Batman: The Animated Series

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I kind of like "the Batman", and how it implies people think of him as kind of a freak rather than a familiar local fixture.

Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Green Lantern, however, dispenses with the "the":

http://img105.exs.cx/img105/8022/serious.jpg

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Nobody takes you seriously after you've gone crazy, killed a bunch of people, restarted time, died reigniting the sun, became the (dis)embodiment of God's Vengeance, and then came back to life and tried to act like nothing happened.

Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

And your toupee is slipping.

jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 20:24 (nineteen years ago) link

In the animated context, "The Batman" = post-TAS suck, i.e. no Kevin Conroy.

Leeeeeeeee (Leee), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 02:22 (nineteen years ago) link

two months pass...
Holy cheap DVDs, Batman!

SHOULD I GET THIS??

Obsessing over the unobtainable and nonexistent. (Leee), Friday, 9 December 2005 22:02 (eighteen years ago) link

And now here's a 3-pack. I hate decisions.

Obsessing over the unobtainable and nonexistent. (Leee), Friday, 9 December 2005 22:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I only own Vol.1, but it's one of my most cherished DVD sets, definitley worth every cent - am totally planning on buying the other two as well.

Seriously, as far as meat & potatoes, just plain good Batman stories go, this show is unbeatable. Go for it.

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 9 December 2005 22:23 (eighteen years ago) link

Other two? Volume four came out this week (along w/Superman: TAS volume two). And now there's a 4-pack available. BOO-YA.

Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Saturday, 10 December 2005 23:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Blimey!

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 11 December 2005 00:02 (eighteen years ago) link

The 4-pack is a total rip-off, BTW. Cheaper to buy them all separately. Which makes no sense at all...

Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Sunday, 11 December 2005 00:05 (eighteen years ago) link

I just noticed that all the DC TV DVDs have the same basic packaging scheme as the Showcase Presents volumes!

Huk-L (Huk-L), Sunday, 11 December 2005 00:45 (eighteen years ago) link

this is all i really want for christmas. and i doubt it.

kephm (kephm), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:32 (eighteen years ago) link

seven months pass...
DANIEL REVIEWS EVERY EPISODE OF THE SECOND BATMAN:TAS BOX SET (SPOILERS!!!!)

Overall, the anime influence is more visible on this set than it was on the first one, though still not overt by any means (it's mostly in the facial expressions, especially when portraying surprise, and sudden movements.) Storywise, we get to see a lot more of Wayne's past, as well as a more established rogue's gallery - the villains start to hang out with each other, sometimes with almost "JLI" levels of bickering (tho never quite as flat-out hilarious, of course.) Small extras, trailers and commentaries round out a nice set, but get the first one first!

"Eternal Youth" - Ok, so I didn't watch this one, because I used to have a little crush on the animated version of Poison Ivy and thus don't like to watch her get defeated by mean ol' Batman :(, unless it's funny. Which this ep, according to my childhood memory, isn't.

"Perchance To Dream" - Mentioned a few times on this thread, and with good reason. A perfect example of how the animated series was really good at getting the most out of very common plot devices - here it's "For The Man Who Has Everything", pretty much. Very weird and unsettling - and dig that "Maltese Falcon" reference at the end!

"The Cape And The Cowl Conspiracy" - Espionage hijinks. Not bad, but nothing notable either.

"Robin's Reckogning, Pt.1 & 2" - Robin's origin story *and* him tracing down the man who killed his parents. I don't care much about Robin, so meh, though Batman is as much of a dick as ever.

"The Laughing Fish" - Joker episode, with a pretty sweet initial concept: Joker drops chemical into rivers that makes all fish get disfigured and Joker-looking, then tries to get copyright. Wonderful fish commercial with Harley Quinn, too. A great light-hearted episode.

"Night Of The Ninja" - Watching this isn't really half as fun as jumping around your living room yelling "BATMAN: NIGHT OF THE NINJA!!!", I'm afraid.

"Cat Scratch Fever" - Catwoman stops some evil animal-testing bastards. A winter episode.

"The Strange Secret Of Bruce Wayne" - Evil psychologist/scientist blackmails people by finding out their greatest fears through some gizmo or other. He tries to auction off Batman's secret identity, to no great effect.

