Batman ’66 #3 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Joe Quinones & Sandy Jarrell (art), Maris Wicks & Rico Renzi (colors)

The Story: Don’t let the Joker get into your head; he may decide to never get out.

The Review: I don’t know if Parker has learned some lessons from Li’l Gotham—I don’t know if anyone reads Li’l Gotham for anything other than to melt into a helpless puddle of adoration for the sheer cuteness of it all—but he’s surely taking care to avoid the missteps of its fellow digital-first series.  Entertainment and laughs are all well and good, but there’s no reason why you can’t have good character work and plotting, too.

Parker already hinted at a shift towards more serious stories last issue, with suggestions of a potentially long-term plotline.  Here he goes full throttle, setting aside his usual jokey antics for something that actually resembles a more traditional Batman mission.  True, you’re not genuinely in fear of anything too dire happening, but there’s still very much a dramatic tension moving the feature along.