Come 2008, the DC Animated Universe had been dead for 2 years. Justice League Unlimited aired its final episode in 2006 bringing an end to something that had been ongoing since 1992. As I touched on earlier in this year’s countdown, the DCAU wasn’t something I was particularly invested in so it’s end went unnoticed by me. Hell, it’s continuation mostly went unnoticed as I stopped at Batman Beyond! With it in the past though, it seemed there was a desire at Warner to do something completely different. Enter Batman: The Brave and the Bold, a far more light-hearted and cheeky depiction of the caped crusader loosely based on the comic of the same name. The premise was to take Batman and focus on more contained stories that would feature a team-up between Batman and other DC superheroes, some of which would be well known and some that wouldn’t be. This new start came with a new art style and a new voice for Batman. Kevin Conroy (R.I.P.) will always be my Batman, but I get the desire to want to explore a different aspect of the hero which is how we ended up with Diedrich Bader. Bader’s more one-dimensional Batman is the anchor of this show. He has to take himself seriously and play the straight man in a world that is rather outlandish.

Despite all of that, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is not a show I sought out. It was sold to me as more of a kid’s show, and being well into my adult years at this point it didn’t make much sense to seek it out. Like Justice League, the show aired on Cartoon Network which just wasn’t really on my radar in 2008. I admired the visual style from afar, but that was as far as I went with it. Now, I’m more curious about the animated shows I passed on. I never fell out of love with cartoons, be they aimed at kids or adults, and if they’re well-animated then they have value to me. And let’s be honest, we’ve seen a ton of dark and gritty takes on Batman at this point. I love Batman ’89, Batman: The Animated Series, and Batman Begins – they’re all terrific, but at some point I just got tired of the same old Batman. I have yet to watch the latest film and I don’t have much desire to do so. A Batman that’s a bit more lighthearted where the individuals behind the production don’t take the character quite as seriously as others has appeal. I’m not saying let’s go back to the Adam West show and I definitely have no appreciation for the camp that was Batman & Robin, but something more offbeat can work. Batman is allowed to have a sense of humor.

The fifth production episode, and fourth to air, of Batman: The Brave in the Bold is the subject of today’s post. “Invasion of the Secret Santas” is going to team Batman up with Red Tornado, a character I have zero knowledge of. That’s part of the appeal of the show as it seeks to spotlight some lesser heroes in the DC back catalog. I assume it also intends to do the same with villains since today’s villain is another character I have zero experience with: Fun Haus. He certainly sounds like a villain that could work with a Christmas plot, and at least Red Tornado has red in his name. A green outfit leading to a red-green tornado would have really made him fit even more.

The way this show works, is it begins with a “teaser” that features Batman teamed up with a hero as they finish a job. It’s basically unrelated to the show’s main plot. And in this episode, we open with Batman (Bader) and Blue Beetle (voiced by former Batman Will Friedle) as they tangle with Sportsmaster (Tom Wilson)! It starts as a broadcast of The Professional Bowling League’s Christmas Tournament where the top bowlers in the country are competing for a sweet cash prize. Almost right away, Sportsmaster shows up to declare that bowling isn’t a real sport. Sportsmaster is basically a guy who has a costume composed of sports equipment. With him are a trio of goons one is a football player, one a baseball player, and the last is a hockey player. I’m not sure if he intends to steal anything or if he’s really out for money (he says he won’t steal their prize, but win it) or if this is more of a personal crusade against bowling. The bowlers don’t put up any sort of resistance apparently as we cut to them all placed in human-sized, transparent, bowling pins and the goons are setting them up. Sportsmaster then grabs a bowling ball, which is also a bomb, and rolls it in the direction of the pins. He’s a southpaw, in case you’re curious. Just before the ball strikes the pins a well-timed batarang intercepts it and detonates it before it can reach them. Enter Batman and The Blue Beetle!

Batman is here to tell Sportsmaster he expected to find him…in the gutter! See, Batman gets to use puns with regularity now. Blue Beetle is basically just along for the ride. Sportsmaster welcomes the challenge, and Batman instructs Beetle to take the goons and leave Sportsmaster to him. Beetle is fine with that, but his suit might not be as he starts arguing with it and refers to it as a “goober.” Since only Blue Beetle can hear what the suit is saying (and that is true for us, the audience), it sounds like he’s insulting Batman, but he just ignores it. Beetle is embarrassed and a bit angry with his apparently sentient suit (I guess I should have watched the movie that came out this year), but orders it to conjure up some weapons for him to tackle the baddies with. It responds by morphing both forearms into Mega Buster-like canons, which is certainly aided in that both characters rely heavily on the color blue. Beetle requests something less likely to level the place and the suit responds by just bulking him up, and he seems satisfied. I had no idea Blue Beetle operated in such a fashion.

