Batman: TAS, episode #43: Moon of the Wolf

There are initial pros and cons when looking at Moon of the Wolf, because involving The Batman in something that's relatively bog-standard like werewolves is generally not going to be numbered among my favorite topics for our hero. But the initial pro is that this episode was written by Len Wein, a legendary figure in the comics industry, for both writing and editing. He worked many years for both Marvel and DC and, importantly here, was part of Marvel's horror revival in the early 70s once the Comics Code was neutered and it was finally considered safe to show kids ghosts and goblins again (on top of the fact that Marvel had long since been aware that its primary audience was college-aged.) Wein worked on titles like Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, and so forth, so tagging him to write a Batman/werewolf story seems wholly appropriate. And, like many comic writers of that era, he wastes no time getting right to the topic at hand, as there is no setup to the story. We simply see a zoo guard (Peter Scolari) walking his dog and being accosted by the main enemy right away, with The Batman dropping in to rescue him.

The larger thematics are present here, of course, in that our hero's imagery is right in the (ahem) vein of another classic monster: the vampire, what with the big, dark (and even scalloped) cloak and the bat imagery which is usually attached to those horrors. The idea of a conflict between vampires and werewolves is the subject of all kinds of other media, from movies to RPGs, so we're right in the wheelhouse of those of us who are fond of such things. Again, my reluctance is normally that attaching characters like The Batman to tales like this is generally going to make them rather formulaic. But Wein was probably conscious of this phenomenon, too. Much of the writing of things like Tomb of Dracula was hailed back in the day, but when editorial (which, uh, often included Wein) decided that the way to really make sales was to include the new horror books in the broader Marvel Universe™, the quality began to suffer because the two genres don't always mix very well. This is why DC later decided to separate their horror tales into an imprint called Vertigo, but Marvel were content to let the new set of horror books die on the vine. For my own part, I recognize the genre friction, but acknowledge that there's still room to play around. (Level four is the "horror" level.)

But Wein's experience shines through here in other ways, too. The Batman meets with Commissioner Gordon about the weird, wolf-suited mugger he just encountered and Gordon decides that the best cop to put on this case would be Harvey Bullock. This is one of those instances where Bullock is considered a competent, relatively non-corrupt cop; distinct from his frequent presentation in the series. He later goes on to prove his bona fides in that respect, but not only keeping his men organized but acknowledging that, after the werewolf seemingly disappears, the only way to be sure that it's gone is to wait four weeks for the next full moon. He not only does his job, but fully engages the "reality" of the story (e.g. this is a werewolf, so this is how werewolves operate.) Other little details like this, in which Wein demonstrates that there are other aspects/depth to the usual characters, are exemplified by Alfred being shown doing regular maintenance to the engine of the Batmobile, rather than just bringing tea to the Batcave or some other relatively menial task. It looks like he was attempting to deviate from the stereotypes. That is, of course, until the villains, Anthony Romulus (Harry Hamlin) and Achilles Milo (Treat Williams) manage to capture The Batman and, for whatever the age-old reason is, don't pull his cowl off to reveal our hero's identity. I have no idea why both villains had legendary Roman and Greek hero names, either, but there it is.

Wein also does the best thing for a modern telling of this kind of story and makes the lycanthropy the result of deranged science, rather than someone being bit by a werewolf or some other stock cause. The visuals for both Romulus returning to human form and transforming the first time that Milo gave him the formula are well done, too, and clearly drew from the more modern versions of that kind of transformation (The Howling, etc.), rather than just Lon Chaney, Jr. doing his thing and growing more hair all over. Wein, as a horror writer, kept abreast of the changes to horror films and stories, which is always a positive. The final fight even has a no capes moment. In the end, the motivation for the villain(s) is greed, like usual, but also vanity, since Romulus wanted the fame that comes with being the "world's greatest athlete" (Bruce's ego is on full display here when he trains alongside Romulus at a public gym.) That's kind of a nice segue into another post for the blog on that same topic. But, next time, we're going back to another American fan-favorite of the 1970s: martial arts and East Asian culture.