Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's 110th installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, we're continuing our retrospective of the sadly overlooked second volume of Batman Adventures. Typically, the series featured Dan Slott and Ty Templeton rotating as writers, joined by artist Rick Burchett. The series was an honest attempt to create a "lost season" of Batman: The Animated Series, set during the Justice League days. But, hey, even the fill-in issues are worth covering. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me know on Twitter.
But before we reach Batman Adventures, let's stay in chronological order and take a look at the DC Animated Universe episode to which it connects. "Chronological" from the audience's perspective, that is, as the story is set in the future.
"Meltdown" is the fifth episode of Batman Beyond. Written by Hilary J. Bader and Alan Burnett, and directed by Curt Geda, the episode is an early (and rare) example of the show breaking one of its more famous "rules": no appearances from established Batman villains. Debuting on Feb. 14, 1999, "Meltdown" is the return of Mr. Freeze, the villain reimagined by the DCAU as a sympathetic scientist desperate to save his dying wife from a relentless disease.
The producers have a clever excuse for connecting Mr. Freeze to the future world of Batman Beyond, and it resides in the villain we all thought would be the new Batman's arch-nemesis: evil CEO turned neon monster Derek Powers, also known as Blight. Tired of relying on a suit of plastic skin that can crack at inconvenient times, Powers pursues (with the aid of his new hire, Dr. Stephanie Lake) creating a healthy body cloned from his original cells.
However, Dr. Lake must test the procedure first. The perfect subject has been kept hidden in a Wayne-Powers vault for nearly five decades -- the disembodied head of Victor Fries. (And, dang, even if Mike Mignola only worked on the initial Freeze design in the early '90s, you can still see a clear influence of his work here.)
The procedure is performed and the one-time villain returns to his life as Victor Fries. His new, healthy body is even able to feel heat and cold like a normal person. The new Batman's mentor, Bruce Wayne, remains suspicious of both Fries and Powers, however. Batman tails Fries, and witnesses him acting as a decent man. He even forgives the sniper who attempts to kill him as punishment for past crimes.
Wealthy from 50 years of investments, Fries announces a foundation to help others, and make amends for his past. Bruce remains skeptical, although his new protege Terry fully believes in Fries. And maybe Fries would've lived up to Terry's expectations, had his body's extreme reaction to all warmth not resurfaced.
When Fries turns to Dr. Lake for help, she responds as all generically evil scientists working for massive corporations react in action-adventure TV: She traps him in a cell and makes plans for an autopsy.
Fries escapes, readopts his Mr. Freeze persona, and declares war on Powers. Batman confronts him at the Wayne-Powers building, pleading with him to end his violent crusade. Freeze refuses, revealing that he plans to end his own life by going up with Powers' building. What follows is an impressive Blight vs. Mr. Freeze fight (which has Freeze saving Batman from Blight at one point), and Freeze refusing to allow Batman to rescue him right before the building explodes.
Blight survives to ... only occasionally menace the hero, while Terry is left to mourn Mr. Freeze. And while Bruce's opinion of Mr. Freeze specifically hasn't changed, he does acknowledge to Terry that Victor Fries was indeed a good man.
A memorable episode, but there's a plot element left dangling for the audience: How did Mr. Freeze's head end up at Wayne-Powers?
For that answer, jump ahead five years to August 2004, and the publication of Batman Adventures #15, a fill-in issue from writer Jason Hall and artist Kelsey Shannon. Still, it has its own place in continuity, as it attempts to address that nagging question from "Meltdown."
“Best Served Cold” picks up after Mr. Freeze’s previous appearance in the tie-in comics, which established his wife Nora moving on and marrying the man who finally did cure her condition, Dr. Francis D’Anjou. Hall’s take on Nora’s “happy ending” is far more cynical than depicted in her previous appearance, as we discover on the first page that Dr. D’Anjou is hiding letters Freeze has sent his former wife. And Nora’s response is to sneak away from her new husband and seek out her ex.
Complicating this is an attack from one of Mr. Freeze’s robots, just as Nora is getting in the car. And there’s a bit in this scene that doesn’t quite work, once we reach the story’s climax.
