Batman: The Brave & The Bold
Episode 14:
Mystery in Space!
Adam Strange, Batman and Aquaman plan their next move
The first episode of the second season of Batman: The Brave and The Bold stars the unlikely pairing of Aquaman and Adam Strange as costars in a sci-fi epic adventure. But before we get to that story, the ‘teaser’ adventure with the Question has got to be mentioned. I’m a big fan of the Question. I started reading about him during the late 1980′s Denny O’Neill/Denys Cowan series and worked my way backwards to the Steve Ditko version, but he has always held a unique place for me as a comic book character. A statement on Ayn Rand’s objectivism, the Question is a blank-faced crime fighter who firmly believes that we all are responsible for our own actions and destinies. So don’t expect him to save a crook from a burning building just because he’s a hero. The crook’s actions placed him in that predicament. He is where he belongs. In any case, the version of the Question we get in this brief installment is more or less a trench-coated crime fighter on the trail of the villainous ‘Equinox,’ a character I am sure we will hear more from in future episodes. This felt very similar to the Kamandi teaser adventure, something for the comic book fans out there who loves this hero. Given how much of a large role the Question played in the later seasons of the Justice League, however, we may see him again.
The episode them moves on to the main story involving Batman answering a call for help from Adam Strange. Adam Strange is a sci-fi super hero of the 1960′s, an Earthman who travels to the distant planet Rann by use of something called the Zeta Beam. Batman is looking for just such a beam to transport him to Rann when he bumps into Aquaman. It has been established that Batman is more than a little annoyed by the boisterous behavior of the King of the Seven Seas in this cartoon series, so it comes as a surprise when Aquaman is found moping around the beach where Batman expects the Zeta Beam to strike. Determined to snap his aquatic pal from his funk, Batman insists that they team up to solve the outer space problem and the duo are whisked away to the adopted planet of Adam Strange.
It turns out that a nasty race of lizard-like Gordanians are attacking Rann and looking to use a nasty doomsday device to destroy the planet. At first Aquaman is reluctant to do much of anything and his crestfallen attitude finally drives Batman to insist the he spill what’s bugging him. It turns out that shortly before the crime fighters met up on the beach, Aquaman had just witnessed a whaling ship making off with its cargo. Failing to save the whales in time, Aquaman now doubts his ability to do anything. Pretty heavy stuff for a kids cartoon!
However, when Adam Strange is transported back to Earth by the unpredictable Zeta Beam, Aquaman decides to get over his self-doubt. A renewed Aquaman then devises a very risky plot to defeat the Gordanians and save Rann once and for all.
The episode was a lot of fun and it was very interesting seeing the logic of the Zeta Beam played out on the screen. I’m also a big fan of Adam Strange so it was a real treat to see him on the small screen with Batman. It seems that there is very little that this series cannot do. One of the most wildly imaginative cartoon series on the air, I cannot wait to see what comes next.
Next week the Flash teams up with Batman to fight Scarecrow and the Silver Banshee for the teaser while the main adventure is a trip top the past to partner up with the Demon in the 19th Century.
