The Batlord

"Robin's Reckoning, Part II" is the end of this two-parter (duh), where in both flashbacks and the present we see Batman and Robin close in on Tony Zucco, the man who murdered Dick Grayson's parents. The tension between the partners continues to escalate, while in the past we see their relationship begin.


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The Batlord: So, like I asked you last time: love, hate, meh?


Trollheart: This time, kind of meh.

I was disappointed with the resolution.


The Batlord: You're a whore.


Trollheart: That's entirely beside the point.

Was expecting more, but then I keep remembering its a kids show.


The Batlord: The only thing wrong to me was that Robin's voice actor wasn't quite up to that last scene.


Trollheart: No, there was a lot wrong for me. I mean, Zucco was ridiculous.

Batman got shot?

Robin didn't kill Zucco?

And who was that woman he saved?


The Batlord: Yes, Batman got shot. Of course Batman's protege isn't going to kill someone. And the woman was a hooker Bettie Page lookalike.


Trollheart: It was good that you see Batman is vulnerable, but is he really that careless to get shot while crawling on a roof?

I felt it was like "Best of both worlds part 2", very watered down after all the excitement and anticipation, and not much of a payoff in the end.


The Batlord: It's because of what he did to Zucco. In the first episode Zucco was young and cocky, but after a decade of being scared of Batman, now he was strung out, paranoid, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Any other criminal probably would have ignored a bit of creaking on the roof.


Trollheart: Also, shouldn't Batman be dead? He emptied the magazine into that roof!


The Batlord: Randomly spraying bullets is not a good way to hit things.

It's why soldiers fire in bursts and not full automatic.


Trollheart: Or miss things. A guy with a machine gun is more likely to hit something blind than a guy with a revolver or rifle.


The Batlord: M16s fire in three round bursts for exactly that reason. Spraying bullets you're more likely to hit nothing than if you actually take time to aim.


Trollheart: Well you're a military man [The Batlord's note: I don't know where the **** he got that from.] so I'll bow to your experience. But I just thought there would be more to the story. Batman goes looking for Zuccoo. So does Robin. They find him. They capture him. The end. Meh.

The idea of Batman leaning on a crutch was both hilarious and disturbing.

I know he's not Superman but still...


The Batlord: The ending wasn't the point, though I think Batman's last line gave the dynamic of the episode a twist. Underneath all the cold logic, Batman wasn't worried that Robin would let his emotions get the best of him, he was just an irrationally scared parent.


Trollheart: Yeah that bit was good all right.


The Batlord: To me the episode was a great exploration of Batman as a human being vs. a terrifying vigilante. When he's with Dick as a boy he's a loving father, and yet when the mask is on he's so terrifying that he can drive a criminal almost insane.


Trollheart: Remember, I'm still getting used to this being a kids show. I'm used to a darker Batman than this one.

The family dynamic is interesting isn't it? Batman's father was killed so Alfred is his surrogate, and Dick's father the same so Batman steps into the role. I wonder if in later years Robin takes on a sidekick and the same thing happens?


The Batlord: One great moment that gave that dark feeling was when Dick as a kid was on the streets searching for Zucco, and then you just hear the Batplane's engine. Everybody runs off the street, the lights in the apartments go out, and then you just see this search light. So Big Brother.

You'll have to watch Batman Beyond to see what all happens in this continuity with Bruce.


Trollheart: And what's Batman: The Brave and the Bold?

That's showing over here.


The Batlord: A more light-hearted show that has nothing to do with the B:TAS continuity. It's very humor based, but also shows A LOT of the rest of the DC universe. I highly reccomend it, though you'll have to get used to the campy tone.


Trollheart: Ah. Doesn't sound like it would be up my street.

Batman saving Robin in the flashback was pretty good.


The Batlord: But yeah, the family dynamic is great, and the parallels between the present and the flashbacks really drive that home.


Trollheart: Great moment when he revealed who he was.

I would wonder though how a two-bit hood like Zucco evaded Batman, with all his resources, for so long.


