The Batman Strikes! #7

Original cover to issue #7.

The Batman Strikes! cartoon on WB was a really good show. It captured a lot of the style of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight films while incorporating the best and brightest of the DC Universe. Sadly, it didn't last longer than a season or two and that's in very large part to the demise of Saturday morning cartoons.

   In this issue based on the cartoon, Batman faces Mr. Freeze who's been busted out of the slammer. Batman loses his first battle with the Emperor of Ice and almost loses Alfred in the process. It takes the very ego of Mr. Freeze for Batman to finally be able to put the villain on ice.

    Obviously, there's some unsettled business in this issue. First of all, one of the guards enters a code that frees the villain from his cell. Batman never confronts this officer for what he's done. It's very un-Batman of the Caped Crusader. Then, there's a 2 page segment in which 'Boss' Thorne suddenly appears. The mobster alludes to his planning to put the kibosh on the Batman, but nothing comes from this scene. So, either, the story editor overlooked this or further issues in this series continue this storyline.

    I checked this book out at the library. While it reprints a single issue from the series based on the show, it was published in a hard-bound library edition. Like many of the Franco & Baltazar library editions, this book includes a study guide for parents and teachers.

    Unfortunately, this is the only issue in the series that was available at my local library. Hopefully, I'll come across this series in a bargain bin or collected edition.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.