Disclaimer (I am not a comic otaku, but I will try my best to do research into as much Batman related lore as I can, since Batman is by far my favorite DC character)
In Darkness Dwells (Madhouse)
This begins with an investigation by Gotham P.D. of a group hallucination in a church, and the abduction of the Cardinal into the crypts and sewers associated with it. Batman gets involved as they track the criminal and gives Gordon a way to communicate with him while he’s tracking the abductor. But it’s protected by quantum cryptology so they can’t trace him it seems (Bouncing off satellites and whatnot). Batman’s already targeted the main villain, Scarecrow, the psychologist obsessed with fear. And the backstory of Killer Croc, the other villain involved, is changed somewhat, though he still has the skin condition and such. The lore about him being flushed down the toilet by his mom for being so ugly is thrown around once. But now he is noted as being part of an experiment by Scarecrow of fear aversion therapy while in Arkham. And Killer Croc’s phobia is identical to Scarecrow’s: bats. Eventually Batman encounters Killer Croc, getting bit in the shoulder in the process, saying he works through such pain (which will connect to the next episode) and eventually throwing what appears to be a grenade in his mouth, scaring him off. The Scarecrow’s fear toxin was in Killer Croc, so now Batman is seeing things, but he gets over it as he moves through the sewers. Eventually he traces Scarecrow to a place near where they used to store corpses, now flowing with methane gas. The Scarecrow has a “cult” of escaped Arkham inmates and is threatening to kill the Cardinal for helping the weak, since he wants to drive them down into insanity very likely. This Scarecrow’s look is very cool, probably even cooler than the version from Batman: The Animated Series. Batman manages to escape with the Cardinal by exploding methane above. He has a moment where he Matrix-style dodges a scythe thrown by Scarecrow and as they’re escaping out a pipe, they almost get cut up by a ship propeller. Batman leaves the Cardinal with the police and he leaves, not accepting their help, saying, “Maybe next time” as he runs away into the shadows again, to nurse what is probably still a bad wound from a 7 foot mutant with teeth sharpened to nails. This one introduces the most Batman villains, but I shouldn’t complain overall when the real message is Batman in a sort of day to day thing, looking deeper into his psyche, not unlike the new Batman film series.
Working Through Pain (Studio 4ºC)
The episode begins with Batman stumbling through the sewers, deeply wounded. He manages to cauterize the wound, making you see the theme of the obviously titled work. The scene then shifts to India (as evidenced by the cows sitting around and people in sarongs by the river), Bruce watching a mongoose and cobra fight it out. He is notified by an informant that he has been rejected by the fakirs (Indian mystics, essentially) for training. The training is still unrevealed, but the fakirs apparently knew he was not seeking enlightenment or truth, and was dishonest with them, which they were able to see through somehow. The informant suggests one more source, a mysterious woman living outside the main village. It is revealed that Bruce is looking for a way to deal with his pain. The woman, called Cassandra, clarifies later that there are two types of pain: exterior and interior, Bruce’s pain manifesting as both in his line of work. The line that pain always scars is interesting and relevant to Batman’s own past as Cassandra stands on hot coals. The theme becomes Bruce learning from her that you don’t make pain work for you, you work through the pain. Cassandra reveals that she was outcast because she deceived the fakirs into thinking she was a boy. But they apparently knew that already and tried to mess with her. But she completed the training and was then revealed to be doing something she shouldn’t, so she was outcast by her village and family (So women can’t do fakir training in India…still sexist a bit I see). They try to indicate Bruce might be romantically involved with Cassandra, which is possible, but not likely, since Bruce seems rarely to get involved with teachers, as opposed to villains or adversaries like Catwoman, Talia al Ghul and Zatanna to my memory. Eventually Bruce tries to defend Cassandra from what appear to be just teen boys threatening her. Bruce takes a stick to the head without reaction as well as a bottle and then fights off the 6 guys. But Cassandra brings him his things and tells him to leave, since he didn’t understand that she didn’t need his help, since they would’ve gotten tired in the end. She reflects that Bruce’s pain is beyond her help and possibly even beyond Bruce’s attempts as well. Prior to this, we see another flashback where Batman waits for Alfred to pick him up and finds a bunch of guns tossed aside in a storm drain along with garbage. As Alfred pulls the drain off the street, he offers his help, but Bruce with all the guns in his hand says he can’t since he appears to be in emotional pain as well, unable to give up the guns that he wants to get rid of from the street and take the help that he needs to heal his physical wound. This one is probably the most revealing of the tragedy manifest in Batman’s life, since it doesn’t explicitly involve his parents’ death, but suggests that it still affects him by his desire to get rid of guns, even those thrown into the sewers.
Deadshot (Madhouse)
The final episode begins with Bruce flashbacking to his parents’ murder, splicing together with Deadshot (a relatively little known Batman villain) putting together his sniper rifle. The next day, still shifting scenes between Batman and Deadshot, we see Bruce working out (like Bruce Lee with one armed pushups) and Alfred bringing the gun collection from the last episode into the room. Bruce reflects that while he doesn’t use guns, he can appreciate why his enemies like to use them, in the way Batman understands his enemies so well (Joker in particular). He even says guns hold the power of “God”; in the loosest sense I’m sure. Deadshot then shoots from probably 2000 meters away and splits a wine glass off at the stem, lodging the bullet in his target’s head. He is then seen speaking to his informant about another mission and as he leaves, he throws a little martini sword and impales a bee on it, making me see a parallel that probably wasn’t completely intended between this villain and Marvel Comics’ Bullseye, the adversary of Daredevil and the Punisher. It’s revealed that Ronald Marshall from “Field Test” hired Deadshot to kill the protestor that he had so graciously named the building after. Commissioner Gordon is the next target for Deadshot and he tries his best to keep safe, wearing a helmet while outside and not wanting to wear it in the car. Batman tries to find where Deadshot is shooting from and with Alfred’s help, finds that he is not only trying to shoot a car from a train going 60 miles an hour, but in between a second train going the opposite direction. Batman stops him and chases Deadshot into a tunnel where they continue to fight. Batman eventually gets the edge and nearly pushes Deadshot into getting his face ripped off by the protrusions from the sides of the tunnel, getting part of his mask torn off. Deadshot is beaten and afterwards, we see Alfred patching up Batman again from a shot that he got in running towards the assault from Deadshot’s hand-mounted machine gun. After remembering that he is fighting so that nothing like what happened to his parents and him will ever happen again, the Bat Signal appears outside the window in the sky and we end with Batman leaving to jump into the fray yet again.
Overall, this series of animations is a good introduction to Batman for newcomers born in the 2000s era. Although admittedly the film is probably for a teenage audience or so with the violence and cursing associated with it, it’s a good follow-up to your kids watching the Batman animated series from the 90s. Not to mention the varied animation styles of 4 different studios well known for series such as Noir and Dot Hack Sign (Bee Train), Ghost in the Shell: SAC and FLCL (Production I.G.), Trigun and Chobits (Madhouse) as well as the involvement of the directors and writers from the Batman Begins film. All in all, a 5 out of 5, and 100% recommended from me, a rarity indeed. Until next time, Namaste and Aloha
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