Lucas Mcwilliams (imported) wrote: Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:50 pm
Review on: "The Ghosts of Gotham City"
I am a Batman and Justice League / Justice League Unlimited fan. I really love how you took the existing mythology of the series (the reference to the first eisode of Justice League, where Batman financed the Watchtower by tapping into the R&D Space Budget, was a real hoot). It was also great how you juxtaposed the lives of Bruce Wayne and Matt McGinnis, in that they had to see the corpse of their parent.
of course, I don't exactly remember if the series actually mentioned who discoverd Warren's corpse, but I consider it an acceptable retcon if this is not the case. All in all, I really liked the story. I liked the premise, the way you "resurrected" Alfred, obliquely mentioned Ace the Bathound, and directly referenced several episodes of the series.
Three things of note however:
The reference to Harley Quinn and Joker would probably conflict with "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker", where Joker was definitively killed and Harley Quinn made a cameo appearance as "Nana Harley".
While I realize Growler was placed into the story as a tribute of sorts, his character seems extraneous after his introduction. I felt you could have expounded more on the relationship between him and Matt. As it stands I felt the development of their relationship was unnatural, even stilted - and this applies to Growler's character here. I suppose you were leaving out his backstory for some future
Bruce Wayne was out of character here. I felt he acquiesced way too easily, and his immediate change of his beneficiaries was not anything I would have expected from the man. He does have a couple of former wards to think of.
I eagerly await your foray into the Young Justice universe. There are tons of story threads that could be exploited here, and given the premise of Season 1 (you'll find out what in the last episode of Season 1), very many ways to justify characters acting out of character and losing bits and pieces of themselves. If you choose Season 2 to build on, the abduction of teenagers would probably provide you with a perfect story vehicle.
The reference to the Watchtower, and Ace, the Bat-Dog was all Paolo. He has an excellent way of adding color.
The Batman Beyond series did not mention who discovered Warren's body. I made the leap, that if they didn't say who did, then it made sense to me than an 8 year old who shared the DNA of Bruce Wayne might be the one. As the series didn't say one way or the other... Artistic Licence to the rescue!
To address your concerns;
It wasn't the Joker and Harley Quinn, It was a female nurse, by the name of Jackie Napier. The guard was male, and we only ever learn his last name, Quinn. Those characters were there as an homage to Joker and Harley. They were not actually Joker and Harley. Hence, the gender reversal.
I liked Growler a lot. He was fun to write, and though a tribute, I could have involved him a lot more than I did. The story was written spur of the moment. If I ever write a future story in this world, Growler will get a much bigger part.
Yes, Bruce Wayne has other heirs to consider. I did consider that. Dick Grayson has his own money and fortune. He was left a considerable sum from the settlement from his parents deaths. Lucius Fox turned it into a much greater sum with smart investments. Jason Todd died, and came back as Red Hood, an enemy of Batman. Tim Drake left to become a communications engineer. He didn't want much to do with Bruce after that. Though reconciled, I doubt he'd want much from Bruce. Damien Wayne was never addressed in the series or DC animated universe at all, so I happily ignored him. Also, I never said that Bruce didn't leave his former charges well supported in his will. He probably would have. However, I suspect Bruce had already altered his will so Terry would get control of his estate and controlling interests upon his death. He changed it to equal shares Terry and Matt.
I didn't go into any detail about what the will actually said. The main reason was because it simply wasn't important to the story. I didn't want to interrupt the flow with a detailed accounting of his bequeaths.
Thank you for your review. I did hope when writing it that someone as equally versed in the DC animated universe as I am, would appreciate it. There are also references to Brian Rogers, Dick Grayson's football playing roommate from Batman: The Animated Series. References to Static Shock (as suggested by Paolo) and a whole bunch of other references very few folk will ever notice.
What I am surprised no-one has called me out on, is the fact I have Matt lamenting that Batman never saved him, yet in Batman Beyond, Matt is kidnapped by a villain named Stalker, while Terry is watching him. Batman/Terry saves Matt, and brings him home. It was the one bit of continuity I knowingly violated to write my story. I felt it would have more impact, if Matt considered Batman above saving the little people. If I had included that Stalker reference, I would have had to write a whole explanation about that incident in the middle of a whole bunch of other exposition. As the beginning of the story was already exposition heavy, I pretended that incident simply never happened. But, if you are paying attention, I never say it didn't happen.
I have watched all the episodes of Young Justice at this point. So far, I am not overly thrilled about it. I know it is set in a different universe, but I just can't get my head past all the continuity violations. It violates not just the animated universe I've come to love, but also the comic books, and other animated movies WB has put out. That is a lot of history for me to ignore. When more episodes air, I'll continue to watch and give it the benefit of the doubt.
I might return to the Batman universe in the future. I have an inkling of a couple ideas. When the inspiration hits, we'll see Gotham's Ghost swing into action again.
Thanks again.