Meanwhile, Batman is battling Sportsmaster who is tossing several bowling balls at him. Batman just punches them out of the air causing them to shatter so this is one beefy bat. He closes in on the villain, who responds with kicks as he’s apparently “sporting” some rather fiendish cleats. Unable to connect with Batman, Sportsmaster tries to make a run for it, but Batman is able to take him out with a bowling pin. Blue Beetle had no difficulty with the goons and the two regroup to bask in the glow of a job well done. Beetle then tries inviting Batman back to his place for Christmas Eve dinner, boasting that his mom is a great cook so he apparently still lives at home, but Batman turns him down on account of the fact that crime doesn’t take a holiday. Smash to intro!

After a pretty spectacular intro with an old school flair (think Johnny Quest), we settle on a small town gearing up for Christmas. We see some festive sights around town before the camera takes us to a university. It’s there a professor is teaching an archeology class. Professor Ulthoon (Corey Burton) takes a question from a kid (James Arnold Taylor) wondering if archeology is as exciting as someone like Indiana Jones makes it out to be, and the professor is forced to tell him that it is not. It’s mostly reading books. When he turns to address the kid we see his eyes are an unnatural shade of blue and his rather stilted speech would imply this gentleman is not human.

The sound of a runaway box truck gets the professor’s attention. He apparently has a super sense of hearing to notice the out of control vehicle and excuses himself from class for a moment. Once the door is shut behind him, he rips off his whole face to reveal a robotic one underneath. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Red Tornado! He whirls into action to save two children about to be struck by this vehicle, which comes to a complete stop shortly after, and delivers them to their father. There he tells the old man that his children need to be more mindful of traffic and he receives no objections from the man and his two kids. They thank him for saving them and for all that he does and make a reference to The Christmas Spirit in doing so. Red Tornado responds with, “Christmas…spirit?” as he’s apparently unfamiliar with the term. The boy (Zachary Gordon) describes it as a tingling feeling you get inside and when Red Tornado confesses he’s unfamiliar with that emotion the little girl (Liliana Mumy) laughs at him like he’s an idiot – “Of course you can’t, you’re a robot!” The three all have a hearty laugh while Red Tornado looks legitimately hurt.

Later, we find Red Tornado as his alter ego back at his home. He’s just standing in his living room at first, but then it cuts to him seated on his sofa reading a book titled Get That Holiday Spirit! He closes it, apparently finished, and then goes into a whirling tornado form once more. As a tornado, he decorates the exterior of his house with holiday decorations and then the interior. We see him putting on a festive, ugly, Christmas sweater and he stands in the living room looking things over. Deciding that he’s still missing something, we cut to him knocking on someone’s door. It’s the man and the two kids from earlier and when they all answer the door, Professor Ulthoon (he’s apparently not concerned about giving away his identity) clears his throat and begins to sing “Jingle Bells” in a very monotone, emotionless, fashion. The family just slams the door in his face leaving poor Red Tornado looking rather sad.

Back at his home, we find the professor working out an equation on a chalkboard. He seems to hypothesize that decorations plus lights plus presents plus caroling equals Christmas Spirit. Or he’s dividing by Christmas Spirit. My algebra teacher would have scolded me for writing an equation like this. Nonetheless, it would seem he can’t figure out why he has yet to feel this so-called Christmas Spirit given that he’s done what he feels is required. The television is on in the background and a black and white movie is on where a father asks his son if he’d like to know the true meaning of Christmas? Red Tornado responds out loud with, “Yes, please elaborate,” only for the movie to be interrupted by a news broadcast. Flying saucers are attacking the city and there’s a transmission from a Neptunian Leader (Friedle) demanding that Earth hand over the one known as Santa Claus. The anchor then informs us that Batman is on the scene and alone in defending Earth from these alien invaders. Not for long as the professor dawns his Red Tornado guise intent on joining the fray.

