Plot summary: Batman finds himself caught in the middle of in-fighting in the Society of Shadows as Count Vertigo attempts to unleash an experimental weapon.
(Originally published on The Reel World December 27th, 2020)
Notes
Original Air Date: November 23rd, 1992
Directed: Kevin Altieri (13)
Written: Len Wein (2)
Animation: Sunrise (6)
Music: Mark Korval (3) & Michael McCuistion (5)
This is another Len Wein script that directly adapts a comic story, in this case ‘Into the Den of the Death-Dealers’ (1971) by Denny O’Neil. It also takes inspiration from the works of Alfred Hitchcock.
A surprisingly death-heavy episode; while two apparent suicides are explained away, both Twitch and Vertigo himself apparently perish.
The production team had a great deal of trouble with the distortion effects, almost airing a verison with none.
Recap
Up on the torch of the Statue of Liberty a big statue in Gotham harbour, Batman presses ‘a squealer named ‘Twitch’ for information on The League Society of Shadows.
Their ears burning, the Society send two agents to silence Twitch, and while Batman manages to fight one of them off, the other hurls Twitch into the water below.
The assassins goons flee to the head of the statue but Batman gives chase. Cornered, the agents gas themselves as a mysterious woman looks on through binoculars…
Jim Gordon gets his gun off at a police shooting range when Batman appears, blending in perfectly with one of the targets. An extremely cocky move. He informs Gordon that the Society agents used gas to “erase their own minds.” Is that what we’re calling it?!
Batman suspects the group will target a Wayne Tech sonic drill based on Twitch’s intel, imploring Jim to add more security to Harvey Bullock’s security detail.
Sure enough, when the drill arrives from Chicago via train, the Society of Shadows strike, with their leader, Count Vertigo, disorienting Bullock’s men to the point of nausea. The effect looks fantastic.
Batman swoops in to battle the thieves, able to fight through the effects of Vertigo’s rays. Just as he looks to have the upper hand, everyone is distracted by the mysterious woman from before. Vertigo’s henchmen flee with the drill.
Analysing the dart back, Bruce asserts the woman must be working with Vertigo. He heads to an old castle-like monastery east of Gotham, believing it to the the Society’s headquarters.
His theory about the woman blows up in his face though, as he observes ther getting attacked by Society agents. He intervenes and they take down all of her attackers.
Bruce tries a meet cute with the woman, but they fall victim to a sonic cannon and wind up in a dungeon. Although given what some of these rich perverts get up to, maybe that was his plan all along?
Bruce awakens to the woman tending to his wounds and freaks the eff out as she removed his mask. She reveals her name is Talia and that she has personal business with the Society. She picks the lock of their cell (Batman lost his utility belt in the previous skirmish).
Talia tells Batman that Vertigo once worked for her father, but he strayed too far from their cause, so she’s been sent to take him down. The two stealthily incapacitate guards on their way into the main lab, where the drill resides.
Entering despite knowing it’s a trap, Bruce and Talia immediately fall victim to Vertigo’s… vertigo. The Count informs us the lab is also full of traps and scrams with the drill.
Batman perfectly navigates them across the lab, leading Talia by the hand and avoids every trap. When asked how he managed it the lunatic reveals he simply closed his eyes and trusted his other senses. Of course he did!
Spotting Vertigo’s aircraft circling the bell tower, Batman and Talia hurry up the spiral stairs, made more difficult by the combined effects of Vertigo’s disorientation rays and the sonic drill.
Talia responds by leaping off the stairs and grabbing one of the ropes from the bells, deafening Vertigo. Batman does the same, expounding the effect to such a degree that the villain falls to his apparent death! Gnarly.
Bruce realises a little too late that Talia has been using very selective language throughout the episode, and she of course turns on him. Tampering with the drill in secret, he hands it over and she flees in the plane.
Luckily for a nearby mountain range, Bats’ meddling causes the drill to short circuit when fired. Talia’s father is unbothered, remarking how ‘The Detective’ managed to salvage victory in the face of defeat, vowing this is not over…
Best Performance
I once again find myself spoiled for choice, as the trio of villains were all excellent, and even the Society grunts have a suitably creepy whisper-voice that I’m half tempted to honour. I would ultimately rule in favour of Michael Yorke, slumming it a little here on a children’s cartoon. He’s able to give Vertigo a sense of theatricality and bombast that’s quite frankly delightful.
If Chuck Vennera had more lines as Twitch, I’d consider putting him in the mix too, as he’s perfect as a weasely little informant. Oh, and Kevin Conroy is good as always.
Episode Ranking
Coming off the back of a heavy emotional tale, this kind of dumb (in a good way) caper was exactly what the doctor ordered. Sometimes you just need to see Batman in a castle punching some cultists to foil a mad scientist from using a super weapon, ya know? Plus seeing Ra’s and Talia debut is fun if you’re a fan.
The real highlight was the animation on the vertigo effect, twisting, turning and distorting the visuals in a way that perfectly communicates how debilitating the Count’s trick is. Also I might be crazy but it seemed like Twitch was drawn in a slightly more realistic manner than the average character.
