The Comic Book Longbox: The Batman Adventures and Batman & Robin Adventures

 Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! How's everyone doing today? I'm doing very well. What'd you all think of this week's episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi? I'm not covering it on the blog, but I absolutely loved it. Today we're returning to the Comic Book Longbox to talk about two comic book series that I loved when I was a kid and still collect today from time to time. Those series are The Batman Adventures which ran from 1992 until 1995 and Batman & Robin Adventures which ran from 1995 until 1997 and were tie-ins to Batman: The Animated Series and The Adventures of Batman & Robin (the final season of BTAS). Originally I was going to cover all of the issues I've had over the years, but I decided to narrow it down to the comics I had when I was a kid and was getting off and on from 1992 until 1997. So let's get into it.

Before I get into the issues themselves, I want to set the stage for where I was in my life at that point. So from 1992 until 1997 my health was on a weird rollercoaster so I was at CHEO almost every week in 1992 and 1993, and then once a month from 1993 until 1997. And that was mostly for bloodwork, visits to the Cardiologist, and to make sure everything was alright with where the ostomy bag was on my neck, as well as the site where my feeding tube was located. So I was at the hospital quite a bit during that five year period. If I was good at my appointments and during bloodwork, because that could be a long and painful process, or other examinations, my mom would take me to the gift shop and buy me a comic book or a Berenstain Bears book or a toy or something as a reward for being good. That would also depend on if we had time too. But I think there was only one time where I didn't at least get to go into the gift shop and look around, even if mom didn't buy me anything. 

The CHEO gift shop is where I got all of the Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man comics that I had when I was a kid. Occasionally she'd get me a Disney comic or something kid friendly like Scooby-Doo or Casper the Friendly Ghost or something like that. But for the most part it was Batman and Disney comics. She never got me Star Trek comics there because chances are the issues they had in the gift shop at CHEO, were ones my dad had already gotten for me at the Hobby Center so I didn't need them. Now let's dive into the issues themselves.

The first issue of The Batman Adventures that my mom ever got me was issue #7, which has Killer Croc in the issue. Though unlike on the cover, Batman doesn't fight Killer Croc in the issue. In fact they barely have any interaction with each other. Instead Batman was going after the mob. Croc just happens to be there. This was my first encounter with Killer Croc as I'd never read the main Batman comics that he appeared in. I have a new copy of this issue in my current collection.

The Batman Adventures #8 was another first for me as it was my first encounter with Clayface. My experience with Batman up to this point had been reruns of the 1966 TV show and watching Batman and Batman Returns on VHS. So his scarier or darker villains like Scarecrow, Clayface, Killer Croc, and even Two-Face were characters I'd never encountered before as they didn't appear in the 1966 TV series, and apart from Billy Dee Williams playing Harvey Dent in the first movie, none of those characters appeared in either of the Tim Burton movies. So this comic book series was my first time encountering certain characters even though they'd been around for decades at the time I was getting into the comics. I don't remember what I was at CHEO for when I got this comic, but it was a rare situation where my mom bought me two comic books and so, along with this issue, I also got Batman #493, which was my first main DC Universe Batman comic ever. These issues came out, and I got them, in 1993. Batman Returns had come and gone, Batman: The Animated Series was extremely successful on Fox Kids, and in the main comics, Knightfall was starting. So naturally, DC Comics was advertising it all over their publications. There were two ads for different issues in every book I owned at the time. It was insane. I actually still have my original copy in my collection today.

Issue #9 was another first encounter for me. It was the first time I was introduced to Rupert Thorne, a mob boss that had been introduced in 1977, as Batman's version of the Kingpin from the Spider-Man and Daredevil comics of the era. But, again, he wasn't in the '60s TV series, and wasn't in the Tim Burton movies, though I guess Carl Grissom in the 1989 movie comes close to being Thorne, if Thorne could be taken out just by getting shot by the Joker. Unlike nowadays, this comic book series and the animated series didn't rely heavily on Batman's more well known rogues gallery. Instead for a good chunk of the episodes he's facing down mob bosses and minor villains with the big guns coming out every once in a while. Which is really cool to me because today it's all about using the major guys in every movie and TV show, even the ones where Batman isn't actually the focus like Gotham. I rebought this issue at a comic book sale a couple of years ago along with issue #10.

So it wasn't until I got issue #10 that I finally saw the animated series version of the Riddler. I always liked the Riddler in the '60s TV show. He was mostly played by Frank Gorshin on that series, but John Astin replaced him for an episode or two late in the second season, but I loved how manic Gorshin managed to make the character. Even more manic than the Joker was. So seeing him in a comic book was really cool to me, especially because he was wearing a suit similar to the one he wore in Batman: The Movie (1966). So that was cool. I rebought this issue at a comic book sale a few years ago along with issue #9.