We cut to a close-up of some woman screaming as she and several others run for their lives. The flying saucers are blasting everything in sight, but Batman is on the scene. He’s shown riding on top of one of the saucers stabbing it repeatedly with a batarang. He sends it careening into the ground, does a backflip off of it, and takes out several others with batarangs in the process. He moves to another saucer and as he rides and stabs some more he’s able to direct the ship’s weapon blasts at other saucers in the process. He eventually sends that one crashing into a giant Christmas tree which goes up in flames, hopefully not an omen of what’s to come. Batman remarks to himself this isn’t how he imagined spending Christmas and soon deploys a jetpack of sorts. Why he didn’t use this thing from the beginning is a mystery. When he’s about to get nailed by a few more flying saucers, he’s saved by the entering Red Tornado. The robot wishes Batman a “Merry Christmas,” and responds by saying “Now’s not the time, Red Tornado.” This confuses Red Tornado who asks, “Isn’t Christmas tomorrow?” and I like his very literal response.

Batman is unable to explain the nuances of the English language at this time to Red Tornado for they’re still under attack. They manage to avoid the saucers and return to the offensive with Red Tornado capable of taking them out with relative ease. He mentions to Batman that Neptune is uninhabited, to which the caped crusader responds with “No kidding.” He instructs the robot to search his database for Christmas movies featuring aliens and Red Tornado is able to find one: Holiday for Neptunians. He is also able to confirm the broadcast they saw earlier on television was taken from the film. Batman then tells him he’ll draw their fire so that Red Tornado can do his thing. He takes off forcing the saucers to fly in a group after Batman. Red Tornado is then able to line them up and blast them with…red tornadoes. That’s basically all he does.

With the saucers now obliterated, the two return to the ground. Batman’s jetpack just sort of magically turns back into a cape. It makes no sense, but it looks pretty cool, and this is a cartoon about superheroes battling flying saucers so I’ll allow it. Batman examines the debris and finds a marking on it indicating it’s a toy. Red Tornado suggests he can search his database for the logo, but Batman tells him he won’t find it. Red Tornado comes back to say he could not locate it’s source, which seems to irritate Batman since he already told him he won’t. This logo is actually a mark of today’s villain. A flying saucer flies into view and from it emerges Fun Haus (Gary Anthony Williams)!

Fun Haus looks like a scary jester of some kind. He looks like a villain from the old Super Friends shows, but I’m pretty sure he was called the Toyman or something. A little bit of research tells me that Fun Haus is indeed meant to resemble that version of Toyman, so look at that. He’s shown standing in the saucer holding a doll which looks an awful lot like Baby Doll from Batman: The Animated Series. As he caresses her hair, he remarks to the pair that he was just playing with his toys asking rhetorically “Is that so wrong?” Red Tornado, who has to take everything seriously, confirms that it is indeed quite wrong and adds that most of the things Fun Haus does are wrong. He starts listing off all of his crimes he can find in his database until Batman basically tells him that’s enough once he hits jaywalking. He then tells Fun Haus “If you think we’re going to let you continue your deranged rampage you’re wrong.” Fun Haus is unimpressed and simply retorts, “If if’s and but’s were candy nuts we’d all have a merry Christmas!”

Fun Haus lobbs some threatening words at the heroes before pulling the drawstring on his dolly and tossing it to Batman. He flies off in his saucer as Batman catches the doll. As he looks it over, the doll’s head spins around and asks “Won’t you play with me?” When it does, the eyes fade to black and the doll’s right eye is replaced with a red, digital, “1” and the left eye a zero. Batman cries out, “It’s a bomb!” and we get a suspenseful act break. When we return from the break, the doll adds “My Christmas wish is to blow everything to smithereens.” This must be the hot, holiday, item for this year. Batman instructs Red Tornado to give this doll some altitude as he chucks it high into the air. Red Tornado obliges and blasts the doll ever higher where it detonates harmlessly.

Red Tornado then declares that they cannot let Fun Haus ruin Christmas. Batman sort of corrects him by saying Fun Haus is a crook first implying they just need to stop whatever scheme he’s up to. Christmas is apparently of little concern to Batman. He then asks, “Besides, why do you care?” in response to Red Tornado’s apparent concern about Christmas. Red Tornado then confesses it’s because he lacks Christmas Spirit and it’s something he would like to experience. Batman retorts that it’s overrated forcing Red Tornado to observe that he is not the only one lacking in Christmas Spirit. He then hypothesizes that something will help the both of them and produces a gift for Batman. He responds with “You shouldn’t have,” and I get the sense that he means that sincerely. He opens it anyway and finds a black coffee mug with the words “World’s Greatest Detective” printed on it.

