Batman Begins with Wells Thompson (WellsThompson.com)

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Holy cowl-wearing console catastrophe, comic crusaders! This week on Play Comics we’re grappling-hooking our way into the surprisingly deep shadows of 2005’s Batman Begins video game – because apparently someone at Eurocom looked at Christopher Nolan’s gritty reboot and thought, “You know what this needs? A fear meter and the ability to summon actual bats to terrify thugs into submission!”

Released across more platforms than Batman has traumatic childhood memories, this movie tie-in somehow managed to land on PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance without completely embarrassing itself in the process. While most movie games crash and burn faster than if I tried to drive the Batmobile, this stealth-action adventure actually tried to do something interesting with its “High Frequency Transponder” gadget and environmental intimidation mechanics that made enemies drop their weapons in sheer terror.

Joining us for this digital descent into Gotham’s criminal underworld is the incredibly talented Wells Thompson, creative mastermind behind indie comic sensations and the brilliant mind that helped bring us The Scorpion and the Queen (among a bunch of other Kickstarter projects) and the force over at WellsThompson.com. Wells brings his unique perspective on comic storytelling and adaptations to help us figure out whether this game captured the essence of both the Dark Knight’s origin story and Nolan’s cinematic vision, or if it belongs in Arkham Asylum alongside the rest of the movie tie-in disasters.

From the surprisingly robust stealth segments that actually rewarded patience over button-mashing, to those Batmobile sequences that had us questioning our life choices, we’ll explore how this Eurocom-developed title managed to be the last Batman movie to get a proper video game adaptation – and whether that’s a good thing or a tragedy. So grab your utility belt and join us as we investigate whether fear really is the best weapon, or if this game should have stayed in the cave where it belongs!

Learn such things as:

• Where does this game fit into the timeline of the movie?
• Is it a problem that I could just buy the driving parts by themselves?
• How many times can you do the same puzzle?
• And so much more!

You can find Wells on BlueSky @wellsthomp, his newsletter Comics, Cats, and Cocktails, his current Kickstarter The Scorpion and the Queen or just go ahead and see all of his stuff on Kickstarter, and of course his website WellsThompson.com.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

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A big thanks to Capes on the Couch and for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who would probably actually use that Batsuite for spelunking.

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