TITLE: “…And Be a Villain”
EPISODE DETAILS: Season 1/Episode 2
AIR DATE: Thursday, August 1, 2024
WRITERS: Greg Rucka
DIRECTOR: Matt Peters
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: When a glamorous movie star disappears, Batman and Detective Montoya find themselves tangled up in the dark web of a mysterious avenger haunting the sound stages.
CAST: Hamish Linklater as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Dan Donohoe as Basil Karlo/Clayface, Diedrich Bader as Harvey Dent. Krystal Joy Brown as Barbara Gordon, John DiMaggio as Harvey Bullock, Eric Morgan Stuart as James Gordon, Jason Watkins as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Anthony Williams as Arnold Flass, Lacey Chabert as Yvonne Francis, Bumper Robinson as Lucius Fox

REVIEW

This episode just might be my favorite of Season 1.

“…And Be a Villain” is an old-school whodunit detective story that pays homage to the Gold Age of Hollywood and the classic Universal Pictures Monster Movies (especially PHANTOM OF THE OPERA). While it leans heavily into the original incarnation of  Clayface that first appeared in DETECTIVE COMICS #40, there’s a tad of the the fantastical, shapeshifting blog of…mud/clay/goo (take your pick)…that’s been around since the Silver Age to make that segment of Batman fans happy (but it probably won’t).

As someone who pretty much only likes the grounded/realistic/street-level crime-fighting Batman, I thought the way they did Clayface was pretty damn clever…and I liked it very much.

And you gotta love Batman in a swordfight! – Bill “Jett” Ramey

GRADE: A+

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