Directors: Kevin Altieri, Boyd Kirkland, Frank Paur, Dan Riba, Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm
Writers: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, Michael Reeves, Bob Kane
Art direction: Glen Murakami
Photography: Song Il-Choi
Music: Shirley Walker
Editor: Al Breitenbach
Cast: Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Dana Delany, Stacy Keach, Abe Vigoda, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Marilu Henner
This animated feature—officially the first by Warner Bros. Animation, rising out of the ashes of Warner Bros. Cartoons—was intended to capitalize on the Batman franchise, then blowing up, lately fortified with “dark knight” intimations out of Frank Miller and, kinda sorta, Tim Burton. Mask of the Phantasm is based on a TV series, Batman: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 until 1999, and followed the second Burton picture, Batman Returns, a second big hit after the 1989 Batman. Phantasm was intended originally as a direct-to-video release but, because the Burton pictures were making big money, it was rushed into a theatrical release and flopped. But time has been kind to this one, which features Mark Hamill as one of the better Jokers and Kevin Conroy sounding a lot like Adam West, a subtly comforting element.
Unlike the Burton pictures, which worked the dark-knight thing but always kept one foot (or maybe three toes) planted in the campy exercises of the ‘60s TV show, Mask of the Phantasm is all in on the gritty nighttime crime-fighter who strikes terror etc. The giveaway on the serious Batman pictures remains how much hay they make out of the origin story, often including Bruce Wayne’s parents Thomas and Martha as characters but at least making a point of visits to the cemetery. Phantasm also retcons a new girlfriend for Batman/Bruce Wayne, one “Andrea Beaumont,” who has since gone on to further appearances in Batman stories. But let’s pause a moment on “retcon” because it’s an idea unique to continuing series in both the comics and TV and an important key to deciding whether or not such stories work.
This animated feature—officially the first by Warner Bros. Animation, rising out of the ashes of Warner Bros. Cartoons—was intended to capitalize on the Batman franchise, then blowing up, lately fortified with “dark knight” intimations out of Frank Miller and, kinda sorta, Tim Burton. Mask of the Phantasm is based on a TV series, Batman: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 until 1999, and followed the second Burton picture, Batman Returns, a second big hit after the 1989 Batman. Phantasm was intended originally as a direct-to-video release but, because the Burton pictures were making big money, it was rushed into a theatrical release and flopped. But time has been kind to this one, which features Mark Hamill as one of the better Jokers and Kevin Conroy sounding a lot like Adam West, a subtly comforting element.
Unlike the Burton pictures, which worked the dark-knight thing but always kept one foot (or maybe three toes) planted in the campy exercises of the ‘60s TV show, Mask of the Phantasm is all in on the gritty nighttime crime-fighter who strikes terror etc. The giveaway on the serious Batman pictures remains how much hay they make out of the origin story, often including Bruce Wayne’s parents Thomas and Martha as characters but at least making a point of visits to the cemetery. Phantasm also retcons a new girlfriend for Batman/Bruce Wayne, one “Andrea Beaumont,” who has since gone on to further appearances in Batman stories. But let’s pause a moment on “retcon” because it’s an idea unique to continuing series in both the comics and TV and an important key to deciding whether or not such stories work.
Merriam-Webster has “retcon” used first in 1989. The neologism is made up from “retroactive continuity,” as discussed on internet newsgroups, which involves reframing key events in a fictional narrative. A famous example is Arthur Conan Doyle attempting to kill off Sherlock Holmes because he didn’t want to write Holmes stories anymore. The public and his publishers, however, were having none of it, so Doyle later brought him back, explaining that the death had been merely staged. This kind of thing happens all the time in continuing stories. Darth Vader was made Luke Skywalker’s father only after the 1977 original was popular enough to require a sequel and further dramatic points. Apollo Creed was killed off in Rocky IV but later it turned out he had fathered a son, Adonis, for the more recent pictures. Any time you encounter a continuing series you are likely to encounter retcons.
