Being a Batman fan – (I haven’t read any Batman comics, but I have watched all the movies, followed the old TV series and have read a lot about him) one question that has intrigued me for sometime now is “Who is Batman’s one true love?”. Behind that famous and heroic mask of a vigilante, there’s a man with a great heart. And with great heart comes true love…
A lot of ladies were romantically linked to Batman/Bruce Wayne and as far as I can remember, the more familiar names in the long list include Vicki Vale*^, Catwoman*^, Dr. Chase Meridian*, Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy*^, Julie Madison*, Rachel Dawes*, Andrea Beaumont^, Wonder Woman^, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl^, Zatanna^, Kathy Duquesne^, Dana Tan^ and Lois Lane^ (yes, you read it right…the Man of Steel’s lady love). From the comics, there’s also this storyline that Batman became involved with Talia al Ghul, daughter of Batman’s enemy, the super villain Ra’s al Ghul. She later bore him his son, Damian. Though Batman tries very hard to project a very different image than that of Bruce Wayne’s in order to protect his true identity, it seems that Batman somehow displayed Bruce Wayne’s playboy side.
Of all these women, it is has been said that it is only with Catwoman (aka Selina Kyle) that the Dark Knight became passionately involved and really in love with. He sees himself in her – another creature with a dark past, prowling the roofs of Gotham City in the night. This relationship has been “documented” in the comics, cartoons, and in the movies.
The Birds of Prey is loosely based on DC Comics series of the same title. The Joker is long acknowledged to be Batman’s greatest nemesis. For years, a “secret” war has been waged every night in Gotham/ New Gotham City between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime. On the fateful night of their final battle, the Dark Knight emerged victorious. Joker took revenge on Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) and one of Batman’s protégé’, Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl). The Joker ordered the killing of Selina Kyle. He also shot Barbara Gordon on the head, paralyzing her waist down, thus forcing her to give up her Batgirl persona. These events affected Batman deeply, especially the death of his one true love - Selina Kyle. Bruce Wayne gave up the mantle of the Bat and went into seclusion, never knowing that his passion with Selina resulted in a metahuman (superhuman) daughter, Helena Kyle. He eventually made her the heir to the vast Wayne riches, which she rejects thinking that her father left her and her mother when she was young.
The series/story starts with Barbara teaming up with the Helena fighting crime and injustice to help the innocent and the helpless. Barbara is now known as Oracle and Helena goes by the name Huntress. A third member soon joined them, Dinah Lance.
Dina Meyer plays Oracle. She is a school teacher by day and is the leader of the group. A master (cyber) hacker with access to almost anything and everything in New Gotham City, she usually calls the shots, sitting on her hi-tech wheel chair from the group’s secret lair, the New Gotham Clock Tower. She is depicted as very intelligent and methodical just like Batman. Ashley Scott portrays Huntress. A half-metahuman, Helena does all the dirty work of crime fighting. She’s is shown to be hard-headed and adventurous, just like when Batman was starting as a young nameless vigilante. Rachel Skarsten is Dinah Lance. She is the runaway metahuman daughter of the legendary Black Canary. She has psycho kinesis abilities and is understandably immature and inexperienced. Barbara and Helena take her in to train and develop her powers. Mia Sara plays Dr. Harleen Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn). She is The Joker’s one-time lover and protégé. She plans to avenge The Joker’s loss and takeover New Gotham City for herself. And of course, there’s the ever lovable, loyal and witty Alfred Pennyworth, played here by Ian Abercrombie. He’s still the butler of the Wayne family, and in Bruce Wayne’s absence he transfers his services to all three heroines.
The series offers several interesting sub-plots. Two key sub-plots are the romance between Huntress and a detective with a dark past like her, and that of between Barbara and a fellow teacher. Another important sub-plot is concept of metahumans - individuals born with powers that cannot be explained. The show introduces several of these characters. No two metahumans have the same specific ability (or set of abilities) and there exists a whole sub culture of metahuman society that the outside world knows nothing about.
But more importantly, the series is able to show the difficult problems and choices each heroine must face in fighting crime and how they help each other in dealing with those problems. The series is successful in showing the human side of a hero. Sadly, the series was cancelled after only one season (13 episodes) despite having a big fan base.
Lastly, if you’re a Batman fan like me, you might be disappointed with Batman’s small appearance(s) in this series. You’ll only see him during his limited action sequence in the pilot episode and during the brief intro of each episode. However, there are other interesting highlights to watch out for in the series. First, the way Helena “appear” (and “disappear”) will certainly remind you of his father’s stealth abilities. Next, you’ll like the “new Bat Computer”, here called Delphi. Then, you’ll also see Barbara Gordon donning the Batgirl costume and fight in the same way as her mentor. Lastly, you’ll enjoy the way the three heroines fight the bad guys in the season finale. With the way Barbara and Dinah smashing into the Clock Tower (which was captured by Harley Quinn and her goons) clinging to a rope, this will certainly remind you of good old Batman and Robin. Watch out also for the song playing in the background during the fight sequence that followed. It’s cool!
So, did the series answer the question above? We’ll, yes it did…from to the intro “Legend tells of a caped crusader - Batman, guardian of New Gotham, and his one true love – Catwoman…”
However, the sad part is…
“In all my years serving Master Bruce, do you know what he told me was his biggest regret? That he never found someone with whom he could share his life…” - Alfred Pennyworth, talking to Barbara Gordon, Ep12
For legal and practical reasons (they’re big), I can’t post the episodes here. (But I can send you torrent file that I used to download them. =) )
* - movies
^ - cartoons
*^ - movies and cartoons
Sources:
http://www.gothamclocktower.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.imdb.com/
http://www.dccomics.com/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment