Batman: Caped Crusader 1.08

Nocturne

Leslie Thompkins brings a group of children from the orphanage to the carnival. One by one they start disappearing. Harvey Dent is also at the carnival, fundraising for his mayoral campaign. The election is just around the corner. Bruce Wayne is at the carnival on a date with Julie Madison.

Natalia, a girl at the carnival, is the one making the orphans disappear. She lives with her adult brother who works at the carnival. She's been draining the orphans of their energy. Bruce tries investigating in his civilian identity and gets nowhere. He changes into his costume after getting beaten up and thrown in a ditch by some of the carnies.

Batman catches up to Natalia just as she is going after victim number four, a girl named Carrie. The previous victims (Dickie, Jason, Stephie) are still unconscious. It looks like Natalia has the upper hand but then the sun comes up and her skin starts to burn. Batman covers her with his cape and gets her to the hospital. 

The episode ends with Harvey Dent refusing to do Rupert Thorne's bidding after taking his money. One of Thorne's men throws acid in Dent's face.

Thoughts

The four orphans are clearly meant to be Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, and Carrie Kelly. They were all Batman's sidekick at one point or another in the comic books.

Leslie Thompkins and Julie Madison are also characters from the comic books who are also making their first appearances in this series. Leslie Thompkins appeared in Batman: The Animated Series but this is the first time that Julie Madison has appeared in a Batman cartoon.

Natalia (also known as Nocturna in the comic books) is a character who first appeared in Detective Comics 529 (Aug 1983). She made numerous appearances in issues of Batman (11) and Detective Comics (10) from Aug 1983 through Jan 1986. I really don't know much about her other that.

This is a freaky episode. It has a supernatural angle which feels a bit out of place in a Batman story, unless he is teamed up with someone with the power to deal with supernatural forces. Still, despite my misgivings, I really enjoyed this episode probably as much for what it hints at as much as for what it actually depicts.