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October 17, 2024

McFarlane Toys Batman: The Animated Series Wave 1

By Joe
The lineup for McFarlane’s first wave of dedicated Batman: The Animated Series action figures.

Years ago, perhaps as many as 10 or more, DC Direct was filling comic book stores around the country with action figures based on the classic cartoon series Batman: The Animated Series. The figures were stylized to resemble their onscreen counterparts and it was a line that included many of the characters from the show as well as multiple vehicles. Eventually, DC (or parent company Warner Bros.) decided it no longer wanted in on the action figure market. The branch of the company devoted to toys was dissolved and the license was sold to McFarlane Toys. Since then, Todd’s company has devoted many resources to its DC Multiverse line which is sold at big box retail as well as specialty. The 1:10 line features more variations of characters than I can count and it has its own distinct style. Early in the line, a Batman based on BTAS was even released, though it wasn’t something that I found particularly enticing.

Here is your comparison to what DC Direct was doing in its final days and what we’re getting from McFarlane.

When the DC Direct line was alive and well, I wasn’t really in the collecting game. By the time I got back into it, I was left a little underwhelmed by the offerings available to me. They weren’t cheap, were quite limited in terms of articulation, and it wasn’t an evergreen line where characters were easily attainable. Instead, it was more of a blink and you miss it kind of deal. Towards the end of the line, there were some reissues and I would end up getting the last standard Batman from the line which featured the new tagline of The Adventures Continue. That Batman is fine. The likeness is good enough even if the articulation is pretty poor. It was retooled to have better hips and the paint job was more ambitious and a marked improvement over the Batmen to come before it. I would also add a Gray Ghost, purely out of nostalgia, but any ideas I had on getting more of the figures was pretty much dashed by the absurd aftermarket prices that had emerged. Figures were selling for hundreds of dollars and I just wasn’t interested.

The big selling point for the McFarlane line is the build-a-figure inclusion.

Last year, McFarlane made the wise move to begin reissuing these long out of production figures. McFarlane apparently has access to the molds so this was a pretty low cost way to get some characters out into the wild that fans have been clamoring for. The first wave arrived about a year ago now, but I’m just getting to it for reasons that will become clear as we move along. That first wave consisted of Batman, Robin, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, with a build-a-figure of The Condiment King. All four of the retail figures are straight reissues of past DCD offerings with the only new sculpt being The Condiment King. To differentiate these from the other figures, and perhaps to not crater their aftermarket value and risk angering their fanbase, a new deco was applied to each figure and the packaging is all new. These come in oversized window boxes that are honestly way bigger than they need to be, but whatever. It’s just the trash that surrounds the figure. Is this return to stores what fans and collectors have been waiting for? Read on and find out, though you may not like the answer.

What do we think of McFarlane’s attempt at cel-shading?

Let’s start with Batman. This is a reissue of the Batman that came with the Batcycle. He has a soft goods cape and an ab crunch to help make getting him on the bike a little easier. It’s a less attractive figure as a result, but what are you going to do? The main thing that’s going to stick out is the paint job, and that’s going to be true for basically all of these figures. McFarlane decided to attempt cel-shading with these figures. The final Batman from DCD did the same thing to fantastic results. There was blue in the cape, a little gray under the pectorals, and hits of blue on the gloves and boots. It was subtle, but very evocative of the show. This Batman does none of that. He has this ugly brown smear along the side of his face, a dark gray that’s slapped on the side of his body without much regard for anything, and very little blue one the boots and gloves. It’s hideous. DCD gave you the blueprint, McFarlane, why couldn’t you just follow that?

Robin and Freeze get these goofy-ass hips.

Unfortunately, the same is mostly true for the rest. Robin looks almost as bad as Batman with the same brown on his face, but the red and green of his costume at least works better with the shading. They completely missed the yellow on the inside of the cape which is also plastic so he won’t work as well with vehicles as Batman. Mr. Freeze has some pretty atrocious cel-shading as well, though it doesn’t appear to be as heavy as it is with Batman. Scarecrow is the only one who doesn’t look awful, but that’s because his costume of brown and red works better with the shading. It’s barely visible on the red portions while the dark brown doesn’t clash all that poorly. This is also second appearance Scarecrow and, overall, he looks the best of the bunch in terms of being on-model. Mr. Freeze would place second if this were a competition, but he’s too small and his oxygen tank is the wrong color. I don’t think scale is a strength of the line. Robin looks more like a reinterpretation of his old Kenner figure with the big head and dopey grin while Batman just plain looks bad.

It’s a lot of stuff, but how much of it is useful?

Each character does come with accessories. For Batman, it’s a bunch of hands including one with a grapnel gun molded in. He also has a Batarang that’s all black. He has fists, gripping hands, and Batarang hands plus a stand-alone grapnel gun that’s all black. Robin has fists, relaxed hands, gripping hands, and a hand with a molded grapnel gun in it. He also has a bollo that’s just a long piece of plastic. It would have looked better with a whirling effect. Scarecrow has open hands, a gripping right hand, and a left fist, plus an unmasked portrait. The gripping hand is for his scythe which looks pretty good, though I wish he came with two gripping hands or that the one gripping hand actually worked better. Freeze has his freeze gun and then a whole bunch of hands: fists, trigger hands, gripping hands, clenching hands, and open hands. The clenching and gripping hands look specific, like maybe he was supposed to have more accessories (a snow globe, perhaps) that were cut. It’s a comical amount of hands though for a guy who is just going to stand there holding his gun.

That’s not impressive…

Which brings us to articulation, which was never this line’s strong suit and part of that is due to the character designs. We’re talking ball peg heads, ball-hinge shoulders, single elbows, and wrists that swivel and hinge horizontally. Nobody has good range anywhere, save for maybe the head, but it’s at the hips where things get weird. Batman has updated ball socket hips so he can kick forward a reasonable amount and almost do splits. Scarecrow does too, only his range is terrible, but he has a thigh swivel built-in (Batman does not). Freeze and Robin have these awful hinge and peg hips. The hinge leaves this T shape in the cut on the side of the thigh. It allows for full splits, but looks ridiculous and is one of the ugliest joints ever conceived. Neither character can kick forward worth a damn too. All of the figures have double-jointed knees except for Freeze and Robin. Even without the extra hinge, Freeze can still bend his knee 90 degrees. Robin cannot. All of the figures have a swivel and hinge at the ankle with only Batman and Robin having an ankle rocker. Everyone except Scarecrow has a boot cut. The combination of poor articulation and tiny feet make all but Freeze tough to stand. He has large, boxy, feet so it’s not an issue, but his arms are the most limited because of his design. I wasn’t sure if he even had elbow cuts. They’re there, but functionally useless. He’s also the only one without a waist twist.

I like Condiment King’s sculpt and the paint is acceptable, but why is he so big? And I have him lurched forward a bit here just to get him to stand. In other words, this picture makes him look smaller than he is.

Given that these are all old molds and exclusive to Target you would think they’d come at a friendly price. They do not as all of them retail for around $30. Of course, if you get all four then you get a bonus fifth figure in The Condiment King. He is all new and comes with his backpack and twin guns: ketchup and mustard. The guns connect via a thread to the backpack so it limits his posing, but at least they’re here. As for the sculpt, it looks fine. Great even. This is one of the show’s silliest characters and it’s a fun inclusion as a BAF. It might not be the type of character everyone needs, but the hardcore will enjoy building him. His light blue costume with white accents is done well enough. Yes, there’s cel-shading, but it’s not as bad as it is with some of the others. The only spot I hate is the brown smear on the side of his face. Articulation is satisfactory for the line as he has single elbows but double joints at the knee and ball-socket hips, it’s just that the hips are way too loose. Combine that with the backpack and this is one tough figure to stand. The build quality of the guns is also questionable as the handle of the ketchup gun came off when I tried inserting it into his hand. It looks like the guns were molded in two pieces to get the string inside so it’s nothing a little glue can’t remedy, but still annoying. By far though, the biggest issue I have with Condiment King is his size. He’s way too big. He stands around 6.75″ to Batman’s 6.25″. He’s just overall big when in the show he’s just some guy who went nuts. He looks like he’d be more than a match for Batman at this size. It’s almost like he’s from an entirely different toyline.

I mostly just wanted these two. Freeze still sucks for 30 bucks, but Scarecrow? He’s at least okay, though he can barely stand or hold onto his scythe.

Is $120 for 5 figures of worth it? It could be, but not these figures. The paint is not only a bad fit, it’s sloppy too. Batman’s cape feels cheap and the articulation cuts for his torso and the hips on Freeze and Robin are truly hideous. Scarecrow is the only figure of the five that comes close to earning his value, but he still doesn’t feel like a 30 dollar toy. All of them feel very fragile and very cheap. Moving these thin limbs, swapping the hands, all feel terrible. I don’t like handling these figures so I guess it’s good that they don’t pose well since the temptation to change things up isn’t really there.

The Batcycle is pretty cool, though even with the added ab crunch this Batman can struggle to sit on it in a convincing manner.

What drove me to make this post though was where I did find some deals: the vehicles. McFarlane has not only reissued the figures, it’s also reissued the Batcycle and Batmobile with the Batwing also on the way (there’s also a Jokermobile, which was supposed to be a part of the old DCD line, but was cancelled). Initially, these vehicles were pricy, but still enticing, but I got both on sale. For the Batcycle, I think MSRP was 40 or 50 bucks, but I got it down to $10. At full price, it’s not bad, but at ten bucks it’s a real steal. It’s a straight re-release of the old bike including the base. It has battery operated lights, though you have to hold in the button on the bottom of the bike for them to be on as opposed to a switch. The base is reversible and can either resemble the Batcave or just a street and it allows for the bike to be tilted and there’s a little swoosh effect too. Instead of being all black, it’s now cel-shaded, but it turned out great! There’s a nice use of blue on it that really makes it resemble the bike from the show. And if you want Batman to play it safe, it also comes with a new head for Batman that features a helmet. They should have tossed in the same for Robin, but I probably wouldn’t use it anyway. The head looks fine, though it features a pale complexion. The tires are rubber and the thing feels solid. For what it is, it’s terrific.

The Batmobile is big. The last image on the right is with a standard Hot Wheels Turtle Van and the oversized Batmobile, not the standard Hot Wheels edition.

The Batmobile is quite similar in that regard. It’s not fully painted out like the bike, but the sides are black and the top is a dark blue which helps it to resemble the look of the car in the show better than the original all black edition. The canopy slides forward and there’s room for two figures inside. The steering wheel telescopes which makes it easier to get figures in and out. The dashboard is all transparent plastic because this has a light-up feature as well for headlights, interior, rear lights, and the thruster in the back. Oh, and did I mention it’s big? This thing is a shelf hog measuring about 25.5″ long and a little over 8.5″ at its widest. It is a mostly hollow, plastic, box so it doesn’t have as nice a feel as the Batcycle. It does have nice wheels though that are rubber and the front ones can turn, though they are not connected to the steering wheel. The MSRP for this thing is $80, but I got it on sale for $40. Some people have found it for as low as $23! At $80, it’s a luxury item for the Batman enthusiast that has the room for it. At $40, it’s a great deal for the Batman fan that maybe doesn’t know what to do with it, but will figure it out in time. At anything less than that it’s a simple no-brainer. I’m not one who buys toys as an investment, but if you get a Batmobile for under forty bucks and sit on it for a year you’ll probably make some money.

The lights are pretty nifty, and two figures can fit inside though Robin’s lack of a soft goods cape means he’ll sit rather wonky.

What do we make of McFarlane’s foray into this old BTAS toy line? On one hand, I think it’s great that these molds are back out in the wild. I got Freeze and Scarecrow last year because I love Mr. Freeze and I thought Scarecrow looked good. I only recently got Batman and Robin because I wanted them for the Batmobile. Target lured me in with a sweet deal on that Batmobile and in turn got me to spend another sixty bucks (clever girl) I wouldn’t have otherwise. I think Scarecrow is fine, he’s limited, but he looks the part and I think aesthetics are what collectors are after most with a BTAS line. The Condiment King, if he was packed as a stand-alone figure, would be okay as well though I wouldn’t feel good about spending 30 bucks on it. Freeze is imperfect and too expensive while Batman and Robin are pretty bad. Why did I convince myself I needed them just to stuff in a toy car? I don’t know. It was more of a need for Batman, and then with only one figure shy of a Condiment King I figured why not get Robin? My older DCD Batman could not fit in the Batmobile with his sturdy, plastic, cape, plus he actually looks good and I don’t want him hidden. I’m fine hiding these two.

The figures are overpriced and kind of blow, but the Batmobile is pretty cool.

All that is to say, try and track down an actual DC Direct Batman if you want a Batman from this line. This one and Robin just aren’t worth it and unlike the vehicles, they seem to never go on sale. Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow aren’t worth your 30 dollars either, but if you do get Scarecrow you at least may not regret it in time since he looks fine. The vehicles are great though. If you have a DCD collection and passed on them then I think you should reconsider. Especially the Batcycle which looks pretty cool and isn’t too hard to fit into a display. The Batmobile presents obvious space concerns and I still don’t know where it’s going to end up in my house, but it’s an okay problem to have and now I’m wondering if I should consider the gargantuan Batwing. I shouldn’t, but if it ends up at Target for 40 bucks then I can’t be held responsible for my actions. As for the line itself, I wish McFarlane would spend a little to improve these figures. Better hips, better ankles, and figure out how to do proper cel-shading or just give up. No one will be angry if it goes away. This line is fueled only by a love of the show because if there was a better option out there then surely most would get that. Unfortunately, there isn’t and there likely won’t be in this scale anytime soon.

There aren’t a ton of Batman toy reviews here, but we do have some:

Batman – The Adventures Continue #50: Batman

If you’re a repeat visitor here at The Nostalgia Spot, then you’ve probably noticed that around here there is a high opinion of the television show Batman – The Animated Series. I did a re-watch of the series that spanned more than two years and also checked out the various films based on the property.…

Keep reading
by Joe

The Hot Wheels Batman Series

I’m not much of a car collector, but when I was a kid I went through a Hot Wheels and Matchbox phase. My favorite car was a small, black, one that I only barely remember. I have no idea what make or model the car was, but what I liked about it was that it…

Keep reading
by Joe

DC Collectibles BTAS #42 – Gray Ghost

I have long maintained that the best episode of the now classic Batman: The Animated Series is the Mr. Freeze story, “Heart of Ice.” It is not, however, my favorite episode of the show as that honor belongs to “Beware the Gray Ghost.” That episode introduced the character Gray Ghost, a superhero from television who…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in batman the animated series, Television, toys

August 8, 2024

Batman: Caped Crusader

By Joe
Batman: Caped Crusader (2024)

In the far off land of 2021 we received word that a new animated Batman series was in development and attached to it was none other than Bruce Timm. Timm was one of the main creative minds behind Batman: The Animated Series and the DC Animated Universe it spawned so this news was met quite enthusiastically. Then Warner stepped in and muddied things up. The series was originally pitched as an HBO Max/Cartoon Network joint affair, but corporate reshuffling nixed that idea. Still, Caped Crusader is actually here now in 2024 which some other projects can’t say the same. It was shopped around for much of 2022 eventually landing with Amazon. This past Friday, the entire first season was dropped all at once on the Prime service ensuring talk of it will likely be ancient history once this goes live, but we should talk about it, nonetheless.

Caped Crusader is said to have come about as a result of Timm not wanting to continue with the universe he helped create starting with Batman. That’s understandable since a lot of that cast has either retired or unfortunately passed on and trying to recreate the magic of that series seems like a fool’s game. Timm instead used the opportunity of a new animated Batman to do things he couldn’t do with the other shows. This was to be a younger Batman set in a distinctive noir setting, not some time-locked version of an otherwise contemporary Gotham. It would not be beholden to any past era of the character, but would also be free to draw from the classic comic run. It could be more mature with its action and plots since it wouldn’t be airing as part of a network television kid’s programming block.

One of the most dramatic redesigns is that of The Penguin, which I rather enjoyed.

Alongside Timm is a host of other executive producers: J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Ed Brubaker, James Tucker, Daniel Pipski, Rachel Rusch Rich, and Sam Register. Brubaker was hired as the head writer and directors Christina Sotta, Matt Peters, and Christopher Berkeley split the 10 episode series (4, 3, 3 respectively). Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions would handle much of the animation with DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation also credited. Amazon MGM Studios is also listed, though I don’t know if that’s more branding or if that studio did actual work on the show. Frederik Wiedmann was brought on as the composer for all ten episodes.

