On Leather Wings
| "'On Leather Wings'" | |
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| Batman: The Animated Series episode | |
The title card from the episode
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Kevin Altieri |
| Written by | Mitch Brian |
| Original air date | September 6, 1992 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"On Leather Wings" is the pilot episode of Batman: The Animated Series. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 6, 1992. It was written by Mitch Brian and directed by Kevin Altieri. That was the first episode of the series to feature the villain Man-Bat and was also Man-Bat's first screen appearance. In comics, Man-Bat first appeared in 1970. Although "On Leather Wings" was the first episode of the series to be produced, it was the second to be broadcast, following "The Cat and the Claw, Part 1", which premiered just the day before.
A police blimp is flying over Gotham City. A blip ghosts across the radar screen, then the pilot sees something that looks like bat wings fly past the cockpit window. The blimp rises above the clouds, but they see nothing. We flash to the skyline of Gotham, and see a shadow of a giant bat creature flying past against the buildings.
The scene changes to outside of the Phoenix Pharmaceuticals. Inside, a guard is patrolling and making a demo tape for a radio ad on a micro-cassette recorder. He hears a crash and goes to investigate. At first he sees nothing, but then a shadow of a giant bat passes over him. The guard is attacked by the beast and drops his recorder under the desk. The guard tosses a chair through the window, and then the bat picks him up and tosses him out and into the river below.
The next day, Commissioner Gordon meets with Mayor Hamilton Hill and District Attorney Harvey Dent to discuss a police raid to capture Batman. Detective Harvey Bullock asks Hill for permission to form his own tactical squad, but Gordon has already denied it. Hill authorizes the strike force, reminding Gordon that Bullock has a reputation for catching his man. Dent promises to put Batman in jail if Bullock catches him.
Believing he's been set up, Batman investigates and finds out there were two similar robberies at pharmaceutical companies. Batman infiltrates Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, alarming two employees, who call the police. Batman gasses the police guard unconscious and crosses the police line into the scene of the crime. Bullock receives the call from Dispatch, and then calls in his special task force to convene on the building.
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