In many of the comic storylines, Damian is indeed the son of Bruce Wayne and reformed super-villainess Talia al-Ghul. In Bat-Fam, Batman gave the ghost of his old nemesis Ra’s permission to haunt Wayne Manor, for reasons that now escape him. Perhaps even more bizarre to longtime comic readers, former super-villain turned anti-hero Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a.k.a. Man-Bat, also crashes with the Waynes, basically living the life of Reilly. As the series opens, yet another “family-member” is about to move in.
Alicia Pennyworth, Alfred’s niece and Wayne’s childhood friend, has returned to Gotham. The Waynes are delighted to have her company, but they are leery of her new gig as the chief social worker for E*vil, a halfway house for reformed supervillains. Indeed, Little Batman’s skepticism will get him into some big trouble.
To make matters even more complicated, Wayne is still struggling with his foster-father arrangement with Claire Seiton. She was once the super-villainess Volcana, but when her associates betrayed her, Batman could only save her by immersing her in the Lazarus Pits. Awkwardly, she came out rejuvenated as a moody goth 12-year-old, with only fragmentary memories of her life of crime. Instead of dropping her off at Gotham Academy like Olive Silverstock in the comics named for her elite boarding school, Bruce Wayne takes Seiton in as his newest ward. He likes having his wards, doesn’t he?
Regardless, Bat-Fam is goofy even by the standards of the 1966 TV series. Obviously, there is precedent for this approach, but Bat-Fam often feels more like an animated sitcom than a proper DC series. Arguably, it is a little too chaotic and too prone to kvetching. Yet, some of the better episodes focus on the relationship between Damian and Claire, who really come to think of themselves as siblings. On the other hand, Alicia Pennyworth’s woke restorative justice lectures quickly grow nauseating.
In contrast, Langstrom/Man-Bat is often rather amusing as the source of random out-of-left-field humor. However, this incarnation of Ra’s al-Ghul looks and sounds more like a Bela Lugosi-inspired vampire than the mystically-empowered near-immortal super-villain of the comics and films.
Bat-Fam serves up a lot of lighthearted fun, and Damian and Seiton, voiced by Yonas Kibreab and Haley Tju, are often rather endearing together. Yet, for many fans, it just does not delivery the kind of action and drama we expect from the characters of Gotham and Detective Comics. Recommended mostly for kids, Bat-Fam starts streaming today (11/10) on Prime Video.
