Okay, I have had enough of any color lantern for a good while. So let's really change gears and go into the Batman Animated Universe. As you might have guessed, there was a comic book that was written by Paul Dini and drawn by Bruce Timm. This comic was made the same way as the animated show. So in a sense, it was like reading storyboards. This is more true for this comic. This story was turned into an episode on the real animated series. But for now, let's turn off our brains and grab some eggnog, it's time to read Batgirl: Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas.
Not everything I want to review is bad. Sometimes you just need to look at something fun. And right from page 1 of this comic, you know it is going to be fun. Let's start was the art style. Bruce Timm's art is always clean and awesome to look at. Everything is cartoon-y, but that is part of the charm of it all. Now the story is pretty basic, but it has some great jokes. From page one, the best joke is, of course, Bullock as Santa. Just look at the guy. He just embodies the Christmas spirit, huh? Next to him, in the sexy elf costume, is Renee Montoya. She was created in the animated show, but has since become a great comic character in her own right. Currently, she is known as the hero "The Question".
We hear that Bullock and Montoya are on a stakeout at the mall to try and catch a thief. This plan would be good, but with a slight flaw. Do you really think a thief would not notice two of the biggest faces of the GCPD? Well good thing Barbara can walk around without raising as much attention. Plus, she can shop. Bullock says that this was a dumb idea and Montoya says that she hates that she has to wear that skimpy elf dress, for she is cold. Well, sorry Renee, that's what you have to wear when you are a female in the DCU animated. But it does make me wounder why the mall feels cold? I would have thought that the mall has some heating. Oh well. And of course, the best joke on this page is the last panel. Bullock, you are always a treat.
We then go back to Barbara and, well, I think someone needs a new pair of glasses. Seriously, how does she not see those kids running past? But enough about that, let's go back to Santa Bullock. Now he has to talk to a cute little girl named Mary McSweeny. Three months ago, Bullock himself send her father "Up the river" as he calls it. So for little Mary, he tells her that not even Santa can make everyone's dreams come true.
...
Well that's a tad depressing for a little kid I think. Even more so for one with eyes that huge.
Of course, Bullock does feel bad about all this and gives Mary money to get her dad a present. So long as the present isn't a file. After that heart warming scene, we finally see Barbara notice the kids stealing. Well it's about time. She grabs one of the kids and rips his arm off. Wait, what? Panel 7, I love Bullock so much sometimes. But it turns out it is now that our elf gets a call about the thief. She wakes up Bullock and tells him it is time to get moving.
We see the kids, yes there are four of them, running away from the store owners and the cops. Soon they all come together. Really, they become one and it turns out it was Clayface who was behind all these robberies. Okay, it was Clayface. Valid question for him. Why didn't he just get lost in the crowd and shapeshift into someone else? He could have very easily gotten away, leaving the cops looking for the kids, and he'd have all that stolen loot. Forming back into your basic form should be the last plan he does, since becoming a hulking monster in the middle of a mall is kinda a dead give away.
I love this scene. You know, Bruce Timm drew this page very differently on the first draft. The first draft has Barbara changing into her costume WHILE in a crowd of people who were running away from Clayface. Still, this is a page of showing something that is almost never seen anymore, a hero needing to quickly change into costume. Plus, it's a Bruce Timm female. We all wish we could look that good in a costume, right?
So Clayface beats up the mall cops and Renee and Bullock pull gun on him. Seriously, guns on mud? When was the last time a gun worked on mud? Well the fight goes as well as you would have guessed. Not much happens on this page. Just that Clayface has the upper hand.
Wait, so you DID know you could have blended into the crowd and gotten away quietly?! Then why fight?! Just get away ya dumb actor. You do not need to add man-slaughter to your crime list, do you? Also, they were never in your way UNTIL you formed back into Clayface. You sir, are stupid. Really stupid. But I guess, aside from villains like Lex and the Joker, most evil doers are as smart as a tub of mud.
I love how Batgirl's attack really works. I would have thought Clay, wet earth, would have not exploded like that. Oh well, she is part of the bat family and got training form Batman, so what do I know about her fighting powers. I'll just love this page like I always do because of its shear awesomeness.
So the super mega kick of pure awesomeness forces Clayface to break the window and fall into the public ice rink below. Why these people were not clearing the area already is beyond me, since they should have seen the scared mob running OUT of the mall. On a serious note, I wonder what Batgirls costume is made out of. It looks like a body stocking, but she is not cold at all in the middle of an ice lake. At least Clayface is drenched in ice water now. That should make him easier to hit and, hopefully, slower and stiffer.
And it turns out he is, but he can still fight. Okay, but now he should be a bit easier to hurt. Well GCPD just got their guns cleaned off and begin firing away. Are they aware that guns still don't work on Clay, or that a stray bullet might hit Batgirl? And this is the animated universe, where the Bat family is in pretty good stands with the cops, all things considered. Batgirl, having a brain still in her head, tells them to stop wasting the ammo on Clayface. . .
... and use it on the Santa. Bullock thinks she means him, but of course, Batgirl means the electric lights one right above Clayface who is standing in water. Wow, that sure was lucky that all those events happened like that. Clayface gets a nasty shock and Bullock makes a bad pun. Last three panels and, wait, it says later but how the heck did Batgirl get away? Did she just point one direction and run the other? Anyway, Bullock is ready to go home, but Renee reminds him that they need to get the evidence out of Clayface. The comic comes to an end with Bullock not looking forward to doing that.
I love this story. It is just a fun romp. Bruce Timm art is always amazing and Paul Dini stories really help sell the characters, even if they are rock stupid sometimes. Really, I do not have any issues with this, well, issue. But next week's comic, yeah. . . that's going to be a different story.
All images are owned by DC.
As a side note: Paul Dini had his own christmas character. Learn more about her here: http://www.jinglebelle.com/
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