Batman: The Rogue's Gallery

Batman Adventures #1-4

by Scott E. Peterson, Dan Slott, Ty Templeton

Presents a series of adventures of Batman, with simple dialogue containing Spanish words and phrases, with short notes and translations on the margins.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Superheroes

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Scott Peterson got his start in comics as an editor on the Batman line of comics, working with the legendary Dennis O’Neil. He edited DC’s flagship title, Detective Comics, and launched the first of the the Adventures sub-genre of comics, The Batman Adventures. He later went on to edit for WildStorm, where he oversaw such titles as WildCats, Midnighter, A God Somewhere and North 40, as well as Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes. As a writer, he has been published by Disney, Scholastic, Golden Books, HarperCollins, and DC Comics, including a four-year run as the regular writer of The Gotham Adventures. He is the author of Batman: Kings of Fear with art legendary artist Kelley Jones, and the original graphic novel Truckus Maximus.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

With just the right amount of comedy, heart and action, The Animated Series is wonderfully channeled through the visuals and writing of Rogues' Gallery. Unlike many other BTAS comic adaptations and continuations, this has a running narrative over a series of several single issues. Whilst the single issue standalone format is enjoyable, when it comes to being collected in a volume, sometimes it's nice to have the flow throughout rather than an anthology. Very enjoyable and accessible to fans of all ages, the legacy of one of TV's most acclaimed shows lives on and comes full circle through the medium it was adapted from in the first place.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learn Spanish with Batman.


So I got this to make learning vocabulary more fun, and it worked! This is very basic though and most of the book is actually in English with random Spanish words thrown in there. It’s very much a book for Spanish beginners to expand their vocabulary and have a fun story.

I’ve learned a few new words and will try and go back reread it and take notes or everything I didn’t understand. But the translation for the words is on every page.

Definitely a fun little novelty for beginners in Spanish. If you are intermediate, it’s probably not going to be very much help. But I definitely learned a few new words and reinforced my knowledge of some others.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember these stories came out while Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's "Hush" was still gracing the pages of Batman. A few years later, and I actually remember this one (and Ed Brubaker's phenomenal work on Detective Comics) a little more fondly. At the time, of course, I was drawn in by all the hype surrounding "Hush," but it managed to whet my appetite for more quality Batman stories. What I didn't realize was that Ty Templeton and Dan Slott had apparently been writing/illustrating some of the best for years.

I got the first issue of this series as a Free Comic Book Day promotion. I hadn't really planned on actually reading it at first. It was made for kids, right? It wasn't until I read an extremely positive review of the issue that I decided to crack it open. I immediately felt like a total idiot for doubting it would be good. After all, Batman: The Animated Series is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. It rarely talked down to its audience, making it just as acceptable to adults as it was suitable for kids. The stories were never as simple as they seemed, and they managed to work with strong thematic elements and well-developed characters. The comics based on this series followed suit.

One of the things that impressed me most with this set of stories was the fact that it managed to tell a multi-issue story arc while making each entry a standalone tale. At present, decompressed storytelling is the norm. Many writers feel like they're writing trade paperback-length stories that just happen to be cut up into smaller portions. It was refreshing to be able to pick up one issue and feel satisfied. Even better, it made me want to read more of the series. Also, this book isn't bound by the DC Comics continuity of the time. (For instance, Barbara Gordon is still Batgirl.) Anyone could pick this series up with a minimal understanding of Batman and be able to enjoy it with no problems.

Unfortunately, I feel that good all-ages comics are lacking. It's not to say that they don't exist, but all the major titles are now being written for people who have been reading comics for years. It's hard to find series that are suitable for new readers. (The Marvel Adventures line is admirable. Now they just need to lower the prices on single issues and get them back in grocery and drug stores.) That's one reason why I was heartbroken when I heard that this series had been canceled. I just wish DC would allow Templeton and Slott to work on another continuity-free Batman series. (That seems unlikely to happen, since The Batman Strikes is the current all-ages Batman title. I hear it's good, but I'm just not a big fan of The Batman.)

Could DC, at the very least, put the collections of the '90s Batman Adventures and Gotham Adventures comics back in print?

Fans of this should also check out Templeton and Slott's Spider-Man/Human Torch: I'm With Stupid .

[Stacey Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

8 separate stories including Catwoman, Joker, Harley Quinn, Penguin, Poison Ivy and Ra's al Ghul and more. Catwoman tries to save Batman's life. Two Face aids Batman. The Joker's gone sweet from treatments at the asylum. The Riddler is cured. What??? Are all the villains turning away from crime? Batman is being chased as a criminal since the penguin has become mayor. Everything seems to be backwards.
I love the newspaper type of paper this was printed on...instead of glossy, shiny magazine style paper.
Dark coloring, and shadows add to the intrigue.

[Abbie]

This was pretty light on spanish and I could have used a pronunciation guide more like the Highlights magazine stories. This would be more appropriate for an older kid than mine I think, say 10 and up.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nathaniel made fun of me but I'm trying to brush up on Spanish and this was a really fun way to do that!

[Stasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going to have to see if there are additional volumes to this, because the storylines seemed to skip or miss chunks...

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of the first four issues of "Batman Adventures" based on the cartoon show in a tiny digest size. I don't really like this format as I find them hard to read and I have good eyesight. But the first issue collected here is "Gotham Adventures" #50 which tells a tale of Bat & Cat becoming more friendly, Cat seems to have softened a bit, but still a thief. This doesn't really have anything to do with the "Batman Adventures" and I'm confused as to why it was collected here. Then we move on to an Arkham Asylum tale which are always tons of fun with all the cameos by the various villains. Then the newly "cured" Riddler & Batman team up. There's a great issue featuring Harley and the Joker and how she gets him out of prison and de-brainwashes him. Finally, the last story brings Ra's al Ghul and his daughter to the scene. The stories are all pretty much stand-alones but there is a common thread involving the Shadow Assassins of Ra's al Ghul lurking throughout. I really like the stories here but the digest size is just too small to be any fun. I recommend buying the individual comics which are still available at 99 cents each.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman Adventures is such a fun series. It STILL really captures the feel of the old-school animated series with an added bit of grit. Everyone's favorite animated villains are sprinkled about through the storyline such as Harley Quinn, the Joker, Two Face, Poison Ivy, and the Penguin as Mayor. My favorite portion of the digest was the first story which took a deeper look at one of my favorite characters as a kid, Catwoman. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Nightwing make an appearance.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not that these stories are bad, because they really aren't. There's some quite good stories here. My problem is that the stories don't seem to be in the mold of the animated series. They're much too verbose and they don't have the feel of the tv show. They're totally fine stories, but they miss the point of the animated series, and I'm not sure why they're being told under that banner.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting series of stories with the same premise. Ras al-Ghul is, for reasons unknown, targeting all of Batman’s villains for assassination. Batman steps in to rescue his enemies from death and finally succeeds in tracking down Ras al-Ghul, with a twisty ending. The cool thing about the book is that each tale is part of a bigger story-line, but autonomous enough to be stand-alone.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this would have been much better if it weren't divided into so many subchapters/substories. There are a lot of good ideas here for a Batman story.

Also, the tiny publication format makes things FEEL small.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have some real problems with Batman in this one.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple and fun way for an introduction to Spanish.

[Andres · Rating 4 out of 5]

ha mi me gusto el libro porque uno aprende mas en ingles

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Based on the animated series the art are style take me back to childhood. Great Story, great laughs, and great Batman one-liners! Flawless!

[H. Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute without dumbing down.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read.