Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #7 - DC Comics

BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE SEASON THREE No. 7, October 2023

Packed full of suspicion, intrigue and potential duplicity, there was surely a lot for Bat-fans to enjoy with this second instalment to Alan Burnett and Paul Dini’s “The Offer” storyline. Indeed, the sheer scope of the narrative is beguilingly large, as Bruce Wayne seriously considers Ra’s al Ghul’s suspiciously generous offer to take control of the super-villain’s worldwide organisation whilst simultaneously battling a metropolis-wide incursion by the diabolically deadly Court of Owls.

Furthermore, the inclusion of Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Talia al Ghul as potential allies against Gotham City’s nefarious secret society adds plenty of tension between the Dark Knight and his family – especially when Selina Kyle makes it abundantly clear that the burglar would very much like to rekindle her romantic relationship with the Caped Crusader despite the daughter of the Demon's Head declaring she has a similar goal; “If you ask me, when she calls, the only one who’s going to be in trouble is you.”

Happily however, this twenty-page periodical isn’t simply content to weave a sedentary web of conspiracy and double-dealings, but also provides plenty of pulse-pounding action whenever the Talons make a dramatic appearance. These bone-crunching interludes genuinely help spice up the narrative’s pace, and also add an extra plot-thread in the shape of Doctor Kirk Langstrom’s hideous alter-ego, the Man-Bat, who somehow appears to have become an imprisoned pawn of the Court despite the scientist’s promise to his good wife that’ll he’ll never undergo his transmutation again.

By far this book’s biggest success though is arguably the team effort behind it’s artwork. Featuring the illustrations of regular Ty Templeton with Norm Rapmund and Jacob Edgar, as well as colours by Monica Kubina, this comic’s layouts are a visual feast for the eyes. Furthermore, whether it be Harley Quinn literally lopping off an assassin’s head with a bloody scythe once she’s informed the black-garbed ghoul is an ‘undead soldier’ or the Boy Wonder’s repeated looks at Batman whenever his mentor becomes the focus of Selina’s intimate desire, there always seems to be a prodigiously-pencilled panel just around the corner ready to make a reader involuntarily giggle.

The regular cover of "BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE SEASON THREE" #7 by Juan Ferreyra