Comic Review: Batman: The Adventures Continue #5

Batman: The Adventures Continue #5

DC Comics

Writers: Paul Dini & Alan Burnett

Artist: Ty Templeton

In my review of the fourth issue in the series, I’d mentioned my one major criticism of this series. Most issues seemed to start with Batman tackling a supervillain as a setup for the real threat presenting itself. Dini and Burnett break that habit with this issue and it’s rather different from the rest of the series overall. Let’s get into the review and I’ll explain more of what I mean.

The issue does start off with a battle but it doesn’t involve Batman this time. Jason Todd has been spying on the Bat-Family throughout this series. The history between this version of Jason and Batman was always a mystery though. The end of the last issue showed that Jason was spying on the Joker too and that’s where we start. Mister J manages to spot Todd and alongside an inhumanly strong henchman, they have a brief confrontation. Afterward, Batman investigates the scene, finds evidence that Todd is alive and Alfred fills Tim Drake in on the backstory.

Most people are familiar with the story of Jason Todd from the main comics. A young boy with anger issues. Batman takes the boy in with the hope of keeping him from turning to a life of crime. Eventually, though, the Joker captures this new Robin and brutally kills him with a crowbar. This origin plays out a little differently here. I won’t spoil it but I will say that it stays fairly accurate to the original story. Some slight changes are made that help this Jason stand apart from the main comics version. Fans of the Red Hood will find the story familiar though, despite the changes.  Based on the end of this issue I believe we’ll see more of this origin next issue. Admittedly, knowing the story somewhat dampens the excitement for me. If this is your introduction to Red Hood then I’m sure you’ll be looking forward to it though.

Regular readers must be sick of hearing this but the art is great once again. One of the things I noticed was the use of colour. Batman is normally a grim, brooding figure. That’s reflected in the modern-day moments of the issue. It’s the usual gothic yet cartoonish look from the show yet slightly darker, like the Azrael issue. The flashback scenes as Alfred tells the story of Jason Todd are different though. As soon as Batman and Jason meet, the colours become lighter. They’re a little brighter in general, there’s a lot of use of white. It’s almost like Batman himself is a little happier about having Jason in his life. It’s a nice, subtle artistic touch that gives you insight into how Batman sees his former sidekick.

Lettering is good throughout the issue. Some nice use of sound effects, especially on the Joker’s laugh. It’s highlighted in a larger, bright red font that makes the villains iconic laugh seem so much more terrifying. There are unique narration boxes. Alfred and Tim are the main narrators of this issue and both have white narration boxes. Tim’s have a red backing to differentiate them but I feel like more could’ve been done to differentiate the two. Other than that there’s some nice use of onomatopoeia during the action-filled moments. The letterers did a good job here and aside from what I’ve said about narration boxes, I can’t really complain.

This was a great issue that gives us some good insight into this new take on Jason Todd. It’s certainly interesting to read, even if you have been through the mainline comics. This is a well-written yet tasteful re-telling of Jason Todd’s origin. It’s also very accessible to new readers. You could start here and have no problem understanding what’s been going on in the series. I’m sure that if you’re unfamiliar with Jason then you’ll still enjoy this issue. If you do like this book then there’s also a great cliffhanger ending. Definitely worth picking up for new Bat-fans, old ones, and even just fans of that era-defining 90’s cartoon.

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