World Famous Comics: Batman Adventures: The Lost Years (The Batman Adventures)
Batman Adventures: The Lost Years (The Batman Adventures)
By: Hilary Bader, Bo Hampton Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 118 Publication Date: 1999-02 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Studio: DC Comics
Product Description: Spanning the gap between the animated series The Batman and Robin Adventures and the current Batman: Gotham Adventures, these stories detail many changes as Dick Grayson quits being Robin to take on the new heroic guise of Nightwing, young Tim Drake becomes the new Robin, and Batgirl becomes a frequent guest in the Batcave. Also featuring the Joker and Two-Face!
Nightwing fans, pick this up now! ^ The Lost Years fills in the gap between the original animated series and the new adventures. It is quite hard to find and I was really excited to get my hands on it. The first thing that I noticed is that it was a lot thinner than I expected. It's 5 comic books long which isn't too terribly short, I know, but didn't a lot more happen in between? Especially considering that two of the books in here were adapted into episodes "Old Wounds" (Dick quits being Robin) and "Sins of the Father" (the introduction of Tim as Robin), it makes it feel even shorter. Not to say that those comics aren't good, they even add a few things to the story that we never saw before.
The rest of the book is great. It all focuses on Dick soul searching from one continent to the next learning as much as he can, similar to Bruce many years ago. His travels take him many places including Brazil, Santo de la Rosa, Asia, Tibet, Mindaluaki, and the Himalayas learning how to become "invisible", how to fight what he can't see, and he learns how to "fly". He even crosses paths with familiar foes along the way, but I won't spoil it for you.
I really loved the stories that focused on Dick and his training, I just wish there had been more of it. Other than that, I can't complain and it was a great addition to the DCAU Batman continuity. Hunt this one down, especially if you're a Nightwing fan, who did not get enough screen time in the series.
A good story that answers some big questions. ^ This paperback details the "Animated" Batman continuity's missing period, the time between the Batman and Robin (and occasional ally Batgirl) period and the Batman/Batgirl/Nightwing/new Robin period.
After reading this volume, fans will know why Barbara and Dick stopped being an item, how Batgirl and Batman learned each other's identities, why and how Robin left Batman's side to become Nightwing, how Batgirl replaced Robin as Batman's partner, and how a new Robin emerged on Batman's team.
The only real questions that go unanswered are (1) How much did Batman train Batgirl, (2) Where did Batgirl's new costume come from, and (3) what were Batman's feelings during the many changes that took place in this book?
Still, the story is fun and interesting and moves very quickly. A good, fun read for Batman fans.
Great concise retelling of Batman mythos ^ THE BATMAN ADVENTURES: THE LOST YEARS collects the full five-issue THE BAMTAN ADVENTURES: THE LOST YEARS comic magazine miniseries.
This story bridges the five-year gap between the end of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (Fox) and the start of THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES (Kids' WB!). Some of these plot points were told or alluded to in episodes of THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES or BATMAN BEYOND but they didn't go in depth as much as this book does.
THE LOST YEARS tells how Batgirl became an official part of Batman's team; Dick Grayson dropped his Robin persona, left Batman, and became Nightwing; and how Tim Drake became Robin. In the "real" comic book continuity, these events were sloppily spread out over dozens of years and creators, with filler all over the place. Here, Hilary Bader and the animated team tell the story in a much more satisfying, concise, and kid-friendly fashion, in 128 pages.
Forget your preconceptions of Hilary Bader -- here, she is gold. Hampton and Beatty are at the top of their form, and, of course, Ty Templeton's covers are always welcome.
My only problem is with the physical book: the paper is cheap and the cover's pretty wobbly. But this shouldn't be a problem for any kid or adult who reads this superb story.
Enjoy! // koby c.
P.S. If you like the animated style: Also reprinting the animated comic books are THE BATMAN ADVENTURES, BATMAN: DARK KNIGHT ADVENTURES, and BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES, and the Harvey and Eisner award-winning BATMAN ADVENTURES: MAD LOVE. You can pick up BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES monthly at your neighborhood comic shop. The animated cartoons I mentioned above are now on CARTOON NETWORK, except for BATMAN BEYOND, which is still on Kids' WB! Saturday mornings and in production as of this writing.
Ties up loose ends in excellent fashion. ^ This is not just an outstanding re-telling of "The New Batman Adventures" episodes "Old Wounds" and "Sins of the Father." It has SO much background information that this is a definite must-have for any fan of the series. The art and writing are great and makes me wish they'd have made this entire story into an hour-long episode. There are things in this book I'd never thought of watching the show and you can tell a lot of care and time went into this book. Congratulations to all involved!
For Fans of the Series, A Must Have ^ Three years after the final five episodes of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN aired, a new Batman series came about as part of the NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES, but a lot was missing from the story of the new animated series which is told in THE LOST YEARS. The reason for the disolving of Batman and the original Robin's (Dick Grayson) partnership is given, as well as the formation of the partnership between Batman and Batgirl. This book prints the story of the years that Dick Grayson spent away from Gothom City, and how he found his identity as Nightwing. This also retells the orgin of the new Robin (Tim Drake). Villans such as the Joker, Two-Face, and Ra's Ahl Guhl make appearences. There is additional material to the parts that are adapted from animation and most of the material of THE LOST YEARS is new and should be enjoyed by fans of the KID'S WB cartoon.
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