Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's seventy-second installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, we're revisiting one of the unique tropes of Batman: The Animated Series -- the street-level gangster story. Then, a later issue of the tie-in comic that treads similar ground.

It's still surprising something like "It's Never Too Late" aired as network kids' programming. Not necessarily because the content is graphic, although a key point plot does involve a teenager addicted to drugs and his ruptured family. Or, for its acknowledgement of religion, as a priest also plays a significant role in the plot.

No, "It's Never Too Late" stands out because it's just so street-level. Not gritty, necessarily, but real in its own way. As real as a story involving a vigilante in a bat costume could be. Actually, Batman is often a bystander here. He hardly appears in the first act.

There had to be some trepidation about this episode from the network, I'm guessing. A slow-paced episode that barely features Batman, centering on an aging mobster who's convinced his son has been kidnapped, only to discover he's in detox? Did kids really want to see this?

Well, years later, Kids WB! (the show's future home) will explicitly say "no." The grounded, realistic episodes were retired in favor of more colorful, action-filled plots. FOX deserves credit for allowing the show to present such a variety of material. Ultra kid-friendly episodes like "I've Got Batman in my Basement." Violent action epics like "Joker's Wild." And, here, quiet character pieces starring fringe players in the canon. And this is only the sixth episode of the show!

"It's Never Too Late" comes from writer Tom Ruegger and director Boyd Kirkland. Given the lack of super-villainy and large set pieces, this easily could've been visually disappointing. Instead, Kirkland, along with Japanese animation studio Spectrum, present something compelling and stylish. Spectrum, famously, consisted of ex-TMS employees who'd departed to start their own company. (TMS is a legendary studio in its own right.) Apparently, they spent so much time and money on each job they had to close up shop. Their most famous contribution is "Heart of Ice," the Mr. Freeze episode many consider to be the show's greatest. This episode isn't on that level, but it's one of the best looking in this early batch.

The episode opens during the climax of a gang war between rival Gotham City bosses Arnold Stromwell and Rupert Thorne. Stromwell's convinced Thorne kidnapped his son. Thorne's actually innocent, but views Stromwell's frantic mental state as an easily exploitable weakness. As the episode progresses, Batman intervenes, revealing to Stromwell his son is actually in detox, a victim of the drugs Stromwell's flooded into Gotham.

Stromwell refuses to accept this reality, turning on Batman even as he attempts to protect him from Thorne's attacks. The story has two flashback sequences to Stromwell's youth, revealing a terrifying incident at the train tracks. We're led to believe Stromwell's brother Michael actually died on the tracks, only to later learn he in fact survived--but lost one of his legs when saving Arnold's life. The other stunning revelation is that the priest Batman's been consulting this episode, the one charged with looking after Arnold, is actually the kid brother from the flashbacks.

Well, perhaps the average kid at home didn't find the revelation so stunning. Very likely, he wanted Joker or Clayface to finally show up and bring some real action. But it's an ambitiously adult story, "adult" in a way most stories claiming that title simply aren't. ("Adult" today apparently means uncensored f-bombs and exposing Batman's penis. Or making "Killing Joke" even more graphic.)

NEXT PAGE: DC's Batman Adventures Comic Keeps the Adult Themes Coming

In October 1999, the tie-in comic Gotham Adventures #17 returned to the theme of organized crime "families." Actually, several of writer Scott Peterson's issues continue the tradition of small-scale crime stories.

(Reader Gravity Falls Poland suggested I tie this episode in with another issue. Gotham Adventures #55 features two mobsters who've kidnapped the other's wife.) Kids WB! didn't want this stuff, but the tie-in comic kept that aspect of the mythos alive.

Unlike "It's Never Too Late," Peterson's story "Daddy Dearest" opens cold with Bat-action. Penciler Tim Levins excels at the cartoonier aspects of the book, but his action scenes are also solid.

After tidying up the hitmen, Batman's confronted with a mystery. They've been ordered to invade the home of an unassuming immigrant family. And their boss, Enrico Zarelli, is adamant the family's college-age son not be harmed. Why is young Nicky Argonas so important? His family is clean, and Nicky spends all of his time either at work or school.

Batman seeks answers from the source, invading Zarelli's mansion. After Zarelli recounts the mob attack that left him in a wheelchair, he explains the truth:

Now, Batman's left with a new dilemma. Should Nicky learn his biological father is a mobster? Should the crimeboss be allowed access to Nicky? Given that Zarelli will likely draft Nicky into crime, Batman doesn't see a clear answer. However, as Batman tells Nightwing, "I can't deny a father and son the chance to know each other."

Batman facilitates the meeting. Zarelli offers hardscrabble Nicky a new life. Nicky stays true to the man he's always believed to be his father, rejecting ill-gotten gains. If Zarelli were truly a monster, this could mean the end for Nicky.

However, Zarelli shows mercy. And, conveniently in time to wrap this all up, Batman assures Nightwing (and the reader) that Zarelli's sincere. Retiring to his study, under a painting of his parents, Batman reflects on Zarelli, "one who knows what it means to lose everything." This basic idea could've worked with any superhero, but Peterson has a knack for making his plots feel specifically like Batman stories.

THE WRAP -UP

DESIGN-Y

All of the explosions in Spectrum episodes are amazing. This easily could've been visual oatmeal, but those exploding buildings are beautiful.

CONTINUITY NOTES

Stromwell doesn't appear in the series again...in the present day. He is in the flashbacks in "Robin's Reckoning," however.

OVER THE KIDDIES' HEADS

It's very possible this episode was inspired by the movie Angels With Dirty Faces. The 1938 James Cagney film is about childhood friends who later become a mobster and a priest. A train also plays a pivotal role in a moment from their youth. Additionally, Batman taking Stromwell on a tour of his past evokes Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

ONE SOUL I WISH I COULD GIVE UP ON

Nothing particularly flashy in either of these stories, but both are memorable. "Too Late" ponders the question of redemption, if a soul long corrupted can make amends with his family. "Daddy Dearest" explores the depths even a villain will go to protect his family. Both play with the audience in a way, establishing mysteries and slowly giving out answers. And, possibly, neither truly works with the target demo.

Kids are much smarter than adults give them credit for, however. It's one thing to establish organized crime as a part of your hero's world. To work in an anti-drug message naturally into the story. It's another to present the villain "flooding the streets with poison" as a real person. A human with flaws, who must repent, but also someone worth saving. Hopefully, more than a few kids picked up on the theme. The tie-in comic could've produced simplified kiddie fare, brainless action comics that exploited the look of the show but little else. Thankfully, the creative team recognized what was special about Batman, crafting stories worthy of the source material.

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 some of my fiction writing for free over at Smashwords.