"Batman: The Adventures Continue (2020 Mini-Series)" Comic Book Talkback (Spoilers)

Batman: The Adventures Continue - Rate and Discuss this Series!


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Yojimbo

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Finally, I wonder why this was teased as a Harley and Ivy story when it clearly is more of Ventriloquist one.
The solicits have to be submitted at an early point in the script's life so it's entirely possibly that in later drafts, Dini and Burnett got an idea to make it more of a Ventriloquist-centric story. Maybe they even realized 'we can't do another 'Harley & Ivy vs Joker' story.
 

James Harvey

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From the visionary producers of Batman: The Animated Series, discover new adventures in the famed DC Animated Universe with Batman: The Adventures Continue! And now, for the finale of a special three-part holiday adventure!

BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE #17



Written by: Alan Burnett and Paul Dini
Art by: Ty Templeton

The Story: It's a race through Gotham as Batman and Robin chase down the gift and its recipient. Can Batman get a hold on the villain and save the New Year's celebration or will this new year be over before it even starts?!

Digital Release: December 31, 2020
Price: $0.99

Discuss the finale of this special holiday adventure right here! What did you think of the final issue of Batman: The Adventures Continues (for now ... )?
 

Yojimbo

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I... was not feeling this finale. It was meh but in the very least, it was another happy ending for Wesker. Otherwise, blah - Joker betrayed Scarface and was going to blow up Gotham Center just for kicks. Yawn. But Joker got sloppy - he knew the 55th Street Subway Station was closed for crowd control but had no idea about the holiday express line? >_<

Thought it was funny it took them 7 days to i.d. Eileen Kwan from Batman's drawing of her. And Batman got an excuse to do something he normally doesn't, tosses Straightman who is invulnerable BUT STILL, in front of a moving subway train and somehow thought Joker wouldn't get killed in the process. He had 7 days, and didn't think of a way to safely neutralize Straightman. Nope, puts a driver and a bunch of potential subway passengers in danger.

Pencils looked rushed, too. And someone else inked this chapter.

The HBO Max reference was gross corporate synergy. I guess in-universe to make it work, it's the HBO channel with action movies.

What I did like... I did enjoy Ivy poking fun at Harley for slipping up so fast.
 

Frontier

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It wasn't that I didn't have fun, but this felt a lot like TNBA episodes I'd already watched (Harley and Ivy at Christmas, Joker trying to ruin New Years, Wesker trying to overcome Scarface) so a little been there, done that :sweat:.

I was wondering if Harley and Ivy would actually get caught, and they did. Without even being the main villains or really doing anything villainous, and in five panels no less :p.

I get the guy is invulnerable but that was a pretty grandiose way of taking down Straightman :ack:.
 
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M.O.D.O.K.

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Yeah, I wasn't expecting last-minute twists or anything, but this final issue felt underwhelming. The art felt rushed, especially Joker. Also, the way Joker and Straightman were defeated was weird. So, Batman let them get run over by the train, and then literally on the next page, we hear that the former was caught off-screen, but the latter was still on the train? Is Straightman dead or just trapped? It really wasn't clear.

I liked that Wesker's reform more or less stuck. Also, that random frozen rat kind of amused me.
 

Spider-Man

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That last issue just fizzled out. The story seemed almost incomplete and like it was missing chunks and the artwork was definitely the weakest to date, but that might've been the mis-matched inker. Just a letdown overall. The last arc seemed like it would've been fun but it seemed to spin its wheels and never really go anywhere though it was nice to see Wesker get a bit of a happy ending.

This issue and this whole comic really I think is also a good example that maybe BTAS shouldn't be brought back because if it is it's always going to feel off. That show was really lightning in a bottle and a true collaborative effort at just the right time and when a new project comes it always ends up feeling off in some way. Like here with the offputting and already dated pop culture references and how the characters sounded just off some times. And I also don't think I'll ever forgive this series for letting Batman kick over Nora Fries' dead body. Why Burnett and Dini thought that was a good idea I'll never know.

Overall this was a good comic but not great. Issue #8 is a weak way for the book to end and as fun as it was to see new TNBA adventures it never really seemed right and always felt a little off but the parts that worked really did and I hope the next time DC does a book like this they work a little harder to nail the tone.
 

Spider-Man

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I couldn't help but notice there was no "Volume 1" in the title. While this doesn't mean the book won't never return it seems like this comic was a huge seller and they would be missing out on some money to just let it end.
 

Yojimbo

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I couldn't help but notice there was no "Volume 1" in the title. While this doesn't mean the book won't never return it seems like this comic was a huge seller and it would be a mistake (maybe) to just let it end.
If one only looks at it from a sales point of view and chatter online, sure. However, the writing on wall was the comic was always a vehicle for the toy wave and not the other way around. While the release of all the toys have stalled out for months, the comic served its purpose: to advertise the new toys. Though some may disagree it would be mistake to let it end. I for one was leery of them doing a comic based on toys of DC characters that haven't appeared before in the DCAU rather than say Timm, Dini, and Burnett pitching a mini-series set in the canon then DC Direct was roped in to make new toys from the line.
 

