With the possible exception of the Nolan trilogy, Mask of the Phantasm came the closest to capturing the feel of the coolest Batman comics and projecting it on the big screen. In fact, this movie spin-off of the awesome Batman: The Animated Series (BTAS) is as pure a tale about the Dark Knight as you are likely to find anywhere. The characterization is spot on and totally nailed by the terrific voice acting. In line with the TV series’ noirish atmosphere, Mask of the Phantasm draws stylishly on early 1940s’ aesthetics and storytelling – it’s as if a couple of actors showed up on the set of Citizen Kane wearing Halloween costumes and Orson Welles decided to rewrite the film around them and then asked Fleischer Studios to animate the whole thing in the style of their Superman cartoons. The result is a tautly plotted mystery which smoothly mixes gangsters and costumed villains while riffing on several classic Batman tales. And to top it all off, there are some impressive visual sequences.
It should be noted that the other feature-length BTAS spin-offs (the ones that went straight to video or DVD) aren’t bad either. While none matches Mask of the Phantasm, they are usually much more faithful to the spirit of the comics than Hollywood’s live action productions. For example, SubZero – a sequel to the beloved episodes Heart of Ice and Deep Freeze – is a straightforward, action-filled yarn featuring Mr. Freeze where both Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon get plenty of chances to shine… if the writers had also thrown in Poison Ivy, you could pretty much call it ‘Batman & Robin done right!’
As far as comics go, if you like Mask of the Phantasm, the obvious series to pick up is The Batman Adventures. This series transposed the animated shows’ look and continuity into the world of print, although with greater emphasis on fun, telling super-compressed stories that usually kicked into high gear right from the first page:
The Batman Adventures #3, #4, #6
The first long-running creative team on The Batman Adventures were writer Kelley Puckett, penciller Mike Parobeck, inker Rick Burchett, and colorist Rick Taylor. They established a highly dynamic, visually driven approach to storytelling while also doing a great job of covering different classic Batman elements. Issue #6 is a locked door murder mystery, one done in the style of a Hitchcockian thriller about a wrongfully accused protagonist, complete with the obligatory cameo by the Master of Suspense. Issue #9 is an all action issue, in which practically every page has Batman jumping, punching, and/or kicking at least one goon. Issue #10, played for laughs, introduces a trio of genuinely hilarious villains. Issue #15 is a hardboiled cop story, more precisely a Frank Miller homage, with James Gordon’s tough guy internal narration on torn letterboxes (a la Batman: Year One) and secondary characters borrowing either Miller’s name or his looks:
The Batman Adventures #15
You’d think the Puckett/Parobeck/Burchett/Taylor run would be hard to match. However, in the follow-up series – Batman & Robin Adventures, Gotham Adventures, and a second volume of Batman Adventures – their successors managed to keep and sometimes even top the initial level of quality, creating almost 150 issues of what is hands-down the most enjoyable incarnation of these characters in any medium (just like the similar Superman Adventures is a serious contender for best Superman series of all time). As a bonus, the stories are friendly to readers from all ages, which is not to say that they aren’t way wittier than most comics supposedly aimed at a ‘mature’ audience.
The distinctly minimalist, retro visuals of the Batman animated universe have spilled over beyond the Adventures franchise, contaminating comics as different as Matt Wagner’s lighthearted Trinity (an account of the first team-up between Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), the kick-ass Year One mini-series about Batgirl and Robin pencilled by Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido, and the grim Catwoman relaunch of the early 2000s, with art by Darwyn Cooke, Brad Rader, and Cameron Stewart, among others.
Having worked as a storyboard artist for BTAS, Darwyn Cooke, in particular, has elevated this kind of deco-noir style into a whole other level with brilliant works like his Parker series or the comparatively brighter superhero epic The New Frontier. Building on the show’s sophisticated sense of characterization, Cooke wrote and illustrated the small gem Batman: Ego, a graphic novel where Bruce Wayne has a long, fascinating conversation with his dark side:
Batman: Ego
Bruce Timm, who did most of the original character designs for the animated series and co-directed Mask of the Phantasm, has also graced a number of comic projects with his gorgeous, stylized art. He collaborated with Paul Dini on The Batman Adventures annuals and holiday special, on the fan-favorite graphic novel Mad Love (which first told the origin of Harley Quinn), and on the laugh-out-loud mini-series Harley & Ivy. These were often much more risqué than the TV show or the comic series, although never more so than Timm’s short story ‘Two of a Kind,’ a Two-Face tale that reads like a more explicit version of vintage film noir potboilers such as Angel Face, Born to Kill, and Mildred Pierce…
Batman Black and White #1
That said, if you’re into BTAS’ angular visual style and crime vibe but lament that it doesn’t have enough hardcore swearing, sexual content, and graphic violence, then Powers is the comic for you. Perfectly nailing the look of the Batman animations, this unrelated black comedy mystery series created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming is a by-the-books police procedural, except that most cases revolve around gruesome, depraved superhero-related murders…
Powers #12
But maybe what appeals to you in Mask of the Phantasm is less the designs than the intelligent whodunit set in the Dark Knight’s bizarre universe. In that case, I strongly recommend tracking down ‘Dead Reckoning’ (Detective Comics #777-782), a crisp mystery thriller involving many familiar faces from Gotham City.
Additionally, Paul Dini, who was one of the writers of Mask of the Phantasm, has done loads of Batman comics throughout the years, ranging from the schmaltzy War on Crime to the more slapstick stuff collected in Dangerous Dames & Demons. He recaptured the movie’s dark atmosphere in his Detective Comics run (which continued in Streets of Gotham and has been collected in a series of books, starting with the imaginatively titled Batman: Detective). Dini began this run with a set of mostly self-contained moody mystery tales, livened up by amusing ideas such as turning the Riddler into a private investigator out to prove himself to the World’s Greatest Detective:
Detective Comics #822
Before wrapping up this series of posts with suggestions for fans of Batman movies, I should acknowledge that I only focused on the most obvious productions and so not all films were covered. I know there are plenty of post-BTAS animated films (more or less faithful adaptations of specific comics) and that the Caped Crusader plays a prominent role in The Lego Movie.
And, of course, there is this Turkish Batman film which amazingly seems to consist mostly of nudity and fight scenes!
Harley and Ivy #3
NEXT: Batman wears a kilt.