Our columnist expresses shock and joy (though mostly shock) at what he found within DC’s latest Batman animated offering.
By Seun Odukoya
As much as I love The Caped Crusader (if you do not know who that is, maybe you shouldn’t go any further), I do not consider myself his #1 fan. If an actual ‘top fans list’ was created, I don’t think I would be in the first hundred, or even two hundred. Honestly. I say this because the only Batman merch I own are comics and maybe a t-shirt/hoodie or two. I do not own a single action figure (a friend gave me one once, but it vanished from my house) I do own a miniature Batmobile and a grapnel, but that’s about it. But I digress.
While I may not own any other Batman stuff, I own quite a bit of his books. And I have read quite a bit more. I said all that to say this: rarely have I consumed Batman material in recent times that surprised me. Impressed me? Oh, for sure. Engaged and inspired me? Definitely. Surprised me? Not so much. ‘Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham’ animated movie surprised me.
I said all that to say this: rarely have I consumed Batman material in recent times that surprised me.
The title is a reference to ‘The Doom That Came To Sarnath’, a story by HP Lovecraft, the creator of the Cthulhu mythos (do not bite your tongue trying to pronounce that). Now, I read the comics years ago. I had a bit of Mike Mignola fever at the time, brought on by Hellboy. I consumed all the Mignola material I could find. I didn’t enjoy ‘The Doom’ much, however. Possibly because I am not a fan of Cthulhu mythos and the particular story’s ending was depressing. I’d hoped that would be changed in the animated film.
No such luck. Still, I did enjoy the cartoon a lot more than I expect to, so much that I watched it twice in as many days. It’s a simple premise: Scientist Oswald Cobblepot (mind blown) disappears while exploring the Antarctic, and Bruce Wayne is somehow tracking him despite having not been in Gotham for twenty years. Bruce is not alone: Dick Grayson, Sanjay Tawde, and Kai Lin Cain, his adopted kids – and of course, the ever-present Alfred, are all with him. They find Cobblepot shipwrecked and his crew dead. A naked figure surrounded by some birds appears over the horizon and Bruce follows. What he finds is the last of Cobblepot’s crew, a man named Grendon, digging at a huge mound, with some beast behind it. After a skirmish with some mutated birds, Bruce destroys the mound with dynamite and carries an apparently dead Grendon back to Gotham.
‘The Doom That Came To Gotham’ is a lot of fun. One of my favorite things about Batman is how malleable the character’s mythos is. I can write a Batman story in 3AD Yorubaland, and it would just be business as usual for the Dark Knight.
While reading through Cobblepot’s journal, he finds clues that allude to a cult he was already investigating, a society with ancient ties to Gotham. They get to Gotham and are welcomed into Wayne Manor by Kirk Langstrom’s corpse and surprise guest Jason Blood, coming to deliver three cryptic prophesies. And then, all hell breaks loose. The doom does come to Gotham.
‘The Doom That Came To Gotham’ is a lot of fun. One of my favorite things about Batman is how malleable the character’s mythos is. I can write a Batman story in 3AD Yorubaland and it would just be business as usual for the Dark Knight. Not a lot of characters are that fluid. I mean, Cobblepot a scientist? Take my money now!
A good chunk of Batman’s rogue’s gallery gets reimagined: Killer Croc is a mindless monster in the thrall of Talia al Ghul who is eviller, more bloodthirsty, and more loyal to her father than her pre-New 52 version. Ra’s al Ghul is a mystical guru/Rasputin lookalike who seeks to restore the ancient Snake civilization to their former glory. Oliver Queen is a hard-drinking, spoilt playboy who is Bruce’s best friend but is hiding some deep, dark secret from said best friend. Gordon is Gordon, and Barbara Gordon is a hard-drinking Oracle – literally. Harvey Dent is Harvey…as in, somehow, he is always Two-Faced.
Of course, the voice cast is excellent as always. Batfans know; no one can replace the legendary Kevin Conroy when it comes to that voice. However, David Giuntoli’s performance is not bad at all, considering he had already voiced Batman once before in Soul of the Dragon. Tati Gabrielle is Kati Li Cain, Brian George is Alfred, Christopher Gorham is Oliver Queen, Emily O’Brien plays Talia al Ghul, Navid Negahban is Ra’s, William Salyers is Cobblepot, Gideon Adlon plays Oracle, John DiMaggio is James Gordon, and Patrick Fabian is Harvey Dent.
Selina Kyle is conspicuously missing – but it’s a good thing. There’s still quite a lot to explore in Batman’s world without a love interest. The Joker is also missing, but his absence I applauded. That is a character I’m tired of, with every Batman live-action director eager to put their own spin on the character. But again, I digress. ‘The Doom That Came To Gotham’ closes out at 126 minutes (plus credits), and is worth every minute of that viewing time. Batman hardly fails to deliver, and this is another solid entry into that catalogue.
Odukoya lives and writes in Lagos.
