Beware the Gray Ghost

Season 1, Episode 32, Aired

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Batman seeks help from an aging actor when a mysterious man begins to pattern his crimes likes the TV show the actor once starred in as the leading role.
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Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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  • The complete toy cameos in Yester toys: Robby the Robot (Lost in Space), Creature From The Black Lagoon, A Saucer Man (Invasion of the Saucer People), a cymbol playing monkey. Awesome stuff to see Adam West cameo in a later incarnation of Bmoreless

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Mightgrin, Jul 20, 2010
    The complete toy cameos in Yester toys: Robby the Robot (Lost in Space), Creature From The Black Lagoon, A Saucer Man (Invasion of the Saucer People), a cymbol playing monkey.

    Awesome stuff to see Adam West cameo in a later incarnation of Batman. I had wondered if this episode was written for Adam West or if it was just a fortunate coincidence.

  • Well written, Great plot and both Adam West and Bruce Timm as Voice Overs!

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Darknight57, Jul 20, 2010
    This episode was special and full of in gags in that not only do they have Adam West to voice the Gray Ghost but they have Bruce Timm's voice and his look to use on the Mad Bomber. It was a great idea to have Adam West voice Simon Trent, because the both once acted out superheroes on TV. Another interesting note is that the stuidio that apparently made the Grey Ghost show "Spectrum" is the same animation studio that animated a number of episodes on this show (including this one). Suprisingly for Spectrum , the characters weren't exactly on model in this episode. But that's a minor gripe other things in this episode, such as the exploding were absoluteley cinematic. Definitley reccomended.moreless

  • One of my favorite Batman Episodes ever...!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Basileus_Puros, Jul 20, 2010
    I was so glade when I finally had enough money to buy the first three volumes of Batman: The Animated Series on DVD and I remember that the first episodes I choice to watch was "Beware The Gray Ghost."

    The story is interesting and it's nice that you don't really know the villain until almost the end. I also liked that Adam West (Batman from the 60's) was able to be apart of it this episode.

    I also found it quite nice that Batman brought the Gray Ghost (Simon Trent) back to the Batcave and let him be apart of the adventure.

    Over all a great episode and still one, if not thee, best episode of batman; at least for me.moreless

  • Batman seeks help from an old actor who played a superhero.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By stitch069917, Jul 20, 2010
    Buildings in Gotham City are being blown up. Batman cannot figure out how the bad guy is doing it. He finds a note from "The Mad Bomber" and he realizes that what is happening is very similar to what happened in an old series he watched as a kid called "The Gray Ghost". He goes in search of the films from that series because the episode he needs, he never finished as a kid. The local film bank does not have any copies and the originals were destroyed in a fire at the studio. Batman now must seek out the help of the man that played "The Gray Ghost"......moreless

  • Legends Never Die

    10
    "Perfect"
    By sh811a, Jul 20, 2010
    This episode is another one of my all time favorates, I thought it was a dream come true when Adam West came in to guest voice since he was Batman in the 60's which of course was the show I saw when I was at least 7 years old which introduced me and got me into the Caped Crusader.

    Other than that bomber plot which was really just the maguffin of the episode what was really important was on interaction between Bruce/Batman and Simon Trent/Gray Ghost. You can't help but feel a deep sense of pathos for the character Simon Trent he's down on his luck and aging, the guy deserves better; I sometimes wonder if part of this could of been slightly based on Adam West's life whether it is or not the emotion hits hard. What I thought was really sad was seeing this guy was begining to stop believing in himself, he feels that playing that once famous fictional hero The Gray Ghost has ruined his life and he as a person hasn't amounted to anything. A really heartbreaking scene for me would be seeing him trash some of the Grey Ghost memorabily in anger and then cry at his misery. But of course there is only one person that can save him and help him believe once more and that is Batman.

    I really loved seeing how far Bruce's admiration for the old pulp hero goes. The fact that we see Bruce as a child really love this character and he use to watch it with his parients, which added a little emotional weight. Seeing that Bruce bought back all of the memorbily Simon sold and of course as his Batman alter ego put it all back in the nice condition it was in as if he didn't want to see both the man and his hero die.