"Heart Of Steel, Pt.1 & 2" - Very creepy double parter about an evil computer trying to replace people with robots. Features a very hawt evil blonde robot chick, and sundry "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" type identity theft. Also, Barbara Gordon, not yet Batgirl but if you know about her from the comics and see how much initiative she has it doesn't take a genius to figure out she'll get there soon enough.

"If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" - Enter the Riddler! All of the Riddler episodes seem to rely heavily on crazy, surrealist imagery - here Batman gets stuck inside a computer game. The animated series of course is very good at this sort of visual stuff, so it's an enjoyable episode, but it might also be one of the very very few that feels *dated* - the show opted for a timeless art deco style, and even using computers doesn't disturb that *too much* (comps have existed since WWII after all), but video games just don't fit in, and so the early 90sness creeps in. Also, I'm happy to report the Riddler's clues are as mind boggling as they ever were on "Super Friends".

"Joker's Wild" - Tycoon names new casino/hotel after the Joker to have him wreack havoc and then cash in insurance money. Bit of a snooze at times, but the Joker's always good value for money.

"Tyger, Tyger" - Stunning Dr.Moreau influenced storyline. A very camp evil scientist makes creepy genetic experiments on his island, resulting in a not-too-bright minion monkey man and a more dangerous tiger man. Catwoman and Batman get involved. High on the pathos (one exchange towards the end consists of Catwoman yelling at the tiger-man "you don't belong here!" and him answering "I don't belong anywhere", before walking into a flaming forest), and utterly atypical of Batman, but definitley worth watching. And yeah, Batman recites the Blake lines (in a final VOICEOVER, no less!)

"Moon Of The Wolf" - Sports star uses new drug that turns him into a champion BUT ALSO A WEREWOLF. Very much pales in comparsion to the previous, similiarish episode.

"Day Of The Samurai" - Sequel to "Night Of The Ninja", but much more enjoyable because hey, Batman goes to Japan! And gets told by his old sensei that truly he has learned the ways of the samurai. Also, wisecracking Alfred in a bowler hat (I wuv bowler hats.)

"Terror In The Sky" - Man-Bat. In the first scene all he does is scare some ppl at the docks and eat fruits out of some boxes, which I thought was kinda harmless. Later on tho there's the biggest OH SHIT scene in this whole package, when Man-Bat transforms ON A PLANE!

"Almost Got 'Im" - The most blatant "villains buddying up" episode of the set: they have a card game and tell stories of how they almost defeated Bats. It falls down mostly because their stories aren't all that gripping. Catwoman featured at the end - her romance with Batman throughout the series is really high camp, I have to say.

"Birds Of A Feather" - The Penguin gets adopted by shallow Gotham socialites who want to parade him around as a novelty for parties. A very interesting take on the Penguin - the episode makes it *very* clear that he's not actually the well-read gentleman that he likes to portray himself as, but rather just a lonely, desperate guy who's built this fantasy for himself. Shades of "Phantom Of The Opera" towards the end when he finds out about the way he's been used. Also, is that Hopey from "Love & Rockets" on the bus scene?

"What Is Reality?" - Another Riddler psychological potboiler. Great eye candy if nothing else.

"I Am The Night" - Moaney Batman Whinypants - I guess the Angst Episode had to happen sooner or later. Still, you have a villain called THE JAZZMAN, and some prison scenes worthy of prime-era Cagney/Edward G Robinson Warner Bros.

"Off Balance" - Talia shows up! Rowr! Also, a semi-nazi villain by the name of Count Vertigo - and sure enough, the episode is a huge tribute to the Hitchcock movie of the same name. Great choice in leaving Ras to the final frames - an effective way of establishing his string-pulling credentials.

"The Man Who Killed Batman" - Total n00b criminal accidentally bumps off Batman (no, not really) and gets more trouble than it's worth, especially from an irate Joker. "Batman: The Animated Series" pulls off these "average joe perspective" episodes from time to time, and they always remind me of "The Spirit", who does this type of thing similiarly well.

"Mudslide" - BATMAN IS A DICK! So Clayface is disintegrating, and Batman offers to help, but Clayface is all "stfu". Fair enough. Only later on Clayface and this doctor that's helping him try to turn him back to his normal, human self with technology stolen from Wayne Tech, and Batman stops the process just as it's starting to work. What, so to him it's all about the principle? Couldn't he have at least waited for the guy to turn human and thus NO LONGER BE A THREAT TO HIM before he arrested the two for stealing technology that he'd offered to Clyaface as help, anyway?

