COMIC REVIEWS
(by Aaron Maurer)
BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES
ISSUE: "Mightier Than the Sword" (#10)
WRITTEN BY: Ty Templeton
PENCILED BY: Rick Burchett
INKED BY: Terry Beatty
ISSUED: January 6, 1999 (Cover date is March)
RATING: ****.5 (out of 5)
"Harleeeey! Harleeeey! Come out, come out! Daddy can't kill you if daddy can't
find you..."
--The Joker's call to a runaway Harley.
SUMMARY: On the news, Summer Gleason (yep, she's back!) reveals that Dr. Harleen
Quinzel, after being declared sane and released from Arkham, will release a tell-all book
about her years with the Joker. The Joker hears this and is furious. He uses the escape
plan of Poison Ivy (a beanstalk that breaks through the prison's wall) to escape.
Meanwhile, Harleen has been put up in a hotel under an assumed name by her publisher. The
Joker, however, attacks the publisher at home to force him to tell her location. After a
night of writing Harleen finds Nightwing and Robin (Batman and Batgirl are still in Tibet;
see last issue) at her window. They want to protect her, but she runs away from them right
into the Joker. He disposes of Robin through some gas which Nightwing has to take care of.
Harley escapes and, after awhile, she goes back to her room. That's where the Joker is,
reading her book which turns out to be a romance novel about a female master criminal and
a crimefighter named Owlman. The Joker is furious because if it's published he'll be a
laughing stock. He is about ready to kill her when he bursts into uncontrolable itching
caused by Ivy's plant. It's Harley's turn for revenge as she takes out all of her grief on
the Joker. She's ready to smash his head with a typewriter when Nightwing returns. She
doesn't want to return to Arkham so she calms down, and
Nightwing takes the Joker away. She says she never wants to see him again as long as
she lives.
COMMENTS: This was a great issue, and I was glad to finally see Harley stand up for
herself and resist the Joker instead of falling for him at the end as she tends to do. The
story was great, the art was great, and I am glad to see the return of reporter Summer
Gleason. Also, the Bruce Timm cover was a GREAT touch. This was a very powerful issue that
managed to get some humor and action scenes in at the same time.
CRITICISMS: My only criticism comes from the fact that although Harley is now free,
sane, and seemingly has finally given up on the Joker, this scenerio will most likely not
be carried through to the television show. I'm certain that the nest time we see her,
she'll be out helping Mr. J and being persued by Batman. Nothing lasts forever...
BOTTOM LINE: A well told and well illustrated tale; highly recommended!
_______________________
COMIC SCHEDULES & COVERING THE BASICS
This section gives a little bit more indepth look into each monthly issue of BATMAN:
GOTHAM ADVENTURES and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. We have meshed this section with our
"COVERING THE BASICS" section, to make the newsletter much more succint. Below
each comic listing is a link to the cover of that comic. TALK ABOUT SERVICE!
The price is $1.99 in the US and..grrrrr....now a whopping $3.25 in Canada. (Both our
editors and many subscribers are Canadian, hence the "grrr".)
"ANIMATED" COMICS
BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #11
Feb. 3rd
At long last, the Riddler is back, but with a twist - he's leaving clues to the crimes
of OTHER villains in Gotham. What's Eddie up to?
Cover:
http://www.toonzone.net/comics/covers/bga/bga11.jpg
NEXT MONTH: - Two-Face has escaped again, but this time he's been slipped a
trick coin that's rigged to come up heads every time. Coupled with his rather tenuous grip
on reality, it results in his becoming a suicidal force for good in Gotham. The Judge is
also set to re-appear.
Cover:
http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/covers/download/dbmga12.jpg
Cover of #13:
http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/covers/download/dbmga13.jpg
BATMAN: THE LOST YEARS TRADE PAPERBACK
Jan. 20th
A collection of all five Lost Years stories, featuring the origin of Nightwing and Tim
Drake, with appearances of Batman, Batgirl, Joker, Two-Face, and Ra's Al Ghul.
Cover:
http://www.toonzone.net/comics/covers/br/balytpb.jpg
BATMAN BEYOND #1
Jan. 20th
An adaption of the animated debut of the NEW Batman.
Cover:
http://www.toonzone.net/comics/covers/bb/bb1.jpg
NEXT MONTH: Issue #2 - A comics adaption of the second part of the animated debut of
the NEW Batman.
Cover: Unavailable
Cover of #4:
http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/covers/download/dbmb4.jpg
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #30
Feb. 3rd
Part one of a two-part story, in which Superman discovers the public claims he's been
missing for a year! Jonathan and Martha Kent are declared dead, and Superman's true
parents from Krypton return. What the...?
Cover:
http://www.toonzone.net/comics/covers/sa/sa30.jpg
NEXT MONTH: - The conclusion of a two-part story. Blasted a year into the
future, Superman stands as the final line of defense for Earth. And the threat he's trying
to protect the planet from? Himself.
Cover: Unavailable
________________________
HELPING ALL YOU COLLECTORS OUT THERE
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
I know that there are many people out there that collect Batman OR Superman items -
like myself. I only started a year ago and, believe me, finding some of these items (like
action figures) that were released a couple years ago is pretty tough! So, I decided to
start up a little section in the newsletter to help out our fellow Bat-fans. I can only
personally guarantee that my entries are 100% true, for I saw these items with my own
eyes. So we're working on the honour system here. Sound fair?
Well, if this section proves to not be a help for anyone, I'll just abandon it. But I
thought I should give it a try. If anyone has any items they'd like to post in this
section, feel free to do so - just give a brief description, name, e-mail address. Thank
you!
Well, here we go! I hope this helps out someone out there!