This apparently triggers something in Batman as the screen gets all wavy and we see a flashback. It’s Christmas morning at Wayne Manor and little Bruce is making a b-line for the tree. His parents are standing by along with Alfred and his dad asks him what Santa brought for him. Young Bruce (Gordon) inspects a gift by shaking it, testing its weight, and seems to know what’s inside causing his dad (Burton) to remark “Our little detective.” He then rips it open, but we don’t get to see what’s inside (not yet, at least) as we’re taken back to the present. Batman is just staring at the gift while Red Tornado observes that he’s still not detecting any Christmas Spirit within the crime fighter. Batman snaps out of it and points out that he doesn’t have a gift for Red Tornado. He’s unbothered by this as he points out that he understands it’s the giving, not the receiving, that best exemplifies the Christmas Spirit. He’s then left wondering why he still doesn’t sense it within him and asks Batman to confirm that it’s a tingling sensation, no? Batman just smiles and says “When you start tingling, I’d see a repairman.” He then reminds him that they need to resume their hunt for Fun Haus and the pair dash away.

We’re treated to a few shots of the town basically healing after the attack by Fun Haus. Some guy with a barber shop has incorporated one of the fallen saucers into his sign and is stringing lights over it while the giant tree that was half burned has been relit. A couple of kids approach a Santa seated in a sleigh and ask him if he has any Presto Playpal toys left, but he’s apparently just a robot and only responds with “Ho ho ho.” This seems like something that might scare these kids. Above the city, Batman and Red Tornado are flying past and the robot inquires with Batman why he dislikes Christmas so much? Batman corrects him and says he does not dislike Christmas – he dislikes crime! Batman is so single-minded that he doesn’t even have room in his heart to dislike anything but crime.

As he says that line, Batman spies a Santa stumbling through people on the sidewalk and the two head down to get a closer look. Batman accuses him of sipping too much eggnog, but we the audience recognize this Santa as the same robot one from just a moment earlier. His face is frozen in a smile and the “Ho ho ho” emerges from it same as before. Santa then dispatches the two heroes with a double uppercut, much to their surprise. From their backsides, Batman informs this imposter Claus that he just made the naughty list, while Red Tornado makes the useful observation that Santa does not typically behave in this manner. Batman points out that’s because this guy isn’t Santa. As the robot turns its attention towards the many pedestrians in the street, Batman nails him through the chest with a Batarang. The robot goes through a surprisingly gratuitous death scene that includes a close-up of its eyes bulging out of its head and exploding before the whole thing catches fire. Like a Terminator, this thing has a pretty detailed endoskeleton which stands in the middle of the street for a moment as all of the “flesh” is burned away before falling into a heap of Santa bones on the ground. I thought this show was for little kids?!

Batman and Red Tornado approach the remains to inspect it, when the sound of more Santa laughter causes them to whirl around. An army of these things are waiting for them and the head on the apparent lead Claus pops open to reveal a monitor with an expected face to follow. Fun Haus then makes the same observation as me by sarcastically stating “Gee, that won’t give kids nightmares,” as he taunts Batman and Red Tornado from the safety of his base, or wherever he is. The Santas then attack and Batman and Red Tornado brawl with them in the streets. The same screaming woman we got a close-up of earlier gets another chance to shine screaming just as she did before. These Santas seem like they’re here to just be bad guys as one walks over to a little girl and snatches her teddy bear so it can rip it in half. They don’t seem that interested in just hurting people. Some people are also shown running from a department store and the character model for one of the ladies running out appears to be a direct homage to “Christmas with the Joker” as she looks pretty much exactly like the older woman a kid returns a purse to when Batman and Robin are on patrol. A fun little Easter egg for those who have been watching Batman cartoons for a long time.

Back at that big tree and sleigh, those kids are still pestering the obviously robotic Santa. Apparently this wasn’t the unit that Batman and Red Tornado encountered a moment ago. The eyes on the Santa flip to red as it stands up and the kids start screaming. This apparently scares the reindeer – yes, apparently they were real, who start running. Batman sees this going down and throws a batarang that cuts the harness off one of the four reindeer. That leaves three still pulling the sleigh which is flying down the street at this point. The freed reindeer continues running as well, and Batman leaps onto its back leaving Red Tornado to handle the other robot Santas, which he is apparently more than capable of doing. Batman is able to ride the reindeer alongside the sleigh until he’s able to jump on it just before it looks like the Santa robot is about to actually harm the children. He punches the head of the robot off of the body and it comes to land at the feet of the children. Batman tells them to pretend they didn’t see that and they respond with a scream.