Frontier

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If one only looks at it from a sales point of view and chatter online, sure. However, the writing on wall was the comic was always a vehicle for the toy wave and not the other way around. While the release of all the toys have stalled out for months, the comic served its purpose: to advertise the new toys. Though some may disagree it would be mistake to let it end. I for one was leery of them doing a comic based on toys of DC characters that haven't appeared before in the DCAU rather than say Timm, Dini, and Burnett pitching a mini-series set in the canon then DC Direct was roped in to make new toys from the line.
And it did kind of stand out when you constantly had "look at all these new characters who Bruce Wayne/Batman apparently knew all along even though we never saw them before in the DCAU! Along with their new, very merchandise-able, suits!"
 

CyberCubed

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So I haven't read any of these comics, but for those of you who did, do you consider them, "canon?"

I realize they're probably meant to be canon, but do you view them as "official canon" or more "soft canon." In my mind any comic continuation of a show isn't "full" canon, but more like, "soft canon" where you can acknowledge it if you want to but the cartoons still ended with the last episode produced.
 

Frontier

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So I haven't read any of these comics, but for those of you who did, do you consider them, "canon?"

I realize they're probably meant to be canon, but do you view them as "official canon" or more "soft canon." In my mind any comic continuation of a show isn't "full" canon, but more like, "soft canon" where you can acknowledge it if you want to but the cartoons still ended with the last episode produced.
Soft canon at the worst in my opinion.
 

M.O.D.O.K.

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"Soft canon" as well, but I think Dini and Burnett's involvement bumps them up over the Batman Adventures comics, for better or worse. Unless an official animated project retcons them as well.
 

Yojimbo

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If you want it to be official canon, you'd have to be okay with a couple rationalizations like there was a Firefly before Garfield Lynn in "Torch Song" or Harley knew Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Ratcatcher etc. before Task Force X was formed and before Deadshot was recruited during JLU. That's how I approached it and made it work for me to be official canon. But yeah, as M.O.D.O.K. put it, a new movie or series could torpedo it to soft canon or comic book AU.

But ultimately, before this comic came out, the only comic (never adapted to screen) that's considered to be part of the official canon appeared to be the Batman Adventures Annual #2 that revealed how Batman and Jason Blood first met. In some interviews, Timm had a basic rule that it's not canon until it's adapted into animation. But remember the latest quote was in 2017, so how BTAC stacks up against that rule is up to the individual, and it was Timm's own approach - I'm not sure how Burnett, Dini, Murakami, Radomski feels about it.

-Back Issue #99 (September 2017), page 43
We didn't have any direct input on the comics...DC never solicited our opinions on what they were doing, nor would we have had time to give them notes if they had--I learned very early on not to get my nose bent out of joint if they did something in the comics we would never have done--my own personal way of dealing with it was to consider only the animated episodes themselves as 'true canon'--which means that even Mad Love wasn't purely canonical until we adapted it for the animated series.
-On page 62 of Modern Masters Volume Three
Of course, we'd teamed them up previously in the comics-we'd done that annual. The comic book animated continuity is actually different than the actual animated continuity-they'll do things that contradict what we do and vice versa. But for the sake of the Demon story we did in the animated show, we subsumed the annual we had done into the animated continuity just to get things moving faster. We didn't have to have them meet and slow the story down. The story starts as a fait accompli; they've already met each other off-stage and have some history together.
 
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James Harvey

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The final Batman: The Adventures Continue storyline (for now) is now available in print in a special over-sized holiday-themed issue!

BATMAN: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES #8



Written by: Paul Dini and Alan Burnett
Art by: Ty Templeton

The Story: It's the holidays in Gotham City, and Harley and Ivy have a wonderful idea: they want to hold a party for all the city's villains to commemorate the season! But one evildoer wasn't invited and has sent a devious present to the festivities to make some mischief. Can Batman intercept the package and save the villains, or is it the final night for these fiendish foes?!

Print Edition Release Date: Jan. 26, 2021
Print Edition Cover Price: $4.99

Rate and discuss Batman: The Adventures Continue right here! What are your thoughts on this return to the world of Batman: The Animated Series?
 

Spider-Man

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For those who weren't happy with how this last story read digitally it does read better in print but the last 1/3 is clearly that much more of a weaker installment than the first two and it ends this comic on such a thud. While I am glad this comic is done for now I actually wouldn't mind it coming back just so if these are the last new DCAU comics it doesn't go out on such a wimper. I assume more are probably coming though giving how much a success this comic has been. But Yojimbo makes a great point that I forgot about - the toys! If there are no more toys I wonder if that's basically the nail in the coffin for this book then?
 

Fone Bone

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Batman: The Adventures Continue "Secret Santa"

Not great, but it's at least the best one of the issues released.

Shameless HBO Max shout-out.

Liked the happy ending for Wesker.

Lots of cameos from characters from the Harley Quinn cartoon.

Liked Robin's disgusted reaction to Batman giving Wesker socks for Christmas. Socks?! SOCKS?! He's a freaking billionaire! Even his birthday gift to Superman of cash in the Fortress of Solitude on JLU was better.

All right / pretty good. ****.
 

Spider-Man

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Fone Bone, I think your "Harley Quinn cartoon" comment flipped a switch for me on one of my issues with this book. Overall it's been a good book and while they sold it on being a continuation of TNBA if the show kept going, what we're getting in the comic shouldn't be. A lot of the stuff this comic touches on is stuff that happened years after TNBA ended. If the premise was what if TNBA returned in 2020 then it wouldn't be an issue. But how the book was sold as a continuation of TNBA if it was never cancelled is false and makes things here feel artificial and like a mimic of the real thing. I might be misremembering the press details when it was announced so I could be wrong and part of me hopes so.
 

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