The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy

[The Laughing Fish]

A couple of weeks ago, I got my hands on an old Detective Comics issue called The Cape and Cowl Deathtrap. It was about an assassin called Jeremy Wormwood who was specialised in setting up death traps, and he was hired to retrieve Batman's cape and cowl by a crook who wanted to get revenge at Batman for humiliating him. I immediately thought the BTAS episode The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy was based on this. And my impression was spot on when I learned the comic story was written by Elliot S. Maggin, who was credited for the BTAS episode as well. I thought I'd look at the differences between the two versions of the same story.

In the comic, Batman interrogated a crook called Harcourt for his role in bribing a judge and knowing who murdered a senator. In the BTAS episode, Batman interrogates a Russian businessman nicknamed "the Baron" in the middle of a public speech for his involvement with Josiah Wormwood, who had been suspected over stolen bearer bonds. Notice the cartoon avoided any mentions of murders? Maybe it was to avoid scrutiny and parental backlash if the show kept focusing on death. I wonder if Mask of the Phantasm got any complaints over how dark it was as Batman Returns did? As scary as BTAS could've been for kids at times, you could sometimes tell the show was skirting a little bit when it comes to people dying, although the idea that somebody could get killed wasn't ignored.



Like Harcourt in the comic, the episode shows the Baron hiring Wormwood to set Batman up in a trap to make him surrender his cape and cowl. In the episode, Wormwood set up two traps for Batman: the first trap tried to trick Batman into trying to stop a train racing towards a screaming woman, who turned out to be a hologram. Batman made it, but then found himself trapped inside a wax museum full of melting wax. This scene was adapted from the comic, but the difference is the episode showed Batman shattering the light that was melting the wax, which then began to unleash toxic nerve gas. We see Batman taking off the cape and cowl to reveal a second mask underneath.




In the final scene, Wormwood delivers the cape and cowl to Baron/Harcourt. In the comic, Harcourt wishes to know if Wormwood had murdered the senator; in the episode, Baron wanted to know what happened to the bonds. As Wormwood reveals what he has done, both the comic and the episode reveal that Baron/Harcourt was actually Batman in disguise and tricked Wormwood all along. Batman's line "I'm going to wear them" when taking Wormwood by surprise was said in both versions.




The endings for both the comic and the TV episode were quite different. The comic had Batman disappearing and leaving the cape and cowl behind, leaving Wormwood convinced that he was beaten by a devil. Whereas in the episode, Batman made Commissioner Gordon deliver a package to Wormwood in jail, which contained the cape and cowl and a note to taunt him over his road to "reform".



I like both endings, but I prefer the comic. Batman strikes fear into criminals, and giving that impression to a defeated and frightened felon lives up to that promise.

As much as I enjoy this episode, I can't help but feel that the Riddler could've replaced Wormwood in this story. It could've had the Riddler trying his luck as a hired gun in death traps, which would've fueled his own curiosity in discovering Batman's true identity and validate his ego over who is smarter than the other. Besides, Wormwood uses riddle-like ransom notes and threats to lure people to his traps, which matches Edward Nygma's MO.

As a side note: this episode appears to introduce the Batsignal for the first time, as Batman remarks to Gordon "Got a new toy, I see!". Batman even remarks his concerns that flashing the signal could get Gordon in trouble with the mayor, but Gordon shrugs it off.

[The Laughing Fish]

One more thing:

As "Harcourt", Batman resided at "Bruce Wayne's" offices to set up Wormwood in the comic. Whereas in the TV episode, the headquarters belonged to the Baron, but he had apparently fled the country as soon as Batman interrogated him.