D’Anjou is hospitalized by the attack, which only serves to strengthen Nora’s resolve to speak to Freeze. Batman traces Nora’s movements to the Arctic Circle and pursues with Batgirl. Here, we have a nice homage to the animated Sub-Zero film, as we discover Freeze still keeps those two polar bears (Notchka and Shaka) as guards.
Freeze implores Nora to return to D’Anjou, even as she proclaims she still loves him. He also attempts to assuage any guilt Nora feels over his condition (as he transformed into Mr. Freeze while attempting to cure her … which conveniently leaves out his sadistic boss who shoved Freeze into the chemicals, but whatever.)
Ultimately, the two embrace. And, meanwhile, Nightwing is investigating the D’Anjou home.
D’Anjou sneaks up behind Nightwing in the dark, goes full supervillain, and sics that robot on Nightwing. Yes, D’Anjou was behind the attack all along, hoping his frame job would finally convince Nora to give up on Freeze.
Which isn’t that bad of an idea -- if you’re willing to forget D’Anjou’s characterization from his previous appearance. And the fact that, alone in the house, he had a shocked, horrified reaction to the robot. Who exactly was he putting this show on for?
Back up north, Batman and Batgirl encounter Freeze, who assumes they’ve arrived for a fight. Hall acknowledges more of the series’ continuity, specifically the bit from his last New Adventures appearance, which revealed only Freeze’s head remains of his body.
Batman and Freeze have a decent fight scene, touching on what the characters have in common (traumatic loss and opposing methods for processing grief), and ending with Freeze’s armor exploding. His head is missing, leading Nora to believe Freeze dead. She returns to Gotham, calls things off with D’Anjou from his prison cell, and we’re left with a floating image of Freeze’s head.
And, while Shannon struggles with the standard Bruce Timm models for these characters, he does occasionally pull off a Mignola-esque Mr. Freeze head.
But, wait, there’s still the back-up story. Coming from the same creative team is “Koonak of the North,” a story of Nora seeking out Koonak, Freeze’s child sidekick from Sub-Zero. He’s now living in Gotham (or at least in an orphanage somewhere funded by Bruce Wayne), and during a meeting with Nora, we have a flashback to his first encounter with Freeze.
While Koonak is skeptical Freeze might still live, after reflecting on his time with Freeze, Koonak joins Nora in her search. The final page hints the duo might find what they’re looking for. And, given that we were just informed Nora has some form of relationship with Bruce Wayne, it’s not hard to piece together what happens next.
DESIGN-Y
Freeze receives a new suit in the future. It's an impressive design, with a great color scheme and a look that fits the world of the show.
HEY, I KNOW THAT VOICE
Star Trek's Michael Ansara returns as Mr. Freeze. And Dr. Lake is voiced by one of the most surprising DCAU guest stars: Linda Hamilton of Terminator fame!
"A COLD DRAFT"
The initial Freeze story in this canon, “Heart of Ice,” is undeniably a classic. A story so well-received, and admired by the staff of the show, producers even declared there would be no sequels. The problem with this, obviously, is that you’re cutting off any future Mr. Freeze stories. And this incarnation of Freeze was immensely popular.
So, between subsequent episodes of the cartoon and the tie-in book, we have a decent number of Mr. Freeze appearances. And do any live up to “Heart of Ice?” Likely no one would argue that. (Although many of these stories do have their moments, and Sub-Zero features incredible animation and direction.)
“Meltdown” has another curious element, as the producers deemed the plot strong enough to be exempt from their “no old villains” rule. And it’s an enjoyable episode, but probably all the audience needs in terms of returning octogenarian villains. (Excluding that one big exception, naturally.)
“Best Served Cold,” however, exhibits some of the problems with the later years of the tie-in comics. Too often they were treated as tryout books, and the results were predictably mediocre. There’s clear affection for the show’s canon here -- maybe too much, as Hall seems determined to revive the Nora and Victor relationship we last saw on the show, no matter what -- but the quality here isn’t up to the book’s normal level. Given the expectation of Mr. Freeze stories being something special, it’s even more disappointing.
So that’s all for now. Until next time, check out the G. I. Joe novels I wrote for the Kindle Worlds project for free over at Smashwords.