(6/12/09)
‘Vendetta’ is a good old-fashioned mystery thriller. There is the feel of a police drama juxtaposed with the awesome thrills of Batman taking down a crocodile man. And buried underneath the visuals and the atmosphere is a story about the most curious cop on Gordon’ force, Harvey Bullock, and what Batman really feels about the man. We all know that Bullock holds some disdain for the dark knight, but aside from the patronizing stares and cold disappearing act, we have never taken a good look into what Batman thinks of Bullock.
What is most striking is that Batman’s feelings of Bullock are not the main focus of the episode. Most of the it is intent on developing the mystery, misdirecting the audience, and crafting riveting action sequences. Therefore it is up to the viewer to pinpoint the instances where we see that perhaps Batman is not a flawless person who approaches each case indiscriminately. After Batman does a little investigation, there is a scene where he confronts Gordon about Bullock, whom he suspects is responsible for the crime that sets the story in motion. Gordon is adamant that Bullock is a good cop, but Batman isn’t sure. It is Gordon, not Batman, who ends up right in the end. Gordon sees past Bullock’s underhanded methods and cheap talk; Batman just now learns to do so.
But what grips me more is the lushness of visual atmosphere. Typically in Gotham we have the dark skies and towering gothic skyscrapers, but in ‘Vendetta,’ we have cold rainy docks and rich underwater space. We have an encounter in a rooftop greenhouse, heightened by a storm without which would be a run-of-the-mill interrogation scene. And in the third act we have wet streets, painted so as to reflect buildings and sidewalks. In the climax, as Batman takes down Killer Croc, the sewer begins to collapse, and we are treated to on of the finest pieces of animation Spectrum ever produced. There is no excess of detail; only a cataclysm of simplified shapes that never fails to remind me of the great comic book artist Steve Ditko.
When I watch ‘Vendetta,’ I don’t feel like I am watching a children’s cartoon. I know that Batman’s battles against Killer Croc have obvious childhood appeal, but this episode is so heavy when it comes to information. We learn about Bullock’s history, his messy relationship with Internal Affairs, how he is allegedly tied to Rupert Thorne, and why all of this unravels a potential motive for trying to terminate Spider Conway. If I was a kid, I don’t know if I would have been able to understand how all the strands fit together. In fact, a common complaint about this episode is that the twenty-minute running time isn’t enough time for its mystery to properly soak in.
Even the best episodes of Batman: the Animated Series lack a sense of film noir grittiness and layered story lines. Even if ‘Vendetta’ doesn’t touch the heights of ‘Heart of Ice’ and ‘The Laughing Fish,’ it still offers qualities that those two episodes do not possess. And therein lies the beauty of the series; among the obvious greats are episodes like this that transport you to a world of rain and shadow and mystery and deceit. ‘Vendetta’ remains to this day a personal favorite of mine.
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The episode is essentially a mystery. A man named Spider Conway has been kidnapped and all clues point to Bullock. What is instantly appealing about the events that unfold is that there is a sense of history to the investigation. It’s interesting watching Batman dig up files on Bullock, talk to Gordon about his past, track down Rupert Thorne and the connection he might have to Bullock, etc. because it gives the viewer the sense that these characters have more going on with them than we see contained in the episode. While it’s fairly clear from the outset that Bullock is not the culprit, it is still fascinating watching the mystery develop against a great noir atmosphere.
Further along, we find that the true villain of the story is Killer Croc, as Batman investigates further. This is a primary example of good Batman detective work, which we haven’t seen much sense ‘On Leather Wings’. Anyway, Croc is a man with no real psychological condition like the rest of the series’ cast of villains; he’s just a regular ex-con who happens to have superhuman abilities. Unlike most episodes that introduce a villain, this episode doesn’t really focus much on Croc beyond outlining his motivation. The real focus of the episode is Bullock and his relationship to Batman, and Batman’s willingness to put aside their differences to solve the case and clear Bullock’s name. Killer Croc provides just enough action necessary to give the episode some excitement.
As I said, Bullock is the real focus here. The combination of history put into the character and Batman’s appreciation of him paint a clear picture of a cop who may be flawed and may not like our hero, but who’s a good cop nonetheless. Batman’s and Bullock’s reconciliation at the end of the episode is effective without feeling forced or melodramatic. The episode really does cause you to take notice of Bullock and what a great character he is. I should also add that this episode features Alfred in top form, providing a great dry wit and helpfulness that complement the Dark Knight perfectly.
The animation, handled by Spectrum, is probably some of the best the studio has ever done on the series. This episode, above all others Spectrum animated, has such a reliance on shadows and darkness and the amount of detail put into the work does not disappoint. Especially noteworthy is the entirety of Batman’s interrogation of Thorne. The solid animation set against a rainstorm makes for one of the most effective visual sequences in all the series. The final fight scene between Batman and Croc is also incredible. The lighting effects and animation on the water and collapsing rubble is mind-blowing.
‘Vendetta’ doesn’t rank among the very best episodes of the series, but it’s close. It’s the kind of episode that excels at atmosphere but doesn’t quite achieve a perfect story (some parts, like Croc’s Bullock impersonation, aren’t too convincing for my liking). So when all is said and done, it’s solid, but not quite spectacular.
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