The Batlord

"Robin's Reckoning, Part 1" is the first of a two part series, where after years of searching, Batman finally discovers the whereabouts Tony Zucco, the man who murdered Robin's parents. This creates tension with his protege as he tries to keep Robin out of the investigation.

Intercut are flashbacks of the death of Dick Grayson's parents, and his early days as Bruce's new ward.

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The Batlord: I guess we can officially call this meeting to order. So, before we go into the actual episode, I have to ask your opinion of the episode in general: love, hate, meh? 6:49 pm


Trollheart: At first I thought it was a bit kiddish, which I guess is fair enough, but then it took off and yeah by the end I was pretty impressed. A love I'd say. 6:55 pm


The Batlord: Fantastic. If you'd said otherwise I'd have harmed you. 6:55 pm


Trollheart: I was a little disappointed nobody actually died, but as you say, it's a kids programme so I suppose you can't have that. I'm more used to your Arkham Asylum/Killing Joke/Dark Knight Batman though. 6:57 pm


The Batlord: Well it is a kid's show. It aired weekdays right after children would have gotten out of school. It's especially impressive since there was a new episode every single day. The first season, which would have aired in a nine month period give or take, was around sixty episodes. That's pretty insane.

The quality of some of the episodes could be spotty because of that, but the depth of the drama for much of the series was pretty amazing considering the intense schedule they must have been under. 6:59 pm


Trollheart: That is, yes. It's so odd how these things are often aimed at children but are clearly darker and meant really for adults. I thought there were some very clever touches in the episode. Liked the part where his mother called Robin "a real boy wonder"...

Zucco's weird though isn't he? Seems to have started out all tough and manly and now he's like he’s regressed to a punk kid or something. 7:00 pm


The Batlord: Another thing that's impressive is the sheer quality of the animation and art design. There really was no cartoon in history with that level of effort and production quality. 7:01 pm


Trollheart: The animation can only be described as very Batman certainly. I doubt you'd see that in anything else. Even the Spider-Man cartoons were bright and cheerful, and had probably too much humour in them. 7:02 pm


The Batlord: I think Zucco's grubbiness is one of the strengths of Robin's story. It wasn't big, epic, comic book craziness. It was a street level story about some two-bit hoodlum who killed two people, just like any number of mafia hits. And yet the repercussions were massive. Just like the murder of Batman's own parents.

So, let's start with the actual tone and animation of the show, since this is the first installment of the journal. 7:04 pm


Trollheart: I thought the guys on the building site at the beginning overdid it though. A bomb? Loosening the bolts would have been enough. A bomb made it seem like foul play was going to be suspected rather than an accident.

Tone: dark of course, very gritty and exactly as you would expect GC to look.

Animation I found very smooth, not jerky or forced. 7:05 pm


The Batlord: And just how you said the show looked very dark. Every cartoon that I'm aware of up till that point had been drawn on white paper, whereas B:TAS was done on black paper, which really made everything look noirish and moody. It's a very unique style. 7:07 pm


Trollheart: Yes it really looked like it came out of the pages of a Frank Miller or Alan Moore graphic novel. 7:07 pm


The Batlord: It was inspired by the first Batman movie, which was itself very influenced by those same graphic novels. 7:08 pm


Trollheart: Yeah, that was prob my favourite of the franchise up to Dark Knight. Some of the others were pretty terrible, almost going back to the sixties camp of the series. 7:09 pm


The Batlord: Another thing that was very unique about the animated series was the design of Gotham. Notice how everything was very stylized. It's an art style that coined its own term: dark deco. Very noirish, which was further enhanced by the modern day-meets-fifties design of the city, cars, etc. The design was incredibly detailed and deliberate. 7:11 pm


Trollheart: Yeah, it all stood out: sharp angles, big heavy shadows thrown across the street, rain lashing down; sort of a Blade Runner meets Batman in a way. Gave the impression of one man trying to hold back the tide of darkness. 7:12 pm


The Batlord: Another thing that really added to the mood of the series was its music. Everything was scored by an actually symphony I believe. It didn't recycle old classical music. Everything was recorded specifically for that show. 7:13 pm


Trollheart: Danny Elfman again. It gave it a very dark, serious feeling. Kind of tended to forget it was supposed to be a cartoon. 7:14 pm


The Batlord: That's the brilliance of B:TAS. You don't have to watch it as a cartoon. And nice factoid about Danny Elfman. I actually didn't know that. 7:15 pm


Trollheart: Oh. It comes up in the credits. I assumed you knew. 7:16 pm


The Batlord: I'm lazy about watching credits. 7:16 pm


Trollheart: There are a few cringy moments though. That fucking elephant. 7:17 pm


The Batlord: It is a kid's cartoon. Sometimes you do have to make allowances for that, but far less than any other kids' show I can think of. 7:18 pm


Trollheart: I also thought when one of the bad guys said "We need a charge" Robin was gonna say "How about sabotage?"

Yeah I understand that. Small price to pay I guess.

