Batman: TAS, episode #32: Beware the Gray Ghost

This episode hearkens back to the past of our main character in a couple different ways. First off, the premise is that one of Bruce's childhood heroes, the Gray Ghost, is being used as a template by a modern version of one of the TV hero's enemies, The Mad Bomber. The idea that the Ghost was an inspiration for young Bruce Wayne's later alter ego is similar to that of the character itself. The Batman was inspired by The Shadow, menace to criminals everywhere via his radio show that had been running for several years prior to Bob Kane's creation of the Dark Knight. Indeed, The Batman emulated his inspiration in more ways than one, as in his first couple appearances in Detective Comics, he wielded twin .45s just like The Shadow and, uh, killed the criminals that he hunted down. The Gray Ghost in this episode isn't quite that visceral in his approach and in both technique and appearance is much closer to heroes like The Sandman and The Phantom; willing to duke it out with the ne'er-do-wells but not go past at least that level of taking the law into his own hands.

But the other side of the trip to the past is that the character Simon Trent/Gray Ghost is voiced by Adam West, the man behind the bat ears for the 1960s TV show, Batman. Much as I decry said show and its perpetuation of what I see as a distorted view of the character, there's no way to deny both the show's and West's impact on pop culture. Until his death in 2017, West was widely beloved for the three seasons (120 episodes!) he spent in cape and cowl and it was a good thing that affection went as far as it did, because the role basically typecast him as "The Batman." What had been a growing career to that point was subsequently relegated to B (at best) movies, small guest spots on other TV shows, and voice work, despite becoming a household name. He couldn't just be Adam West, actor. He could only be Bruce Wayne and the flying rodent. One of the best writing touches of this episode was setting up Simon Trent with the same problem; still wanting to act, but unable to escape the shadow(!) of his most famous role. And, again, despite lacking interest in ever going back to watch Burt Ward exclaim "Holy Etruscan vases, Batman!", there was still a broad grin on my face when hearing that breathy delivery of excitement when Simon Trent, actor, first spoke a line in this episode. It was, as with Bruce Wayne's experience, just like when I was a kid.

The downside to the writing of this episode had to do with both of the characters that were set up to be Stereotypical Nerd. Both the clerk at the video archive and the villain of the piece were portrayed as different versions of antisocial closet cases. The clerk was unhelpful and treated Bruce with the disdain of those who have knowledge that the target of their contempt doesn't possess and the Mad Bomber himself (voiced by producer, Bruce Timm) was blowing up buildings in the name of being able to... buy more toys. This was the early 90s, when it was still considered socially acceptable to shame comic book/TV/SF nerds and laugh at them (i.e. pre-Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and especially Marvel Studios and the broad based acceptance of those interests that they encouraged.) So, it was kind of disappointing to look back on that version of the past, but this series, like Adam West as The Batman, is an artifact of its time. The division in the eras within the episode was made plain with the gray tone of the animation, not only for the old TV show, but for Bruce's memories, in general, before we were certain that we'd actually arrived in Oz with the color of The Batman's witnessing of the Mad Bomber's first action. But I could've done with a little less of the thinly-veiled denigration of a large chunk of the audience that was probably watching BTAS at the time.

That said, the overall pacing of the episode was excellent and we returned to our noir approach with both the patient examination of the crime scenes and the tragedy and angst of Trent's situation; not only in his inability to pay the rent except by parting with treasured physical memories, but also in trying to escape the confining role that those possessions embodied. This is a man whose only link to success is in something he detests and wants to avoid, as he points out in his exchange with our hero: "I used to admire what the Gray Ghost stood for!" "I'm not the Gray Ghost!" "I can see that now." On the other hand, I think it was fair to wonder if writers Garin Wolf and Tom Ruegger were swiping an idea from The Dead Pool, the last of the Dirty Harry films released in 1988, with their remote-controlled cars to deliver explosives. It's certainly the first thing I thought of when seeing the Mad Bomber's method. I'd also have to say that defending a library with a flamethrower against explosives would probably not be my first choice. But the episode does veer back around to acknowledging the value of superhero stuff and having heroes, in general, when we witness The Batman geeking out with the Gray Ghost over the former's shrine to his hero in the Batcave, so the sole memory of nerd culture in this story isn't the villain shrieking: "My toys! My beautiful toys!" In the end, there was far more positive to be said about this episode than negative and I think the cultural ties winding through all of the self-referential material make it one of the highlights of the series so far. At least for us nerds.

We've reached the halfway point in the series, so I'm thinking about doing a couple more "extras" posts, like the Robin discussion; one about the main character and one about the series itself. We'll see. Meanwhile, next time is Catscratch Fever (No, not Ted Nugent. Someone much more socially acceptable in the form of Catwoman.)