Beware the Gray Ghost

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"Beware the Gray Ghost"
Batman: The Animated Series episode
Beware-the-gray-ghost.jpg
Title card for the episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 18
Directed by Boyd Kirkland
Story by
Teleplay by
Original air dateNovember 4, 1992 (1992-11-04)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"See No Evil"
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"Beware the Gray Ghost" is the eighteenth episode of Batman: The Animated Series . It was directed by series regular Boyd Kirkland and was first aired on November 4, 1992. The episode features guest star Adam West, best known for his portrayal of Batman in the 1960s Batman television series. West plays an actor known for his role as the Gray Ghost, a character that resembles Batman antecedent The Shadow.

Contents

Plot

The episode opens with a flashback of a young Bruce Wayne watching The Gray Ghost, a black-and-white television show, and the episode cuts between the flashback and events in the present mirroring of the show: a whirring sound is heard, a building is destroyed by an explosion, the Gray Ghost goes into action while Batman does the same in reality, and the police receive a ransom letter from the villainous "Mad Bomber".

In the present day, Batman makes the connection between the explosions and the television show but does not remember the full story. To get information, he tracks down Simon Trent, who portrayed the Gray Ghost and is now unemployed, typecast, and short of money. He sells his Gray Ghost costume to toy shop owner and collector Ted Dymer, but the next morning finds that Batman has returned it with a letter telling him to meet him in an alley. He gives Batman a copy of the show from his personal archive, as the production copies were destroyed long ago in a vault fire.

Learning the source of the whirring noises are remote-control toy cars armed with explosives, Bruce realizes the next target will be the Gotham Library. He defends the library and is overwhelmed but rescued by Trent, who is now wearing the Gray Ghost costume.

At the Batcave they discover a captured toy car has Trent's fingerprints on it, from which Trent realizes the Mad Bomber is Dymer, who is carrying out the attacks to raise money to buy more toys. Batman and Trent capture Dymer, and destroy his toy store and weaponry.

Trent is hailed as a real-life hero, prompting a resurgence in the Gray Ghost's popularity. His complete archive of the Gray Ghost series is released, providing him with both fresh income and a revitalized career. Bruce visits him at the product launch and asks for an autograph, explaining the Gray Ghost was, and still is, his childhood hero. Realizing that Bruce is Batman, Trent smiles.

Voice cast

Reception

"Beware the Gray Ghost" has been very positively received by critics. The A.V. Club gave the episode an A and called it "smartly written and gorgeously animated". [1]

Other appearances of the Gray Ghost

Film

Comics

Television

Video games

Audio dramas

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References

  1. http://www.avclub.com/articles/see-no-evilbeware-the-gray-ghost,52759/ The A.V. Club, retrieved January 18, 2012
  2. Batgirl vol. 3 #9
  3. Batgirl vol. 3 #23
  4. Gotham Academy 5(March 2015),DC Comics
  5. http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pd.php?pcode=shadownv25
  6. Dark Nights: Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights #1
  7. "The Gray Ghost Revealed for LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham". 23 October 2014.