Beware the Batman

• Title: Beware the Batman #6
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Matthew K. Manning
• Artist: Luciano Vecchio

As with the show that spawned it, Beware the Batman comes to a close prematurely just as things were starting to get interesting. With Katana busy and Batman missing it falls to Alfred to track down the Dark Knight Detective who has been captured by Killer Croc.

Presented entirely from Alfred’s point of view, the comic is notable, other than for it being the final issue of the series, for the introduction of a resourceful dark-haired alley-rat who Alfred finds in possession of Batman’s missing utility belt. Had the show and/or comic intended to introduce a Robin character the seed is firmly planted here as the young boy is an obvious stand-in for Jason Todd, but with its cancellation we’ll never know what might have come from his introduction.

Neither the show nor the comic would rank high on my favorite versions of Batman (although they’d be higher than the current New 52 version), but both showed promise, and without another all-ages Bat-title to take its place the cancellation of the series (which had been consistently good) is sad news for Bat-fans everywhere. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

• Title: Beware the Batman #5
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Mike W. Barr
• Artist: Dario Brizuela

When an old enemy decides to get revenge on Katana Batman‘s new partner finds herself public enemy number one. To clear her name and prove that one of Battleaxe’s apprentices is actually impersonating her and committing crimes under Katana’s name, Batman’s partner will have to stick clear of police while tracking down a mirror image of herself.

As with the last issue, Beware the Batman #4 relies on characters that were never introduced in the television show. Given how the character is introduced here, I wonder if there was a script on the show to introduce the character of Battleaxe that simply never got made (or aired).

Katana vs. Katana works well, and gives the police a heightened reason to target Batman and his partner. Of course all this leads up to next month’s premature final issue of the series told completely from the perspective of Alfred. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

• Title: Beware the Batman #4
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Scott Beatty
• Artist: Luciano Vecchio

Obviously set to be released after an episode of Beware of the Batman that never aired, Beware the Batman #4 features a two version of Man-Bat long after Batman‘s unseen first meeting with scientist Kirk Langstrom and includes Barbara Gordon working with Team Batman as Oracle.

Despite building on events and relationships that neither the show nor the comic have covered, the latest issue works well enough playing on a familiar storyline of Batman and Man-Bat working together to find someone else who has been exposed to the serum and transformed into a Man-Bat (in this case the young student Barbara had been tutoring).

With the show not returning to the air in January as scheduled I have a feeling these gaps in continuity could continue which may be why DC has decided to end the comic series after issue #6. As to the fate of the cartoon, given that neither DC nor Cartoon Network have discussed it in months, one has to wonder if it will meet a similar fate. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]