There is something about these explanations that finally gets a little insulting. On some level I want to ask, why bother? I mean, right, Batman first appeared in 1939 and then this picture shows up in 1993 and there is a whole new highly significant girlfriend we have never heard of who is a central part of the story? Joker is in the mix as well in Phantasm. My idea—my own personal suggestion for a retcon—is to return to the idea of self-contained continuing characters across discrete episodes whose resolutions are suggested by the individual stories. Need to kill Joker, Robin, even Batman? Go ahead and do it! Then bring them back whenever you like for another story. No explanations required—better without them. What the heck? Do we really need this wink-wink continuity? It’s hard to do these things. Remember DC’s “Imaginary Stories”? Another, related point. Not only Mask of the Phantasm, but lots of Batman stories, in all kinds of media, routinely insert Joker and his clown face and maniacal laughter. In its way it is just another comforting element in a comforting series—it’s the familiarity that makes continuing series comforting, and who cares if you kill somebody off to make a dramatic point and then turn around and bring them back.
Anyway, once past the knotty retcon issues, I thought Mask of the Phantasm worked quite well and thoroughly lives up to its reputation as one of the better Batman productions. I waver on campy Batman versus dark-knight Batman. At one time I utterly rejected campy Batman, but I have come to see it’s hard to get away from that in live action productions. For me it starts with the squeaky costumes they awkwardly strut around in. But comics art and animated pictures relieve a lot of this problem and thus can make the whole dark-knight thing more compelling and believable. It’s true that Batman has a ridiculous jaw in Phantasm. There’s no denying that. But it is explicitly a cartoon and thus easier to simply accept. In cartoons, lots of good-guy heroes have ridiculous Dudley Do-Right jaws. It’s a known issue.
As a standalone story, Phantasm is great, with lots of mood and surprising twists to the story. You don’t really need Joker here, but hey, why not? Hamill memorably gobbles up the role. It’s early enough in Batman lore that inevitably it has lots of points from the golden-age character. He’s still a mysterious vigilante of the night. Superstitious criminals call him “the Bat” and tremble in fear of him. He spends time visiting the grave of his parents, etc., etc. A lot of the Batman staples are here, it’s a good story, and the animation is fine. Definitely one for the Batman library.
There is something about these explanations that finally gets a little insulting. On some level I want to ask, why bother? I mean, right, Batman first appeared in 1939 and then this picture shows up in 1993 and there is a whole new highly significant girlfriend we have never heard of who is a central part of the story? Joker is in the mix as well in Phantasm. My idea—my own personal suggestion for a retcon—is to return to the idea of self-contained continuing characters across discrete episodes whose resolutions are suggested by the individual stories. Need to kill Joker, Robin, even Batman? Go ahead and do it! Then bring them back whenever you like for another story. No explanations required—better without them. What the heck? Do we really need this wink-wink continuity? It’s hard to do these things. Remember DC’s “Imaginary Stories”? Another, related point. Not only Mask of the Phantasm, but lots of Batman stories, in all kinds of media, routinely insert Joker and his clown face and maniacal laughter. In its way it is just another comforting element in a comforting series—it’s the familiarity that makes continuing series comforting, and who cares if you kill somebody off to make a dramatic point and then turn around and bring them back.
Anyway, once past the knotty retcon issues, I thought Mask of the Phantasm worked quite well and thoroughly lives up to its reputation as one of the better Batman productions. I waver on campy Batman versus dark-knight Batman. At one time I utterly rejected campy Batman, but I have come to see it’s hard to get away from that in live action productions. For me it starts with the squeaky costumes they awkwardly strut around in. But comics art and animated pictures relieve a lot of this problem and thus can make the whole dark-knight thing more compelling and believable. It’s true that Batman has a ridiculous jaw in Phantasm. There’s no denying that. But it is explicitly a cartoon and thus easier to simply accept. In cartoons, lots of good-guy heroes have ridiculous Dudley Do-Right jaws. It’s a known issue.
As a standalone story, Phantasm is great, with lots of mood and surprising twists to the story. You don’t really need Joker here, but hey, why not? Hamill memorably gobbles up the role. It’s early enough in Batman lore that inevitably it has lots of points from the golden-age character. He’s still a mysterious vigilante of the night. Superstitious criminals call him “the Bat” and tremble in fear of him. He spends time visiting the grave of his parents, etc., etc. A lot of the Batman staples are here, it’s a good story, and the animation is fine. Definitely one for the Batman library.
I kind of like the idea of these retcon sticklers, though. They meet at Comic-Cons and argue late into the night about difficult continuity problems in the Batman narrative universe; or, better yet, metaverse!
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