Welcome to the twenty-fourth edition of Adventure(s) Time, where we examine a classic animated series and an issue of its tie-in comic that shares a similar theme. This week, following a suggestion from commenter Dave Anderson, we look back on the first movie to spin out of Batman: The Animated Series, and a sequel that later appeared in the Adventures tie-in with little fanfare. If you have any suggestions for future installments, feel free to let me know in the comments section.

RELATED: Batman: The Animated Series – When the Dark Knight Met His Idol

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was released in a limited run on December 25, 1993 in theaters, receiving positive reviews from the few critics who paid attention to the film. (Siskel and Ebert would later express regret that they missed the movie during its theatrical release.) The story was written by Alan Burnett, with Burnett being joined on the screenplay by Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves. According to Reaves, deadlines prevented Burnett from writing the entire screenplay on his own, so each of the four writers divvied up scenes and scripted the screenplay simultaneously, then came together for the final draft. The visual masterminds behind the series, Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm, directed Phantasm, and animation was split between Dong Yang Animation Co. and Spectrum studios (although the bulk of the film appears to be a Dong Yang job; it lacks the anime polish of Spectrum’s work.)

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The story finds zealous councilman Arthur Reeves falsely accusing Batman of a series of vigilante murders. Reeves was once employed by the powerful attorney Carl Beaumont, the father of a lost love from Bruce Wayne's past, Andrea Beaumont. Andrea has returned to Gotham around the time of the first murder, and when Batman learns that the dead mobsters all have ties to her father, he suspects Carl Beaumont is the vigilante, possibly with his daughter acting in concert.

The return of Andrea inspires a series of flashbacks, as viewers are offered the producers’ version of a "Year One" in the animated Batman's world. These scenes are dynamically animated, with a masked Bruce Wayne facing brutal beatdowns and near-death experiences that go beyond anything seen on the daily afternoon series. (And while we only catch a glimpse of Bruce as Batman in the flashbacks, Arthur Reeves' crusade against Batman leads to a present-day police chase involving Batman that does indeed evoke Miller's Year One.)

RELATED: Mask of the Phantasm Is Batman at His Cinematic Best

The flashbacks to Bruce's earliest days, beginning his career as a vigilante and not yet having a gimmick, not only serve the purpose of filling gaps in his backstory, but also provide the thematic basis of the movie. Tragedy stands in the way of Bruce and Andrea building their future, as both hold on to the past, choosing a path of vengeance over hopes of a life together.

Interestingly, the most famous moment from Batman's origin story -- his confrontation with a gigantic bat at his home that inspires the line "I shall become a bat..." -- is missing in the film. Instead, the producers use the discovery of a colony of bats under Wayne Manor as foreshadowing, right at the moment Bruce proposes to Andrea. Bruce is prepared to give up his ambition to fight crime, thinking that Andrea represents his parents' true wish, a desire for him to share his life with someone else.

Only later, after receiving a "Dear John" letter from Andrea, does Bruce don his Batman guise for the first time. (Andrea’s forced to flee America when her father is targeted by mobsters, tipped off by the slimy Arthur Reeves.) There's no scene with a bat, dramatically crashing through a window, to inspire the creation of Bruce's new persona. Instead, the concept of a "Batman" is symbolic of the life he can't have with Andrea. When Alfred sees Batman for the first time, he whispers “My God” in horror -- in the film, Bruce’s decision to become Batman isn’t a majestic victory, it’s a tragedy that rivals the initial heartbreak of his parents’ murder.

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Phantasm is a story of abandoned futures, a concept literalized in the climax when Batman, the Phantasm, and the Joker destroy a “World of Tomorrow” display at an abandoned fairground. At this moment, Batman learns the truth -- Carl Beaumont is long dead, killed by the Joker during his days as a mob hitman, and the Phantasm killer is none other than Andrea.

