Batman: The Adventures Continue #13 - DC Comics

BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE No. 13, October 2020

Debatably depicting Jason Todd as a fully-fledged psycho, and containing a thoroughly enjoyable confrontation between the hired help of both the Joker and the Penguin, this third instalment to Alan Burnett and Paul Dini’s “Red Son Rising” surely must have landed well with fans of the “Batman: The Animated Series” when the digital first comic was released in October 2020. Sure, the Clown Prince of Crime appears to be a little too easy a target to get the drop on when he visits the Iceberg Lounge and is surprised by a sedative-dart firing Red Hood. But the pair have already previously met in this particular storyline before, providing Batman’s former Robin with plenty of intelligence with which to plan their all-too quick rematch; “It’s just half a dose. You’ll be out for hours.”

Foremost of Todd’s despicable acts however, has to be the way the anti-hero physically assaults the aged Leslie Thompkins when she catches him burgling her stock of medicines. Despite clearly being cross at her former friend’s intrusion, the elderly doctor genuinely appears to care for the young man’s well-being, and as a result any sympathy this book’s audience might have had for the malicious, mask-wearing hoodlum goes straight out the window when he savagely swats her away from him with one hand.

Easily this periodical’s biggest draw though has to be the aforementioned tussle between Mister Wing and Straightman. Sadly, this scene involving the two super-strong heavies duking it out is a little short-lived, yet their pulse-pounding bout of pugilism makes an excellent backdrop to the Joker’s explanation as to how he came to hire “one of those Captain White House guys” as Harley Quinn’s replacement. Indeed, one of this narrative’s most chilling elements is the way the homicidal criminal calmly recollects how he personally lobotomised his henchman with a scalpel and his “natural ability.”

Adding plenty of “Bam!”, “Crunch!” and “Smash!” to this comic’s shenanigans are Ty Templeton’s pencils and Monica Kubina’s colours. The collaborative pair do a particularly fine job of bringing the Penguin’s genetically-enhanced hatchling to life, with Mister Wing’s mix of white feathers and muscles making the massive bird-man dominate each and every panel in which he appears - even after the badly-beaten guardian has been smacked semi-conscious and is simply laying in a star-spinning stupor.

Writers: Alan Burnett & Paul Dini, Artist: Ty Templeton, and Colorist: Monica Kubina