretty well animated, evoking classic horror movie imagery, and it’s a cool creature design.

Some more recent interpretations of the character have given him a more tragic bent, which would have been fitting given what’s to come with Two-Face and Mr. Freeze. They do a great job making the Man-Bat look ashamed when his wife sees him in this form for the first time, so the bare bones of this idea are there.

But overall there’s not a tremendous amount to the character himself compared to the mystery of finding him, and his mwahaha speech is rather generic, so in the long run he’s likely to act as the gatekeeper between the forgettable villain of the week fodder and the more interesting characters.

1. Man-Bat