Moon of the Wolf

[The Laughing Fish]

I watched this episode a while ago, where Batman investigates a werewolf running around in Gotham City. Unbeknownst to him or a, the werewolf is actually the celebrity Anthony Romulus, who is being blackmailed by Professor Milo.

Although I wouldn't rank Moon of the Wolf as one of my favourite BTAS episodes, it's entertaining enough and better than most run-of-the-mill episodes of TNBA. It occurred to me this episode is an adaptation of Batman #255 (1974), which is titled the same name as the episode and written by the late Len Wein. He was also credited for the story in the opening credits for the BTAS episode. But there are some significant differences between the comic and the cartoon version.

In the comic version, Anthony's surname is Lupus. Lupus, in medical terms, is an autoimmune disease that causes various signs of physical discomfort, including skin rashes, chronic pain all over the body, fatique and the fever.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lupus/symptoms-causes/syc-20365789

I suppose the showrunners thought calling the character "Lupus" is a bit too silly even for comic book standards, and opted to change his surname to Romulus instead. Romulus might be a nod to Star Trek.



Another distinction between the two Anthonys is their eyebrows. Romulus has a unibrow, whereas Lupus's eyebrows are bushy, but he has no hair on the brow ridge. The audience watching this episode might consider Romulus's character design as cartoonish, but I think the showrunners had an idea in mind. I looked up more information about unibrows, and in some cases, they can be associated with genetic development disorders, such as Waardenburg syndrome.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320549.php

Using this very basic example, Romulus's unibrow could be a sign of his own developmental disorder, which happens to be Lycanthrophy - the physical transformation of turning into a werewolf. Perhaps the showrunners were aiming for some medical reality in an otherwise supernatural story? It could be planned or a coincidence, but either way, I find it fascinating and worth pointing it out.

Both Anthonys are mostly the same as each other: wealthy, successful athlete and built a reputation in philanthropy. But a key contrast between Lupus and Romulus is their reasons why they took Professor Milo's serum.

In the comic, Lupus had been suffering from severe migraines that no other doctor in Gotham City could find a cure for, so out of desperation, he turned to Milo for help. In the TV episode, Romulus's backstory is less sympathetic; a flashback revealed he met Milo to take some untraceable substances to improve his chances at winning gold at the Autumn Games. In sports law terms, he was committing doping. In doing so, his career thrived and his celebrity status grew, but eventually with a cost. It appears this episode was a cautionary tale how doping leads to negative outcomes, one way or another. In both cases, Milo suspected Anthony may suffer from Lycanthrophy and took advantage of him by using a serum mixed with fluids from Alaskan Timber Wolves to provoke his transformation. Both versions have Milo forcing Anthony to kill Batman in exchange for the cure, which he keeps in a chemistry glass vial.

Most of the original comic story is translated to the TV episode, but not without alterations (e.g. Bullock's involvement, but more on that later). For example, the opening scenes are quite different; the comic has Lupus breaking into an apartment where a young woman is getting changed. She orders her guard dog to attack, but the werewolf catches the dog and snaps its spine. In the episode, the victim is a male security guard at the local Gotham City zoo, and the guard dog is thrown into a bush of trees and flees out of fear. Of course, the change makes a lot of sense because BTAS is still primarily a kids' show, and it was already dark enough as it is for the target demographic.





Batman rescues the victims in both versions of the story, and meets Commissioner Gordon in his office to investigate the incident and the report of missing Alaskan Timber Wolves from the zoo. He leaves the office after considering the possibility the intruder's isn't a disguise. The only difference is in this episode, the thought occurs to Batman once he notices a few hair fibres left behind on his glove after his encounter with the werewolf. He investigates the hair strands back in the Batcave, but still doesn't discover the werewolf's identity.



Professor Milo is hiding where a construction site is taking place; the difference is in the comic, the location is some rundown part of town. In contrast, the TV episode reveals he is hiding inside the Gotham Colosseum.



Milo encounters the werewolf as he does in the comic, even timing Anthony transforming back to his human self. The only difference is the TV version violently breaks the door down as it wants to assault the Professor before his transformation, and in the comic, the werewolf sneaks through the window.



Professor Milo's motives for wanting Batman dead are a little different. In the comic, Milo has a history with Batman and is using Lupus to kill the Caped Crusader for revenge. In the BTAS episode, he wants Batman eliminated for interfering with his crimes and preventing Romulus from getting rid of the zoo's security guard. As it was revealed during Det. Harvey Bullock's interrogation scene, the security guard admitted to accepting anonymous bribes by Milo in exchange of letting him steal some Alaskan Timber Wolves; which Milo would use the animals for his scientific experiments. So, Milo planned to betray the guard to avoid leaving a trail behind. It's interesting to note this is perhaps one of Bullock's most effective moments as a police detective in BTAS. While Batman is taken captive, Bullock investigates into the security guard's background, which leads to his confession and arrest.

