Last year, Batman: The Adventures Continue Batman: The Adventures Continue took readers back to the world of Batman: The Animated Series for more tales about the DC Animated Universe's version of the Dark Knight. Franchise veterans Alan Burnett, Paul Dini and Ty Templeton returned to this fan-favorite version of the DC Universe to introduce DCAU takes on iconic storylines and characters liked Azrael and the Red Hood.
Now, Batman: The Adventures Continue Season II is about to return to this world with the DCAU debut of The Court of Owls and the return of Justice League Unlimited alumni Deadman in Season 2's opening chapter. But before that happens, we're taking a look back at everything that happened in the first "season" of Batman: The Adventures Continue.
Batman vs. Luthor
Batman: The Adventures Continue opened with Batman investigating the theft of Brainiac's head, which Wayne Enterprises was doing tests on as a favor to Superman. The thief was a giant robot, which quickly made Batman's correctly surmise that Lex Luthor was behind the larger plot.
When Luthor had Batman at his mercy, Batman was able to save himself by hot-wiring the Brainiac head to shoot a laser at Luthor. Batman donned a Dark Knight Returns-inspired armored suit for his final conflict with Luthor and freed the robot's power source, Superman, with a Kryptonite blast.
Deathstroke
Deathstroke introduced himself to the Batman Family as an ally by assisting them in battle against Clayface. He used the threat of Firefly to further ingratiate himself with the family, teaming up with Robin to battle the pyrotechnic villain. He was able to convince Batman to join him in stopping Firefly's attack on the Tri-State Dam.
Unsurprisingly, this was all a ruse. Firefly was actually Deathstroke's partner, Sunny, in disguise. They were hired to kill Batman by Luthor, who was still stinging from his defeat. Deathstroke took the initiative to make Robin and Batgirl his proteges after Batman's death. Ultimately, Batgirl and Robin helped defeat him after being tipped off about his plans. While he wasn't a physical threat to Batman again, it wasn't his last appearance.
Azrael
Azrael was introduced to the DCAU as a contemporary of Batman's instead of a protege. During his training to become Batman, Bruce Wayne studied with Azrael's Order of St. Dumas. The violent vigilante was drawn to Gotham after Catwoman stole the Shawl of Magdalene, a sacred relic with purported healing powers.
In order to protect Catwoman, Batman assisted Azrael in retrieving the shawl from the client who hired her to steal it, The Penguin. Batman even lent Azrael an armor similar to his "Knightfall" Batman suit. It turned out that Penguin was only the middleman in the sale; the shawl was purchased by Mr. Freeze, to revive his wife Nora. With the shawl recovered, Batman and Azrael parted as allies.
Red Hood
Being teased throughout the earlier chapters of the series, Jason Todd's introduction to the DCAU was Season 1's main focus. Although he did tip off Batgirl about Deathstroke's duplicity, he spent most of his time stalking the Bat-Family. His backstory was similar to the comics. He was Batman's troubled second sidekick whose violent tendencies led to a falling out between the new dynamic duo.
After a violent encounter with The Joker, he appeared to die in an explosion. In The Adventures Continue, this happened while Batman was saving The Joker. Jason tried to force Batman into killing The Joker, but his scheme, and underground hideout, collapsed. He appeared to choose death over reuniting with Batman but was rescued by an opportunistic Deathstroke.
Ventriloquist’s Retirement
In Season 1's holiday-themed finale, The Ventriloquist, Arnold Wesker, was able to stay on the straight and narrow following his release from Arkham Asylum. He was surrounded by criminals at Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy's Christmas Party and was briefly reunited with his old boss, Scarface, by the Joker.
The Joker used Wesker to get access to Scarface and his massive stockpile of plastic explosives. It wound up backfiring on him in the end. Wesker left a clue that led Batman and Robin right to the Joker and allowed them to stop his New Year's Eve bombing. With Scarface destroyed in the melee, Wesker was free to celebrate his new beginning.
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season II #1, by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Ty Templeton and Monica Kubina, goes on sale June 1 from DC.