- Cover by Mike Allred
- Written by Jeff Parker
- Art by Colleen Coover
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BEWARE OF SPOILERS
This week ‘Batman ‘66’ makes a move that I’ve been expecting for some time now and sets itself firmly around or after the third season of the TV series and swaps out Julie Newmar for Ertha Kitt as Catwoman and after several brief mentions Barbara Gordon finally appears as not just herself but also her crime fighting alter-ego Batgirl!
Batman and Robin don’t feature in this issue and unlike that last back-up story this doesn’t move on directly from the end of the two-part main story but that is by no means an issue here.
It’s funny how Batgirl normally finds herself paired up with one of the female villains. In ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ I always remember the ‘Batgirl Returns’ episode which follows a similar story to this by pitting the vigilante against the feline villain.
‘The Tail of the Tiger Topaz’ follows Kitt’s version of Catwoman masquerading as an interior designer for a museum exhibit visited by Barbara and her father during the day. A suspicious Barbara comes back later that day in costume and catches Catwoman in the act of trying to steal the topaz. A fight – making brilliant use of the DC2 animation – ensues and Catwoman is caught and taken away by the Commissioner.
The story is ‘Batman ‘66’ at its simplistic best, there are few characters and even fewer locales but never suffers from its confined nature. Batgirl and Catwoman breathe massive life in to the story and somehow push the kitsch factor to that of the Londinium issues several weeks ago.
Batgirl is written perfectly to reflect her TV counterpart and this newer Catwoman also reflects the playfulness of Kitt’s characterisation well.
Coover is new to the table but draws this comic beautifully. Her artwork is along the lines of what we see when Jonathan Case but has her own flare at the same time. Coover works her artwork around the DC2 to really maximise the impact of what is available to her and this comes off as one of the best issues of this comic so far visually.
It remains to be seen if Batgirl will return to interact with the Dynamic Duo but for now her side story is brilliant introduction for her in to this world and I hope to see more in the future.
8/10
