Batman ’66 #4 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Jonathan Case (art), Sandy Jarrell (art), Tony Aviña (colors)

The Story: Batman and Robin, guaranteeing that villains get off their high hat.

The Review: It’s not surprising superhero comics tend to stagnate over time, given their penchant for having the same heroes fight the same villains, always in the same setting. As traditional as it is to see Batman battle evil in Gotham, there are times I wonder if part of the reason why he can never lighten up is because he’s always trapped in that hole of urban crime.  Maybe if he gets out once in a while, he’d have more perspective.

So kudos to Parker for taking advantage of the sixties’ romance for exotic lands to take Batman, Robin, and Alfred to England.  It doesn’t matter that they just end up doing their usual crime-fighting thing anyway.  What matters is the breath of fresh air that comes from a change in pace.  Even if the differences are mostly superficial (Parker goes as far as to include a British Batmobile and a Commissioner Gordon facsimile in the form of his cousin, Scotland Yard’s Detective Inspector Gordon), at least they beat the done-and-done Gotham hijinks.

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.