I also thought it was sloppy of Batman to leave all his files in Robin's reach on the computer. Couldn't he have encoded them or something? 7:18 pm


The Batlord: When he swung down and kicked the guy? I'd have liked a better line, but I liked more the implication that Robin was so aware of his surroundings that he could kick a guy off a building and know that he was going to land on something safe. It really brought home that Robin was someone who Batman should have trusted, which conflicted with how Batman treated him after he found out about Zucco. 7:19 pm


Trollheart: There was some great coordination all right. What was that thing the hood shot at him? It was like a fucking gatling gun or something! 7:20 pm


The Batlord: A rivet gun I believe. 7:21 pm


Trollheart: Oh I see. As for Robin, I'm assuming Batman thought Robin would be too emotionally invested and might make a mistake, leave himself open? 7:21 pm


The Batlord: Well, we'll have to wait till the next episode to find out exactly what was going through Batman's head. 7:22 pm


Trollheart: Yep. Who's this guy sheltering Zucco, and what relationship has Batman with him? He seems to know him quite well. 7:23 pm


The Batlord: Zucco's uncle, who is a crime boss of some sort. I don't remember him being in any other episodes, but Batman being Batman, he's likely on a first name basis with every mafia boss. 7:24 pm


Trollheart: I just thought it was odd. Looked like they had something going, like maybe he was passing info to Batman or something. Assumed it was part of the arc. 7:24 pm


The Batlord: On to the meat. The thing which really sets this episode so high for me is that it really explores the complex relationship between all of the Bat-family. You have the clearly loving father-son relationship between Batman and Robin, but also a tension due to Bruce's controlling nature. Due to Batman's history with loss, rather than be open with his loved ones to keep them close, he attempts to control them, which actually pushes them away -- which is also in itself a defense mechanism for Batman to distance himself from the potential pain of emotional intimacy. 7:26 pm


Trollheart: And of course this brings back memories of the murder of his own parents. Not forgetting Alfred of course, the doting uncle/grandfather. 7:27 pm


The Batlord: Of course. This was mirrored in the flashback when Batman almost seemed to be actively avoiding Dick, even while trying to "solve" Dick's problem in much the same way he wished he could with the man who murdered his own parents. And then Alfred steps in as the family patriarch to set him straight. 7:29 pm


Trollheart: With just a few dry but well-chosen words he can cut Batman right down to size. 7:29 pm


The Batlord: Alfred is god. If Batman is the ultimate superhero, then Alfred is the ultimate supporting character. Bruce could never hope for a better surrogate father. 7:30 pm


Trollheart: And of course like all parents Batman thinks he is right, and doing the right thing, even if it potentially hurts his "child".

I don't think any other character in any series has a father figure like him, do they? Alfred, I mean. 7:30 pm


The Batlord: Indeed. But one thing I love about Batman's dynamic with the people he makes his surrogate family with, is that even if he can't, or won't be what they need, in the end, he will always try as best he can. What did you think about that last flashback scene, with Bruce opening up to Dick about his own parents' murder? 7:32 pm


Trollheart: I liked the way it got a little ambiguous, as at one point you weren't sure if he was talking for Robin or for his own pain. Kind of have to watch it back to be sure.

You can tell it hurts that he "let" the same thing happen to Robin even though he could not have known about it or done anything about it. 7:32 pm


The Batlord: It's definitely ambiguous. When you think about how much love a man has in his heart for his parents, that when they are murdered in front of him, that it affects him so deeply that he becomes what Batman became, all while never allowing himself to succumb to bitterness. A man like that is too open a wound to ever forget his parents for even a moment. It's why he and Dick will be family no matter what comes between them, since they have so much in common. 7:35 pm


Trollheart: I have to admit, I always hated Robin and thought he was just a device to draw in the younger kids --- hey look kids! You can be just like Batman! --- but I'm beginning to warm to him now. Just a little, mind. He's still a prick

I've always hated teenage sidekicks --- Fallout Boy.....


The Batlord: Honestly, whenever I watch that scene, I always tear up. It's just so tragic, while also being so hopeful at the same time. It's one of the more beautiful moments I've seen on television, kids' cartoon or otherwise. 7:38 pm


Trollheart: I wouldn't go that far, and I'm an emotional guy.

I guess I just don't like Robin.

At the moment anyway. 7:38 pm


The Batlord: I think it's made all the more heartbreaking when it cuts to Robin being so angry about Batman cutting him out of the investigation. It's such a good metaphor for parents in general. When children grow up, all that love can become bitterness when they start questioning the motives of their parents. 7:40 pm

Trollheart: I suppose it depends on how it resolves. If Batman brings Zucco to justice (or kills him) will Robin feel vindicated or cheated?

And is this then the point where Batman is forced to admit that Robin is a man, not a kid, and should be allowed make his own decisions? 7:41 pm


The Batlord: All in good time, padawan. I think the resolution in the second episode will surprise you. I'm not giving anything away till then. 7:42 pm


Trollheart: It will be interesting.

If it turns out to be something stupid, like he's related to Zucco... 7:43 pm


The Batlord: I think we've covered what needs to be covered, unless you can think of anything else? If not, then we can adjourn. Batman out. 7:45 pm

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