The Batlord: Speaking of that scene (Batman saving Dick as a kid), I've watched that episode more times than I can count, and I never noticed that Batman's costume was different. Usually it's blue and grey, but then it was black and grey, with the yellow oval around the bat symbol gone. I'm pretty sure it was the Year One costume.


Trollheart: Nerd!!!


The Batlord: Fuck yeah.


Trollheart: And proud.


The Batlord: I'd wonder how Batman of all people couldn't find Zucco, but since everyone Zucco knew had cut off ties to him, then that would severely limit the possible leads Batman would have. You could say that his own zealousness actually worked against him.


Trollheart: And yet he knew the guy who was sheltering him.


The Batlord: He was Zucco's uncle, so of course he would know that they had ties.


Trollheart: So why not just stake his place out and wait?


The Batlord: Because the uncle disowned him. Like Detective Gordon said, everyone Zucco knew was staying away, so Zucco had to go off the grid all by himself. Harder to catch someone doing that I imagine.


Trollheart: I guess. I really thought Zucco would fall though, through the bars of the rail and maybe Robin might reach a hand out, unable to grab him, bringing back the memory of reaching for the trapeze.

Poetic justice.


The Batlord: Like you said, it is a kid's show. Otherwise I imagine Robin would have just beat the shit out of him rather than throwing him into barrels. Apparently the station the show was on was very strict about what the show could and could not do. Later on, the show was on a different station which allowed them to get away with more. But even with the restrictions, they still managed to get away with showing a pimp about to beat up a hooker.

They managed to get away with a lot of things with sneaky writing.


Trollheart: That's true. Can you spell "Hooker" kids?


The Batlord: Before this show I don't know that a kid's cartoon had ever actually used guns like that. At least not to the point where a psychopathic gangster is pointing a tommy gun in a guy's face, about to blow him away. Remember, this was the early nineties. Probably a lot of the things that might be commonplace now were not back then.

Back then Voltron and ThunderCats were probably as visceral as cartoons got.


Trollheart: And Roadrunner.

I imagine there were some tense meetings with network execs!


The Batlord: Oh I'm sure. There's a Poison Ivy episode we'll end up doing later on that I don't know how they managed to sneak past them. Some of the Joker stuff was probably edgier than they were comfortable with as well, but we'll get to that next time.


Trollheart: Episode could have used more Alfred too.


The Batlord: One thing I've noticed with watching a lot of these episodes again, is that Batman is not made out to be an invincible ninja. Many times you'll see him having legitimate trouble with surprisingly small numbers of thugs. It reminds me again of Year One, where you see Batman injured and having to deal with a SWAT team of corrupt cops. But that actually grounds the action, and I'll bet that the writers were thinking of that particular scene when they did this episode.


Trollheart: I haven't read that

It is good that he's not a Superman though. I mean, how did anyone watch that? The guy's virtually invincible.


The Batlord: Do so. It's one of the most highly regarded Batman graphic novels of all time. Also done by Frank Miller.


Trollheart: I'll put it on my list.


The Batlord: It's often only second on Best Of lists to The Dark Knight Returns.


Trollheart: That's high praise then.

That was an amazing book.

I think that was the first time I actually realized Batman was not meant to be campy and silly.


The Batlord: I actually haven't read that one. I've seen the animated movie (awesome), but have been sleeping on it. Should have read the book first.


Trollheart: That, Arkham Asylum and The Killing Joke. Excellent.


The Batlord: Dude, they're making an animated movie of The Killing Joke... nothing says we can't talk about some of the comics too, you know. One day...


Trollheart: Hey, I know this has only begun but what would you think of tying it into a Batman movie review thing between us?

Or do it separate.


The Batlord: I'm down with anything Batman.


Trollheart: Cool. I have to get up to speed with the later movies.

Last one I saw through was Batman Begins.


The Batlord: But I imagine we have to cut this short soon, so is there anything else you'd like to go over?


Trollheart: I don't think so. I think we've covered what was there.


The Batlord: Alright then, as always, to our adoring fans, Batman out.


Trollheart: Yeah. Both of them...

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