Speaking of Batman taken captive, the BTAS episode plays out exactly like in the comic, more or less. Bruce and Anthony are acquaintances with each other at the gym (the only minor difference is the bumbling overweight friend of theirs in the comic is replaced with an attractive woman in the cartoon), and Anthony announces his plan to give Batman a cheque to any charity he chooses. Later, Batman meets Anthony to accept the donation but is set up into a trap and faints by the gas in the room.





When Anthony transforms into the werewolf one more time and Milo orders him to devour Batman, the werewolf turns on him instead. Once again, to keep the episode as kid-friendly as possible, the showrunners had the werewolf attack Milo, but not kill him. In the original comic, the werewolf mauls Milo to death. In both versions, Milo accidentally drops the antidote and dashes Anthony's hope for a cure.





Before Batman battles the werewolf, he breaks free from his chains by holding a pin with his teeth and using it to unlock the cuffs. Both versions of the story share this example of Batman's skills as a versatile escape artist.



But the BTAS episode doesn't make Batman struggle compared to the comic, where he suffers injuries during his fight with the werewolf, including getting  a bloody slash across the chest and had his arm dislocated, which he had already injured while saving the girl at the start of the comic. Nonetheless, Batman does climb to seek higher ground and continues to fight the werewolf. Against the Lupus werewolf, however, he subdues him by throwing a steel rod at his chest. In BTAS he strikes the Romulus werewolf by the end of a crane. Both werewolves are struck by a freak dash of lightning that erupted in the middle of the night, but the TV episode shows the creature falling into the river.



Finally, both endings are quite different. The comic shows Batman uncertain whether or not the Lupus werewolf had perished; but in an epilogue, the creature had survived and is seen running around somewhere in Alaska. Batman would eventually discover the werewolf's true identity and current whereabouts and would cross paths with him once again in Detective Comics #505 (1981), where he intends to bring Anthony back to Gotham City to save his sister's life, who needs a bone marrow transplant. Whereas the BTAS episode ends with the police unable to find the Romulus werewolf's body anywhere, and his mansion gets put up for sale some time later to pay his creditors. Rumours of him deciding to leave town persist, but his whereabouts remain a mystery. The final shot has the werewolf howling in front of the full moon at night, likely dooming the rest of his life to stay in this supernatural hell. It's important to note that unlike the comic, Batman in BTAS is never shown to suspect Anthony is the werewolf at any point.

Which version of the story do I prefer? I do like the comic version simply for the fact there's a continuation for Batman to do his best to redeem Anthony from his condition, but I prefer the BTAS version. Only because of the fact it's, once again, a cautionary tale how one's greed can lead to any disastrous outcome in life. In Anthony Romulus's case, he may have never been caught doping, but his selfish need for personal achievement had unwittingly allowed himself to become Milo's puppet, and constantly tormented to do anything to please the scientist in exchange to get his life back. I guess the moral of the story is arrogance can be just as exploited as innocence, so never obtain a "whatever-it-takes" approach without knowing what the side effects are.

[thecolorsblend]

Good analysis! Very well done!

[The Laughing Fish]

Thanks colors.

I was curious and wanted to find out if there was any commentary about this episode, and today I stumbled across this podcast by two BTAS fans who analyse the show from a psychological point of view. It's worth listening to.

http://thearkhamsessions.libsyn.com/the-arkham-sessions-episode-43-moon-of-the-wolf

Although they enjoyed the episode, they have a gripe with Batman being a wisecrack and remaining uncertain if the werewolf is a man, despite having previous encounters with creatures such as Man-Bat and Tygrus. Be though as it may, I've noticed Batman had his share of puns and quips in the face of danger during the Bronze Age era, which is what this episode is based on. And he didn't always detects things instantly, despite having similar encounters in the past where logic would dictate a certain conclusion over the other. Yes, this aspect might not necessarily stack up with today's grim comic book Batman where he'd have to be two steps ahead of everybody else intellectually, but Moon of the Wolf is a product of its time.

Besides, given that Len Wein adapted his own comic into a TV script, I think the showrunners didn't want to dictate a veteran writer what makes sense and what doesn't. After all, changing Anthony's surname was big enough as it is.