"Paging The Crime Doctor" - Regrettably not the Crime Doctor from "Villains United", but Rupert Thorne's conflicted brother. Very awww scene at the end, tho, when Bruce Wayne asks him to talk about his father.

"Zatanna" - At first when I saw this I was kind of weirded out that she'd be the first DCU hero to guest star in the series, and then I remembered, oh right, Dini fetish. Which instantly made it very hard to take this episode seriously, magic debunking villain and all.

"The Mechanic" - The Penguin gets a hold of the Batmobile's mechanic. Biggest geek fodder happens during a flashback, where we get to see Batman's original Batmobile hurrah!

"Harley & Ivy" - YAY!

Crush aside, I think it's pretty obvious that there's a lot of conflict over how to handle Poison Ivy. I mean, the main premise is that she's this psychotic austere figure who hates humans and wants the whole world to be overgrown with plants, but ppl insist on making her a femme fatale as well. In "Almost Got 'Im" she's all palls with the other villains (even insinuates that she's dated Two-Face), and now here she's totally Harley's sweetheart, giving her feminist pep talks and wisecraking all the way. I like her that way a lot, actually, but it doesn't pan out. Which doesn't make this episode any less fun - Harley's deperate co-dependance, the Joker's careless egotism, Batman stuck as a sort of straight-man, the pet names, the car chases! Top marks.

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 24 July 2006 01:25 (eighteen years ago) link

where do i even start with all this stuff...

s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 24 July 2006 02:45 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh man, I totally remember most of these.

Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 24 July 2006 02:49 (eighteen years ago) link

I like Batman Beyond but I haven't picked it up yet. I still need to get around to getting Volume 4 of Batman (and volume one, rented it for a dollar and watched all of it in 2 days) but I have all the Supermans and Justice Leagues released so far (with volumes 2 and 3 of BTAS). uh, yeah.

christopherscottknudsen (christopherscottknudsen), Monday, 24 July 2006 09:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Holy crap, Daniel.
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman was on YTV yesterday, which I thought was kinda nifty, considering, y'know, 52. It was okay. I figured out the mystery pretty early, and was super disappointed there was no Renee Montoya in it.

Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 24 July 2006 13:28 (eighteen years ago) link

I really dug on "Almost Got 'Im" when I first saw it, mostly because the episode had the "good" animators.

And I also loved "I Am The Night," but that's the 12-year-old me talking again, and because Gordon almost buys it! (IIRC.)

c('°c) (Leee), Monday, 24 July 2006 15:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Awesome job, btw.

c('°c) (Leee), Monday, 24 July 2006 15:11 (eighteen years ago) link

Count Vertigo? Awesome! (he's a Green Arrow villain from the 70s, later in the 80s Suicide Squad, currently in Queen & Checkmate).

Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 24 July 2006 15:21 (eighteen years ago) link

Too much free time at work presents:

TAS TIDBITS!

Richard Moll aka BULL FROM NIGHTCOURT voiced Clayface!
Mignola apparently designed the TAS Mr. Freeze!

c('°c) (Leee), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:43 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Actually Richard Moll voiced Two-Face, not Clayface.

Clayface was voiced by Ron Perlman.

Duane Barry, Friday, 21 September 2007 19:18 (seventeen years ago) link

three years pass...

I desperately need to buy back my childhood by owning these box sets. This show was responsible for about a third of my high school psychology class believing that it's impossible to read in your dreams.
― chi a, Monday, July 18, 2005 2:54 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

OMG I THOUGHT THAT TOO BECAUSE OF THAT EPISODE
― latebloomer: lazy r people (latebloomer), Monday, July 18, 2005 2:59 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark

lol me too

Princess TamTam, Sunday, 16 January 2011 10:58 (thirteen years ago) link

you know what was an underrated/awesome thing about this show? the title cards for each ep

http://i.imgur.com/5LGer.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/AiY4C.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xVWH1.jpg

Princess TamTam, Sunday, 16 January 2011 11:00 (thirteen years ago) link

OTM!

not everything is a campfire (ian), Sunday, 16 January 2011 20:58 (thirteen years ago) link

some episodes here if you are fortunate enough to have a US internet connection http://dcbeyond.kidswb.com/video

make the Pagan Dad a Pagan Father. (Dr. Superman), Thursday, 20 January 2011 08:18 (thirteen years ago) link

two years pass...

http://imgur.com/a/Evp8d

乒乓, Monday, 28 January 2013 13:32 (eleven years ago) link

Woooow.

