(9/14/09)
Few titles are so enticing. But wait a minute, we know that Batman can’t die in his own series; this has to be a tease or a gimmick. How can suspense be built when the outcome is so predictable? Ah, that is indeed an obvious implicit principle of the series. But The Man Who Killed Batman operates on the notion that the rest of the characters are not meta-aware and do not know this rule. The death of Batman is real for the Joker, for Thorne, and for the underworld at large. What we have on our hands here is a delicious piece of dramatic irony that functions as both comedy and insight.
The title card presents the image of a stout, cartoonish little man set against a loud somber organ. This is to set the tone for the episode, as there is a ubiquitous dichotomy between the grim seriousness of the characters and the sly laughter on our part as we observe it all, knowing full well that they are misled. The first shots are of the curious little man desperately running down rainy streets. Bruce Timm’s direction does not conceal itself; the man is shot from askew and sometimes extreme perspectives. He comes to Thorne with his tale: he has killed the Batman. We sit back and watch as it unfolds.
Sid the Squid, as deemed by his contemporaries, is an urban Dante, leading us through the underworld of Gotham, yet without a Virgil to guide him. We latch onto him, so that his aimless escapades through drug racket night work, into a crammed prison cell, and finally arriving at Joker’s happy hideaway, let us in on the full range of reactions to the supposed death of Batman. So often we are one with the Dark Knight; we view his personal life and reside in the cave as he plans and calculates. Here we are one with the low-lifes who see Batman with a mythical fear and awe. To discuss The Man Who Killed Batman is to walk through the varied responses to Batman’s seeming demise and understand what makes them so compelling and illuminating.
The first scene that follows Batman’s supposed death scene is Sid the Squid’s basking in his newfound glory as the man who did the undoable. The criminal underworld is built on the idea of climbing the ranks and establishing oneself as a big man. Squid suddenly becomes a primary target for every ambitious goon. The barroom brawl funny in its own right, but with the knowledge that Batman is not deceased, there is a more acute sense of humor that emanates from the absurdity of the whole ordeal. Naturally Sid the Squid’s fateful voyage takes him to prison.
Though brief, we glimpse the reactions of Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya to the news. Their response is the inverse of the underworld’s. Comic tough guy competitions turn into a deeply felt mourning of a hero. Montoya’s sadness is expected; Bullock’s is less predictable. He maintains his short temper, yet at the same time betrays heavy sorrow. Batman’s death is not merely intended to jumpstart a rather comedic series of events; it also has a universal significance that extends to recurring characters as well as the mob as a whole.
The Joker’s segment of the story is an amalgamation of the light comedic tone and the current of tragedy that runs throughout. It is here that we first witness the complex dynamic that exists between him and Batman. They are mythic nemeses engaged in an eternal struggle. Because Sid the Squid has apparently put an end to it all, we can see for the first time that such a mythical conflict did indeed exist. The Joker mourns Batman’s death because Batman helped define his existence, provided the order that gave life to his chaos. That we intuitively understand all this through an outrageously funny eulogy speaks volumes about Dini’s mastery of these characters.
We end up back in Thorne’s office, where dramatic irony cues us to one of the funniest moments in Batman. Thorne proceeds to kill Sid the Squid, mistakenly viewing him as criminal mastermind. The hyperbolic legends that surround Batman now ricochet off the man identified as his killer. Alas, the Dark Knight makes his expected return, but it is an authoritative return that renders the two men speechless as we grin with sly delight. Batman coolly apprehends Thorne and, proving that he has a sense of humor about the whole thing, gives Sid the Squid a place in the upper echelon of the criminal world.
This is Batman at its finest, skirting between tongue-in-cheek humor and provocative insight. It is further proof that when Timm and Dini collaborate, the result is always splendid.
The episode, right from the get-go, is based on a surprisingly simple premise: a short, stout, wannabe thug has apparently killed the Batman, and after initial moments of fame and glory he now seeks Rupert Thorne for protection. The story sticks to this basic concept, never showing Batman, always keeping to the point of view of Sid the Squid, the name of Batman’s alleged killer. While we know that Batman is alive, given that he is the series’ protagonist, the true fun of the episode arises from the consequences of Sid’s actions and the episode delves into a what-if story concerning the mob’s reaction to a world without Batman.
The progression of the story is exquisitely crafted. After Sid has committed the deed, happy that he is now a big shot, he revels in his notoriety. His fellow criminals shower him with praise and admiration. It’s worth noting how remarkable this feat is in their eyes, how legendary and untouchable a figure Batman is to them. Of course, things don’t stay stable for very long, as men who want to steal his glory confront him, challenging him to a fight. The whole episode shows Sid getting into new situations, each more dangerous than the last. The episode builds on itself, creating a great sense of anticipation at what is to come. So as Sid and the rest of the crooks in the club are put in jail, we know that we’re in for some surprises. And the story does not disappoint in the slightest.
After feeling safe and secure in prison, Sid gets in way over his head when a disguised Harley Quinn bails him out of jail (but not after seeing a rather touching response to the ordeal from none other than Harvey Bullock), and takes him to, of course, the Joker. Now I simply have to pause for just a moment here. Now Mark Hamill’s Joker is obviously one of the most beloved interpretations of the character. Throughout the DCAU so many different aspects of the character were explored. But oddly enough, during the animated series, we rarely got much exploration into the Joker’s unique relationship with Batman, which is perhaps one of the most fascinating attributes of the character. What transpires after the Joker meets Sid is the best part of the episode, because it takes a good look at the Clown Prince of Crime and how he feels about the Dark Knight.
As Joker pulls a simple jewelry store heist, knowing that Batman, alive, would arrive to stop him, he grows ever sad as Batman fails to show up. This leads to one of the most well directed scenes in all of ‘Batman’ history, as the Joker prepares a funeral for Batman, humorously characterizing their relationship. It’s sad in a twisted way and in perfect Joker fashion, he prepares to kill Sid by placing him in the coffin reserved for Batman and lowering it into a vat of acid. This is such a great depiction of the Joker’s dependence on Batman and how without Batman, he more than likely wouldn’t be committing crimes on the street. It’s perfect that the man that the Joker is always out to kill ends up being the one person he never wants to go away. But what truly puts the capper on the ordeal is that Joker immediately rebounds with a happy desire to order Chinese food. Who else but the Joker could look on in sadness at a funeral for his greatest adversary, only to go for Chinese food when it’s over? Whenever I watch the funeral scene, I not only laugh, but I get inside the Joker’s head in a way that the series doesn’t usually allow for. This truly is one of the definitive Joker moments of the entire series.
And the episode doesn’t stop there. The episode ends nicely, as Batman, who had faked his death from the beginning in order to infiltrate Thorne’s drug operation, makes his comeback to not only rescue Sid from Thorne and his men, but to put Sid away in prison. This brings the episode full-circle, as Sid not only welcomes prison after all that he has gone through, but ends up being considered a big shot by the surrounding prisoners.
This episode is a masterwork, a truly defining landmark for the series. While not often mentioned alongside ‘Heart of Ice’ or ‘Two-Face’, ‘The Man Who Killed Batman’ is still universally praised among fans, and for very good reason.
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