Wiedmann had some big shoes to fill taking over for Shirley Walker, but equally as large is the role of Batman himself. Kevin Conroy left one hell of a mark on the character, but he had essentially retired from the role when the show was announced and would sadly pass away before this show could be completed. Dawning the cape and cowl this time is Hamish Linklater. He is joined by Jason Watkins who serves as loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth. This is a story of a Batman just starting out. We can assume he has been at this whole crime fighting thing for a little while because he has the costume, the car, and the cave all in place. What he doesn’t have are connections just yet within Gotham’s police department and other legal institutions. Most of the citizens seem to regard him as a myth and over the course of this first season the Batman will become more established and will be known to people like Commissioner Gordon (Eric Morgan Stuart) and his daughter, Barbara Gordon (Krystal Joy Brown).

Two characters featured quite a bit in the first season are Barbara Gordon and Harvey Dent.

I will say upfront that I came away from the first season of Batman: Caped Crusader with mixed feelings on the show. The design is definitely one of the elements I took issue with the least. Batman resembles his original design of black and gray with those tall, wide-splayed, ears on the cowl. He does not have the purple gloves, which is probably a solid choice. Alfred has a younger, rounder, build while Jim Gordon seems noticeably younger than usual while Barbara is noticeably older. She’s a career woman who is a public defender in Gotham. I don’t know how that is supposed to work, her being a public defender for those whom her father essentially locked up, but I suppose it makes for good conflict in a TV show. I just know I wouldn’t want the police commissioner’s daughter representing me if I were to find myself in trouble with the law.

The desire for a noir atmosphere is captured in the setting quite well. Technology is of the 1940’s with old style vehicles, phones, and televisions. There isn’t much technology on display in the rogue’s gallery, possibly to keep the show firmly locked in its setting, though it does give way to more supernatural elements. Batman has always encountered such and the 90s show had villains like Clayface, the Man-Bat, and others, though I can’t recall him fighting an actual ghost at any point like he does here. There are still villains who are very much of the gangster type. The first we meet is The Penguin, who has been gender-swapped to a female crime boss voiced by Minnie Driver. The first screenshot I saw of this version of the character looked a bit silly, like it was just the classic Penguin in a wig and lipstick, but the character model is much better in the show. I actually liked this change and found that bird-influenced appearance suited a female quite well. Another villain, Clayface (Dan Donohue), was redesigned to more resemble a Dick Tracy villain while the eventual Two-Face (Diedrich Bader) appearance was surprisingly simple.

I was routinely disappointed in the lighting in the show.

I could take or leave certain character designs, but what I found myself most disappointed in consistently was the animation on display. Characters have very stiff, sometimes robotic, movements. Walking animations with a character in full frame are surprisingly ugly for a 2024 show. Did Warner really cut the budget on this once it was no longer going to appear on one of their platforms? The lighting also isn’t always up to task. The very first shot in the series is a classic police interrogation scene under a single light. It looks awful as there’s a real lack of shadows being cast by the light. It’s a huge downgrade as far as I’m concerned. There are a few shots where more effort was put into it, but also plenty where it doesn’t even feel like the episode is taking place at night. It was never going to come close to matching the efforts from the 90s, but compared to X-Men ’97 this one leaves a lot to be desired.

The voice cast is a mixture of recognizable names as well as talent that is new to me. Most of them are quite good in their role. The only one I was left disappointed by was, unfortunately, Linklater’s Batman. Like a great many to do it before him, Linklater plays Bruce Wayne and Batman differently. Bruce is more personable, more perky, while Batman is curt and speaks in a lower voice. There’s an art to voicing Batman and I think Linklater needs more time in the role to really get it. His Batman is stiff to the point of sounding robotic. It’s possible he was receiving direction to play a character still trying to figure out his tough guy persona. Linklater is a talented actor so I’m assuming he’ll grow into the role, but it’s a little disappointing since a perfectly good Batman, Diedrich Bader, is right here on the cast already.

I don’t mind some supernatural elements in my Batman stories, but this guy is a little too Scooby Doo for me.

The ten stories of the first season are mostly stand-alone, but with some connecting tissue between them. The final three episodes are more purposefully connected and I suppose it can be considered serialized, but you wouldn’t miss a whole lot by mixing up the first 7 episodes. One villain, Harley Quinn (Jamie Chung), is introduced as her therapist persona first before the villain shows up and that’s one of the few aspects of the early episodes that wouldn’t work out of order. Speaking of, Quinn appears here in an origin separate from The Joker which was a somewhat bold choice. She’s her own thing this time around and I thought the show did a solid job with her. The tone of these stories is also allowed to be more mature. We see lots of people get shot, though gratuitous violence isn’t present. Batman is also free to punch guys in the face and sometimes the show feels a little preoccupied in pointing this out. There’s alcohol and even some romance making the show feel like it’s something akin to a PG-13 rating.

Other episodes were just okay. Few felt like they had heavy stakes and I found it hard to establish an emotional connection to any of the villains of the day. The best Batman episodes found something interesting to say about their bad guys, but this show struggled there. There’s even a kid villain in one episode that I think the episode wants us to have a response to at the end, but it just didn’t do enough to earn it. It at least does a good job of getting us to hate its crooked cop characters, but I think it also mishandles the character of Harvey Dent. We all know what Dent’s fate is to be when he’s first introduced, but this is an unlikable Dent. He’s arrogant and far more consumed with making the jump from District Attorney to Mayor of Gotham than actually doing his job so when the thing we all know is coming does, there’s no emotion. Plus there’s no one close to him to be affected by his transformation that we can feel something for instead. The Bruce/Harvey friendship is shoehorned in too late to make much of an impact, but I will give the show credit for finding another angle to play that at least puts Batman and Alfred at odds with each other. That’s also probably the only real character development we get out of our lead. We spend a lot of time with Gotham’s finest, but not a whole lot of time with Bruce or Batman. The show needs to find a way to make its lead more interesting.

When the show really wants to look good, it can. It gives me hope that a second season will be stronger.

I went into Batman: Caped Crusader not expecting to find something on par with Batman: The Animated Series. That would be an unfair expectation. I did expect to find something good and the product I got was at least approaching that. Caped Crusader is not a bad television series, but is it exceptional? No, not really. It’s a pretty easily digestible 10 episode season that mostly just gets credit for existing. Most of its “bold” choices for the Batman universe are just doing gender and career swaps with its characters. A lot of the story beats felt too predictable, too ordinary. The best episodes of the season were the ones that felt like stories that hadn’t really been told before, but they were few. I don’t expect it to make much of a mark on pop culture and I don’t know if a second season is even a sure thing. The show definitely expects one and it does the predictable thing of teasing a major villain at the very end to try and drum up some excitement, but it all feels a bit played out. Amazon did order a second season back in 2023, but if the streaming numbers are bad then nothing is stopping them from going back on that and getting one of those highly coveted tax write-offs. If it does come back then I’ll probably watch it, and if it doesn’t I probably won’t even notice.

Here’s more Batman content if you’re in search of such:

Batman – The Adventures Continue #50: Batman

If you’re a repeat visitor here at The Nostalgia Spot, then you’ve probably noticed that around here there is a high opinion of the television show Batman – The Animated Series. I did a re-watch of the series that spanned more than two years and also checked out the various films based on the property.…

Keep reading
by Joe

Batman: The Animated Series Wrap-Up

One-hundred and nine episodes plus three features leading to one-hundred and twelve blog entries have been devoted to the subject of Batman: The Animated Series. It started as a celebration of the show turning 25 and then as a curiosity piece. Since its premiere in 1992, the show had become much celebrated and praised all…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Television

December 2, 2023

Dec. 2 – Justice League – “Comfort and Joy”

By Joe
Original air date December 13, 2003.

In 1995, Warner Bros felt it was a big enough entity that it could launch its own broadcast television network. Dubbed The WB, it would try to compete with the big four of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, but never really achieved that level of success which is why it no longer exists. The strategy seemed to be to go for a younger demographic with its prime time shows, similar to Fox, but even younger. Maybe they felt there was a market for the kids who had outgrown Nickelodeon and were searching for something else to watch. The American household had long since evolved past the one television per home model and kids basically had as much access to TV as adults so I suppose it made some sense. Warner never did leave the little kids behind entirely though as they also programmed afternoon and Saturday mornings tailored to children. Kids WB was definitely meant to challenge Fox Kids who had become the dominant brand for broadcast children’s programming behind the strength of shows like X-Men, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Spider-Man, Batman, and Animaniacs. The interesting part about Warner’s decision to launch its network when it did is that a lot of its intellectual property was tied-up in other places, like Fox. They basically had to run out the clock on the likes of Batman and Animaniacs until they could get those rights back which meant in the meantime turning to other characters like Superman and Tweety (seriously, Tweety was somewhat inexplicably popular in the mid 90s).

Eventually, Warner did get those rights back and Batman was able to join Superman on Kids WB with his old collection of episodes from the Fox days as well as some new ones. We’ve already talked about this pretty extensively in the Batman section of this blog, so we probably don’t need to dawdle any longer. That power hour of Superman and Batman would eventually give way to Batman Beyond as the continuation of what was becoming the DC Animated Universe. Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Dan Riba, and other creators behind those shows would continue to flesh out their world. It seemed obvious to anybody keeping up that the end game was to collect all of these heroes in place for a new Justice League show. The problem with that strategy ended up coming from an unexpected place.

Something that has not aged well is the CG intro. The shoulders on these guys are absurd!

A little known cartoon outside the US called Pokémon made some headlines in the 90s due to it causing a bunch of kids in Japan to have seizures during an episode. It was basically just a peculiar story and I bet a great many folks who read it assumed they’d never hear about this show again. They would be wrong as the game would arrive in the US eventually and the show followed. While it didn’t make a huge splash at first, it would gradually rise in popularity until it became the ratings king of Saturday morning. And it was on the Kids WB Network. The success of Pokémon seemed to convince the powers that be at the network that the future lied in licensing Pokémon adjacent programming for their network essentially forcing out their homegrown stars. Those shows were costly to produce and the only revenue they saw from them was ad revenue. Luckily for fans of the DC shows, there was a new home waiting for them in Cartoon Network, which had found tremendous success on weekday afternoons with its action block Toonami. That network started airing reruns of Batman and they performed well enough that they were willing to make a deal with Warner for new content thus becoming the home of the Justice League.

Justice League premiered on November 17, 2001. It’s another animated series from Warner and DC developed by Bruce Timm with Butch Lukic and Dan Riba returning as directors. Stan Berkowitz and Rich Fogel are the credited head writers, but they received contributions from the likes of Dwayne McDuffie, Paul Dini, and a host of other writers. It would definitely seem that Dini was less involved with this show than past DC animated programs, but he is the writer of today’s episode “Comfort and Joy.” This is, obviously, a Christmas episode and it excludes Batman. Maybe because he already did two Christmas episodes? It’s the only episode of the series, which was one order of 52 episodes, that’s a stand-alone one. Every other episode is either a two-parter or more. The main team consists of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter. It’s not a show I ever watched so I’m banking on my familiarity with these characters from outside this show to help me through this one. And even so, I mainly know Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman and both Wonder Woman and Batman aren’t featured. I guess it’s time to get acquainted with Martian Manhunter!

It’s certainly a Christmassy setting.

The episode begins with Martian Manhunter (Carl Lumbly) standing in a snowy environment silently assuring some alien lifeform that they will save their world. Apparently, these aliens (who look like uglier versions of The Snorks) have entrusted the Justice League with some sort of gravitational device. I guess we’re not on Earth, even though the snowy area has evergreen trees on it, and the aliens that Martian Manhunter is communicating with are on a different planet. Superman (George Newbern) and Green Lantern (Phil LaMarr) are assembling the device which is rather massive and ugly looking. This show is digitally animated and the characters and backgrounds mostly look fine and can pass as cel-animated. The device, however, is rendered in 3D and just looks really bad. It’s the type of thing that probably looked bad even back then, but so many shows loved incorporating that sort of thing into their look.

These are the guys the Justice League are trying to save.

As the two super men do their part, we see Hawkgirl (Maria Canals-Barrera) delivering some rope and parts to The Flash (Michael Rosenbaum) who dashes about the assembled device and inserts what looks like circuit boards into a compartment. He indicates that J’onn (apparently Martian Manhunter’s real name, which just sounds like “John” but they had to make it annoying to type since he’s an alien, or whatever) is “beaming the directions” into his head as he goes along. When he’s done, he dashes over to the others who have assembled where J’onn has been standing and we see the device in action. The planet they’re on is some ice planet and it was going to collide with the planet those Snork guys are inhabiting. The device envelops the ice planet with some green beems and basically backs it off. It’s all done with some pretty bad CG. It worked though as the aliens cheer and Superman remarks that the ice planet will never threaten the other one again.

All in a day’s work, I guess.

Show’s over, right? No, because now we can get to Christmas! Flash indicates that this was the best way to start a holiday break, which apparently Green Lantern is no fan of? He immediately bails, I guess he can just fly through space, and Hawkgirl decides to join him. Flash asks J’onn what his plans are for the holidays and he responds, without a trace of emotion in his voice, that these times hold no special meaning for him. He then walks onto the device which apparently doubles as a spaceship, or the this is an unrelated spaceship. Flash remarks that his personality is rather “frosty” and then Superman, with a sly smile, indicates that they’ll have to do something to change that. And that’s our A plot – show Martian Manhunter the spirit of Christmas!

Real creative, GL.

That takes us into the usual opening credits and when they end we’re back on the ice planet. Green Lantern has created a green snowboard using his power ring and is blasting down the side of a mountain with glee. Hawkgirl is there to watch and when Green Lantern comes to a stop she remarks that she thinks it’s odd for a man who can fly through space to get so worked up by snow. Green Lantern tells her it reminds him of his grandmother and how he used to play in the snow as a kid. He offers a “See?” like he’s going to prove to her how awesome snow is and goes on to assemble a snowman with his ring. When Hawkgirl doesn’t heap praise upon him he flops to his back to show her another “secret” and makes a snow angel. He points out his “wings” and Hawkgirl is appropriately unimpressed. What is this? Are we to assume Hawkgirl has never seen snow before or the things that kids do with the snow? When she turns her back to him he nails her with a snowball and when she angrily asks what that was for, he responds with “It’s supposed to be fun.” Predictably, Hawkgirl returns the remark with a smile and uses her mace to conjure up a wave of snow herself and sends it in Green Lantern’s direction. They both then enthusiastically commence what is sure to be an epic snowball fight before we cut to another scene. That might be the worst thing Paul Dini has ever written.

You can’t have Christmas without orphans.

The next scene begins with an exterior shot of an orphanage. It would seem the structure of this episode is going to be “how each member of the Justice League (minus Batman and Wonder Woman) spends Christmas.” And for this one, it’s The Flash. Well, I suppose I ruined the surprise there as the scene begins with a woman (Kimberly Brooks) prepping a group of kids for the arrival of the man in the red suit. We’re probably supposed to think she means Santa, but The Flash comes zipping in to the delight of the kids. I was hoping they’d be bummed it wasn’t Santa, but I guess we’re playing things pretty straight. He mentions he’s there and he’s bringing gifts and questions what the kids want this year. They direct his attention to the TV where a commercial for a DJ Rubber Ducky is playing. It’s terrible, but likely intentionally so, as it’s a rapping duck who shakes his ass at the screen and makes farting noises. I can’t tell if they’re supposed to be farting noises or if they’re just a poor imitation of traditional, animated, duck noises that we see from the likes of Donald Duck or Quackers. Flash seems amused though and promises the kids he’ll get that for them while the woman cautions him about making a promise he can’t keep since the stores are apparently sold out. Flash is dismissive of her concerns setting up this plot for us as Flash needs to supply some orphans with a sought after Christmas toy. This is definitely going to be a low stakes episode.

He’s feeling just a bit out of place.

Next we check-in with Superman and Martian Manhunter. Superman has apparently decided to take his green buddy back home to the farm for a good old-fashioned Christmas. Hey, if it worked for Garfield then it can work for the Manhunter. J’onn is unsure of his presence here, but Clark insists he wasn’t leaving him alone at the Watchtower, which I assume is their headquarters. We also get our one mention of Batman as Clark remarks that he insisted on monitor duty tonight. When they enter the house we’re introduced to Martha (Shelley Fabares) and Jonathan Kent (Mike Farrell) who welcome their son in. Clark tells them he brought a friend, and J’onn introduces himself and lets them know that their son insisted on his coming. He also introduces himself as a martian which naturally doesn’t phase the Kent parents and they welcome him into their home. Once inside, Clark asks where Kara (aka Supergirl) is and we’re informed she’s skiing with Barbara (Batgirl) and won’t be home until New Years. Clark remarks that J’onn can stay in her room then we cut to the big man entering a very, girly, looking bedroom. He indicates to Clark that it’s a bit strange seeing this side of him, but Clark just lets him know that’s because here he can be himself and relax. We then hear his dad call out from the other room that he’s lighting the tree causing Clark to bolt out of the room like a child crying out “That’s my job!” Left alone, J’onn takes a seat on the bed and seems a little sad. A cat saunters in and we actually see the green guy smile and call out “kitty,” but he just gets a hiss in return which seems to wound him more than a scratch would have.

That’s better, much more creative this time around.

We next check in on the snow fight (yay). Green Lantern has magicked up a trio of glowing, green, catapults which sling a volley of massive snow balls in Hawkgirl’s direction. She maneuvers around them through the air and smashes her mace into the ground sending a shockwave in Green Lantern’s direction. He takes a direct hit which knocks him into a tree causing a mass of snow to fall from its branches and bury him. Hawkgirl lands with a cocky grin on her face that soon fades when a dozen, green, hands emerge from the snow all brandishing a snowball. They fire off an assortment of snowballs in her direction causing her to give up. Immediately after her concession a snowball hits her square in the face to add insult to injury. Green Lantern then emerges from the snow to inquire if she’s feeling more festive now. She indicates she’s not and that she just doesn’t get the holidays on Earth. She mentions that on her home world (okay, so she is an alien which makes the last scene slightly less ridiculous) they had a different sort of celebration and that she’s only encountered one other like it on another planet. She apparently can’t get home, but she could get to this other world and Green Lantern seems game. It sounds like we’re going to see an otherworldly holiday when we next check-in with this pair.

Is Flash going to meet Santa?!

Back on Earth, Flash is shown running through traffic pausing for a moment to wave to a little kid riding in a car. He whirls past a Santa on the corner and deposits a dollar into his collection box and helps himself to a candy cane. His ultimate destination though is a toy store which is surrounded by a mob of angry folks. When Flash gets there, one man urges him to do something and accuses the store owner of hoarding this DJ Rubber Ducky toy, but he insists he’s completely sold out as he tries to hold the doors closed. The crowd disperses and we’re shown Flash race from store-to-store and all have a “Sold Out” sign posted regarding the toy. Flash then grumbles how dealing with Gorilla Grodd was easier than finding this thing, but takes notice of a store display featuring Santa’s workshop. He then remarks that’s his solution – to go straight to the source! Is Flash going to visit Santa? No, apparently not. He heads to a factory in China where the toy is made and we see him walking out with the factory’s last DJ Rubber Ducky. A Mr. Hama (Robert Ito) tells him that they’re happy to pass on the last unit to someone like The Flash and we see that this silly toy is freaking huge! It’s basically the size of Flash’s torso.

“You drink from the skull of your holiday idol?”

Next we return to the home of the Kents to see how Martian Manhunter is doing. The family is gathered at the kitchen table and the Kents are telling stories about young Clark at Christmas. Jonathan remarks that they used to have to wrap his presents with lead foil so he couldn’t peek and Clark rather sternly remarks, “You mean Santa wrapped my presents,” and the Kents just go along with that. Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter looks a touch confused and looks down to the steaming mug in his hand which bares the visage of Santa Claus. Martha then informs J’onn that anyone who attends Christmas at their home leaves with a present and she hands over a box to J’onn. He seems surprised, and conjures his inner little drummer boy by pointing out that he brought no gift in return. Martha insists though and J’onn opens his gift to find it contains a rather nice looking sweater, not an ugly Christmas sweater. She says she hopes it fits as he slips it on, over his cape I might add, and then tells her not to worry as he smiles and expands his body to fill the sweater. It’s actually pretty absurd that the sweater was too big in the first place since this guy is a massive man, or rather, a massive martian.

Sometimes you want to go…

We cut to a billboard of a scantily clad woman on a foreign world. I’m guessing Bruce Timm is responsible for this shot. This is the planet Hawkgirl was talking about and we spy she and Green Lantern descending to ground level. Despite that billboard containing a shot of a human looking woman, the streets are largely filled with inhumanoid aliens including one that’s just a big snake scooting about. Green Lantern asks if this is the place she goes to relax and Hawkgirl responds with a no, this is the place she heads to for fun! She leads him to a sleazy looking nightclub and the two make their way to the bar. She orders a pair of drinks that just look like frothy milk in a beer stein. She chugs one and lets out a loud belch when done remarking it’s delicious and slides the other one over to Green Lantern. He gives it a try and promptly spits it out. When he looks at the drink he spies two worms floating in it. I suppose it makes sense that a hawk girl would enjoy such a delicacy. She then turns to him and the background audio drops as she remarks only one more thing is needed to make this evening better. Green Lantern says “Yeah?” and he seems to think she’s looking for a kiss only for her to whirl around and smash this gigantic alien seated at the bar with her mace. She quickly hands the mace to Green Lantern while the monster rages and when he turns to her she gestures to Green Lantern indicating to the creature that he is the one responsible for the pain in his hand. The monster pounces on him and the two roll around the floor. A pair of aliens look at the brawl and then smile at each other before one blasts the other in the face with its mug. This sets off a bar-wide brawl leaving Hawkgirl to sip her drink with a contented smile upon her face. I thought this was the sort of carnage heroes were supposed to prevent, not start.

Finally! Some action!

We find The Flash racing towards Central City duck-in-hand. Upon arrival though he encounters an explosion at a museum and heads over there to survey the damage. As he walks inside he sets the duck down and wonders who would blow up a bunch of priceless artwork? His answer is Ultra-Humanite (Ian Buchanan), a big man-ape in suspenders with a huge cranium indicating he’s rather intelligent, though lacks fashion sense. He apparently finds the use of public money to fund art offensive so he decided to blow it up – makes sense. He’s also armed with a laser gun and starts firing off at Flash who manages to avoid it. He ends up under a suspended sculpture that the villain blasts from the ceiling and it falls on him. He even looks up to see it, but still gets nailed. I thought this guy was fast? Ultra-Humanite then approaches eager to finish him off, but he takes too long for when he blasts he finds no Flash. Worse, his gun won’t even fire as Flash brandishes the giant battery he yanked from it when he ran by and taunts him by suggesting he should have asked Santa for some more. This enrages Ultra-Humanite, but Flash just pummels him. The shot is from behind Ultra-Humanite so we don’t actually see his fists land, but it’s more than implied. Unfortunately though, he lands right on old DJ Rubber Ducky.

No! Not DJ Rubber Ducky!

Flash hears the crack and knows what happened immediately. When Ultra-Humanite gets up to reveal the broken toy, Flash runs over to, I guess, check on it. Ultra-Humanite doesn’t care and just casually strolls away remarking how it’s just plastic and crude electronics. Flash tries to appeal to him by asking him if he can recall having his hopes and dreams dashed when he doesn’t get what he wanted most and Ultra-Humanite just remarks it happens quite frequently and the Justice League are usually the ones responsible. He thinks the kids would be better off with a book, and he’s probably not wrong, though impractical. Flash is pretty heartbroken and as Ultra-Humanite reloads he even suggest he can go ahead and use that gun on him since he couldn’t possibly feel any worse than he already does. When he said this, his back was towards the villain and Ultra-Humanite is happy to oblige! As Flash turns his head he gets smashed in the face with the butt of the gun.

This is an unexpected development.

Flash is then shown waking up from his concussion laying on the floor. He’s in a lab, or work shop, of some kind and as he rubs his head he sits up and finds Ultra-Humanite at a work bench fixing the duck. Ultra-Humanite tells Flash that his words did not fall on deaf ears and in the spirit of the holiday he proposes a truce. Flash is confused, but seemingly accepts the truce by shaking the hand of the man-ape. He’s then told by Ultra-Humanite that he is repairing the toy while also making some improvements. Flash asks him if he’s rigging it with explosives and Ultra-Humanite rather sternly says “Flash, it is Christmas!” Flash then counters with the question we’re likely all wondering, “Then why did you hit me?” “You hit me first.” Okay, seems fair. He then asks Flash to hand him a screwdriver and I guess we’re just all going to forget about that whole blowing up the museum thing?

They always wind up at a church.

We return to Martian Manhunter who has apparently ditched that nice sweater gifted to him by the Kents. He’s just staring out the window, but then goes intangible and passes through the floor. From there he spies the Kents doing the dishes and making out a bit in the process. It’s an odd kink, but we don’t kink shame here. He then moves onto the living room where Clark is placing gifts under the tree. He picks one up and remarks, “Lead,” so he’s not placing gifts, but peeking! Good thing you have a lot of good will built up with Santa, Clark! J’onn then moves outside and into town where he returns to a solid state and transforms his appearance to that of a human. He then sees a couple walking down the sidewalk who wish him a “Merry Christmas,” and he returns the gesture with a polite wave. He observes them head into a diner and then moves on. J’onn finds himself outside a home and he can hear a young girl inside assuring a “Tommy” that Santa is real and she just knows he’ll come and eat the cookies she left out. This seems to stir something in J’onn who smiles a bit. He drops his disguise and flies up onto the roof, the sound of which wakes the little girl up with a start. We see the cookies and milk left out, and J’onn’s hand pops out of the fireplace to snatch one of the cookies. We next find J’onn outside a church and we can hear singing from within. He’s just standing outside in the snow back in his normal, green, appearance listening to the hymn which is “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” When the verse ends with “The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing,” he almost winces and perhaps a look of understanding crosses his face.

This is going well.

Back at the brawl, Green Lantern is still tangling with the big guy while Hawkgirl is now involved smacking around some poor fools of her own. The whole place is in chaos and Hawkgirl is quick to point out that this is way better than a snowball fight! Green Lantern agrees, but I’m detecting some sarcasm here, as he blasts the big monster man away with his ring. He then conjures up a green boot to kick an alien off of Hawkgirl and goes to help her up, only for her to call out “Don’t let your guard down!” He turns and finds the monster has returned and he knocks him into Hawkgirl.

You know what, I like it.

We somewhat abruptly cut back to the orphanage and Flash and Ultra-Humanite’s silhouettes appear on the door as they approach the building. They’re arguing about Ultra-Humanite wearing a costume and Flash points out that he put on the beard and also suggests that the big gorilla guy wouldn’t want to scare the kids, would he? We can tell he’s trying to place a top hat on him, and I’m guessing it’s a Frosty look. Flash then enters the room and declares himself Santa Flash! The prior shot made it look like they were at the entrance to the orphanage from outside, but the entrance shot makes it seem like they were already in the orphanage. I’m guess it’s just an error. Flash is sporting the hat and beard, but that red suit of his could really use some padding. He’s greeted with cheers and then goes on to introduce his helper: Freaky the Snowman! Ultra-Humanite enters to no reaction from the children. He’s clad all in white and sporting the top hat and deadpan expression. He rather curtly instructs Flash to give them the toy and then take him to jail, so I guess we aren’t just going to forget about the arson from earlier.

Time for a Christmas rave!

Flash once more seeks to confirm that it won’t explode and Ultra-Humanite seems offended by the suggestion. He places the toy on the floor himself and turns it on. The kids are then surprised to hear the voice of Ultra-Humanite come from the toy duck as it beckons them to come closer and hear a story. It’s going to tell them the tale of The Nutcracker and Ultra-Humanite rather smugly mentions to Flash how he improved upon the original. Flash doesn’t seem convinced and remarks he preferred the “poopy noises.” He then notices the kids all sitting around the duck with smiles on their faces. They may not have received the duck they thought they were getting, but they seem content with this one. Flash then smiles and agrees that this present is good too. We then fade out to see Ultra-Humanite being lead into prison by two guards. As he enters his cell he remarks “Haven’t I seen enough of you for one night?” He’s speaking to Flash, who was waiting for him. He setup a little Christmas tree in the big guy’s cell and tells him he thought he could use a little Christmas cheer. Ultra-Humanite approaches and observes that it’s an aluminum tree. Flash basically starts to apologize for being corny and all, but Ultra-Humanite stops him by saying he had one just like it as…though he trails off a bit. Flash leaves him to his tree and once out of the cell Ultra-Humanite turns on a floor lamp that projects Christmas lights all throughout the cell. He sits on the bench and a hint of a smile seems to cross his face as Flash looks on with a more obvious smile from outside the cell.

It’s an unconventional relationship, but this is a no judgement zone.

We return to the D plot of the episode where the bar brawl has apparently come to an end. The place is trashed and there’s one, lone, janitor uselessly sweeping the floor which is littered with numerous unconscious bodies. The camera pans over to find Green Lantern and Hawkgirl in a seated position with the big monster guy. His arm is draped around the two of them and it would appear they’re enjoying a post brawl cuddle session. Green Lantern and the monster guy are unconscious, but Hawkgirl isn’t. She’s sporting a very contented smile and plants a kiss on Green Lantern’s cheek and says, “Merry Christmas, John.” Too many John or John sounding names in this show. That’s apparently the end of this one though as she basically returns to the cuddles.

Martha seems to be a little freaked out by J’onn’s singing, but is trying to put on a nice face.

At the home of the Kents, it’s still dark. We find Clark asleep in his bed, but his eyes soon pop open and a smile crosses his face. He hops out of bed and puts on his robe apparently intent on heading for the tree on Christmas morning. He opens his bedroom door and we can see from the window that the sun is just starting to rise, so the tree is fair game at this point. As he walks into the hall he finds both of his parents standing there with smiles on their faces outside the bedroom door where J’onn is staying. We can hear singing coming from within the room, and the melody is similar to “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” but the words are unintelligible as he’s apparently singing in his native tongue. Clark places a hand on the shoulder of each parent and remarks “And he said he didn’t bring a gift,” so I guess they’re enjoying the song. We then cut to inside the bedroom and J’onn is seated by the window, naked, stroking the cat. He’s in a more alien form than usual and I suppose the takeaway is that he found the Christmas spirit and apparently the cat did too. We get one last exterior shot of the Kent home before the credits roll.

Petting a cat with no pants on is definitely a bold move.

The premise of “Comfort and Joy” makes a lot of sense for this show. If you’re going to do a Christmas episode about a superhero team it would seem the approach is to either have some big, Christmas, mess or just try to show what the holidays mean to each hero. It’s a bit odd to completely exclude Wonder Woman (Batman is essentially excused by Clark and we’re left to assume that Christmas Eve is just another work day for grumpy Bruce, or an act of selflessness on his part since he doesn’t have a family to spend Christmas with), but that’s the issue with superhero teams: it can be hard to find room for everybody. And on the surface, the approach makes sense. For Flash, we just see how he solves a problem that arises from the mere existence of Christmas. For Hawkgirl, she’s from another world and needs to find a way to relate to Christmas and also wishes to share her interpretation of a holiday with her apparent lover. And for Martian Manhunter, who seems to be mostly devoid of emotion, he really has nothing in his past to allow him to relate or identify with the holiday so Clark takes it upon himself to bridge that gap.

This guy is the show-stealer for me. His motivation to educate the children with finer points is both clever and amusing.

The problem lies in the execution. This episode really wants to be profound. It wants to be a feel good story and also likely seeks to ask the audience what Christmas means to them. It’s just overly simplistic with the approach that leaves little room for a genuine emotional response. The first half of the episode is pretty dreadful. I hated that initial scene between Hawkgirl and Green Lantern and honestly their plot never landed for me. There were no stakes and nothing about the resolution was all that fun or interesting. The plot with Flash had some stakes, albeit they weren’t exactly important. I mean, I want orphans to have a nice Christmas and all, but the material possessions aren’t that important. At the same time, I do appreciate it not completely dismissing the material component as we all know kids want to wake up on Christmas morning to find that toy they want. And if it doesn’t happen, they’re going to be pretty bummed. Still, it found its footing once Ultra-Humanite was introduced via the humor he injected into the story. I liked his deadpan delivery and he’s a well-written character in a very literal sense as his words and delivery are quite entertaining. The resolution was corny, as Flash pointed out, but what Christmas episode isn’t?

Hey look, he gets it!