Matt M., Monday, 28 January 2013 21:08 (eleven years ago) link

wonderful

Nhex, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 03:06 (eleven years ago) link

There are no words to describe how much I love these.

Would like a screensaver, that just looped all these.

my opinionation (Hamildan), Tuesday, 29 January 2013 18:19 (eleven years ago) link

one year passes...

batman fights clayface in cramped television studio control room while video monitors show kaleidoscopic shifting of disfigured actor matt hagen's pre-clayface roles; clayface goes insane with disassociative grief, madly shapeshifts through assorted old roles/hideous forms before settling on the form of bruce wayne; cops burst through door, guns drawn, to find batman in fistfight with clayface-wayne; "mother of mercy," one says, "it looks just like bruce wayne."

difficult listening hour, Thursday, 14 August 2014 08:17 (ten years ago) link

best episode

Οὖτις, Thursday, 14 August 2014 15:50 (ten years ago) link

whoa I just found out that the new Batman animated flick they did to tie into the Arkham series is a full-on Suicide Squad story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8VV2i-vqsE

Andrea Romano is voice-directing, Kevin Conroy is Bats, Troy Baker as Joker, etc.

Stephen King's Threaderstarter (kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2014 04:37 (ten years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlM-YxFxFjc

this terrified me as a child, nightmarish

soref, Monday, 18 August 2014 07:52 (ten years ago) link

When is the blu-ray set coming out? Would buy.

EZ Snappin, Monday, 18 August 2014 12:46 (ten years ago) link

three months pass...

Just watching through the Timm Superman series now, and really enjoying it (maybe I took so long because basically I'm not a big Supes fan), but I was AMAZED by the episode "The Late Mr Kent", in which the bad guy realises "HE'S SUPERMAN"! just before the switch is pulled. Whoa. There aren't actually that many Superman stories (in any format) that revolve around Clark Kent the reporter, are there (or am I completely wrong)?

Also, the ending of the first Darkseid two-parter, goddamn

Duane Barry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:41 (nine years ago) link

I love the Superman series, way underrated

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:30 (nine years ago) link

It would seem so! It gets mentioned a lot less than Batman or JL, at least in the places I've looked. But it's easily on par.

The only Marvel cartoon show I've liked on the same level is The Spectacular Spider-Man series from a few years back. Like the Timm DC shows, it was clearly made by people with a lot of affection for the character and his world, but had a style and continuity that made it very much its own thing (too bad it only lasted two seasons).

Duane Barry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 17:48 (nine years ago) link

the way all the Timm series' fit together is just really well done. The Batman and Superman series maintain their own style and consistency of tone, and then the JL (and JL Unlimited) series bring them together and expand them in a really satisfying way. All the Kirby stuff in the Superman series is also really nice to see (I confess I got a little teared up at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n-dHW3ZTTs)

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:32 (nine years ago) link

I'm trying to sell my girlfriend on making this one of our next TV binges. She's never seen any of the DC animated stuff, so it's hard to know what she'll think. She does like televisual/cinematic superhero stuff, though, and this is about as well-done as it gets.

Hamhole and Fly Eyes (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link

At any rate, I finally have all of these series in my possession now (with the exception of Static Shock, which WB can't muster interest in completing) so I really want to watch the whole kaboodle soon.

Hamhole and Fly Eyes (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:38 (nine years ago) link

*throws shade on The Zeta Project*

Nhex, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:41 (nine years ago) link

They haven't put out any DVDs of The Zeta Project at all, have they?

And I guess I also lied because I don't have Batman Beyond yet.

Hamhole and Fly Eyes (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:45 (nine years ago) link

The S:TAS/BB/SS/Zeta Project stuff is a slightly lower quality filling between B:TAS and JL, even JL didn't get great until season 2

Nhex, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:49 (nine years ago) link

tbh I never even saw Static Shock or Zeta Project, was amazed ZP existed when I looked it up years later

Nhex, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:49 (nine years ago) link

never heard of it until now myself

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 18:59 (nine years ago) link

me either.

EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 19:00 (nine years ago) link

I think S:TAS is on par with Batman and the JL series

I have no interest in the other series' tbh

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 19:01 (nine years ago) link


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