There’s a really nice moment where Bats leans forward enough to cast an enormous shadow, waiting until his target sees it and freaks out, before descending from the trees in intimidating fashion. It’s a neat touch that demonstrates the much-monologued-about idea of Bruce using fear as a weapon.
Also now that we’re 50 episodes in I’m adjusting some rankings as there are a couple that haven’t been sitting right with me as I’ve tried to slot new episodes in around them. ‘Pretty Poison’ and ‘Feat of Clay Part I’ have been a few spots too low for a while now. Conversely ‘It’s Never Too Late’ ‘Vendetta’ and ‘The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne’ were a little too high. I’ll take another look when we hit 65.
- The Laughing Fish
- Almost Got ‘Im
- Heart of Ice
- I Am the Night
- Robin’s Reckoning Part I
- Perchance to Dream
- Two-Face Part I
- Joker’s Favor
- Feat of Clay Part II
- Robin’s Reckoning Part II
- Beware the Gray Ghost
- Mad as a Hatter
- Heart of Steel Part II
- Appointment In Crime Alley
- Two-Face Part II
- Pretty Poison (↑)
- Feat of Clay Part I (↑)
- Off Balance (NEW ENTRY)
- Vendetta (↓)
- Birds of a Feather
- Heart of Steel Part I
- On Leather Wings
- See No Evil
- The Clock King
- It’s Never Too Late (↓)
- Joker’s Wild
- Eternal Youth
- The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
- The Cat and the Claw Part I
- Day of the Samurai
- The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne (↓)
- Terror in the Sky
- P.O.V.
- Christmas with the Joker
- Fear of Victory
- Be a Clown
- What is Reality?
- Night of the Ninja
- The Cat and the Claw Part II
- Nothing to Fear
- Prophecy of Doom
- Tyger, Tyger
- If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
- Dreams In Darkness
- The Last Laugh
- Cat Scratch Fever
- Moon of the Wolf
- The Under-Dwellers
- The Forgotten
- I’ve Got Batman in My Basement
Rogues Roundup
Count Vertigo (Michael Yorke) (first appearance)
Those more familiar with more recent versions of the character might be a little taken aback to see him portrayed as a borderline Nazi here, a nod to his roots as an Eastern European royal, I suppose. I actually dig the idea of Batman storming a Nazi compound to stop them from using a mad science weapon (albeit one Bruce himself designed).
His incredibly striking visual design works excellently with his power-set, as his piercing stare goes hand in hand with a disorientation effect generated by his eye patch. I’ve given Scarecrow credit for the visual effects that come with his fear gas, so I have to do the same with Vertigo and his… vertigo. Just a super fun one-and-done villain, made all the more impressive when you consider he’s just a distraction from the true foes…
Talia al Ghul (Helen Slater) (first appearance)
While not as flirtatiously fun as Catwoman, Talia is another of the well-written women in Bruce’s life who act as equal parts love interest and bitter foe. She doesn’t get a huge amount of character here, but that’s largely because she has to remain enigmatic in order to keep the plot going.
Talia manages to overcome these limitations well enough, with a badass spy lady in a jumpsuit generally always working. She watches, she smiles, she fights, she outfoxes people, it’s great. I think my favourite aspect is her careful choice of words that simultaneously make it obvious she’s secretly evil to the audience, but not so obvious that Batman looks stupid.
Ra’s al Ghul (David Warner) (first appearance)
While Ra’s is somewhat of a household name thanks to Batman Begins, that’s arguably due to the series’ excellent handling of him, as he had not appeared outside of the comics before this episode. He wasn’t exactly in vogue in print at the time either, enjoying a larger role again after the upcoming episode ‘The Demon’s Quest’.
This is all just a long way to say while this first appearance is entirely set-up for his next one, he’s a suitably sinister figure even in this limited capacity. What is essentially just a man in a cloak saying ominous things from far away really works thanks to the character design, Warner’s voice work and the way Talia builds him up.
- The Joker
- Mr. Freeze
- Two-Face
- Clayface
- Mad Hatter
- Catwoman
- Poison Ivy
- The Riddler
- Clock King
- Penguin
- Killer Croc
- HARDAC (and Ronda Duane)
- Rupert Thorne
- Lloyd Ventrix
- Harley Quinn
- Count Vertigo (NEW ENTRY)
- Josiah Wormwood
- Scarecrow
- Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
- Jimmy ‘Jazzman’ Peake
- Tony Zucco
- Man-Bat
- Hugo Strange
- Red Claw
- Arnold Stromwell
- Mad Bomber
- Tygrus (and Dr. Dorian)
- Kyodai Ken
- Talia al Ghul (NEW ENTRY)
- Ra’s al Ghul (NEW ENTRY)
- Nostromos (and Lucas!)
- Cameron Kaiser
- Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
- Professor Milo
- Romulus
- Sewer King
- Boss Biggis
The Matt Signal 
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