With the Martian Manhunter plot, Dini was really trying to hit a home run, but he only managed a bloop single. There’s some good character animation with Manhunter via his reactions to what is around him and his struggle to find something in the holiday he can relate to is interesting on the surface. I enjoyed the small bits of humor sprinkled into the story via Clark and his attitudes towards Christmas. I love that Superman believes in Santa and he’s very serious about it and his regression to a more childlike state is handled well and not overdone. Manhunter finding some meaning in the song he hears from outside the church feels forced. It’s like Dini was trying to find a unique way for J’onn to find the Christmas spirit, but the manner in which he settled on is just an empty one. The climax of that plot just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not a talented enough writer to offer a suggestion on how to better craft the climax, I just know it doesn’t land for me. And as someone who consumes and enjoys consuming a lot of cheesy Christmas stuff, it’s not hard to move me with such a tale, but I got nothing out of this one. Sorry, J’onn.

If you like your superhero shows to possess some realism and a serious approach, then I suppose this is still worth giving a look since there really aren’t a lot like it. The Christmas episodes for Batman and The New Batman Adventures aren’t particularly strong either, but they are more fun. I would much prefer those to this one, but maybe you’re a Superman or Martian Manhunter fan more than you are a Batman one. If you want to watch it, it’s presently streaming on the Max platform despite threats of removal earlier this year. If this is after 2023 that you’re reading this, then who knows if it’s still there (or if Max is even still alive)? It’s also still available to rent or buy digitally from places like Amazon. The show was released on DVD and they were still reasonably priced at the time of this writing, but if the show were to get delisted, it wouldn’t shock me if aftermarket prices started to rise. I think such an approach is only merited by those who want to take-in the full series as dropping some coin for the full 52 episodes just to experience this one is probably not worth it.

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 2 – Toy Story That Time Forgot

When the credits started to roll in 2010 signaling the end of Toy Story 3 I think most who were watching it assumed this was “good bye.” The toys which had captured the hearts of movie-goers going on two decades were saying good bye to their former owner and playmate, Andy, and so too were…

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by Joe

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April 12, 2021

Batman – The Adventures Continue #50: Batman

By Joe

If you’re a repeat visitor here at The Nostalgia Spot, then you’ve probably noticed that around here there is a high opinion of the television show Batman – The Animated Series. I did a re-watch of the series that spanned more than two years and also checked out the various films based on the property. What I have never touched upon are the toys. Back in the 90s, there was a toyline from Kenner that was sold wherever toys were sold. It was fine, from what I remember, though I was too into X-Men to spare many resources when it came to that one. Of more interest to people my age now, is the line of action figures released by DC Collectibles. Over the past several years, I’ve seen this line sold at various comic shops and at online retailers, but I’ve never been able to pull the trigger. The figures do an okay job of matching the television show’s aesthetics, but at the cost of articulation. The figures never looked particularly imaginative, and since they usually featured a rather high price point I was never able to convince myself this was a line worth investing in.

2020 marked the end of DC Collectibles. As that part of DC’s business was winding down, a final line of figures based mostly on BTAS was making its way to retail. Dubbed Batman – The Adventures Continue, many of these figures were re-releases of past figures that may have been limited releases, or were changed-up in some way. Some also never made it out and were cancelled, like the new Catwoman featuring an unmasked head. And some were also separate from BTAS, but appeared to emulate the show’s style like the Knightfall Azrael as Batman figure. I don’t know what the numbers ended up being like for this apparently final wave of figures, but I had a hard time tracking any down. Though I also was not frequenting any comic shops and was mostly limited to online shopping. They appeared to sell out rather quickly though, which was unfortunate as I held off on pre-ordering any because the promotional shots left a lot of unanswered questions for me. They were basically limited to just the figure, and it wasn’t clear if any accessories were even being included. It had me thinking these were just leftovers that DC was trying to make a quick buck off of, which was really driven home by the fact that the images for the actual Batman figure matched the aesthetics of a previously released figure that came with the Batcycle. That Batman had a rather ugly ab crunch so he could fit properly on the bike. It’s a necessary evil for a figure with that kind of need, but as a stand-alone figure it made little sense.

Pictured: not the figure that was released. In this case, that’s probably for the best, but I can understand if some felt misled.

When the Batman figure was finally released though, it ended up being in the style of the original Batman figure from the BTAS line. Only this figure had re-tooled and improved articulation and a new paint job. When it came to BTAS, many figures cheated and just gave Batman a black cape and cowl even though it’s clearly blue in the show. They just go with black because Batman is often only shown at night so much of his cape and cowl are painted black with blue highlights. For the DC Collectibles figure, they did him all in black, but made the underside of the cape blue which looked okay. For this new one, someone finally had the bright idea to just paint the damn figure like the animators painted the character – what a concept! That means he’s still mostly black, but with blue accents and shading. It looked terrific in promotional images, and even though I was still unsold on the actual figure, this Batman at least looked enough like the character from the show that I wanted it, even if it would be my lone figure based on the classic series.

Batman may like to dwell in the dark, but we’re gonna need that flash to bring out those sweet blue accents.

Of course, by the time all of that was determined the figure was sold out. There is one retailer still, to this day, taking pre-orders on the figure at MSRP, but every month they push the release out another month leaving me to believe it will eventually just get cancelled. As far as I know, DC Collectibles is all done and product is out the door, but I could be wrong. At any rate, being unable to track this figure down at brick and mortar or finding it sold out everywhere online, I was left to turn to the dreaded secondary market. A lot of the figures form this final wave have been marked up by a few sellers considerably, as they know numbers were low. How much did I want this figure? Enough to pay essentially double the MSRP on it? As the weeks and months dragged on it became evident to me that I was just too curious about this figure to not give in. And the longer I waited, the higher the price would likely climb, so give-in I did.

Hopefully the artwork in the background is making it obvious that this is the proper way to paint a Batman from this show.

The Adventures Continue line all come packaged on a standard, non-resealable, blister. There’s a shadowy Batman on the back of the card with a yellow (interesting choice) backdrop. There are no product shots or cross-sells on the package, but there is a little booklet inside the box showcasing the other figures in the line. The figure is easy to get a look at and the accessories are in plain view as well. The actual Batman figure is held in place by one plastic tie at the waist and the cape is fed through the back of the blister, which is quite tight. When removing him, definitely be careful with that cape as you don’t want to scratch it.

That emblem is just perfection.

Once removed, Batman stands about 6.5″ tall and I believe that’s roughly the same height as the prior BTAS figures. The paint job on him is pretty damn flawless. I am very impressed with what is before me. The gray of his costume is a matte finish with some shading on his muscles. The black and blue is also nice and saturated and the added blue on the cape just makes this guy pop. From what I can tell, the entire cape is cast in blue plastic and it’s the black that’s been added. All of the other pieces are likely the reverse including the hands and head. He’s got a nice, square, jaw and his eyes are narrowed as some hoodlum must have just pissed him off. The proportions look great and if I have any issues there it’s with the hands, which seem a bit small. The bat logo on his chest is all molded and painted and I am in awe of how clean it turned out. I really wasn’t expecting that considering even Medicom had some issues with a much simpler logo on their figure. The only area where the paint could have been improved is around the trunks, where the line work on the thighs isn’t as sharp. The belt is also just a bright yellow and I feel like it would have benefitted from a little shading, at least around the center buckle. Overall though, I’m quite pleased with how this figure looks and this is definitely the best representation of this version of Batman that I’ve seen.

I have a feeling this is going to be the default look for most collectors with this figure because it’s basically his only interesting pose.

The aesthetics of this guy weren’t a tremendous concern for me going in, what gave me pause was the engineering and articulation. Even keeping my expectations low, I can’t say this figure is well articulated. I’m not sure he’s even fair in that regard. If you add up all of the points of articulation, he sounds fine, but it’s just not particularly functional. For starters, the cape is just soft plastic that hangs off of his back. It looks fine and I wasn’t expecting anything extravagant, but no posing is present there. At the head, we have just a single ball joint. He can turn his head to the side a bit, but his massive chin will prevent him from looking too far off to the side. If set looking straight ahead, he can look up and down a little, but once you turn it you basically loose any up-down articulation which sucks for grapple gun poses. At the shoulders we have ball-hinges and they’re pretty tight. I handled this guy with kid gloves since he was a secondary market purchase and should he break I am screwed. His arms will raise out to the side, and rotate forward and back until they hit the cape. When rotating forward, watch his pecs as you don’t want the arms to rub on the edges. At the elbow, we have single joints and a swivel with no biceps swivel. He can’t achieve a 90 degree angle at the elbow, and once bent he ends up with this weird elbow point that sticks out. It’s not a great setup. At the wrist, we have rotation and in-out hinges with no vertical hinges. There’s a waist twist, but he can only go so far before it looks weird. At the thigh, this is the area most improved over past releases as he has a more standard ball-joint where the leg meets the torso. He can do splits and kick forward and back. There is no thigh swivel, which stinks, but now he does have double-jointed knees which work just fine. He does swivel at the boot, and at the ankle we have hinges and rockers. The ankles are easily the best part of the figure, which is a good thing because he has small feet and you really need good rockers to get him to stand well.

The grapple gun pose is less convincing.

What holds this figure back is the lack of any thigh twist and the subpar arm articulation. You really don’t know how much you’ll miss something as simple as a thigh cut or twist until it’s gone, but it’s the legs that really add that dynamic quality to any pose. Some probably miss that ab crunch he was advertised as having, but I find that whole chest area too important to the sculpt of this particular version of Batman to want it broken up. I normally am not a fan of ab crunches, but I do like diaphragm joints, but the square-ness of Batman’s chest doesn’t lend itself well to such a joint so I’m not sad it isn’t present. I’ll make that sacrifice, but the arms and thighs could have easily been better. On the plus side, nothing is loose so this guy will hold a pose on your shelf. I am a little concerned about shelf dives out of him though since his feet are so small and he has a lot of added weight on his back due to the cape. He does have a peg hole on his right foot, but the feet are so small and thin resulting in a rather shallow peg hole that doesn’t fit any stands I have.

I suppose they did all right covering Batman’s essentials, but this is still an unimpressive array of accessories.

As far as accessories go, this Batman is pretty limited. He comes with fists out of the package and five additional hands: a set of gripping hands, a set of “batarang hands,” and a right hand with a grapple gun molded into it. He also has a batarang which also features the two-tone black/blue shading which looks pretty cool. It basically just rests in the included batarang hands so that you can position the figure as if he’s about to wind-up and throw it. If you want a tighter grip, it will fit in the gripping hands as well, but looks less elegant. Otherwise, those gripping hands serve no purpose on their own with this release. I don’t know if other figures come with something that would make sense for Batman to hold or not. I would have preferred something more dynamic like open hands or an alternate head in their place. The hands at least look fine and all have that blue shading on them. The paint on the grapple gun hand isn’t as clean. It will look fine from the shelf, but close inspection reveals they didn’t fill the space between his index and middle fingers where the grapple gun is exposed with gray paint. They also painted the area his thumb rests on the gun all black when it should probably be gray. The hands are easily removed from the figure and swapped, so that’s a plus.

Maybe with a good stand something more dynamic could be done with his lower half to sell this pose.

When all is said and done, this figure either met my expectations in some areas or exceeded them. I expected limited articulation, and I definitely found that. I expected the accessories to be a lon the slim side with nothing truly exciting, and that’s true as well. Where the figure exceeded expectations is with the paint-job. This is a very clean figure with some nice shading and little touches that really help it make a statement. I wish the articulation allowed him to show off a little more, but he looks sharp. It does feel like a missed opportunity that DC Collectibles couldn’t give us a second cape that draped around the arms for Batman’s more casual stance. The figure is so static that such an accessory would have made a lot of sense. And those gripping hands stand out as another missed opportunity since we could have had something else, like an effects piece for the grapple gun, which would have really been cool.

To close this one out, I guess we’ll compare the $25 figure to the $95 one. An unfair comparison to be sure, but it does drive home how static the BTAS Batman is. And yet, I do quite like him just for that toon aesthetic.

I had to pay over retail for this guy, but I’m not really bothered by that now that I have him. He really does get the job done and better than any of the other DC Collectibles versions of this character. I had considered going all out and springing for the expressions edition of the figure, but I’m glad I didn’t. That one has worse articulation and doesn’t have the paint touches this one has. Sure, extra heads are cool and all, but if the figure doesn’t really look the way I want it to then they won’t help much. Now I’m just left wondering if I want to add any other characters. Some are still easy to come by, most are not. The Joker from this line looks bad so he’s not something I want, but what about Mr. Freeze? He’s an awesome villain, though his figure looks even more static than Batman. I do wish I had grabbed Gray Ghost, and the H.A.R.D.A.C. Batman looks to have a really neat sculpt. We’ll see. If this ends up being the only figure I get from this line, at least I picked a good one and the most essential one, at that.

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August 13, 2020

Batman Beyond – The Complete Series (Blu Ray)

By Joe

Last year, when Warner Home Media announced a new Blu Ray set for the series Batman Beyond, I decided to wait. I had been an early consumer for the similar Batman: The Animated Series set the prior year and had some misgivings. The price on that set fell and a slimmed down version was even introduced at retail that really only omitted the outer box and Funko items. Plus, I had ordered that set from Amazon and had to go through multiples because the company packaged it so poorly. I also wasn’t in any hurry to order Batman Beyond since I had the DVD sets and had never really found them lacking in a visual sense.

My patience was rewarded as a recent Amazon Lightning Deal came up for the complete Batman Beyond Blu Ray package. Like Batman, Batman Beyond received both a deluxe release and a retail release, only this deal on Amazon ended up being the deluxe version marked down even lower than the retail version. I decided to pounce since it’s been awhile since I engaged with the property, and if I was going to do a re-watch, might as well make it a high-definition one.

Batman Beyond tells the story of Bruce (reluctantly) passing the mantle of Batman to Terry

If you’re unfamiliar with the series, Batman Beyond was the sequel series to Batman: The Animated Series. In actuality, it was the replacement. Series creators Bruce Timm and Paul Dini had operated under the assumption that The New Batman Adventures would continue beyond the one season order the WB network had given it. Instead, the network decided that Batman needed a refresh. Were they right? Probably not, as Batman has proven to be a timeless character. The New Batman Adventures wasn’t quite on par with the Fox seasons, but it was still pretty good and had legs. It would have been nice if the network had given it one more season, or even a half season, while also informing the crew that would be it. Then we could have received a proper finale, but instead we got Batman Beyond and a series of Justice League shows followed.

The deluxe version comes with an outer box to house the Funko Pop! inside.

Given that, it would be easy to approach Batman Beyond with significant baggage. After all, the premise is essentially “Let’s make Batman younger by essentially making him Spider-Man.” If you told that to me before ever letting me watch the show I would instantly have a bad impression. It sounds like the foolish decision of a network executive and not a creative decision by an actual story-teller. Against all odds though, the show somehow worked. It made people care about a new, teen-aged, Batman and it also managed to serve as a bookend to the animated series by largely continuing that show’s continuity. Sure, there was a pretty big gap in time between the two properties and a great many loose strings are never addressed, but just by having Bruce Wayne (still voiced by the incomparable Kevin Conroy) onboard added an instant credibility to the program.

The inner Blu Ray case is pretty standard for a multi-disc release.

Batman Beyond is set in the year 2039. Gotham has apparently run out of room for expansion and has grown up instead of out. Colossal skyscrapers cover the landscape with roads upon roads on top of one another. The main character is Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle), a teenager who loses his father to a murder making him the ideal candidate to replace Bruce Wayne as Batman. As Batman, Terry is empowered with a futuristic suit that allows him to fly, turn invisible, fire a seemingly endless amount of batarangs, and even stick to surfaces like a certain wall-crawler I already referenced. He’s a bit more jokey than his predecessor, and several episodes act as a teaching moment for him as well. This is a Batman in training, though by the end of the show he is pretty much the real deal. It’s a bit amusing to see how future Gotham looks considering modern Gotham looked like it was frozen in the 1940s. It’s about what you would expect, though most automobiles appear to still possess wheels.

The setting is not really what’s important here. What is most interesting about Batman Beyond is watching an elderly Bruce Wayne manage a kid who has taken up his mantle. It arises in an unnatural way with McGinnis initially stealing the suit to investigate his father’s murder. Wayne is shown giving up his alter-ego in the first five minutes of the show, but also given a motivation to want to see Batman return to Gotham. And that’s Derek Powers (Sherman Howard), who has basically taken Wayne’s company from him turning Wayne Enterprises into Wayne-Powers. He’s setup early on to be the primary foil to Batman and Wayne, though the rogue’s gallery will be filled out quite a bit over the ensuing 52 episodes. It’s a lot of fun though to watch Terry and Bruce bust heads with each other as they seldom agree. They find a working relationship though, and it helps that we have the relationships between Bruce and his prior wards to fall back-on. It’s easy to see that this Bruce is trying his hardest not to repeat the same mistakes as he did once before, and the fact that he’s physically compromised in his old age actually helps him to be more patient with Terry than he was with both Dick and Tim.