1. LOOKING FOR SUPERGIRL? Editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton (that's me!) has
found three Supergirl action figures (animated style) in store on his travels through his
hometown of Vancouver, Canada - but he doesn't want 'em. Does anyone? Or are these figures
not as rare as people have said? E-mail me at juno@direct.ca
if interested.
2. LOOKING FOR NIGHTWING? Editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton (it's me again) has
one extra "CRIME-SOLVING NIGHTWING" that he's willing to get rid of. Still in a
mint package, this is the only animated Nightwing figure that is NOT a shoddy re-paint -
it actually has the same colouring as Nightwing on the show. I was gonna give it to my
brother, but alas, he already has one. E-mail me at juno@direct.ca
if interested.
----------
WANTS TO BUY
1. DARKSEID. We are looking for one Superman: The Animated Series DARKSIED figure.
E-mail the following address if you are able to help our fellow subscriber out! E-mail: kbenso@msn.com
2. MR. FREEZE. A "Mission Masters" figure for this character is desired by
editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton - if anyone knows where one can be found, please
e-mail him at this address: juno@direct.ca
_______________________
SITE WORTH CHECKING OUT
OK, well, we didn't have a new site for this week, SOOOOO...here's a link to the
homepage run by fellow editor Tim Leighton, "TWO-FACE'S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND
TERROR"! WOOHOO! (Shameless plug alert.) If you want reviews and opinions on the
movies OR animated episodes of Batman, wanna get animated pics, sound bytes, pics in
general, wanna read poetry, and whatnot, drop on by!
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
PS - Next week there won't be a shameless plug here. :-)
______________________
ANIMATED BATMAN/SUPERMAN SITES:
* - indicates a shameless plug for a site a certain double-faced editor created with
his bare hands - in other words, a shameless plug.
OFFICIAL SITES
-----
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
http://www.batman-superman.com
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://www.batmantas.com
BATMAN BEYOND
http://www.batmanbeyond.com
KIDSWB!
http://www.kidswb.com
http://www.wbanimation.com
BATMAN & MR. FREEZE: SUB-ZERO
http://www.warnerbros.com/subzero
SUB-ZERO: THE DEFINTIE GUIDE
http://www.batman-subzero.com
DC COMICS
http://www.dccomics.com
TOON ZONE
http://www.toonzone.net
RAVING TOY MANIAC
http://www.toymania.com
UNOFFICIAL SITES
-----
*TWO-FACE'S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND TERROR
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BRIAN CRUZ' WB CARTOON PAGE
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/index.html
BRIAN'S BATMAN PAGE
http://members.aol.com/bdavis2613/main.html
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED HOMEPAGE
http://www3.sympatico.ca/quartet/home.htm
THE BRUCE TIMM ARTWORK ARCHIVE
http://www.aiusa.com/chip/timm/archive.htm
ANIMANIA
http://hjem.get2net.dk/twt/home.htm
HARLEY'S HAVEN OF HEDONISM
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/harlequinhideaway
THE ANIMATED BAT
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/7382/index.html
THE BATCOMPUTER
http://members.spree.com/batcomputer
BATMAN:FOREVER KNIGHT
http://batman.techv.net
WORLD'S FINEST
http://members.spree.com/sip/worldsfinest
CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN
http://www.xse.com/leres/batman.html
THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES: THE UNOFFICIAL SITE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/5158
THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN F.A.Q. SITE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/1216
MESSAGE BOARDS, INC
-----
HEAVY DUTY DUBBAS DISCUSSION CENTER
http://members.spree.com/sip/hddboards
BATMAN:TAN MESSAGE BOARD
http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb205617
NEWSGROUPS
-----
news:alt.comics.batman
news:alt.comics.catwoman
news:alt.comics.superman
news:alt.tv.cartoon-network
news:rec.arts.animation
news:alt.animation.warner-bros
________________________
ANSWERS TO THE TRIVIA
Answer to #61: 'E'
Answer to #62: 'A'
Answer to #63: 'E'
Answer to #64: 'A, D'
Answer to #65: 'D'
_______________________
LIKE WHAT YA SEE? WANNA SUBSCRIBE? HERE'S HOW!!!
Now that this newsletter is archived at THE WBC HOMEPAGE, those who haven't subscribed
have been asking how to do so. Well here it is for those who would like to subscribe:
To subscription requests e-mail:
juno@direct.ca
and that's all ya do. Just put 'subscribe' and your e-mail address in the e-mail message.
A little cash donation would be appreciated, but it's not obligatory.
(Dang!)
Thank you for your time, and thanks for reading!
-Tim TWO-FACE Leighton and Dick Grayson, editors
________________________
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
_______________________
TO ALL GOOD THINGS...
...there must be an end. We would like to thank the endless amount of contributors for
contributing their editorials, columns, news, jokes, reviews and other articles. We hope
you've all enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed making it!
See ya next time!
CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER
EDITOR: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton and "Dick Grayson"
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Brian Cruz
BTAS REVIEWS: Bob Evatt and Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
EDITORIAL: Laura Hysert
COMIC REVIEWS: Aaron Maurer
TOY REVIEW: Kevin Smith
"BTAN ARCHIVES" MODERATOR: Eileen Delgadillo
TRIVIA: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
COLLECTOR'S CORNER: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
PROMOTIONS AND JUST GETTIN' THE WORD AROUND: Brian Cruz, Brian Davis, Eileen Delgadillo,
Dick Grayson
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-P Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
DELIVERY: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
E-MAIL RECEPTION HANDLING: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane (who else?)
All elements in this newsletter have been copyrighted (copywritten?) by DC Comics,
1999.
________________________
AND A SPECIAL THANKS TO TERRY BEATTY FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS ISSUE'S INTERVIEW!
Thanks Terry!
