Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's seventy-seventh installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, we're returning to Batman: The Animated Series. In fact, we're beginning what I hope to be a multi-part series, shining a light on an underrated piece of that canon. I was planning on starting that series with this episode, which was also suggested to me by Gravity Falls Poland on Twitter.

Debuting on May 16, 1994 is "Trial," an episode written by the classic team of Paul Dini & Bruce Timm, and directed by Dan Riba. "Trial" has two things going for it. It's the episode everyone remembers for featuring all of the major Bat-villains, staging a show trial for Batman. "Trial" is also the episode that began life as the animated Batman film.

Reportedly, the expanded version of the story would've featured detailed flashbacks to each villain's origin. Through their retellings, the viewer would understand why Batman is "to blame" for their life of crime. Ultimately, the producers went in a different direction. For one thing, these origins had already been told in the animated series. Sure, it'd be nice to see the stories animated with the increased film budget. But why use your movie to recycle old ideas? It's also been reported producer Alan Burnett felt the plot lacked the emotional depth necessary for a film.

Burnett pitched the idea that eventually led to Mask of the Phantasm. You're not likely to find a living Batman fan who doesn't hold that movie in high esteem. So, it looks as if everything worked out in the end.

Batman Mask of the Phantasm

The tightly-plotted episode establishes its premise within a few minutes. DA Janet Van Dorn is frustrated that so many of Batman's foes are sentenced to rehabilitation instead of prison. (Being apprehended by a vigilante instead of the police apparently tying the court's hands.) She declares Batman "a drug" the police keep taking to avoid dealing with the real issue.

Janet's premise is one often repeated since the days of the more "adult" '80s comics. The garish supervillains wouldn't exist without a man in a bat costume inspiring them. And, really, is this guy in a cape any more sane than the loon dressed like a scarecrow?

Dini and Timm cut through this cynical reading of the concept rather quickly. Both Batman and Janet are kidnapped, and the Arkham inmates declare Janet must defend Batman in their own kangaroo court. Janet's now forced to present a view she doesn't believe -- to prove Batman isn't responsible for escalating Gotham's madness.

Her cross-examinations quickly expose the villains for what they are. Poison Ivy is filled with murderous rage over the plucking of a flower. Mad Hatter declares he would've killed his crush Alice rather than respect her wishes. (A brutal reading of the Hatter's rather sympathetic origin episode. Which was also written by Dini.)

The climax of the episode has the Arkham jury reaching a surprise verdict. Not guilty. But they're going to kill him anyway. Showing rather remarkable (and, to be honest, implausible) restraint, the villains wait until now to unmask Batman. It's Janet who acts as the hero, using the batarang she's palmed to knock out the lights. Batman, who's apparently waited until the most dramatic moment possible, slips free of his straightjacket.

Are Batman's foes any threat against him in the dark? Of course not. And just as many are taken out by their fellow inmates as Batman. Order is restored in Arkham, and Janet acknowledges there is a place for Batman in Gotham.

"Trial" is a fan-favorite episode. With good reason. But there's another tale of the animated Batman facing the assembled villains of Arkham. Unfortunately, many Batman: The Animated Series fans aren't aware of it. (Recently, the Watchtower Database channel devoted a video to this great series.)

RELATED: Those Batman: The Animated Series Figures Prove It's Time For a Relaunch

"No Asylum" is the  debut issue of the second Batman Adventures volume. Ty Templeton returned as writer (alternating issues with Dan Slott), along with Rick Burchett, one of the finest artists to work in the "animated" style. Bruce Timm provided the first issue's cover.

The premise of this Adventures volume was actually a stretch for the series. The Adventures book built a reputation for solid, one-issue stories anyone could read, unencumbered from any continuity. This volume is all about continuity! Not the obsessive, exclusionary kind. But the brand of continuity that made superhero comics a unique storytelling platform. Stories that build with each issue, individual chapters that add up over time, creating a new mythology.

"No Asylum" serves as a mission statement that this is not the Adventures of old. The opening page introduces us to the Penguin as Gotham's mayor, smashing the Bat-signal and ordering Commissioner Gordon around.