  • The Pop! comes in its own box.
This thing has a chrome, or mirrored, finish. It’s certainly something.

To sum it up, Batman Beyond is indeed worth your time as a series, even if you have reservations about the whole thing. It does the impossible in being a worthy follow-up to Batman: The Animated Series. Chances are, if you’re reading this you already know that. What’s more pressing is did Warner do right by the series with this set? Considering it is now being sold for almost half of what it was initially, I would say yes.

Being a late 90s/early 2000s show means this one really isn’t all that old, relatively speaking. The masters were all preserved and when the show received a transfer to DVD it came out great. In high-definition, it looks every bit as a good and obviously a little better. Blacks are deep and the brighter colors pop as expected. There’s no grain to speak of with this series, and everything has a very clean presentation. This was one of the last shows to be animated largely in a traditional manner for DC as they still used ink and paint on celluloid for the main animation. And unlike say Spider-Man 94, there’s no glaringly awful CG effects in use. Nothing is really working against the show in its transfer to HD, and that’s a good thing. Warner Home Video also wisely resisted any temptation to crop the image which seems like a given, but you never know when such will pop up.

Some 3D lenticular images are included, if you like that sort of thing.

The new extra features are all relegated to a bonus disc. There’s a round-table retrospective with the creators and actors of the series, though notably absent is Paul Dini. It’s mostly just 45 minutes or so of the people involved congratulating themselves for making a good show. There’s some interesting moments, like Bruce Timm acknowledging some of the controversial moves for the series following its completion that the others at the table get to weigh in on, but it’s not as juicy as it could have been. If you’re at all versed on this show, you probably won’t learn much from this discussion. There’s also a retrospect on Batman called Knight Immortal which consists of still images and some clips and surprisingly no talking heads. A lot of the main players involved with the character are heard from and it’s a decent look at Batman. Lastly, there’s a history of Detective Comics present. It’s a bit dry, but if you love DC then you’ll probably enjoy sitting through it. All of the DVD special features are also present.

The reverse side of the lenticulars.

Like the set for BTAS, this one doesn’t have any commentaries or anything like that added, just what was already available on DVD. Also like that set, it includes the feature associated with the series, in this case the excellent Return of the Joker. If it weren’t for Mask of the Phantasm, Return of the Joker would be my favorite Batman animated film and it’s still one of my favorite Batman films in general, possibly in my top 5. It’s the uncut version too, as expected. There’s also an optional digital version of the collection that can be downloaded. I haven’t redeemed my code though so I can’t speak to the quality (the BTAS set came with a standard definition digital copy) and I’m also note sure if it includes Return of the Joker.

This little booklet is just a glorified table of contents. No creator notes or anything.

Where this set differs from the BTAS one is in the presentation. It comes in a cardboard box with a window display for a chrome Batman Beyond Funko Pop! rather than mini ones. It’s a normal-sized Pop! so you probably know if you like it or not. Inside the box is a pretty standard Blu Ray set. It’s a hard cardboard slip case with folding digi-book styled case that houses the discs. It’s nothing extravagant, but it’s at least functional. While I loved the presentation of the leather-bound book for the BTAS set, getting the discs in and out was painful. There’s also some lenticular images and a little booklet that serves as a table of contents. It’s fine, just not particularly flashy. I imagine the standard retail release just omits the outer box and Funko figure.

If you want this show on physical media and in HD, then this is something you should seek out.

Batman Beyond – The Complete Series is essentially as advertised. If you had been waiting for a complete collection on Blu Ray, then you should be satisfied with this. Especially if you were able to get it on sale. If you like the show, and you’re still into physical media like I am, then you should probably grab it. Is it essential if you already have the DVDs? Probably not. The bonus features are something you’re likely to watch once and then never again. It would have been great if Warner had made an attempt to make this the full Batman Beyond experience by including the character’s appearances from other shows on here. That would have been especially useful for someone like me who has no interest in buying any of those other shows. And if this is something you want, I’d suggest grabbing whatever version is cheaper unless you really want that exclusive Pop! figure. Lastly, if you like Batman: The Animated Series but never gave Batman Beyond a chance, it’s worth the price of admission. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised.

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February 7, 2020

The Batman TAS Episode Ranking – Part 5

By Joe

batman_bewareWelcome back for the fifth and final installment in the Batman: The Animated Series episode ranking. This week, we’ll be taking a look at entries 19 through 1. As a reminder, this feature encompasses all of the episodes produced under the banner of Batman, The Adventures of Batman & Robin, and The New Batman Adventures which are collectively referred to as Batman: The Animated Series. If you wish to view my thoughts on the episodes as a whole each episode here is linked to the write-up. If you prefer to explore more, simply head on over to the index page for all things BTAS.

These remaining episodes represent the cream of the crop. When I applied an arbitrary numerical rating to each episode in the series these all came away scoring a 9 or better so they’re all episodes I love and treasure. These are the best works produced by the best animated show based on a comic to grace a television set. It should go without saying that if you haven’t seen all of these and consider yourself a fan of Batman or animation in general then you owe it to yourself to seek these out.

hqdefault-3119 – Joker’s Favor

When adapting a murderous psychopath for a kid’s show, some changes have to be taken. In the case of The Joker, it means finding a way to make him seem dangerous without actually allowing him to murder some of the citizens of Gotham. He could easily have just been reinterpreted as a prankster, a villain who can get a laugh and little more, but this show wasn’t content with that approach. “Joker’s Favor” sees Joker in a very uncomfortable setting as he forces a regular chum named Charlie (who reminds me of Tim Conway) to partake in a crime for him or else he’ll do some horrible things to Charlie’s family. The threats aren’t spelled out explicitly, but they don’t need to be. Also, this episode features the debut of a popular henchwoman named Harley, which is certainly a part of its legacy.

18 – House & Garden

Poison Ivy was one of the several villains to receive a redemption story in season two of the show. This is the one where a seemingly happy Pamela Isley is married and step-mother to two boys. When Batman finds out that Pam’s husband previously had daughters, not sons, he realizes something is up. He soon discovers that Poison Ivy has discovered a way to make plant-based clones of humans, though they can only be male, and she’s literally made a new life for herself. There’s some tense moments, but also some heartbreak, which is basically the mix that often makes an episode of Batman great.

17 – Second Chance

Ever since Harvey Dent was horribly disfigured leading to the rise of Two-Face, Batman and viewers of the show wanted to see him overcome his demons and return to being just plain old Harvey. In “Second Chance,” the wheels are in motion for that to finally happen, but Dent is kidnapped before the operation can begin and Batman has to find him and whoever is responsible. Like the prior episode, it has a bit of a sad ending and it’s one that reinforces who Two-Face is, for better or worse.

batgirl unmasked16 – Shadow of the Bat: Part II

The proper debut of Gotham’s newest vigilante:  Batgirl. Barbara Gordon has been pushed to take matters into her own hands, and since she happens to have a Batman costume on hand, she decides to borrow his gimmick. She’s rather green, but also crafty, and we see her determination shine as she looks to clear her dad’s name and expose a traitor within Gotham’s police force. It’s a spirited debut and one that leaves viewers wanting to see more of Batgirl.

15 – Shadow of the Bat: Part I

Before Barbara could become Batgirl though, she had to be properly motivated. The first part of the two-parter that leads to her transformation is a good little crime noir story. Commissioner Gordon has been wrongfully accused of misdeeds, and Barbara has to sort out who her allies or and who might be her foe. A rally is organized in support of Gordon and Barbara thinks Batman needs to be there, but he’s obviously busy investigating the culprits responsible for Gordon’s arrest. Feeling she has no one to turn to, Barbara decides to take matters into her own hands which sets her on the path we always knew she was destined to tread. Because of Batgirl’s presence in the title card at the episode’s start, viewers knew what this story was leading to, but it’s still thrilling to see Batgirl emerge at the end accompanied with a fun theme all her own.

14 – Mudslide

Clayface was one of the first B-tier villains to be elevated to the big time by this show. His debut was perfect as it was one born of tragedy, though some of which Matt Hagen brought on by himself. His “death” at the end was obviously staged, and his return was inevitable. When he does resurface, it’s as a mud monster who can barely hold his body together adding a new layer of tragedy to his character. He turns to thievery in an attempt to repair his body, and that no-good Batman screws it all up. It’s even frustrating when Batman shuts down the machine feeding some serum into Clayface during the episode’s climax as by then we’re actually rooting for Clayface! He proves self-destructive though, and the battle he chooses to force with Batman in a rain storm is hard to watch because we know how it will end. And while I like Clayface’s return in “Growing Pains,” it does almost ruin his apparent death at the end of this one, but not enough for me to rank it any lower than this.

tumblr_nrrp4yKE3S1ub7n3do1_128013 – The Laughing Fish

Joker’s classic scheme in which the fish in the waters around Gotham have been tainted by Joker poison giving them hideous smiles. It’s all a long con by Joker to make some money by securing a patent on the fish. His reasoning is since they look like him then surely he should profit from every sale of the seemingly harmless Joker fish. His reasoning turns out to be unsound (as usual), so Joker decides to inflict pain and misery on those who wouldn’t go along with the scheme by giving him what he wants. It features probably the best cat and mouse game the show will feature between Batman and Joker and the scene in which Batman appears to get a dose of Joker poison is pretty damn terrifying, especially when you’re 8. The only thing I dislike about the episode is that it tries to make us think Joker is dead in the end and they go for it so hard they don’t even include a plausible way for him to survive, he just will return as if nothing happened in a later episode. It’s cheap, but the episode still rules.

12 – Feat of Clay: Part II

This episode animated by the folks at TMS features easily the most impressive visual moment of the series. It happens at the end, when the newly created Clayface loses control of his shape-shifting powers when surrounded by a bunch of monitors baring his former likeness. And that’s not the only part of the episode that dazzles. Throughout, Clayface takes on some amazing forms with his body as he masters his pliable physique. My personal favorite is when his hand sprouts metal claws which he launches at Batman. Not that it necessarily needed all of these amazing pieces of animation to be a great episode as the story of Clayface was just wonderfully executed leading to the formation of a terrible, yet tragic, monster.

getaway11 – Harley and Ivy

The best pairing of any characters in this show is not Batman and Robin, it’s Harley and Ivy. The two females were paired up in this episode and a legend was seemingly born as their popularity has endured to this day with DC even taking things further by making them lovers. Back when this episode aired, that wasn’t even suggested, but that didn’t mean some horny artists couldn’t have some fun by putting the two in their underwear for parts of the episode. Anyways, Harley and Ivy have natural chemistry as a bit of an odd couple pairing. They’re also shown to be incredibly capable as criminals, undermining the more famous Joker. Speaking of whom, he’s along for the ride as well as Ivy has basically put herself in between he and Harley. His inclusion is not a bad thing, but it says a lot about the ladies that his part wasn’t exactly needed. It’s actually a shame we didn’t see more of these two together in later episodes.

10 – Robin’s Reckoning: Part II

After learning Robin’s origin in the first part of this two-part story, we get to see Robin go on a quest for revenge with flashbacks to his first attempt at such. It’s not as compelling as the first part, but it’s still an engrossing story and it has something to say about the relationship between Batman and Robin. There’s a sweetness there that is actually unexpected. It also is the first time we see the makings of a rift forming between Batman and his ward. And mostly, these rifts seem to form when Batman chooses to keep his motives to himself and shut Robin out. We see his heart is in the right place in the end, but it underscores how maybe a life largely spent chasing bad guys has withered Batman’s social skills.

9 – Feat of Clay: Part I

The creation of Clayface was one of my earliest introductions to this show, if not the first. As a result, it’s possible it’s getting a bit of a nostalgia boost as a result, but I prefer to think this is really one of the finest episodes the show produced. It is confidently slow to bring along Matt Hagen which makes the payoff at the end all the more impactful. It also has the subplot of Bruce Wayne being framed for attempted murder which injects a little extra spice. Roland Daggett is the main villain introduced here and he works very well as a white collar criminal. He’s quite detestable proving you don’t need a flashy gimmick to be a good Batman foil.

harleys back8 – Harley’s Holiday

I love this episode as it features my favorite portrayal of Harley Quinn. In this one, Harley tries to go straight, but a calamity of errors and confusion leads to her reverting back into her alter ego. It’s quite funny, but there’s a touch of sadness added which makes the viewer feel a bit guilty at laughing at her misfortunes. She ends up going on a Smokey and the Bandit styled romp with Veronica Vreeland as her hostage. Throughout it all, Harley actually has Veronica’s best interests in mind even though she’s using her, but obviously she’s not getting away from Batman. Which would make it a bit of a disappointing ending for Harley, but there’s a fun touch added onto the end and a humanizing moment from Batman. We see Batman in the role of bringing the criminally insane to Arkham, and rarely do we get a glimpse of him actually encouraging any of these inmates to properly reform.

7 – Almost Got ‘Im

Another classic. This is the episode where Batman’s most famous rogues are gathered for a game of poker and start telling tales about the time they came closest to putting Batman down. Unbeknownst to them, Batman is among them disguised as Killer Croc, whom he plays as a dim-witted fool. Some of that performance seemed to seep into Croc’s portrayal in later episodes, though he’s never this dumb. The construction of the episode is damn near genius as there are numerous bread crumbs sprinkled throughout. It’s extremely rewarding to watch it multiple times as once you know about the Batman performance you can notice how Batman steers the conversation where he needs it to go in order to find Catwoman, whom Joker has kidnapped. It’s maybe the funniest episode of the show, but it doesn’t sell itself out for a joke. And “I threw a rock at him,” is quite possibly the most memorable line the series ever produced.

6 – Beware the Gray Ghost

This episode is just a real delight as it’s basically a send-up to Adam West whom a generation of kids had grown up with as Batman. Adam really wanted to continue in the role, but he was obviously never going to land the part in Tim Burton’s take on the character. I don’t think he auditioned for this show, but he probably would have welcomed the chance to. This episode though was essentially made for him and it tells a wonderful story about an aging actor who once played a hero on television struggling to find work as a result of being forever linked to that character. And in-universe, that character happened to be a huge influence on Bruce Wayne and his creation of Batman. There’s some twists and turns and some excellent editing and animation along the way. And keep your eyes open for the Bruce Timm and Paul Dini cameo, though they’re hard to miss.

twoface5 – Two-Face: Part I

This show really did tragic villains so well, but I think the best of them all might be Two-Face. Like another rogue still to come on this list, Two-Face’s origin was so well crafted that it made it hard to bring the villain back because it could never be topped. Two-Face would end up fairing pretty well though, but it’s true his genesis was still his best moment. Watching Harvey be pushed to the edge by the mobster Rupert Thorne was truly compelling. The whole time there’s a sense that Batman will arrive and make everything better, and since Harvey had been put in danger before and saved, it seemed possible that his villainous turn would be delayed. At least it would have seemed plausible if not for the episode’s title, but I digress. This one is very dramatic and it deftly handles the drama better than anyone would have expected a cartoon would in 1992. Of course now, it’s practically the norm for the show.

4 – Robin’s Reckoning: Part I

Speaking of drama, it doesn’t get much more dramatic than seeing a kid lose his parents to murder. Robin’s origin story is told and it’s become the story most often associated with Dick Grayson, the former Boy Wonder. A small-time crook looking to run a protection racket sabotages some trapeze equipment causing Dick’s parents to perish in a circus performance. Bruce is there to witness it, and I love how the show chose to show the murder without actually showing it. We just see the silhouette of the performers and then a lone swinging cable as the audience gasps. It cuts to Bruce’s reaction before fading to black. It’s not all sad though, as it’s sweet to see Bruce take Dick in as the two share an unfortunate link in being a witness to the murder of their parents.

harley tears

Harley is full-blown crazy during these events as she’ll stop at nothing to win Joker’s affection.

3 – Mad Love

The New Batman Adventures was not as good or as successful as the first two seasons from the Fox years. Despite that though, two of the top 3 episodes are from that final season and I don’t think it’s particularly controversial either that they’re placed this prominently on my ranking. Coming in as the third best episode is “Mad Love,” a look at Harley and Joker’s complicated relationship. This one is both funny and tragic, a trait that has come to define the character of Harley Quinn. Her unhealthy relationship with Joker is detailed from the start and it becomes clear she’s dependent on him, but he is not with her. She’s just another target for his violence and abuse and it can be hard to watch. One of the saddest scenes in the entire show is Harley laying broken in a heap of trash after Joker shoved her out a window blaming herself for making him mad.