Issue #15 was a Commissioner Gordon centric issue where Batman hardly appears. This actually happened on the animated series quite a bit. There'd be entire episodes where Batman doesn't appear at all or doesn't appear until the end of the episode, and another character, be it Commissioner Gordon, Robin, or Batgirl, would have to deal with a problem on their own. In this issue one of Gordon's officers goes missing during an investigation into Rupert Thorne. But, again, no major Bat villains. I don't own this comic anymore.

For whatever reason I didn't get another issue until #21. Most likely because I actually wasn't at CHEO quite as often anymore. By the time issue #21 came out, I'd already had my big operation to have my esophagus removed, so I was mostly going in for Respirology, Cardiology, bloodwork, Hematology, and having my feeding tube checked out and replaced if necessary. So not as many x-rays, barium swallows, or monthly day surgery procedures. Which also meant less frequent visits to the gift shop too, though they'd still continue to happen until 1998 or 1999. Issue #21 was my comic book introduction to the character Man-Bat. I say comic book intro, because I actually had a Man-Bat figure from the Batman: The Animated Series toyline that I'm pretty sure I got before I got this issue. Also, I think by this point I'd seen a couple of episodes of the animated series under my belt as I remember seeing this version of Catwoman on the show, prior to getting this issue. While she's in costume on the cover, she's not in the actual issue. I don't have this issue in my collection anymore.

The next issue I got was #25, which was the debut of Superman in what would later be called the DC Animated Universe. The comics weren't canon to the TV shows, so when Superman debuted in 1996 on Superman: The Animated Series, two years after this comic was published, he was radically different than he was in this issue. In this, Superman and Lex Luthor are patterned more after their then current counterparts in the main DC Universe comics of the time. So Luthor had red hair and a red beard, and Superman had the mullet that he got after his return from the dead in the "Reign of the Supermen" story arc going on in the comics at the time. I actually have my original copy still in my collection.

This was one of my favourite issues because Robin and Batgirl take center stage in it. What interested me about Robin in this comic book series, as well as in the animated series, is that it's Dick Grayson, but he's wearing Tim Drake's costume from the main comics. This was my first introduction to Batgirl in the comics because in the main comics, Barbara Gordon was Oracle following the Joker paralyzing her in The Killing Joke, and Cassandra Cain wouldn't be introduced until 1998. So this was the only Batgirl in the comics at the time. Again, this was a small time crook that Batgirl and Robin face off against. I won't say who it is, because it's a pretty crazy twist.

Issue #27 is a weird issue. I mean, if you look at the cover alone it's a bit weird. It's like they took the 1960s comic book Batman and killed him off on this cover. In the issue though it's simply a different person in his own personally made Batsuit with a cape and cowl that's a lighter shade of blue than Batman's is. It is a good issue though as it shows that this version of Batman is more compassionate than the regular comic book Batman is, particularly during this time. 

The next issue I got was #32 from 1995. I don't have much to say about this issue. Batman faces off against two elderly men who are obsessed with fighting each other in old army uniforms, with an army of criminals, and don't care about collateral damage. That's it. That's the story. I enjoy it though because it's Batman using his detective skills to figure out why something out of the French Revolution is endangering people in Gotham City. I got this issue back in my collection recently.

Issue #33 is a really interesting story because not only does Bruce Wayne have to deal with his childhood trauma as him, his date, and his date's son are held up at gunpoint by a petty thug, similar to how Bruce and his parents were on the night his parents were murdered, but he also has to deal with the sacrifices he has to make in his life in order to not only keep being Batman, but also to continue keeping his secret identity. Which this version of Batman doesn't really deal with on the TV show, even in the later shows like Justice League. So that's really interesting. This is another issue that I returned to my collection recently.

For whatever reason I skipped #34, though I did get it later in life, so the next issue I got was #35. This cover intrigued me, because I actually thought that Catwoman had brainwashed Batman into turning into a criminal and to be her partner. I mean, he's in the Batsuit, fighting the police alongside Catwoman on this cover. In the issue itself Batman's memories were stolen and imprinted on a diamond by Dr. Hugo Strange, one of Batman's earliest villains from 1940. Naturally, Catwoman takes advantage of this and makes him believe that he's her partner. It also makes him regress into a child, therefore he does not remember his parents being murdered. This issue is also part 2 of a three part storyline. I didn't get to read part 1 until I got issue #34 years later. But even then it was easy enough for me to follow along with. I kept my original childhood copy in my collection before we moved in 2016.