Batman tries to reach Andrea, but she refuses to listen. Disappearing with the Joker as the fairgrounds erupt in explosions, Batman is left to assume that both are dead as he narrowly makes his own escape. A coda to the film establishes that Andrea is still alive, as we see her rejecting the company of a drunken suitor on the deck of a departing ocean liner.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm has earned a cult following over the years, with some fans asserting it's the best Batman film ever made. The willingness to do a story of unrequited love, and not provide any of the leads a happy ending, is certainly not what most people expected from an animated film, and the superb vocal performances from Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, and Mark Hamill maintain the adult tone of the movie. The flashbacks to Batman's past, and the more intense action, also create the sense that it’s something special for diehard fans.

One element of the film that is a bit lacking would be the animation, however. As Bruce Timm has noted, the production was extremely rushed, and the final decision to release the movie theatrically came late into the development process. With little time to "finesse" the animation, as Timm says, the film resembled an extended episode of the animated series. The animation is certainly nice -- the use of shadows is fantastic and there are some iconic Batman shots throughout the movie -- but it’s not as fluid as a standard animated film release. One area where the film does have a noticeable edge over the television series is the score. Produced by Shirley Walker with a larger budget and longer lead time, the Phantasm soundtrack has the feel of the regular series, but with an appropriately operatic tone to match the significance of a big screen release.

RELATED: Batman Mask of the Phantasm, Remastered

While the original cartoon didn’t acknowledge the events of the film, the tie-in comic Batman & Robin Adventures did take a stab at a sequel, entitled “Shadow of the Phantasm.” The story comes from Paul Dini, who used the Adventures comic for more than one follow-up to the animation, while the art's provided by an assortment of pencilers.

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How - And Where - The Mask of the Phantasm Sequel Took Place

Some have reported this comic was going to be penciled by Mike Parobeck, but had to be split between various artists after his untimely passing. (Since Parobeck penciled the Phantasm comics adaptation, it’s a shame he wasn’t able to do more than a few pages on the sequel.) The final comic is a jam book featuring art from Ty Templeton, Dev Madan, Mike Parobeck, and Brandon Kruse.

Batman & Robin Adventures Annual #1 opens with a flashback to the Phantasm’s final confrontation with the Joker in the World of Tomorrow. For the first time, the audience is shown just what happened after they disappeared in the midst of the explosions.

When another explosion hits the sewers, the Joker is swept away by the water, which is apparently enough of a punishment for Andrea, as the narrator claims she considered her vengeance complete at that moment. The story picks up three years later, when the Phantasm returns to Gotham after being offered a hit job on Bruce Wayne.

Andrea, who’s been working as a hired thief and mob enforcer (and, as she later confesses, even a contract killer) during this time, refused to take the job. Still possessing feelings for Bruce, she heads to Gotham to warn him.

They first come into contact during a charity ball, when Bruce Wayne angrily rejects any help Andrea has to offer. Upset, Andrea uses one of her trademark smoke bombs to escape the dance floor. Later, Bruce is shocked when Andrea chases after his limo, demanding his attention. As the limo speeds away, Bruce faces another shock. This “Andrea” isn’t Andrea at all…

This is Kitsune, a clawed Japanese assassin with a telepathically-linked jewel that enables her to holographically change forms. It’s as about as “’90s” as the Adventures books got, really, and that’s not a compliment. Kitsune perhaps isn’t a terrible character, but there’s no opportunity in the story to flesh her out, and her powers just come across as a collection of then-trendy gimmicks. She’s quickly subdued by Andrea in her Phantasm garb, and for the next few pages the story attempts to recreate the adult drama of the animated film. Bruce and Andrea discuss their doomed relationship, with Andrea declaring that she still cares, and Bruce maintaining he could never love a killer. When they kiss goodbye, however, it’s clear the spark still exists.

Serious relationship talk is quickly interrupted by the return of Kitsune, now arriving with an army of generic masked assassins, who’ve knocked out Alfred and invaded Wayne Manor. Bruce realizes he isn’t their true target when Andrea is kidnapped. Deducing their client’s identity, he quickly changes into Batman.

Who would want Andrea Beaumont dead? Someone who resents her for killing the Sal Valestra gang…the same man who sold her father out to Valestra’s goons years earlier.

