SYNOPSIS
Firefly – a villain in a flying, fire-shooting, armored suit – is breaking into Gotham companies and destroying their technology. While Batman has his hands full with this flying pyromaniac, Bruce Wayne finds himself in trouble as well. Mayor Grange is insisting that Bruce turn over his father’s charity work over to GothCorp due to his “party lifestyle.”
REVIEW
I really liked this episode. Not because Firefly makes his first appearance on THE BATMAN, but rather because it shows just how hard it is to be both Batman and Bruce Wayne.
Well, the public version of Bruce Wayne that is.
While investigating a recent building break-in, The Batman meets a new armored adversary who calls himself Firefly. The two take to the air for battle and Firefly is able to escape capture after Batman’s fuel lines are severed.
Soon after, Bruce Wayne meets with Gotham’s Mayor Grange (voiced by Adam West) and learns that despite the fact that the Mayor is a longtime Wayne family friend, the city is going to give a contract for a children’s hospital to GothCorp and not Wayne Industries. Why? Well, it seems that city leaders are concerned about Bruce’s playboy image.
THE BATMAN's Firefly
in "The Big Heat"
As mentioned, Mayor Grange is an old family friend of the Wayne’s and is persuaded by Bruce to give him one more chance. Grange agrees and schedules a meeting between Bruce and the city counsel – but will Bruce’s fight with Firefly screw things up?
I love it when Batman stories feature the 3 Bruce Waynes: the real Bruce, the public Bruce, and The Batman. In “The Big Heat,” the troika of Bruce’s personalities are handled quite well. It’s always a good thing when public Bruce Wayne messes things up for the real one…and The Batman.
Of course, this is THE BATMAN and Bruce Wayne – all versions of him – always win in the end. The Batman ultimately takes down Firefly and “saves” the Wayne family name in the process.
Is it just me, or is Firefly like the anti-Mr. Freeze? Anyway...
“The Big Heat” was quite enjoyable and yet another strong episode during the first season of this series.
