Beware the Gray Ghost

"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 the Gray Ghost, a character who bears a strong resemblance to Batman antecedent The Shadow.

"Beware the Gray Ghost"
Batman: The Animated Series episode
Title card for the episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 18
Directed byBoyd Kirkland
Written byDennis O'Flaherty (story), Tom Ruegger (story and teleplay), Garin Wolf (teleplay)
Original air dateNovember 4, 1992
Guest appearance(s)

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, which mirror those 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 have received a ransom letter from "The Mad Bomber".

In the present day, Batman makes the connection between the explosion and the television show, but does not know what happened as he fell asleep before it was over. He tracks down Simon Trent, the actor who portrayed the Gray Ghost. Now unemployed and short of money, Trent sells his Gray Ghost costume to toy shop owner and collector Ted Dymer. The next morning he finds his costume back in his apartment with an anonymous letter to meet in an alley. When Trent and Batman meet, Trent gives Batman a copy of the show from his personal archive (the production copies having been destroyed 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. The library is defended from a wave of toy cars, but Batman is trapped by another wave of them. He is rescued by Trent, who has donned his Gray Ghost costume one last time.

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 reveals he is carrying out the attacks to raise money so that he can buy more toys. Batman and Trent capture Dymer, and his toy store and weaponry are destroyed.

Trent is hailed as a real-life hero, prompting a resurgence in the Gray Ghost's popularity. His complete archive of the Gray Ghost television series is released, providing him with 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. Trent smiles as Bruce leaves.

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
  • The Gray Ghost made a return appearance in an early issue of Batman: The Gotham Adventures in the late 1990s, and turned up again years later in the most recent Batman Adventures series in 2004, in a story about the making of a Gray Ghost film.
  • The “Grey Ghost” (Grey, not Gray) appears in Batgirl vol. 2, #15 in 2011; he attempts to become the sidekick of Batgirl. His attire is similar to Dr. Mid-Nite, but in shades of gray, and he also wields a shotgun. His real identity is Clancy Johnson.
  • In 2015, Simon Trent is introduced to the mainstream comic book canon in Gotham Academy, where he is a famous director and playwright who decides to become a teacher at Gotham Academy. He has a rivalry with Clayface.[2]
  • The Gray Ghost is a tribute to pulp/comic book hero The Shadow, in fact his name is a reference to the titular villain from a 1936 issue of The Shadow's pulp magazine series.[3] The Gray Ghost poster featured in the episode is based on the cover of "Shadowed Millions", one of The Shadow's novels, illustrated by Jim Steranko. Batman meets an aged Shadow in issues #253 and #259 of the comic series.

Television
  • In Batman Beyond, one of the original costumes for the Gray Ghost hangs in the Batcave, indicating that Bruce Wayne got Trent's wardrobe at some point. In the episode "Black Out", Wayne dons the hat and goggles of the Gray Ghost to hide his identity from Inque, who had infiltrated the Batcave.
  • In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", Terry McGinnis and his family are shown leaving a theatre playing "The Grey Ghost Strikes" while the Phantasm is waiting to murder his parents. This indicates that the Grey Ghost franchise continued to thrive well after the release of the television series. Although the Phantasm does not follow through, this scene parallels the traditional origin of Batman, where Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered as he and they leave The Mark of Zorro. The Justice League Unlimited comic series also referenced the Gray Ghost in the Christmas-themed issue #28. Superman mentions that he had also watched the show as a child, and he was terrified by it but still loved it. The Gray Ghost toys play a key role during the issue.

Video games
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gollark: I also like how Macron has an AST with exactly 49 hardcoded operators instead of the superior Haskell way.
gollark: I like how you say this as if any of the code exists whatsoever.
gollark: Well, it's beeoidal to unoptimize stuff and just hope it'll be optimized again later.
gollark: I think you would just have to AND the result afterward. It would not be very efficient.

References
  1. http://www.avclub.com/articles/see-no-evilbeware-the-gray-ghost,52759/ The A.V. Club, retrieved January 18, 2012
  2. "Gotham Academy". 1 (5). DC Comics. March 2015. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pd.php?pcode=shadownv25
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