NEXT PAGE: Batman Suddenly and Surprisingly Goes on the Lam

The new status quo has Batman a fugitive of the law, facing both the GCPD and his rogues gallery. The circumstances of the Penguin's victory are a mystery at this stage. They're not alone in this.

The first issue teases numerous advances in the continuity. Alfred now uses a cane. Poison Ivy is seemingly immortal. Two-Face is now actively a good guy if  his coin lands the right way. The Joker is barely coherent, thanks to electroshock therapy. It's as if there was an entire season of the show the audience missed out on, yet Templeton never allows the reader to feel lost.

The plot has Batman foiling an attack on Arkham Asylum. A nice use of continuity (and mystery), has Ra's al Ghul's Society of Shadows targeting the facility. Their motive is unclear, but we do know Ivy is to be "the first" and Two-Face "the second." Batman foils their attack, but the GCPD's intervention enables the assassins to escape.

Every inmate is given a brief character moment, such as Harley's indignant reaction to Ivy's apparent immortality. (She's upset Ivy hasn't revealed this to her. Harley thinks, like getting a tattoo, this is something you tell a friend.) Templeton and Burchett are even loyal to the New Adventures' mysterious redesign of Scarecrow, refusing to show his face unmasked.

The Society's attack leaves a massive hole in Arkham. Sound familiar? It's a nod to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker's brutal flashback sequence. And a nice summary of the book. A love letter by DCAU fans for DCAU fans.

THE WRAP -UP

DESIGN-Y

If you love those "Batman in shadow" shots, this episode has you covered. A sequence that has Batman facing Arkham inmates in the dark also provides some cool shadowy shots of Joker and Harley in half-silhouette.

CONTINUITY NOTES

There's a major continuity moment here, as Harley for the first time references her past as a psychiatrist at Arkham. When conceived, the character had no origin. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm essentially dreamed one up as the series went along, which culminated in the Mad Love comic.

A less significant nod to continuity also occurs, when Killer Croc proposes attacking Batman with a giant rock.

HEY, I [HYPOTHETICALLY] KNOW THAT VOICE

Scarecrow is present throughout the episode, but has no dialogue. Apparently, his lines had to be cut due to actor Henry Polic's throat surgery. It's possible the (now mute) Riddler's voice actor was also unavailable. Or perhaps the budget couldn't accommodate so many featured players.

After previously voicing Janet Van Dorn in "Shadow of the Bat," M*A*S*H* actress Lynette Mettey is replaced by Stephanie Zimbalist. And Zimbalist is in fact the daughter of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., the voice of Alfred.

LOOK AT US. WE'RE ALL FREAKS AND MONSTERS.

Two stories of Batman facing the assembled horde of Arkham. Neither exists for the same purpose. "Trial" is a solid idea for an episode, but isn't a reinvention for the series. It's fun to see the larger cast together for once, and to have Dini/Timm dismiss one of the popular deconstruction arguments of the era.

"Trial" perhaps suffers from being a little too in Batman's corner, actually. Pitting Batman against a DA who fundamentally disapproves of his existence has great dramatic potential. Potential we'll never see, because the episode has her opinion of Batman totally inverted by the ending. And, with that, DA Janet Van Dorn disappears. Keeping her around as a sometimes ally/sometimes antagonist might've been a better use of the character.

RELATED: When Batman: The Animated Series Went 'Adult' (No, Not That Way)

"No Asylum" is far more ambitious. It's telling the audience to forget what they think they know about tie-in books. Heck, to change their thinking on the continuity-lite approach of Batman: The Animated Series in the first place. Actions have consequences, mysteries will build, and there's no guarantee of "illusion of change." And purists will surely notice Batman's specifically wearing the costume from the Justice League series. The reader can, very easily, view these comics as the "lost" season of Batman airing simultaneously with Justice League. A clever decision, and as we'll see, just another indication of the care that went into this series.

So that’s all for now. If you have any suggestions for the future, just leave a comment or contact me on Twitter. You can also check out my new comics-inspired novel for free over at Amazon!