Written by Ian Edginton
Art by Matthew Dow Smith; Wendy Broome; Jordie Bellaire; Carrie Strachan; & Wes Abbott
Cover Art by Michael Allred & Laura Allred
SUMMARY:
In 2016, DC Comics and Boom! Studios team the 1960’s two most iconic TV crime-fighting partnerships: Batman & Robin and the U.K.’s The Avengers in a six-issue mini-series. Their 144-page collaboration was then released as a trade paperback in 2017.
At a Gotham City museum, Bruce Wayne and British industrial heiress Michaela Gough witness a brazen attempted theft by Catwoman’s crew of the invaluable White Star Diamond on loan from England. Intervention by British Secret Service operatives John Steed and Emma Peel thwarts the near-heist. A greater mystery unfolds once an army of upgraded Cybernaut androids descends on the Batcave. Linking these well-dressed robot thugs to Lord Ffogg and Mr. Freeze, the Dynamic Duo joins their new British allies for a climatic showdown in England.
Notes: Presumably, for legal purposes, the only time The Avengers TV series is referenced by name is on the title credits page. The name of ‘Michaela Gough’ is evidently an in-joke referring to actor Michael Gough’s ‘Alfred’ in four Bat-movies (1989-1997).
REVIEW:
In theory, this crossover implies intriguing potential, as these TV franchises should have easily meshed. Yet, writer Ian Edginton’s sub-par script falls short of even modest expectations. His sole highlight is an obligatory fashion comment from Julie Newmar’s Catwoman re: Mrs. Peel’s own black cat-suit.
Instead of recruiting an ideal Bat-villain (Joker, Riddler, or Penguin) to get his naughty paws on Cybernauts and/or possibly present a Batgirl/Emma Peel team-up, Edginton opts for the ultra-bland tandem of Lord Ffogg and Mr. Freeze. Seriously? Hence, Catwoman’s brief cameo is a mere afterthought, as far as including an A-list Bat-villain.
To define the story’s ineptitude, try this preposterously campy plot twist. Specifically, an undercover Batman & Robin arrive in England (dressed as Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson, no less) under false identities sporting only phony pencil moustaches. How no one doesn’t easily deduce the Dynamic Duo’s secret identities isn’t addressed, especially as Batman & Robin stupidly identify themselves aloud over and over again. A
similar gaffe applies to a villain’s earlier pinpointing of the Batcave’s location without drawing any obvious inferences re: stately Wayne Manor. There’s some minor compensation when yet another familiar somebody does plausibly deduce the Caped Crusader’s secret identity — yet, any faint hope this twist might boost Edginton’s storytelling quickly evaporates.
If one is assuming surefire visuals will compensate for mediocre plotting, then readers are out of luck. Further squandering this project is the art squad’s shockingly poor watercolor visuals. Case in point: far too few panels (i.e. a Batman image on page 38) remotely resemble anything big-league caliber. Considering the artistic resources available to DC Comics and Boom! Studios, why such an amateurish creative style was deployed defies common sense. Frankly, the vast majority of this book’s visuals shouldn’t have been released.
Low-grade in virtually every aspect, Batman ’66 Meets Steed and Mrs. Peel is an atrocious tag-team effort from Boom! and DC. Its sole redemption is that this book is kid-friendly, even if young Bat-fans will likely deem it an instant bore.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Broken into twelve chapters (per the mini-series’ digital form), this book has a table of contents. Included are full-page cover reprints by Michael Allred & Laura Allred, which are a welcome improvement over the shoddy interior artwork. An extra variant cover for Issue # 1 by artist Cat Staggs offers nice photo-realistic visuals of actors Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar (as Batman, Robin, and Catwoman). Yet, this same standard doesn’t apply to Patrick Macnee’s John Steed and Diana Rigg’s Emma Peel. Instead, their scowling faces are inexplicably skewed.
Of the full-page watercolor portraits showcasing the story’s pivotal characters, the art quality descends from good (Batman and Steed) to inexcusable (Mrs. Peel, Michaela Gough, and Catwoman). Suffice to say, the Peel, Gough, and Catwoman portraits are early elementary school quality. Yet, Matthew Dow Smith’s four-page character design gallery (Batman; Robin; Batgirl; Steed; Catwoman; and Mrs. Peel) preview actor likenesses better than the final product. In this instance, Dow Smith’s take on conveying Macnee’s Steed is actually pretty good.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 2½ Stars