2 – Over the Edge

One of the most talked-about episodes of Batman is “Over the Edge.” The violence the network allowed to be shown on air is shocking the first time it’s witnessed and it remains shocking even on repeated viewings. Batgirl, shoved off the roof of a tall building by Scarecrow, crashes onto the hood of a police car occupied by her father, Commissioner Gordon. From there, Gordon makes the discovery that it’s been his daughter under the mask this whole time and he immediately turns his anger on Batman. With the whole city after him, Batman is forced to flee. Nightwing gets embroiled in the controversy and Robin is forced to distance himself from Batman and seek refuge somewhere else as their identities have all been revealed to the public. It’s surreal watching the whole thing unfold and the ride is so captivating that we forgive it for being basically a dream sequence the whole time. Actually, we’re glad to see that it was just a dream as the ending was fixing to be so horrible in resetting the status quo that we’re practically begging for someone to wake up. And after the reveal, it’s able to deliver one more heartfelt scene that was a long time coming.

Heart-of-Ice-Batman1 – Heart of Ice

As if it cold be any other episode. “Heart of Ice” is widely regarded as the show’s best episode, and I’ve felt that way ever since I first saw it back in 92 and I see no reason to change my mind now. It introduced to us a new take on Mr. Freeze, a villain few cared about before this show’s premiere. He was just another gimmick, but in the hands of Paul Dini he became a tragic figure moved to a mission of vengeance after witnessing the death of his wife at the hands of some rich prick by the name of Ferris Boyle. With his body forever altered and now requiring a sub-zero environment to thrive, Mr. Freeze sees no reason to live outside of revenge. Nothing can ever possibly move him to feel happy again and I’m genuinely curious what would have become of the villain had he simply succeeded. Of course, Batman is there to save the jerk responsible for the death of Nora Fries, but Boyle at least gets his comeuppance as well, just not in the manner Freeze would have chosen. Would Mr. Freeze have simply slunk off to the arctic like he eventually does with his mission accomplished, or maybe he would have just removed his suit and let nature take its course? As curious as I am about that, it’s hard for me to think it would have made for a better ending than what we got: a downtrodden Freeze looking longingly at an effigy of his wife in his jail cell surrounded by snow longing to touch her warm hand one more time.

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January 24, 2020

The Batman TAS Episode Ranking – Part 3

By Joe

did22Welcome back for the third installment in the Batman: The Animated Series episode ranking. This week, we’ll be taking a look at entries 59 through 40. As a reminder, this feature encompasses all of the episodes produced under the banner of Batman, The Adventures of Batman & Robin, and The New Batman Adventures which are collectively referred to as Batman: The Animated Series. If you wish to view my thoughts on the episodes as a whole each episode here is linked to the write-up. If you prefer to explore more, simply head on over to the index page for all things BTAS. We’re well into the real meat of the series at this point and none of the episodes we’re going to cover today are bad, but actually quite good. We just haven’t quite hit the “great” just yet. Let’s start with entry number 59:

59 – Paging the Crime Doctor

Sometimes, this show attempted some really grounded plots that could be applied to almost anything. Often times, Dr. Leslie Thompkins was a featured player in those episodes and she is in this one. When Rupert Thorne needs a surgical procedure, he turns to his doctor brother to help him out. Due to Thorne’s crime links, Mathew Thorne lost his license to practice medicine and is now basically just a mob doctor for his brother’s syndicate. Needing help with the surgery, he’s forced to turn to Leslie who was a classmate with him in med school, along with Thomas Wayne. Thorne’s men kidnap her, and it’s up to Batman to uncover the mystery. Probably not a favorite for children since it doesn’t feature a ton of action or a bigger rogue personality, but as an adult I enjoy it for the drama. It’s also aided by one of the best endings to any episode in the series.

FearofVictory58 – Fear of Victory

Scarecrow is back to put his fear toxin to use once again, this time to take down popular athletes at the university that wronged him years ago. Robin is along for the ride as he attends school at the same institute and it’s he who gets a dose this time of the Scarecrow’s gas. It’s very similar to “Nothing to Fear,” just with the role reversal of Batman for Robin, but it’s rewarding to see Batman try to coach Robin through it since he experienced the same. It’s also the debut for the second version of Scarecrow which looks far more terrifying than the first, which is partly why I prefer this one to “Nothing to Fear.”

57 – It’s Never Too Late

Another very grounded tale, and perhaps with a PSA message embedded in it about drugs. Arnold Stromwell is forced to confront his past when his son goes missing. He blames his rival Thorne, but it will take help from Batman and Stromwell’s preacher brother to get him to see the error of his ways. It’s quite heavy-handed, and again it’s an episode I really wasn’t into as a kid. As an adult though, I definitely like these dramatic episodes more as it’s nice to see Batman in a more relatable setting rather than bashing clowns and ice men.

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Captain Clown, we hardly knew ye.

56 – The Last Laugh

The title is an obvious indicator that this is a Joker episode, but I’m happy to report it’s not as final as it makes it seem. This is the one where Joker uses a floating barge of poisonous garbage to poison Gotham on April Fool’s Day, and it’s up to Batman to stop him. There are lots of humorous bits and a few bad puns, but it’s mostly entertaining. Also entertaining is Batman’s battle with Captain Clown, a Terminator-like robot who is quite difficult to bring down.

55 – Double Talk

The Ventriloquist Arnold Wesker gets a shot at redemption, like many other villains before him and still to come. The story presented here is almost heart-breaking, as the gentle natured Arnold is shown making a real attempt to get over his other personality, Scarface. It wouldn’t be much of an episode if he did though, and he’s taunted into thinking he’s still insane and under Scarface’s influence. It’s actually a bit heart-breaking to watch, and Batman really could have done a better job of helping the guy out, but I guess maybe he really wanted to bust the ones responsible or something. It has a nice ending though, and since we never see Scarface return after this one I guess we can assume old Arnold finally did overcome his demons.

54 – Baby-Doll

This one is a bit odd, but it manages to pull off the creation of yet another sympathetic villain. This time it’s Baby-Doll, the former actress afflicted with a disorder of some kind that basically makes her resemble a child well into adulthood. She once had a hit show, but now it’s gone, and she’s never learned to cope. It’s a bit crazy as it’s hard not to think of similar real life examples of people in her situation becoming mobsters and finding the image too hard to believe, but it pulls itself together in the end and delivers a conclusion that’s tragic and affecting.

cross blades53 – The Demon’s Quest: Part II

Two-parters in this show are often quite similar: tremendous build in the first part, a bit of a fall-off in the second. “The Demon’s Quest” suffers the same fate as the first part is a fun mystery, but it’s solved at the end in dramatic fashion. When the second begins, the drama is quickly doused and it just becomes a drawn-out sequence leading to a Batman and Ra’s al Ghul confrontation. There’s also an extremely well-placed Wayne Enterprises building literally in the middle of the mountains for no reason other than to be a deus ex machina for our heroes who were stranded in the cold. The episode at least looks great, and the battle at the end is solid.

52 – The Mechanic

In a bit of an adaptation of Batman Returns, we learn how the Batmobile was conceived and also how its mechanic can be used to get at The Dark Knight. The Penguin is able to figure out who works on the Batmobile after a destructive confrontation with it following a heist gone wrong, and he uses that info to take the mechanic and his daughter hostage and sabotage the Batmobile. Just like in the movie, Penguin gets to control it via remote while Batman and Robin are trapped inside it unable to regain control of the vehicle. The episode is able to make the mechanic, Earl, rather crafty in how he passes along info to Batman that basically tells him what he needs to know. Once that is done, it’s just the simple matter of taking down Penguin who has proven to be one of Batman’s least formidable rogues.

30-251 – Appointment in Crime Alley

The debut of Leslie Thompkins feels almost like a day-in-the-life piece about being Batman. Roland Daggett is trying to commit arson on a neglected part of Gotham derisively referred to as Crime Alley. Leslie is a bit of an idealist looking to take back this part of Gotham from the ruffians as it is also home to Gotham’s poorest citizens, many of him are ordinary, good, folk. Batman catches wind of Daggett’s scheme and he has to put a stop to it, all while making sure he doesn’t miss the appointment referenced in the title. And that appointment is a personal one for it’s the anniversary of the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and as the movie showed us, Bruce needs to return to that site every year to lay a pair of roses. There’s also a sweet touch in which we find out Leslie was one of the first to confront young Bruce that night via a picture she’s held onto.

50 – Bane

Bane was a 90s invention intended to be Batman’s better in terms of physical ability. He’s bigger, stronger, and far more ruthless. He’s portrayed as a tactician, who for some reason wears a luchador mask. In the show, he’s hired by Thorne to take down Batman and he very nearly does. We learn of his strength as he effortlessly dispatches Killer Croc and then goes onto really mess up the Batmobile. The episode loses a bit of luster in how it ends, and there’s also a ludicrous pro-wrestling quality added onto the fight scene in which Batman rebounds off of metal rails like ring ropes. Bane ends up being fairly easy to take out – you just go after the giant tube connected to his head and wrist. You would think a tactician such as Bane would have found an answer to that little weakness, no?

offbalance49 – Off Balance

The episode that introduced us to Talia, yet another woman whom Batman has an apparent weakness for despite her being pretty tied down to a life of crime. Batman has to retrieve a stolen piece of weaponry in a rather remote area, and it forces him to team-up with the mysterious Talia. During the events of the episode, she discovers his true identity and the two appear to work well as a team – too well. The double cross at the end is hardly a surprise, but it does introduce us briefly to the big daddy, Ra’s al Ghul, setting up for a future confrontation. One aspect of the episode I do really enjoy is the League of Shadow assassins who when caught basically activate a suicide device in their masks. Of course, this being a kid’s show means they don’t actually die, but rather have their minds completely erased.

48 – Mad as a Hatter

Another silly villain who finds a way to work in the confines of this show, The Mad Hatter debuts here and he’s basically just a guy who can’t take “No” for an answer. Jervis Tetch is an expert on mind control who also has a crush on his assistant, Alice. He also apparently has an affinity for Alice in Wonderland and when Alice rejects his advances he uses his mind control device to make her say “Yes.” Since he works for Wayne, the missing Alice does not go unnoticed and Batman is forced to find her and confront the newly christened Mad Hatter. I like this one as it makes a villain out of the type of guy who thinks that just because he’s nice towards a woman he deserves her affection. We’ve all met those types, and most women can probably recall similar, and maybe even some of us were that guy back in high school. It’s just part of growing up, but some take it into adulthood and never are able to understand that women are allowed to like whomever they like for whatever reason. Nice guys don’t finish last, but they aren’t entitled to first place either.

smilingtwoface147 – Two-Face: Part II

The first part of “Two-Face” is one of the best episodes the show did, the second may not be as good, but it’s still damn fine. We learn what happened to Harvey Dent after being horribly maimed in a confrontation with Rupert Thorne. Rather than return to his old life, he rebelled against it. He wants revenge and can’t go on until he gets it, but his moral side is still in play and the only way to make heads or tails of life is for him to literally flip a coin when confronted with a moral dilemma. It’s a tragic tale with almost no joy to be found in what happens, even in the end. It does end on a hopeful note, but it’s never really addressed in a later episode which is unfortunate.

46 – A Bullet for Bullock

Someone wants Detective Harvey Bullock dead, but that’s nothing new. The question is who would go through the trouble of threatening him first rather than simply doing it? Bullock tries to handle things himself, but he’s forced to turn to his rival of sorts in Batman. It’s not the first time the two are shown working together, but it’s the most involved they’ll get and it’s actually pretty entertaining. The two seem to learn a thing or two about the other, maybe not enough to declare they’re friends by the episode’s end, but I think there’s a bit more respect there. And to his credit, Bullock isn’t nearly as adversarial going forward when dealing with Batman. The ending also features a twist that is one of the better pieces of comedy the show ever attempted.

45 – What is Reality?

The Riddler’s return which is more puzzle based than riddle based. This time he’s using a very convoluted virtual reality system to trap important figures in Gotham, namely Commissioner Gordon. It’s certainly different, but what makes the episode work is just how fun it is to watch Batman and Riddler go at it. He’s just the right amount of smug and annoying and his ability to stay one step ahead, until the inevitable end, is rewardingly frustrating. The animators get to have fun with the VR landscape, and the ending is a touch haunting which helps make it memorable. Though like with other episodes, it’s never really resolved and the next time we see The Riddler he’s fine.

HS_II_41_-_Batman

That’s a view of Gordon I never expected to see.

44 – Heart of Steel: Part 2

The Blade Runner inspired first part is pretty interesting and even a touch unsettling. The second part is more straight-forward, but it does for the first time put Barbara Gordon in the driver’s seat as a heroine. No, she isn’t Batgirl yet, but it’s nice seeing the show actually lay the groundwork for her hero-turn down the road rather than just jump right into it. We also get to see Batman fight some creepy robots too, which is also a plus.

43 – Dreams in Darkness

Batman is once again exposed to Scarecrow’s fear toxin, only this time it happens off-screen and we’re left in the dark to start, no pun intended. Batman begins this one as a patient in Arkham Asylum, a place he’s sent many a rogue to. He has to overcome the toxin and convince the doctors there’s nothing wrong with him before he can stop the Scarecrow from poisoning Gotham’s water supply (a scheme that would be adapted for Batman Begins). Along the way we get to see some really unsettling imagery of Batman’s poison-induced nightmares and it’s pretty wonderful, in a terrifying sort of way. The resolution is almost inconsequential as a result, but this one is definitely all about the ride.

calendar girl revealed42 – Mean Seasons

Calendar Girl is one of the better villains introduced in The New Batman Adventures, maybe even the best. Her debut hits all of the right notes as a villain with a seemingly silly gimmick is able to make great use of it in stringing Batman along while the villain is made sympathetic along with the way and in the end. There’s a fun twist to the ending as well that actually just adds a touch more tragedy to the mix.

41 – Judgement Day

A mystery driven episode that does a good job of not tipping its hand along the way, or should I say scale? Maybe not what many envisioned as the final episode of the show, it does at least bring back a memorable villain in Two-Face and also puts Batman all on his own, a fun callback to the first season. Mostly, the mystery aspect just makes it a fun watch as we try to figure out who The Judge is.

joker limo40 – Joker’s Millions

What happens when the joke is on The Joker? This episode is just plain entertaining as Joker finds out he’s inherited a whole bunch of money from a deceased crime boss, only to come to find it’s mostly fake. Before he makes that discovery though, he spends lavishly and alienates his old gal, Harley, in the process. He’s then forced to turn back to crime to make up the money he owes debt collectors which puts him back at odds with Batman. Since the plot involves someone taking advantage of Joker, it feels a bit like “Joker’s Wild,” but it’s done much better. Also, be on the lookout for an amusing Paul Dini cameo.

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January 10, 2020

The Batman TAS Episode Ranking – Part 1

By Joe

batman and selinaWe have arrived at the ultimate end game of our feature on Batman: The Animated Series. After doing a blog entry on all 109 episodes, plus each film, it is time to determine just what is the best of the best. This is always an exercise in futility as people are going to disagree on what is ostensibly a subjective exercise. Still, it feels like a worthwhile way to put a bow on the coverage here as it was the biggest undertaking this blog has done.

To arrive at these rankings I basically added a subjective score to each episode. At first, I started with a 5 point scale, but found that lacked nuance. Inevitably I ended up with a lot of 3 and 3.5 grades without a tidy way to arrange those episodes. I then switched to a 10 point scale and found that much easier to work with. I’m not going to include these ratings with the episode as I don’t think they’re really worth much. It was just a way to make arranging 109 data points in a more manageable fashion. And ultimately, what separates an episode with a rating of 8 with one awarded a rating of 8.5? I don’t really know, it just felt right. Mostly it was me going over the episodes and comparing them. Maybe I did score two episodes the same, but in isolating them I felt one deserved to be ranked higher than the other and thus the 8.5 rating was born. In that, I felt like an old professor I had in college who explains how he approached grading on a curve. If he awarded one student an A and another an A-, but felt they both demonstrated the same knowledge of the material in an equal fashion, he bumped the A- recipient to an A. And there are quite a few episodes of this show that I felt were pretty much equal to one another in terms of quality and enjoyment.