The scream was apparently not due to the severed Santa head at their feet, but because the sleigh was heading towards a cliff. What city is situated this close to a giant cliff? It’s actually a bit humorous how they went from a city center to a setting that is pretty remote, but hey, it’s good suspense! The sleigh goes over the cliff, and if you were watching this on television back in 2008 you would have to sit through a commercial break to find out if Batman can save himself, the children, and the three reindeer still attached to the sleigh. And the answer is…he can’t, but Red Tornado can! The sleigh basically levels off and starts flying causing one of the kids to declare it a Christmas miracle. We pan back enough to see Red Tornado flying beside the sleigh as he created a whirlwind below it that is holding the sleigh in place. I don’t think tornadoes work that way, but as has been the case with a lot of stuff in this one so far, we’ll allow it.

We return to the city and Batman and Red Tornado appear to be surveying the wreckage. I’m guessing they’re looking for clues, but they’re interrupted by the sound of a child crying. Red Tornado approaches and asks the boy’s father, who is standing with him, if the child was frightened by the Santa carnage. The dad says, “Nah,” the kid just wants some toy. The Presto Playpal is the hot toy, and the same one the kids earlier were asking Santa for, but it’s sold out. This triggers another flashback for Batman and we return to the same scene of him opening a present under the tree as a child. Little Bruce unwraps the gift to find it contains a nutcracker. He looks surprised and Thomas Wayne chimes in that it was a gift given to him by his grandfather and now he’s passing it onto Bruce. A sweet sentiment, but apparently Thomas doesn’t know his kid too well. Bruce gets mad because it’s not the swashbuckler action figure (aka Zorro!) he asked for. He chucks the nutcracker at the wall and it bursts into pieces as he runs off. Thomas is left to look downtrodden on the couch while Alfred is left to silently pick up the pieces.

When we return to the present, Batman looks a bit pissed. I’m expecting him to teach a harsh lesson about material possessions to this boy, but the sound of an alarm snaps him out of his trance. It’s one of the busted Santa robots, the one with a display monitor, and Fun Haus appears once again. He’s there to taunt him with his last setup, “‘Twas the night before Christmas, and I’ve hidden a bomb!” Batman and Red Tornado are forced to spring into action with Red Tornado searching from the skies and Batman from the Batmobile, which has a really cool design in this one that feels like a mashup of the ’66 Batmobile and the one from Batman Forever. Both heroes apparently have some sort of bomb-detecting radar and they just search all over town for this thing. Eventually, we see it’s 6:40 and the pinkish tint to the sky means it’s morning. Batman and Red Tornado are shown regrouping where Red Tornado refers to the bomb threat as “a wild goose chase.” I wasn’t aware he was able to speak so figuratively. Batman wonders what Fun Haus was trying to distract them from, and Red Tornado suggests Christmas morning. We then center on a theater marque that says “Happy Holidays” as Red Tornado expresses his hope that both he and Batman get what they want this year.

The shot on the marquee fades into another flashback. The Waynes are leaving a showing of The Mark of Zorro, and I think we’re going to find out why Batman isn’t a big fan of Christmas. Any Batman fan knows what happens when little Bruce sees a Zorro flick with his mom and dad, but I don’t recall that fateful night ever occurring on Christmas before. As the family leaves the theater, Thomas bends down and acknowledges that Bruce didn’t get the toy he wanted for Christmas, but he hopes the swashbuckler movie helped to make up for that. Young Bruce just scowls and turns away and the disappointment on the face of Thomas pains me more as a viewer than if he just got angry with his spoiled son. He indicates it’s time to head home and the family starts walking into that fateful alley. Two gunshots rings out and all we see is a muzzle flash for each one before hearing Bruce cry out “Mom! Dad!”

We return to the present to find a stern Batman once again, only this time he reacts to his memory by stating, “Sometimes what you wish for most is the one thing you can never have.” Red Tornado says nothing, but that might sting for him a bit and his quest to experience the Christmas Spirit. Batman then notices that on a nearby poster advertising the Presto Playpal is the mark of Fun Haus. Really, Batman? You’re a master detective and you didn’t notice the face of Fun Haus on these posters all over town? Recognizing the evil plan about to unfold, we then find ourselves taken to a nearby home. A young boy is excited to unwrap a Presto Playpal, until the toy comes to life and smashes its way out of the blister package. It goes after the kid’s parents and swipes his mother’s necklace before jumping out of the window and taking off.