This was the final issue of the series before it changed over to Batman & Robin Adventures with a brand new #1 issue. Bruce is back in the Batman suit but still doesn't have his memories back, so Robin is in charge, and it's pretty weird seeing the dynamic shifting so that Batman is the Boy Wonder, while Robin is his mentor. They're still after Hugo Strange, but Rupert Thorne is slightly involved too, as is Catwoman, though her involvement is more with keeping the diamond that Batman's memories are stored on. What's weird about this series for me is of the four main Batman villains, only the Riddler and Catwoman appeared in any of the issues that I had. The Joker was nowhere to be found, and neither was the Penguin. Both appear in the first issue, but I didn't get that one until I was an adult, so I didn't even really realize that. I also kept my original childhood copy of this issue.

Before I get into the three issues of Batman & Robin Adventures that I had when I was a kid, I want to talk about something that '90s comics had that modern comics don't. At least comics from DC and Marvel don't. Letters columns and Next Issue/Next Month boxes. Since social media came into being, letters columns were no longer needed in comics for fans to write into the books they enjoyed reading. Instead they could send e-mails, direct messages, and Facebook and Twitter posts to the artists, writers, and editors directly. But, back in the '90s those options didn't exist yet, so fans would mail in letters to the editorial staff, and some letters would be printed in a two to three page section called the Letters Page. But in addition to that, on the bottom right corner of the final page of the letters column, there was a special box with a description of what the next issue of the book was going to be. Modern day comics don't have that. In the case of The Batman Adventures #36, even though it was the last issue, it still had a next issue box, because Batman & Robin Adventures #1 was coming out the very next month.

I missed the first three issues of Batman & Robin Adventures because I didn't go to CHEO much between September 1995 and January 1996. By this point I was needing less frequent visits to the hospital, and my mom was getting other comics for me from the gift shop when there were ones suitable for me to be reading. By 1996 that was becoming less frequent as well. But she got me other books and toys there. Also by this point both Star Trek comics that DC Comics was publishing at the time ended, so this was kind of the beginning of the end of my first stage of comic book collecting and reading. Though I would still get comics as presents from time to time, there wasn't a particular series that I was collecting regularly anymore once Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation ended. This issue was a Penguin issue though and it wasn't bad. It wasn't my favourite issue and it wasn't the best one, but it was good. Robin's not in the issue though, despite the book being called Batman & Robin Adventures. It might've been a leftover script from The Batman Adventures because as far as I know, Robin is in every other issue of this series. 

Issue #5 is my favourite issue of the four that I've owned over the years. Not just because the Joker is in it, but because it's a crazy issue where Batman and Robin have to protect the Riddler, who is in Arkham Asylum, from the Joker, who wants to break into Arkham to kill the Riddler simply because a reporter said that the Riddler was the smartest villain in all of Gotham City on live Television, which is a dangerous thing to do in Gotham City, especially where the Joker can hear you. So I love this issue just for that insanity.

The last issue of Batman & Robin Adventures that my mom bought for me was issue #16, from 1997. It's another Catwoman issue but this time there's a copycat running around while Catwoman is actually not doing anything wrong. It's also interesting to note that Bruce Wayne is friends with Selina Kyle, is aware that she's Catwoman, because her identity is public knowledge, but she doesn't know that he's Batman, and Batman gives Catwoman leeway when it comes to the crimes she commits as she doesn't actually hurt any innocent bystanders unlike the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and the rest. Which is an interesting dynamic that is from the main comics published in the '90s, but has never appeared in any movies or TV shows, except maybe The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and The Batman (2022). 

These comics were my entrance into Batman: The Animated Series/The Adventures of Batman & Robin because my siblings are a few years younger than I am and my sister was 2 and my brother was only a year old when Batman: The Animated Series began back in 1992, so my parents didn't want them watching the show as it was darker and slightly more violent than the '60s live action show, which meant I wasn't allowed to watch it unless they weren't home, or I was in the hospital and could watch it on Global TV as the tiny hospital TVs didn't usually get the American networks, except for PBS, just the Canadian ones. That changed slightly when the show became The Adventures of Batman & Robin in the 1994-1995 season, as Robin and Batgirl appeared more frequently, I was able to watch the show even when my siblings were home and even when I wasn't in the hospital. And this show was everywhere between the release of Batman Returns in 1992 and the release of Batman Forever in 1995, and you couldn't escape it. This WAS Batman in the early to mid '90s and even though I didn't get to watch the show very often, I still got to read the comics. So that's pretty cool. 

I think that's going to be it for me for today. I will be back tomorrow for my review of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, the novel, which I'm close to finishing reading and then I'll have my review of the season 3 premiere of The Orville and my review of season 1, episode 5 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Friday. So until then have a wonderful evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.