Mostly, this ranking was about separating the episodes I liked from the ones I loved. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some bad ones, but none managed to receive a rating of 0 from me. It also ended up being a bit of a Bell curve in the end as I had three episodes with a perfect score and three with a score of 1 or less. I didn’t do that on purpose, but it amused me to see it play out that way.

Anyway, if you disagree with my list then that is totally fine. I would not expect anyone’s list to match mine. I did not consult any other publications to see what they felt was the best and worst episodes of the show and it has honestly been a long time since I did view such a list. And since there are so many episodes, it didn’t make sense to cram this all into one post as I want to provide a sentence or two to justify my ranking for each one as opposed to just presenting a list. I’m also just doing the episodes and not the films as it hardly seems fair to weigh a feature-length subject against a 23 minute television episode. And if you’re curious, I’d rank the moves in order of release anyways with Mask of the Phantasm being the clear cut best of the three. Let’s get this show on the road though with my pick for worst episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

trio clever names

There’s a trio to fear.

109. –The Terrible Trio

So this episode basically sucks. I hate to be so negative right out of the gate, but I’m not going to say that often so I feel fine with it for now. Basically, three rich kids decide life is boring and turn to crime to get their kicks. It’s not very compelling, nor is the animation particularly enjoyable. Not every episode needs a marque villain, but it needs something better than these clowns. Let’s move on.

108. – Prophecy of Doom

A con artist dupes Gotham’s wealthy into handing over their money as part of a doomsday cult. It’s pretty incredible, and why should Batman care if a bunch of rich people get taken for a ride? A fool and his money are soon parted.

107 – The Underdwellers

This one felt like the show pandering to children. It almost feels like it started with the notion of Batman admonishing a child for handling a firearm and then the episode was created around it, and rather haphazardly. This is the one where Batman has to go into the sewer to beat up a jerk who dresses like a pirate and has pet crocodiles. It is one of the most “anime” looking episodes which at least makes it visually interesting at times.

106 – The Forgotten

If you had asked me to name my least favorite episode of Batman when I was a kid, I probably would have named this one. As an adult, it’s merely the fourth worst episode. Batman spends much of the episode with amnesia trapped in a slave labor camp being run by a morbidly obese man who seems to always have food in his mouth. It’s just not a compelling story and the payoff of Batman getting this guy doesn’t make up for it. Plus, I really dislike the music in this one which is a criticism I can really only say about this particular episode.

Cape_and_Cowl_Twist105 – The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy

Batman is lead through a series of traps by some joker named Josiah Wormwood who wants his cape and cowl to give to some other jerk. It ends up being a long con by Batman himself to basically entrap the guy which makes it feel rather pointless in the end.

104 – The Worry Men

Another one of Gotham’s wealthy is victimized once again, this time it’s Veronica Vreeland who brings back little dolls from a vacation she recently returned from. They end up being mind control devices created by the Mad Hatter, so this is the first appearance of what I would consider a noteworthy villain on this list. Once again, it’s just not a very compelling plot, but at least it does an okay job of holding back on the reveal of the plan’s mastermind, something even the good mystery-based episodes fail to do.

103 – Moon of the Wolf

Steroids are bad, kids, which seems to be the message in this one. Anthony Romulus seeks an edge and winds up a werewolf courtesy of Dr. Milo, one of the worst of the reappearing villains. There’s also some animation gaffes and some odd visual choices which further hurt this one.

102 – Fire From Olympus

Another one I detested far more as a kid than I do now. At least I can find humor in this one which depicts Maxie Zeus as a guy basically out of his mind. He thinks he’s the actual Zeus from Greek mythology with Batman serving as Hades. It’s almost too ludicrous though for an episode of Batman. Some laughs can be had, but little else.

TT_41_-_Cat-Woman

A new look for Catwoman.

101 – Tyger, Tyger

Batman does The Island of Dr. Moreau, only here it’s Catwoman who serves as a victim. This one may be a favorite of those who identify as Furries considering Catwoman is essentially nude throughout it and covered in fur, but for the rest of us it’s just merely a dud.

100 – Lock-Up

This episode has a solid premise, but the execution is just so-so. Lock-Up is a more extreme vigilante who views himself as judge, jury, and executioner which obviously doesn’t mesh with Batman’s world view. It does a good job of laying the groundwork before falling apart in the second act. It also contains one of Batman’s sillier “transformation” techniques when he uses a briefcase full of smoke to hide so he can change into his Batman costume.

99 – The Lion and the Unicorn

This is basically an Alfred solo episode, and no disrespect to the world’s most famous butler, but he’s a bit out of his element. It also marks the return of lesser villain Red Claw, someone no one needed to hear from again. The story takes our characters over to London though which at least makes for some new backgrounds.

 

klarion in control

98 – The Demon Within

Our first appearance of The New Batman Adventures. In short, if you’re a fan of Etrigan the Demon then you’re mad at me right now. If you’re like me and you care not for the character, then you’re probably in agreement that this is one of the lesser episodes in the series. Batman doesn’t do supernatural real well, and there’s a lot of that going on here. It’s just not an episode I was ever able to get into.

97 – Eternal Youth

The episode where we are introduced to Alfred’s friend, or girlfriend, Maggie. She will not be heard from again and I suppose that was for the best. They get lured to a resort being operated by Poison Ivy and wind up turned into trees. Yet another episode where a villain preys on the stupidity of Gotham’s wealthy. At least Batman has a personal stake this time and the rich aren’t just being extorted out of their money, but also their lives, unless you consider existing as a tree living.

96 – The Cat and the Claw – Part II

The follow-up to the show’s premiere was…okay? Batman and Catwoman team-up to stop Red Claw from basically nuking Gotham. A Batman/Catwoman team-up could have been appointment television, but it happened way too fast killing the novelty. Plus Red Claw just wasn’t up to the task of being the big baddie who gets the pair to cooperate anyway.

95 – Joker’s Wild

Our first appearance of the Joker! His episodes are usually pretty good, but this was a rare dud. Joker gets lured into attacking a casino baring his likeness in what amounts to an insurance scheme. It’s a bit amusing to see Joker get played, but this sort of thing would be executed far better in a later episode. It’s also a real low point in terms of animation as this episode basically lead to Akom Production Co. getting fired from the show after producing several other season one episodes.

94 – Chemistry

Poison Ivy’s lone solo outing in The New Batman Adventures comes in at 94. She basically just repeats her cloning trick from “House & Garden” only this time she creates a spouse not for herself, but for (you guessed it) Gotham’s wealthy singles. Bruce is part of the scheme and he ends up getting married to a plant lady. There are some interesting choices in this one, but mostly the plot just isn’t believable which ruins the whole mystery of it all.

bruce mantis

93 – Critters

A much derided episode that Paul Dini is at least willing to stand up for. He can like whatever he wants to like, but I’m just going to have to disagree here. I never wanted to see Batman battle giant bugs or anything similar. The humor the episode aims for also just doesn’t really land.

92 – Sideshow

Killer Croc’s redemption story might have turned into a worthwhile episode if it was ever believable. Instead, we know he’s just a bad guy and it’s only a matter of time until Batman finds him among the circus folk he falls in with. There’s a solid fight scene though, and I like the logic of Croc being declared completely sane and thus deserving of jail as opposed to being placed in Arkham. It’s too bad that didn’t stick though.

91 – I’ve Got Batman in my Basement

A surprisingly divisive episode. Bruce Timm seems to despise it, and with some good reason. This one really talks down to its audience, and it also makes The Penguin look completely incompetent. There’s some fun bits in it though that make it hard to hate. I actually know some folks who think this is one of the best of the series! I disagree, but I can at least see what they might find appealing about it. Basically, if you like it when the show doesn’t take itself seriously, or ever wanted to save Batman as a kid, then you probably rank this one higher than I do.

90 – Girl’s Night Out

I want to like this one, but the character of Livewire just doesn’t do anything for me. She’s annoying and a bit overpowered for the likes of Batman, not that he’s in this one really. This is the one that features the Batgirl/Supergirl team-up and unfortunately that just isn’t nearly as interesting as the villainous ladies. Poison Ivy and Harley are along for the ride and their chemistry keeps this thing from floundering. They’re so much more interesting than the heroines that I wish the episode focused entirely on their perspective and eventual clash with Livewire rather than presenting something a bit too conventional in the end.

CSF_46_-_Batmobile-2

Let it snow!

89 – Cat Scratch Fever

Dr. Milo’s other outing. I think I have this one too high because it’s not among my favorites, by any means. It once again puts Catwoman in the role of the victim as Dr. Milo and his annoying goons target Gotham’s strays. I do give this one bonus points for all of the snow though as it is a great deal of fun to look at. I still think I could have ranked this one closer to 100 though.

88 – The Cat and the Claw – Part I

The premiere episode of the show put Batman and Catwoman at odds. It’s a solid episode, reminding me that once we got past #95 or so the episodes actually became fine, just nothing to write home about. As a stand-alone episode, there’s just not a ton to work with though, and it’s too bad the setup created by this episode had such woeful payoff. The episode is at its best when we get to see Catwoman and Batman play off each other and Adrienne Barbeau really nails the role of Catwoman.

87 – P.O.V.

This was an experimental episode in which three cops are forced to recount the events of the evening to Investigative Affairs and we’re left to figure out whose account is the most accurate. It’s written pretty well, but the nature of the beast means it’s also repetitive and I don’t think it quite manages to remain compelling for the entire duration. I like that the show tried something like this though and other episodes would attempt similar things and really knock it out of the park.

joker0286 – Christmas with the Joker

Maybe my most disappointing episode. I love Christmas so I want to love this, but it’s just okay. Joker at least gets to sing the popular alternate version of “Jingle Bells” and be genuinely amusing, it’s just the action spots that are a bit weak. Plus there are some awful puns and Robin really adds nothing in his series debut. Even though it’s not great, I still think it’s worth watching around the holidays.

85 – Day of the Samurai

The rematch few wanted, but most were fine with. Batman takes on the Ninja only this time it’s in Japan and we get a silly Touch of Death plot device added to raise the stakes. There’s a fun Bat-death fake-out and a fight around an erupting volcano which is pretty cool.

84 – Animal Act

The Mad Hatter returns only this time he’s decided to control the minds of animals rather humans to some degree of success. Nightwing gets to return to the circus which is cool, and Tim literally shovels poop. It’s also one of the better mystery plots the show did, which is worth something.

batman catwoman smokestack

83 – Cult of the Cat

Catwoman gets herself caught up in some cat worshiping cult that you just know is bad news. This puts her at odds with her masculine counterpart which just feels incredibly corny. I was definitely sick of victim Catwoman by the time this one came around which probably prevented me from enjoying it more. It’s basically just another average episode.

82 – Torch Song

A celebrity has herself a violent stalker in the form of Firefly. It’s a different setup from what we’re accustomed to, but a more worthwhile one than rich person gets extorted. I wish Firefly was just a better adversary though. It feels like Batman got scaled-down to be on more equal footing with him, but that’s a criticism I could level at a great many villains on this show.

81 – Deep Freeze

The much anticipated return of Mr. Freeze saw him team-up with the Walt Disney wannabe, Grant Walker. This one marked an extremely contrived way to bring back one of the show’s breakout stars. It nailed the motivation for Freeze, but the rest was a bit lacking. The film SubZero ended up being really similar and a much more suitable way to bring back Mr. Freeze making this episode feel nonessential as a result.

the condiment king strikes80 – Make ‘Em Laugh

Joker’s finale from the original run of the show had him seeking revenge on some comedians who dared to suggest he wasn’t funny once upon a time. It’s silly, but Joker is insane so I can’t say the plot doesn’t make sense. This has some of the funniest moments from the show in it such as the debut of The Condiment King. I think if the final act was more satisfying this could have been a classic, instead it’s just merely good.

This is where I’m going to cut-off Part I of this feature. This will be the longest entry in this series in terms of episodes covered with the rest spanning 20 episodes each until we spotlight them all. It seems only right to make this the Friday feature going forward as that’s what Batman was for the better part of two years on this blog. Check back next week for episodes 79 through 60. Same Bat-time, same Bat-blog.

 

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December 31, 2019

Batman: The Animated Series Wrap-Up

By Joe

btas redOne-hundred and nine episodes plus three features leading to one-hundred and twelve blog entries have been devoted to the subject of Batman: The Animated Series. It started as a celebration of the show turning 25 and then as a curiosity piece. Since its premiere in 1992, the show had become much celebrated and praised all over. It’s exceptionally rare in this age of social media to see anything basically universally loved, but that was the case for BTAS. I had a lot of good memories of the show myself. I watched it as a kid and when the show received a DVD release I bought it up. And I watched them all. Batman became a show I had experienced and enjoyed both as a kid and as an adult, but some ten years or so removed from when I last watched it in total I still wasn’t sure just how good the show was.

And so I watched it again. And after each episode I made a little blog entry afterwards. Well, at first they were fairly little as I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. Did I want to do an episode review or did I want to do a recap? I started leaning more towards the review side while also inserting a brief summary. Perhaps being influenced by all of the recap style podcasts I listen to, the entries drifted more towards that style. And they grew. Oh, did they grow. This little weekly entry soon routinely ran for thousands of words. I’m not saying that makes them any better or worse, but it certainly transformed my little project from something I could regurgitate via my keyboard rather quickly to something much more demanding.

Even though my vision for this feature grew beyond my initial plans, that doesn’t mean I regret anything about it. Far from it, actually, as I really enjoyed my time with this show once again. I may have even enjoyed it more than ever as I found it much easier to find things I liked about episodes I previously wasn’t very high on. Some of those episodes are still rather poor, but I can at least see what the writers were thinking and for the most part the animation is always quite good. It’s a very entertaining program, and while it’s still primarily a children’s cartoon, there’s enough depth there to captivate an older audience.

2face revealed

The character of Batman drew people in, and villains like Two-Face and Mr. Freeze kept them coming back.

In re-watching the show I found there were certainly things that consistently worked and things that did not. When the show centered on a sympathetic villain it was usually at its best. Batman can be pretty ruthless in his application of justice, but the guy does have a heart. He often makes the right decision, though he’s also not perfect. Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, and Clayface ended up being my favorite villains. And when Harley Quinn was thrust into a sympathetic role she soared. Even Arnold Stromwell was interesting when we saw his softer side. That doesn’t mean everyone needs that to work though. Rupert Thorne was consistently nasty and thus interesting, same for Roland Daggett. The Joker was also often very entertaining and the show never made an attempt at deviating from what he is, which is something filmmakers today could learn from.

There were still a few duds when it came to the villains. Surprisingly, Catwoman was rarely compelling as the show didn’t seem to know what to do with her. For whatever reason, there was a desire to portray her as something other than a villain. Rather than make her an antihero, she more or less just became a victim. There was a bit of a course correction in season two, but only when the show returned as The New Batman Adventures did it feel like the show actually knew what it wanted to do with one of Batman’s most popular foils. Two-Face also tended to flounder after his strong debut. He was able to rebound a bit, but it was a shame to see so much of what his debut built up was seemingly cast aside. The Penguin, another famous Batman villain, was also rarely up to the task when called upon with many of his leading roles serving as the show’s worst. He was usually most entertaining when paired up with other villains to play off of them. The show seemed to acknowledge this by putting him in more of a supporting role later on when he became a club owner.

Mostly, when I consider the legacy of this show I mostly recall what it did for the lesser villains. Going into 1992, the only Batman villains I was really aware of were the ones featured in the Adam West show. The Riddler, Penguin, Joker, and Catwoman were the most famous, but I also recalled Mr. Freeze and, for some reason, King Tutt. This show is how I was introduced to other, lesser, villains such as Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Clay-Face, and others. And for the most part I loved these “new” villains most of all. Sure, there were some duds for me like The Clock King or the one-off werewolf character and Lock-Up, but mostly the new guys were pretty interesting. And you can’t talk about this show without talking about what it did for Mr. Freeze. Previously more gimmick than character, Freeze became one of the most popular Batman villains seemingly overnight thanks to his portrayal in “Heart of Ice.” No, he never had another story as good as that one, but because that episode was so good it made any future appearance appointment television just to see if another Freeze story could match that one.

batncat

Oddly enough, the show seemed to struggle with Catwoman not knowing if it wanted to portray her as something of an antihero or as her more traditional cat burglar persona.

Since this show is primarily a half-hour cartoon intended for kids, it runs into some issues. The format it strived for is a limitation. That inaugural 65 episode first season included several two-part stories, but following that every other story was confined to a single episode. This limitation is only a limitation if the writers allow it to be one, but sometimes it felt like certain episodes were short-changed. It also leads to numerous instances of Batman just turning to his wonder computer to solve a problem. That was definitely my biggest pet peeve with the show this time around as it quickly became a trope of the show. Batman turning to his computer felt like The Simpsons using the living room television to either start or advance a plot. An episode can still be good when that element is present, but it certainly feels cheap.

