From: moriarty@tc.fluke.COM (The Napoleon of Crime)
Subject: BTAS: The Laughing Fish (spoilers!)
Keywords: BTAS
Organization: The Institute for Criminal Science, Gizmonics Control
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 04:14:42 GMT

Spoilers Ahoy


Well, if Paul Dini's going to steal plots from old Batman comix, at least
he's got excellent taste.  This episode *merged* two of my favorite Batman
stories: Steve Englehart and Marshall Roger's "Joker Fish" story (I believe
it was the last of their famous "Silver St. Cloud" arc), and Denny O'Neil
and Neal Adams visually beautiful and atmospheric "Night of the Joker" (I
believe that was the title), where Batman runs into the Joker in the
aquarium, and meets a great white shark face-to-face.  

The first half of the show, with the Joker Fish, Joker's attempts to
copyright his face on the fish, and his two attempts at assassinating the
patent office officials, are taken point-by-point from the comic -- some of
the lines are taken straight from the comic.  The major difference is that
Batman saves them from dying from the Smilin' Joker toxin in this episode,
where they die in the comix.  

The second half mainly incorporates some of the most memorable images from
Neal Adams' artwork in the "Night of the Joker" story -- particularly the
wandering through the darkened aquarium, and the illumination of both the
Joker and the great white by the flashlight (and the Joker's subsequent
comment on their resemblance).  One of my very favorite Batman images, and
certainly some of Adams' best artwork.

Other bits are pure Dini: the commercial for Joker fish ("AND THEY'RE
CHOLESTEROL FREE"), some of the Joker/Harley Quinn back-and-forth, Alfred's
crack about dining in, and the various puking and pre-puking comments --
actually, some pretty good stuff there.

I use "steal" advisedly; since these original stories were written and drawn
for DC by Englehart, Rogers, O'Neil and Adams as work-for-hire, I doubt they
have much legal claim to getting credit for having their stories adapted to
BTAS.  However, the series has given credit to adapted works before
(O'Neil's "Crime Alley" story, for one), they could have shown a little
class and squeezed these four names in somewhere.

Other thingies: George Dzunda playing Mr. Francis, the head patent clerk!
Dzunda's one of my favorite character actors; and like Ed Begley before him,
I never would have guessed it was him from the voice.  (Like Begley, he was
playing against type.  Ah, the joys of animation.)  The artwork was so-so;
outside of the assault on the aquarium, I was (as usual) impressed with the
layouts more than the quality of the animation.  Liked the Art Deco Batman
Driver. 

                           DAVE BARRY'S 1992 IN REVIEW -- July 10th
                              "Eric Sevareid goes to heaven, where he will
                               be constantly mistaken for God."
---
                                        Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
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