A montage ufolds of similar experiences of kids opening these toys and promptly getting robbed. That’s apparently the end game of Fun Haus – steal Christmas! It’s pretty amusing to see one, little, action figure dragging boxes of presents out of a house while the family just looks on in horror. Just step on the damn thing! They take all of their loot to a box truck for Fun Haus and there’s basically an assembly line of toys delivering their loot while Fun Haus basks in the success of his glorious heist from the roof of the truck. Batman arrives and does as I suggested – he steps on a toy. He informs Fun Haus that he’ll be serving hard time by New Year’s, while Fun Haus counters with “Not if you’re in the grave by lunch!” Ohh, delicious!

Fun Haus hits a button on his belt and the toy soldiers form-up in response. They jump on each other’s shoulders forming stacks of three, then we get an animation cheat where they jump together and a bright light obscures everything as they form a massive version of the Presto Playpal. Fun Haus appears in a cockpit located in the machine’s chest, like a Gundam, and informs Batman and Red Tornado that if he can’t steal from these people at Christmas, then he’ll steal Christmas from these people! I guess that’s a sweaty death threat as he then just tries to stomp on the people who came out for a peek. The screaming lady returns for a third time and this time it did get a chuckle out of me. Batman and Red Tornado spring into action by saving people from getting murdered by Fun Haus, but they’re unable to save the town water tower which says “Happy Holidays” on it. Fun Haus blows it up. That water tower has been in the community for generations – has he no shame?!

Red Tornado approaches and declares that he will do no further harm. He starts blasting the mighty robot with his trademarked red tornadoes, but declares he needs more power. He apparently possesses it, as some flaps open up and his tornadoes increase in size and intensity. Soon it starts to break the robot apart, while Batman shouts from the ground for Tornado to stop since his body can’t handle that much output. And it looks like he’s right as cracks start to appear on Red Tornado’s body. The mecha toy thing explodes and we see Fun Haus go flying through the air. He’s really high, and he goes really far, so he might be really dead when he hits the ground.

We don’t have time to worry about Fun Haus though, as Red Tornado looks to be in rather bad shape. He’s all cracked and broken, but he notices he feels something – a tingling sensation! Is it the Christmas Spirit? Or, as Batman suggested earlier, he needs to see a repairman? Batman looks to have the leading theory as Red Tornado explodes. His head winds up at the feet of Batman who picks it up and urges him to hang on referring to him as an old friend in the process. I had no idea they went way back!

We cut to Fun Haus being loaded into a police car. He looks no worse for ware so maybe he landed on a pillow factory or something. We then pan to a truck branded to be from Star Labs. A guy has a box of Red Tornado body parts that he hands off to another fellow in the truck. This episode has a lot of mild body horror, doesn’t it? We then hear Batman assuring Red Tornado that they’ll have him back together in no time. A gurney is wheeled in and we see Red Tornado’s head has been returned to his torso and he’s alert. Red Tornado then tells Batman it was an amazing feeling. Batman doesn’t try to discourage him and simply smiles and responds with, “Merry Christmas.” Red Tornado smiles in return as he’s loaded into the truck.

As the truck pulls away, the Batmobile comes speeding over. Batman hops in and is startled to see a present on the passenger seat. He opens it to find the old nutcracker from his flashback has been put back together. It’s a little rough looking, but looks pretty good considering what happened to it. Batman smiles warmly and we hear him think to himself, “Merry Christmas to you too, Alfred,” implying that his loyal butler re-assembled the toy and placed it in the Batmobile before he left the previous night. The dashboard then starts beeping and Batman’s face hardens as we hear him declare (in his head) “But crime doesn’t take a holiday, and neither do I!” He steps on the gas and the Batmobile goes speeding off towards the source of the beeping and it would appear that there will be no rest for Batman this Christmas.