Arthur Reeves was gassed by the Joker once he began looking into the Valestra gang murders, and while his fate is left ambiguous in the film, we discover here that doctors were able to keep him alive. Unfortunately for Arthur, the doctors were unable to erase the permanent smile, which has killed Reeves’ political career and made him a pariah. Having discerned the Phantasm’s true identity (and I suppose coming to the conclusion that directly targeting the Joker would be suicide), Reeves manipulated Andrea into returning to Gotham. He was planning her execution all along, not Bruce Wayne’s.

It’s Batman’s turn now to dramatically appear and play hero, which leads to Arthur landing a lucky hit and unmasking Batman. We all know what this means, right? Andrea regroups, dons her Phantasm guise again, and tricks Arthur into falling off a tall building. Batman turns Kitsune over to the police, but the Phantasm disappears once again. When Lt. Gordon asks Batman if he ever cracked the killer’s identity, Batman coldly tells his friend that he “never knew the person behind the mask.”

And, much like the ending of the film, we close with a tearful Andrea Beaumont gazing into the night sky.

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The Wrap-Up

Design-y

I think anyone who saw Phantasm remembers this painting of Batman spying on Andrea in the rain.

Continuity Notes

Andrea Beaumont’s alter-ego is never actually referred to as “Phantasm” in the film. If anything, without the title of the movie, you’d assume her name was “Angel of Death,” given the speech she delivers before each kill. (Since the original title of the film, before the movie studio ordered a change, was only “Masks”, was the villain initially unnamed?) In the Adventures sequel, however, the killer’s commonly known to the public as Phantasm.

Creative Differences

The original pitch for an animated Batman movie was rejected by Alan Burnett as not having enough emotional depth for an eighty-minute film. This plot later became the episode “Trial.” Another episode is rumored to have a connection to the film; even though this one was never produced. The abandoned Michael Reaves script “Vigil” has elements that some say influenced the film. You can read his original script on this archive of his site.

Another odd turn taken during the development of Phantasm was Warner’s film division requesting the producers excise the movie’s flashbacks and cut the film together in chronological order. According to Bruce Timm, Batman doesn’t appear until halfway through the film in this edit, and the movie executives quickly realized their mistake.

Hey, I Know That Voice

Arleen Sorkin, Harley herself, makes an uncredited cameo as Bambi, one of the society girls pursuing Bruce during a party in the film’s opening act.

Over the Kiddies’ Heads

Mask of the Phantasm features a few confirmed kills, a lost tooth during a fight, mobsters smoking cigarettes, Batman spilling blood more than once in battle, and an implied night together with Bruce and Andrea. All elements that likely wouldn’t have made their way into the regular series. (Although one of the mobster murders was deemed a little too graphic, even for the film, and toned down.)

Battle of the Tragic Love Stories

If you’re a fan of this canon, Mask of the Phantasm is undoubtedly a classic. The pain of Bruce’s origin is dramatized beautifully, and constructing the story to have Bruce’s tragedy parallel Andrea’s is surprisingly adult, even when compared to the more sophisticated episodes of the animated series. Phantasm remains one of the best animated films of the 1990s, and even though the movie was overlooked at the time, the support of the fanbase has kept it alive.

Now, did the story actually need a sequel? A case could be made that the film’s ending is perfect as is, and any direction you continue the story seems fruitless. Adding more tragedy to either character feels like overkill, and alleviating either Bruce or Andrea’s burden would just undermine the conclusion of Phantasm. “Shadow of the Phantasm” doesn’t do anything with the Bruce/Andrea dynamic that we didn’t see in the film, and seems to go out of its way to leave the characters in the same place. Perhaps a segment of the audience really wanted to see the ultimate fate of Arthur Reeves, and he is used well in the story, but there isn’t much to recommend here.

I have a feeling that if the annual had been a solo Parobeck job, or a more ambitious jam book (like the original Batman Adventures annual), we could look back more fondly on the project. As it exists, it’s really just a footnote to the film, likely best suited for completists only.

That’s all for now. Thanks to Dave Anderson for this recommendation. If you’d like to suggest an cartoon/comics comparison, just leave a comment or let me know on Twitter.