Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Two #6 – Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Writers; Rick Burchett, Artist; Monica Kubina, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The penultimate episode of season two pits Batman against his toughest enemy yet—politics. A tense Mayoral race is heating up between political scion Hamilton Hill Jr, and corrupt ex-Mayor Emerson Mayfield. It’s a lesser of two evils, and the callow opportunist Hill is preferred by the entire Bat-family over the would-be fascist. Not enough for Bruce Wayne to make an endorsement (despite Hill’s ties to Dick Grayson), but enough for Batman to pay Mayfield a visit at his home. This is an interesting dynamic, because for the first time, Batman is facing an enemy he can’t punch out of contention. It’s a very similar dynamic to the one Superman regularly faces with Lex Luthor, however, Mayfield is also a lot craftier than he looks, and has no problem outfoxing Batman and Bruce Wayne—even tricking Bruce into a de facto endorsement when ambushed with reporters at an event.
With Bruce off-balance and Batman hunted by a mystery assassin who nearly gets the drop on him (despite having the aesthetic of an old-timey actor), it falls to Barbara Gordon to pick up a lot of the slack and investigate Mayfield. She’s able to get a job at his campaign headquarters and go undercover, trying to find the mysteries lurking behind the secretive candidate’s facade. Batman is on the trail of one of his most iconic villains, but there are quite a few surprises waiting in this narrative. This storyline maintains the feeling of the original animated series, but it’s a little more suspenseful and densely plotted. The original series never had the time or audience to go into Gotham politics too much, and the extended stories in this run are giving the creative team a lot more freedom. I’m just hoping that like the first season, this is just a prelude to even more stories in this universe.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
