Welcome to a special edition of Adventure(s) Time, looking back on animated heroes of the past. Or, in this case, fiendish foes of the past.

Aside from being a great show, Batman: The Animated Series was conceived as a means of sustaining Batman merchandising between film releases. Ice cream treats, Happy Meal toys, bedsheets, action figures…Bruce Timm’s designs graced them all. Batman also appeared in numerous videogames of the era, specifically in animated form.

Going Out With A Bang (Maybe?)

In 2003, years after the series’ end, Ubisoft produced Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. Perhaps the final piece of original TAS merchandising. And even though he never worked on the series, Jim Lee’s participation in Sin Tzu’s creation became the game’s major selling point.

Lee was relatively new to DC's heroes in 2003, with a best-selling Batman run still fresh in people’s minds. Determined to further cement the idea of “Jim Lee = DC” (really not so different from their current strategy), Lee’s name was attached to the project with no shortage of publicity. An all-new Batman videogame, featuring a hot new villain from the imagination of comics superstar Jim Lee! Set in the animated universe because…sure, why not?

A Comic Turned Cartoon Turned Videogame Turned Novel

Reviewing a licensed videogame’s story, especially a beat-em-up’s, is faintly ridiculous. Luckily, there’s another artifact from 2003. Rise of Sin Tzu earned, of all things, a novelization to promote the game’s launch. (You can watch a collection of the game’s cut scenes here, by the way. Maybe not a "lost episode," but still fun to watch.) And don't confuse this with a slim release rushed out to the kids’ section, with more pages of art than prose. Coming in at just under 300 pages, we have an earnestly written novel, an actual adult novel. The format's the same as any Stephen King or Dean Koontz paperback.

Adapting screenwriter Flint Dille’s game script to prose is Devin Grayson, a talent DC took a considerable investment in during the early 2000s. Grayson is famous for falling in love with Batman through the animated series, even calling DC’s offices one day and asking how to land a writing job.

This love for the Batman mythos is evident throughout the novel. The prose deviates from the game’s plot as often as possible in order to provide some inner monologue or lengthy backstory on a member of the Bat-family. Avoiding the standard videogame plot structure would be essential for writing a novel, and the way Grayson dances around it is interesting to watch.

Grinding A Story Out Of A Beat 'em Up

And what is the plot of Rise of Sin Tzu? It’s mostly an excuse for Batman (and a second player) to beat on waves of bad guys. The novel’s ability to shove this to the side is pretty impressive. The premise has the all-knowing, all-powerful immortal known as Sin Tzu turning his attention to Batman. Determined to prove himself the better of the vigilante, he’s arranged to have himself admitted to Arkham Asylum. It’s merely the first stage of his plan. (As Tzu says, the authorities can’t tell a supervillain from a terrorist from a genuine psychopath.)

On the night of the anniversary of Bruce Wayne’s parents’ murder, he makes his move. The residents of Stonegate Prison and Arkham flood the streets, placing not only Gotham, but Batman’s adoptive family in danger. Having studied the residents of Arkham, Sin Tzu selects his lieutenants. Clayface, Scarecrow, and Bane play roles in the scheme, often unwittingly.

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The Novel's True Inspiration

The novel's far less interested in the waves of sprites Batman has to beat up than in justifying how the patients/prisoners were released this night. And before we even get to the jailbreak, we have numerous chapters of Bruce Wayne’s loved ones reflecting on the man, or providing copious details about their own backstories.

The early 2000s interpretation of Batman serves as an obvious inspiration for Grayson’s prose. Reinforcing the idea that the Dark Knight is simply unknowable, every chapter is narrated by someone who isn’t Batman. Only the final few pages come from Bruce's point of view. There’s no shortage of talk about Bruce sacrificing everything for Gotham, living in constant pain, always remaining at a distance, etc. The later days of New Batman Adventures leaned in this direction, but never took the concept as far as the comics. As a writer of the contemporary comics, Grayson embraces the mysterious, tortured angle in a way that doesn’t entirely fit this canon.

Make Your Own Double Entendre

Another element of the contemporary comics that sneaks into the novel is the outright fetishization of Nightwing. You’d think Grayson had her own Geocities fanfic page devoted to the character, the way she obsesses over Dick Grayson. Seriously, most of the evocative language in the book is spent praising Dick. His pulsating muscles, rapier wit, the way his tights hug his perfect body...she does go on. Who could resist this “clever little boy, mischievously bantering about insults”? Those “long, lean muscles rippling under his skintight costume.” His “supple and acrobatic” movements, belonging to a face with one of the “most stunning grins” you’ll ever see.

And any character in the proximity of Nightwing is just overwhelmed by his unique boyish-yet-masculine charms. This is more amusing than irritating, but it’s very much a testament to early ‘00s fan culture. I don’t know if DC was aware of just how severely the fanbase had sexualized Dick Grayson, pre-Internet. But, by 2003, there it is in an official published novelization.

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For Completists Only?

Grayson’s strength here lies in the character work. Sin Tzu, convincingly, is more than a final boss figure. (And let’s not forget Flint Dille, who co-created Sin Tzu and also aided in his portrayal in the novel.) Actually, a ridiculous amount of thought was placed into adding depth to this guy, the final villain of a button-mashing beat-em-up. It’s essential for crafting a novel, if not a videogame, however. Any chance to cut away from the action, Grayson takes it. Heck, Batman’s climatic battle with Bane is literally less than two pages. The entire chapter is from the point of view of a flunky recruited by Bane. The focus is therefore the guy’s life story, not the big fight.

This character work is admirable, and preferable to countless pages recounting videogame action. It does derail whatever momentum the story tries to build, however. One page has us horrified at the thought of criminals flooding the streets. On the next, we begin a multi-page sequence detailing the entire life story of Alfred Pennyworth. Consequently, the pacing is just odd.

Acknowledging that complaint, the novel remains an enjoyable read. It’s clearly written with a deep affection for the cast, and contains a depth most wouldn’t expect from a videogame adaptation. The best superhero novels are able to use the prose format to flesh out the world of the protagonist. Grayson certainly succeeds in this. For fans of this era of Batman, it’s worth hunting down.

So that’s all for now. If you have suggestions for future entries just leave a comment or find me on Twitter.