Holy Phantasmagoric, Batman!

 

credit: EzzyArtOver on DeviantArt

Batman has been featured in several different media over the last 80 years. He's been featured in comics, books, cartoons, live action television, and both live action and animated films. Not all mediums are shared universes, and characters created for one medium dont always cross over into the others. Usually, the characters that never make the cross over are throw-away characters or poorly written stand-ins for existing characters. This is not the case for this villain. 

Batman the Animated Series is probably the best animated adaptation of any superhero comic character, from any publisher, and certainly the best Batman adaptation. In 1993, a tie-in animated film was released, The Mask of the Phantasm, which featured a new terrifying, mysterious villain. 

Created for the film by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, and Bruce Timm, The Phantasm has design elements of the classic Death/Grim Reaper complete with skull mask and scythe weapon. Elements of the supernatural build the mystery of who this character is, leading to a surprise reveal. Andrea Beaumont is the Phantasm. 

This character added to the early Bruce Wayne pre-Batman lore. A younger Bruce Wayne, presumably in his early 20s, meets and gets engaged to Andrea Beaumont, abandoning any plans to become Batman. But her connections to the Gotham Mob make her decide to flee Gotham and break off the engagement. Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. Andrea Beaumont, then, is a pivotal character in the Batman lore, as important as Julie Madison, Vikki Vale, or Rachel Dawes. Her relationship with Bruce Wayne and her mob ties are also reminiscent of Mallory Moxon. 

The character elements are all pretty familiar and shared by a lot of strong Batman villains. The Gotham mob connections help this character blend into the established lore of the city and early Batman stories. The Animated Series leaned into the gothic noir of early Batman comics and 1930s pulp fiction in general. 

The Phantasm is a mysterious supernatural threat, taking influence from occult detective tales published in pulp magazines like Strange Detective Tales, and Thrilling Mystery. Andrea Beaumont is a femme fatale character, later revealed to also be the mysterious villain. April Clarkson/Midnight is a similar femme fatale/mystery villain. Of course, Catwoman is the original femme fatale for Batman, and the inspiration for both. 

Andrea Beaumont wouldn't cross over into DC comics until 2020, when Tom King used her in a Batman/Catwoman cross over event. However, the idea of an old friend returning to Bruce Wayne's life only to be revealed later as an antagonist has been used a few times. I can only speculate the Mask of the Phantasm influenced the creation of Tommy Elliot, and April Clarkson, and probably played a role in shaping Lincoln March, and Simon Hurt (boooo).  There are too many coincidences between characters to think otherwise.

In summation, I think the Phantasm is an important part of the modern Batman character. It plays well in the pulp, occult foundations, normalized retconning the character's past to add depth and lore, and used the overarching themes of fear and revenge well, while adding a female character that is more compelling than just a sidekick, or a love interest.