Batman: The Animated Bible> The Mayor And The Reporter

This should be a short one. Besides the villains there are only two more characters listed. I’m guessing Leslie Thompkins was a character they never expected. I understand adding the mayor but I didn’t think Batman would have his own reporter stalker who wasn’t Vicki Vale. I don’t think Summer really did much in the early episodes except report the news. As time went on she was dragged into adventures but I always assumed she was a one-off that became popular with the writers. If anything the lack of Leslie, considering how important she is not just to the show but to the comics later, is surprising to me considering how big Summer was early on.

Mayor Hill…is there. And yet he’s first in the bible in this section.

Fearing a loss of voters from pro-Batman citizens, Mayor Hill is too spineless to declare all out war on The Batman. Nevertheless, he despises The Batman’s vigilante tactics, denying his impact on the slight drop in Gotham’s crime rate.

On the bright side they didn’t go with the crooked mayor, although we do know there was one thanks to Commissioner Gordon’s profile. I don’t think the show would have benefited from the corrupt mayor character. Hill isn’t unlikable. Well, for a politician anyway.

Knowing the divided feelings for Batman in Gotham, Hill isn’t afraid to rally behind Batman, either, when the time is politically right, but he still resents Batman as somebody out of his control. In fact, when Hill’s child is kidnapped by The Joker in order to set a trap for Batman, Batman saves the child and Hill’s only comment is that if Batman hadn’t existed, his arch enemy Joker wouldn’t have snatched the boy in the first place. This sort of blind hatred of Batman crates a special bond between Detective Bullock and Mayor Hill.

They’re referring to the 11th episode (9 in production order), “Be A Clown”. There is a list of potential stories after all of the character profiles that I will get into.

Hill is not above giving out and receiving political favors, and is a man who has working relationships with both friends and enemies, making him all the more dangerous.

Yeah, Hill’s not corrupt, but he’s a politician. But dangerous? Hardly. Crusading (corrupt) DAs taking Harvey Dent’s place were the only real threat to Batman from the Mayor’s office. But now we know why he fell for their attempts to take out Batman so quickly.

From the brief descriptions page of the show bible. Click for readable size.

Finally, there’s Summer Gleason. I already went on about her in the intro so let’s jump right in.

The nightly anchor-person of Inside Gotham (a sort of A Current Affair tabloid news show) Summer reports the most sensational of Gotham’s news. Whether hard news or feature fluff, she reads it with an eye toward the scandalous and fantastic. In addition, when out on assignment, her Gonzo journalism puts her at odds with both Batman and the Gotham Police Department.

She’s also a Lois Lane wannabe without the charm, but that’s neither here nor there. While there are still a few of these kinds of shows left (TMZ, Inside Edition, I think E! still has one or two when they aren’t showing reality TV shows and red carpet openings) this was rather big in the late 80s and early 90s, so it makes sense that they would try to tap that. For a show that loves to have the villains messed up emotionally and mentally, it’s not surprising that a tabloid reporter would clean up in a city like Gotham.

Summer’s dream interview is an exclusive with The Batman, and her ultimate scoop would be the unmasking of the Dark Knight. She has put journalistic ethics “on the back burner” until she makes it to “the big time” and really believes that once she moves out of Gotham, she’ll behave more like a serious journalist.

Oh come on, Summer. You wouldn’t see Lois Lane reveal a superhero’s secret identity, especially one that saved her life more times than she can count. YES, I’M STILL BITTER ABOUT THE “DC YOU” RUINING EVERYBODY!

Although her misguided dreams will remain unfulfilled, she keeps busy in Gotham, paying particular attention to the many villains who relish the spotlight and are willing to be interviewed, much to the Batman’s chagrin.

In the issue of Batman & Robin Adventures I reviewed earlier today, Summer was dragged in by the Riddler as part of his diversion plan, using the alleged unmasking of the Dynamic Duo to cover his robbery of a rich persons club. This isn’t the only time in the show and tie-in comics that she’s been a patsy for the villains to use against the heroes.

Her scandal-prone tactics as she covers Gotham’s rich and famous brings her into contact with Bruce Wayne. She is convinced that he, like all the other rich and famous, must have something to hide, and his arrogant, unflappable exterior presents a challenge to her. He, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about Summer Gleeson, which makes her even more determined to find out what he’s hiding.

I don’t recall this coming up a lot in the show, except when Kyodie (that’s probably spelled wrong but I don’t recall ever seeing the spelling) goes after Bruce in Gotham. Otherwise, who wouldn’t want a sexy redhead pursing them? Unless she was plotting to ruin both your lives for the sake of a story, of course.

Next time we’ll look at two sections on the places of Gotham. If Gotham City is a character herself how did the show write her? The other place is the Batcave, Batman’s famous headquarters. How were the writers supposed to approach this iconic headquarters? Find out next week.