Comic Review: Batman: The Adventures Continue #6

Batman: The Adventures Continue #6

DC Comics

Writer: Paul Dini, Alan Burnett

Artist: Ty Templeton

The adventures continue with Alfred telling more of Jason Todd’s backstory. I’d enjoyed the new aspects of the classic backstory which Dini and Burnett introduced the last issue. Todd was still the criminal who Batman took under his wing. The use of a Red Hood gang was a nice way to set up his masked identity as an adult. This issue focuses entirely on expanding on that origin so let’s get into it.

Alfred tells Tim Drake, the current Robin of how Jason went from an angry kid sidekick to a murderous vigilante. It’s interesting to see and there’s a ton of Batman villains throughout the flashbacks. It’s believable that Jason committed violent actions like these behind Batman’s back. It never feels out of character for the Red Hood we’ve seen in this series or any other.

Eventually, we get what we knew was coming. The Joker and the crowbar. This segment is done well too with a Harley reluctant to kill Jason deciding to help Batman find his sidekick. It shows dissent in her relationship with Joker which could be future story fodder. An eight-issue has been announced which centers on Harley and Ivy. Hopefully, we’ll see more of this series. The death scene is the only thing I felt unsure about. Jason tries convincing Batman that he’s dying and he should kill Joker for it.

It all seemed like something that’d have been more impactful at the climax of this story. I get the sense this scene will repeat by the end of the series. Previous adaptations of the story had Jason confronting Batman about not killing the Joker over his murder. If this series does the same then that scene may lose some oomph due to this flashback.

Art continues to look fantastic as always. The colours are vibrant but still have a darker look to them during the flashbacks. It helps Jason’s tale feel darker and more gritty than usual Batman animated stories. There are some inconsistencies though. Penguin was shown in issue #4 with the short, skinnier look and square nose. This issue shows Jason fighting a Penguin with the classic obese, somewhat tall look and hooked pointy nose. It’s a little thing but it bugged me a bit that they didn’t stick with the design the series established.

Lettering is solid throughout. Lots of nice sound effects to give the moments of action more weight. It’s fairly standard in this issue but that’s not a bad thing. The bold text during dialogue and a unique speech bubble near the end adds a lot of impact to the story. It may not be extremely creative or experimental but it does the job and doesn’t distract from the story.

Overall, this is another great chapter in Dini and Burnett’s revival of the Batman Animated series comics. It doesn’t stand alone because it’s still the second half of an origin story but it’s still a good read. The writing is handled well, Templeton mostly does a great job on the art, I don’t really have any complaints. There’s a nice ending that sets up the final segment of the story in the next issue too. If you’ve been enjoying this series you should enjoy this. I was curious about how they’d handle the death aspect of the origin. Aside from that one complaint I made about it, I felt it was done well and I’d recommend this issue.