    But of course we see the most memorable moment was when we saw Simon in the Batcave and see how the hero he portrays has influnced and inspired Batman since the Bat Cave seems similarly designed like the home base The Gray Ghost had; then of course Batman shows him the memorbily he has collected and tells him everything he felt when watching his show, what it taught him and how it has inspired him to be the person he is now.

    I could easily emphasize with Batman's admiration and belief for The Gray Ghost because it's ironically similar to my own for Batman as a kid I loved Batman and I still do today. This episode is a lot of things, it's a tribute to the Batman legend in general showing how far it has truely stretch from then and now, to us the fans of not just Batman but could be any other superhero or series of some kind Sailor Moon, Superman, The Incredable Hulk, X-Men you name it. But most importantly it's all about the importance of belief not just heroism in general but in one's self and the hero inside you.

    Babe Ruth once said, "Heroes are remembered, but legends never die." That's true with The Gray Ghost but most importantly with us that's true with Batman.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (0)

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  • QUOTES (2)

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    • Batman: I used to admire what the Gray Ghost stood for.
      Simon Trent: I'm not the Gray Ghost.
      Batman: I can see that now.

    • Bruce Wayne: You know, as a kid, I used to watch you with my father. The Gray Ghost was my hero.
      Gray Ghost: Really?
      Bruce Wayne: And he still is.

  • NOTES (14)

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    • This is labeled episode 18 on the Batman: The Animated Series Volume 1 DVD.

    • Among the identified Gray Ghost episodes in Simon Trent's cupboard are "Have A Heart", "Red Ghost Run", "The Claw", "Take A Hint", "One On One", "Dr. Death", "Jimmy's Homecoming", "The Doll Maker", "Gray Ghost Returns", "Missing Link", "The Card Shark", "Spy Smashing", "The Secret Chamber", "The Road Trip", "Terror In The Sky", "Earthquake", "Sweet Revenge", "The Mad Bomber", "Electronic Man" and "Sweating Bullets". "Terror in the Sky" was also the name of a later episode in this series.

    • This episode along with "Dreams In Darkness" was released on VHS as The New Adventures Of Batman & Robin: Batman.

    • "The Mad Bomber" is episode 18 in the Grey Ghost series and "Beware the Grey Ghost" is episode 18 in the production/ DVD order of the show

    • The Mad Bomber looks very much like a younger Bruce Timm (series producer). The IMDB lists Timm as voicing the character as well.

    • The Gray Ghost is voiced by Adam West, who played Batman in the '60s Batman TV show. According to producer Eric Radomski, "When we had first gotten the script on that, we all went: 'This would be perfect for Adam West, but do you think he'd be offended because of the content.' But he was more than happy to do it. It was great to have this aging hero play this aging hero."

    • This is the first time Batman takes anyone, who is conscious, other than Alfred or Robin to the Batcave, and he strongly hints at his secret identity to Simon Trent.

    • The poster of the Gray Ghost in the Batcave shows him in the same pose Batman has in the series logo.

    • The People Magazine shows the Gray Ghost casting Batman's shadow.

    • The Gray Ghost poster that hangs on Simon's apartment wall is based on the cover of the January 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow pulp magazine.

    • The People Magazine was dated October 9, 1992. The same day Perchance to Dream first aired.

    • On The People Magazine cover at the end of the episode, there is a story called "Matt Hagan: Man of a Thousand Faces". Matt Hagan is the villain Clayface.

    • Bob Kane originally used radio shows similar to "The Gray Ghost" as the inspiration for Batman.

    • This features the first "appearance" of series creator Bruce Timm as a character on his own show.

  • ALLUSIONS (4)

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    • Another probable inspiration for the Mad Bomber's killer toy cars is the 1950's Adventures of Superman episode Beware The Wrecker (airing January 20, 1954), in which remote controlled model planes were used by a mysterious extortionist to blow up Metropolis trains and ships.

    • The concept of using remote-controlled toy cars to carry bombs was used prior to this episode in the Dirty Harry movie, 'The Dead Pool'.

    • The Gray Ghost appearance and weaponry bear a striking resemblance to Golden Age DC superhero Sandman. They both wore goggles and a trench coat. The Gray Ghost uses a smoke gun, which was also Sandman's weapon of choice.

    • Robby the Robot At the Yestertoys store you can see a miniature Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet (1956).

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