“Invasion of the Secret Santas” was a pretty fun little adventure for Batman and Red Tornado. For me, it was an introduction to Red Tornado who I can’t recall ever encountering before this. There are a lot of DC superheroes that I’m not familiar with, but usually I can at least say I’ve seen them in artwork or something, but with Red Tornado I have no frame of reference. It’s amusing to me that I looked at the Justice League Christmas episode earlier this year because Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter play similar roles as emotionless beings seeking to connect with Christmas. With Red Tornado, he’s more eager to experience an emotion he has no reference for. Maybe because the audience for this show was intended to skew younger is why Red Tornado is so vocal about his desire where as we’re expected to observe J’onn’s struggles in that episode without them being made so obvious. Though I’d argue it’s not exactly subtle, either. I wasn’t that enamored with the Justice League episode, but I like this. This show has a terrific visual style and it’s not really trying to look like a 90’s cartoon animated traditionally. It’s more willing to embrace the digital medium with bright colors, thick lines, and an intentional flatness to the characters. Batman himself reminds me a little bit of the character’s depiction in the minimally animated intro to the classic 1960s show. And it still has room for a little subtlety of its own, or at least audience autonomy, when it comes to Red Tornado’s experience of the Christmas Spirit in the end. Was it a mere malfunction, or something more? You decide.

The depiction of Batman is also a lot of fun. He dishes out the corny one-liners, but with total sincerity. Diedrich Bader sounds authentic and he plays it straight so there isn’t a winking at the camera moment when it comes to Batman. He’s also allowed to possess some dry humor, though is largely a no-nonsense straight man expected to play off of his ally for a given episode. It was interesting to see Christmas incorporated into his origin story and actually surprising to see a new layer of grief added to that. It’s a very similar tactic to what we’ve seen done with Spider-Man’s origin. I think of the first Toby Maguire film where he basically tells off his Uncle Ben and his last discussion with him is one in which he hurt his father figure. He never got to make up for that, and Batman never got to apologize to his own dad for how he reacted to a very personal and meaningful gift that went unappreciated. Separately, it’s also interesting to see young Bruce portrayed as a spoiled, little, rich kid as opposed to some ideal. It makes more sense for him to behave that way as a rich kid so in a way it was sort of refreshing. And it can be inferred that the murder of his parents gave him some new perspective and began his transformation from a very selfish child to a selfless adult. The ending also has a hint of sadness, or melancholy, to it since Batman is so focused on being this crime fighter that he won’t even allow himself a moment’s reprieve after an all-nighter dealing with Fun Haus.

The actual scheme of the episode is almost secondary. It incorporates Christmas in a pretty simple and direct manner and having a toy-themed villain for the episode definitely makes a lot of sense. I have no idea why they chose to call him Fun Haus instead of Toyman, since he appears to just be Toyman, but it doesn’t matter either. There’s some solid action, including the opening teaser with Blue Beetle, though it does start to get repetitive. There are lots of shots of Batman just taking enemies out with Batarangs and more than enough shots of Red Tornado and his tornado effect. That’s my one criticism for this one as it didn’t need to be as long as it is and was starting to drag come the climax. Maybe some of the action could have been substituted with another flashback, something that took place after the murder, or maybe just some actual detective work. It was a pretty lame reveal to have Batman see the Fun Haus logo on the poster for the most popular Christmas toy of the year, but I get the impression this show isn’t trying to be overly clever with its plot. The violence directed towards the Santa robots was certainly memorable and downright shocking to a point. I found it fun, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some kids are legitimately disturbed by it. That frozen, smiling, Santa face is a bit unsettling.

This episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an easy recommend for me and I think a viewer only needs to have a basic understanding of who Batman is to enjoy it. I’m talking like just knowing that there’s a character that dresses in tights to fight bad guys at night sort of thing. There’s genuine humor in this one and it even has moments of actual emotion via the flashbacks. I do wish the “death” of Red Tornado hit a little harder, but it’s fine. I found more here to connect with than the intentionally sappy episode of Justice League and consider this episode a far greater success in basically every way which isn’t something I expected going in. And it’s also aided by having a fun visual style, great sound design, and some solid performances from the actors involved. Like Justice League, this one was rumored to be getting delisted from the Max platform, but it appears it has received a stay of execution and is still there as of this post going live. The series was released multiple times on both DVD and Blu Ray so it’s not that hard to obtain and it might even be a series worth watching beyond this Christmas episode. I’m certainly interested in doing so, which is why it’s such a shame to see Discovery Warner play games with these tentpole franchises. Why can’t we just have easy access to your stuff, Warner Bros? Are the tax savings worth the constant worry of losing access to quality shows like this one? To a heartless executive, I’m afraid the answer is “Yes.”