It is now time to take a look at
Batman the Animated Series Episode 23 Vendetta, which features the debut of
Killer Croc, as he frames Harvey Bullock as revenge for putting him away all of
these years. Can Batman unravel the truth? This episode first aired on FOX on
October 5th 1992.
Batman
the Animated Series Episode 23 Vendetta
This was a rather intriguing
episode for any number of reasons. Harvey Bullock, everyone’s favorite
loudmouth Gotham City Cop, hadn’t really had much of a spotlight since Episode
8. Oh sure he was there, but he was not really that big of a part of the
series. He did get quite the role in this episode, as Killer Croc frames
Bullock for putting him away and then decides to kill him.
Killer Croc is one of the more
sadistic Batman villains out there. This is to do to mostly in part to the not
so subtle implications that he has eaten human beings alive. And the worst part
about it is that he is stone cold sane. He tends to have two distinct origins.
One being that he is a military experiment going rather wrong and the other
being he had a skin condition, working in the circus along the way.
In this episode, Killer Croc is
formerly a sideshow freak, and also a wrestler, before turning to crime. He
could have been a military experiment for all we know and he obviously has
something up with him. His skin is rather gray and scaly in this one, later he
would be more greenish. Croc would change in many ways.
Indeed, and one way is that he
thought out this revenge scheme and nearly got away with it. Had Batman not
gotten involved, he would have killed Bullock no doubt about it. Seeing Croc’s
first appearance and seeing him later, there’s a certain disconnect with how
he’s portrayed here and how he’s portrayed later in the cartoon. He’s a
calculating mastermind to an extent in this one and in future episodes, he’s
not the brightest bulb in the box. Granted, I think that there might be an
explanation that if he has a condition it could be turning him more of a
vicious animal and thus interfering with his thought process.
Batman as always manages to show
that he has a brain beneath those pointy ears and brawn to match, as he manages
to fight Killer Croc in the sewers, utilizing some intelligent tactics. A
pretty good fight scene leading to the end of this episode featuring the Croc
and the Bat. Batman also had to swallow a bit of that old pride to help Bullock
who he has been at odds with. Croc nearly tricked Batman into thinking that
Bullock was the one behind the crimes in the episode, which really shows how
intelligent Killer Croc was in his initial appearance. Of course a part of it
could be that even Batman can misjudge a person due to his own biases. Also in
the end, Bullock and Batman have much in common, even if they have different
methods in enforcing the law.
So I did enjoy this episode.
Let’s slap a 8/10 rating on this bad
boy. Not the blow away memorable episode but still really good. You can watch
Batman the Animated Series Episode 23 Vendetta on Batman the Animated Series
Volume 1 DVD or the complete Batman the Animated Series collection.