I also can’t offer a proper conclusion on the show without talking about the move from Fox to the WB and the creation of The New Batman Adventures. The switch did lead to some good things. For one, it advanced characters like Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon and let us see some actual development. Some conflict between Batman and Robin was teased during the Fox years and it was rewarding to see that go somewhere. I think the show could have mined that conflict for more material, but it was mostly handled well. Barbara, on the other hand, was a bit glossed over. Sure, she was now an accepted ally as Batgirl, but we learned very little about her character. Did she have a new outlook on crime fighting? What was her end game? We also never even got to see what came between she and Dick, which was unfortunate.

Aside from that, the move to WB also allowed for less censorship. This didn’t have a huge impact on much unless you’re really turned on by seeing a thin line of blood streaking from a character’s mouth, but it did really open up The Joker. He went from being mostly just a lunatic to being a violent lunatic. He has a few moments to be truly mean during his time on WB giving the character a similar feel to how he was portrayed in Mask of the Phantasm. This did lead to some criticisms I had with the direction of Harley Quinn, but I think I did a good job of highlighting those issues in my posts on the episodes she appears in.

newbatjoker

No matter how many times I see the new-look Joker I just can’t fall in love with it.

What obviously stands out the most though in the change in networks was the new design. While some characters looked unchanged and a few looked better than before, I mostly disliked the new style choice. Less detail and odd choices are mostly to blame, but even the animation came across a bit too cartoony for this show. The whole tone of the show was also thrown off and I think that had to do with the ensemble cast and the simplified portrayal of each of the leads. The writers basically assigned one archetype to each character and mostly stuck with it. This left no room for nuance and it had the most drastic impact on our main lead, Batman himself. In the first two seasons we got to see different sides to the character, but in The New Batman Adventures he’s basically just grim and curt. He’s so boring, and sadly none of the other leads outside of Nightwing really offer much. Robin is mostly just a vehicle for bad puns and Batgirl offers even less.

As a result, I can comfortably say that The New Batman Adventures era is inferior to what came before it. That doesn’t mean there isn’t still quality to be found there. Much to my surprise, a few episodes actually rank quite highly and the worst of the show is still found in those first two seasons. A lot of that third season is just okay or average with few true stinkers. Though that is a post for another day.

harley scream

The show is exciting and fun and gave us some truly memorable characters. It’s one of the best things to ever happen to Batman, if not the best.

Ultimately, I set out to decide for myself if I felt Batman: The Animated Series was overrated or properly rated. It never occurred to me that it could be underrated, and it certainly is not. While the show didn’t deliver a slam dunk each episode, it also totaled 109 episodes and what show has ever hit a home run every episode for such a long time? Even much celebrated shows like Breaking Bad have a lesser episode here and there, and that particular show produced far fewer than 109 episodes (though to be fair, in terms of total minutes it’s probably much closer). And no, I’m not trying to compare this show to Breaking Bad, but making the point that it doesn’t have to “wow” the audience every time out to be a great show. Calling it the greatest television show based on a comic book feels right. It’s certainly the greatest cartoon, and I also came away feeling that it’s totally defensible for this to be someone’s favorite depiction of Batman in any medium. It’s a great show with a lot to offer. It’s primarily an action vehicle, and the wonderful animation allows it to be a pretty great show based on its action alone. What puts it over the top are the stories, the captivating villains, and it’s wonderful sense of style. The music of Shirley Walker, the performances of actors like Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, it’s a production that oozes quality. So yes, Batman: The Animated Series is properly rated and if I am certain of anything it’s that I will watch this series in its entirety again. And again…

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November 1, 2019

The New Batman Adventures – “Mad Love”

By Joe

mad love titleEpisode Number:  21 (106)

Original Air Date:  January 16, 1999

Directed by:  Butch Lukic

Written by:  Paul Dini, Bruce Timm

First Appearance:  None

During the development of The New Batman Adventures, Paul Dini always assumed there would be another season. There could have been some thought that Batman had peaked by then given the bomb that was Batman & Robin, but it’s hard to imagine someone thinking Batman wasn’t still a bankable character. To the surprise of probably not just Dini, Warner Brothers decided to go in a different direction with Batman leading to the creation of Batman Beyond. It seems like an unceremonious end for what started as Batman: The Animated Series, but when it came time to select a series finale the network did at least do the show right.

mad love comic

Like “Holiday Knights,” this story originated in the pages of Batman Adventures, the comic tie-in to BTAS.

“Mad Love” was the episode chosen to usher Batman out of the spotlight and into semi-retirement. Of course, Kevin Conroy’s Bruce Wayne would return in Batman Beyond and then eventually move onto Justice League, but he still deserved a good send-off of his own. “Mad Love” is a story that originated in a comic by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm that was done back in 1993. It centered on series break-out star Harley Quinn as it revealed her origin and explored her complicated relationship with the villainous Joker essentially filling in the gaps left unexplained by BTAS and taking advantage of Harley’s popularity. Somewhat surprisingly, it was not adapted for the second season of BTAS and maybe that’s because Dini and Timm felt the censors at Fox wouldn’t allow them to do the story justice. When the series was resurrected on Kids’ WB it made the adaptation realistic and was a pretty easy way to fill an episode order.

“Mad Love” the comic was also hugely successful. It won an Eisner Award for best single issue and Timm was nominated for an additional award for his artwork on the book. Even though the book takes place in the Animated Universe of Batman, it’s essentially been adopted as part of Batman canon for the regular line of comics and was even sourced for the Arkham series of Batman video games. At this point, it’s surprising the story hasn’t been adapted for film. This episode may only be 22 minutes or so, but it actually would not be all that difficult to pad it out into a feature length. Normally for classic stories DC commissions animated features, but the company probably feels that’s not necessary since this episode exists and it’s done really well.

joker dentist

Finally, a legitimate reason to avoid going to the dentist.

The episode opens with Commissioner Gordon (Bob Hastings) grumbling about a dentist appointment. As he heads into the office the dentist’s back is facing him and he’s directed to sit down. As Gordon yammers away it becomes quite clear to the viewer that this is not Gordon’s regular dentist, but the Clown Prince of Crime himself, the Joker (Mark Hamill)! And he’s not alone, as dental assistant Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin) is here as well to administer the laughing gas. Joker is ready to get started with a power drill as Gordon is restrained, but Gordon’s knight in dark and grim armor arrives in the form of Batman. He crashes through the window and tosses some chattering teeth on the ground. He reprimands Joker for getting sloppy and predictable, but Harley chimes in that the teeth were her idea as she blasts Batman with some gas. She makes a pun about it being a gas, which enrages Joker as he’s the one who’s supposed to deliver the jokes. Off his game, Joker then decides to run, but he leaves behind a parting gift – a grenade. As he tosses it, the script has some fun with Hamill by having Joker deliver the line “May the floss be with you!” Batman knocks the grenade away and sets to freeing Gordon who gets to deliver his own pun about always hating this appointment.

harley revs

Possibly the most “adult” reference from this show.

At the Funnibones Warehouse, an obviously unnerved Joker is working on some new blueprints for his next crime. He’s very intent on coming up with something much to the chagrin of Harely who comes strutting in wearing some lingerie as she tries desperately to get her man’s attention. In one of the more risqué gags, she even climbs onto the table Joker is working on to beckon him to “Rev up his Harley,” as she pantomimes riding a motorcycle. Joker swats her off the table and goes into a rant about how Batman is right and he is getting stale. He wants to correct this by doing the unthinkable – killing Batman! He expresses frustration at coming up with a way to do it and Harley suggests he just shoot him. This irritates Joker further who explains that the death of Batman needs to be something big as it will be his magnum opus. He then notices some old plans for a piranha tank trap he had planned for Batman. He wanted the fish to gobble him up while sporting Joker smiles, but he could never get his toxin to work properly on the miserable little fish.

img_0318

Joker inflicts much violence on Harley in this one. Some of it has a slapstick quality to it, but a lot of it is also painfully honest.

Joker then slumps in his chair assuming a defeated posture. Harley sees this as an opening to resume her romantic advances. The camera cuts to the alley outside and Harley comes flying into the picture. Apparently, there’s no room for love tonight. She then starts to walk away defeated with her babies, the hyenas Bud an Lou, in tow. As she does so she monologues about where her life went wrong. She blames Batman for messing things up between she and Mr. J and as she slumps against a brick wall she begins to let us in on how this all got started.

harley meets joker

Harley’s first encounter with The Joker.

Harleen Quinzel was a new hire at Arkham Asylum. On her first day she entered her office to find a single rose and a note from a “J” beckoning her to come see him some time. She confronts Joker in his cell and demands to know how this note made it into her office. He replies that he put it there, and when she suggests the guards would like to know this he responds that if she were going to tell them she would have done it already. He explains his interest in her is largely stemming from her name, Harley Quinzel, which sounds like harlequin when you drop the suffix. She remarks she’s heard it before, but as she walks away Joker calls out to her that he’s looking for someone to spill his secrets to which puts a smile on her face.

harleen and joker

This episode provides a good look at just how manipulative Joker can be.

It took three months, but eventually Harley was given the clearance to host Joker for some therapy sessions. As he lay on a sofa, Harley listened to his tales. He describes to her an abusive father and tells a story about his dad taking him to the circus to see the clowns. When he describes how he tried to recreate a gag from the show using his father’s pants as a prop, he’s able to make Harley laugh hard enough to produce tears setting her up for the real punchline which is that his dad broke his nose following the stunt. Harley narrates how Joker gained her trust and her sympathy and as she does we see flashbacks of Joker’s creation at the chemical plant and some battles with Batman (all new animation) as she puts the blame for his psychotic nature on his upbringing and the continued involvement of Batman. She admits her love for Joker and we see the tables have turned and it’s now Joker listening to her confessions. When Joker eventually escapes, he is brought back to Arkham in a sorry state by Batman and Harley is there to weep at his side. This was the final straw as we see her leave Arkham and head to a joke shop. She grabs a costume and even her prop gun she’s now known for and returns to Arkham. After clocking the security guard with a brick-stuffed rubber chicken, she blows open Joker’s cell and the two escape laughing all the way.

img_0320

The black and white television returns as Harley makes a plea for Batman’s help.

Harley is shown once again in the alley. With resolve in her voice, she once again pins blame for all of her life’s misfortunes since then on Batman. The scene cuts to the Bat Signal high in the sky over Gotham. Inside the police station, Gordon, Bullock, and Batman are viewing a tape from Harley in which she claims Joker has gone too far and is planning something horrific. She claims she needs their help, and to add gravitas to her words she removes her mask as she does so.

harley syringe

This is easily the most menacing Harley has ever looked in this show.

Harley is then shown, no mask and in a trench coat, at a dock. Batman spots her from a rooftop and as Harley paces with some blueprints for Joker’s crime Batman appears behind her. She hands over the plans and Batman looks at them eagerly. He says he wants Gordon to see them, but before they can discuss it further Joker shows up on a boat. He shouts about Harley being a stool pigeon and opens fire. Batman pulls Harley to the ground and hits Joker with a Batarang that takes his head off revealing it was a dummy. As Batman looks on with some confusion he winces in pain. As he falls Harley is standing behind him with a syringe.

harley traps batman

Batman is in a bit of a pinch, but he’s always so resourceful.

We’re then taken to a place called Aquacade which sounds like an aquarium crossed with an arcade which would be a rather interesting concept. The inside of the place makes it look more like a traditional aquarium, though there are bar stools. Batman is bound by chains and suspended over a tank of water swarming with piranhas. Harley is there in full costume adding more water. She explains she’s going to win Joker over by killing Batman using one of his plans that she tweaked a bit. She explains that with Batman hanging upside down, the piranhas will appear to be smiling from his perspective as they devour him. Before she lowers Batman further into the tank, she expresses some remorse as she explains she did kind of enjoy their encounters. She needs to do this for her beloved puddin’ though and when she suggests this will set everything right Batman does something a bit unexpected:  he laughs.

harley tears

Harley is full-blown crazy during these events as she’ll stop at nothing to win Joker’s affection.

Harley spins around clearly unnerved by Batman’s laughter. Batman goes on to explain that Joker couldn’t possibly love her because he only loves himself. When she tells him he’s wrong she justifies her convictions by citing how Joker opened up to her at Arkham. Batman, appearing amused, then starts citing all of the stories Joker has told others looking to gain their trust over the years. They align with what he told her, only with slight variations like his dad taking him to an ice show instead of the circus. Harley, clearly upset, decides to just ignore Batman’s words and sets out to finish the job, but Batman points out to her that the piranhas won’t leave much of him behind and that without a body Joker will never believe her. This causes worry to flash across Harley’s face.

harley's fall

Harley’s night ends in tragedy, though amazingly she survives this fall.

Joker is then shown pacing around his hideout clearly still trying to dream up the perfect way to kill Batman when the phone rings. It’s Harley, and when Joker finds out she’s got Batman trapped he races out of there in his purple convertible. Harley then approaches Batman smugly to tell him Joker is on his way. He apparently drove exceptionally fast because he then bursts through the doors. He immediately heads for Harley who is expecting praise, but instead gets a backhand. It’s delivered offscreen so we just here the “smack!” and then see Harley come flying into frame. She sets to calming him down by explaining how she changed the trap so the piranhas appear to be smiling which only irritates Joker further. It’s not a joke if you have to explain it, and as she backs away from him she ends up in front of a window. Joker, in a scene reminiscent of Catwoman’s creation in Batman Returns, shoves her through the window. We see her fall from his perspective and it happens in slow-motion. Harley crashes to the ground amidst boxes and trash. As she lays there broken with blood trickling from her mouth she pathetically blames herself for making Joker mad.

Harley didnt get the joke

“It’s my fault. I didn’t get the joke.”

Joker looks down on her and declares he never liked her pet name, puddin’, that she used for him. He then turns his attention towards Batman and essentially apologizes for the whole thing. He says he thinks they should just forget about all of this before heading for the door. He then stops and reconsiders his plan and returns to Batman. He pulls out a gun and is seemingly prepared to do what Harley suggested earlier and just shoot the guy, but Batman kicks him causing him to shoot the tank instead freeing the piranhas. As Joker fends off the fish, Batman hops around in the chains and grabs his utility belt with his teeth. While Joker makes a run for it, Batman picks the lock on his chains to free himself before giving chase.

joker smokestack

At least he got what was coming to him.

Joker reaches the roof of the aquarium and decides to make a jump. He crosses the huge gap which takes him over some train tracks and grabs onto a railing on another building. The railing breaks, and Joker cries out as he falls. Batman reaches the edge and looks over and finds a laughing Joker (“Made ya look!”) riding on top of a passing train. Joker enjoys himself for a moment and then turns to see Batman has jumped on the train as well. Batman then informs Joker that Harley came closer to killing him than he ever did. If it weren’t for Joker’s massive ego, she probably would have got the job done. He ends his explanation by dropping a “puddin'” on Joker and this infuriates him into attacking Batman. Joker gets in some shots, but he’s really no match in a one-on-one fight with the Dark Knight. Batman nails him with an uppercut, and Joker flies off of the train and plummets into a smoke stack.

damaged harley

The consequences of Joker’s violence towards Harley is shown.

A news program on an Arkham television is utilized to inform us that Joker’s whereabouts are unknown following his confrontation with Batman. The camera pans and we see a brief flash of inmates (one of which I swear is intended to look like Conrad Veidt from The Man Who Laughs, often cited as a real world inspiration for The Joker) and Harley in the background getting wheeled down the hall. She’s covered in bandages and her arm is in a sling. She then narrates for us how she finally sees Joker for what he is vowing that from now on things are going to change. As she’s placed in bed in her cell she lists off a bunch of negative adjectives that describe Joker. She then looks to her left to see a single rose on her nightstand with a note that says “Feel better soon. – J” and a smile crosses her face as she finishes her list of labels out loud describing Joker, the last word being “Angel.”

harley smiles

The final shot of the episode. She may be smiling, but it’s painfully sad.

Lets just get it out of the way and declare this one of the best episodes in the series. “Mad Love” encapsulates everything I love about Batman, Joker and Harley all in one episode. Batman is resourceful, and perhaps even a bit naïve in trusting Harley, but she and him have had a close moment in the past so his decision isn’t completely without merit. Joker is psychotic and truly evil. He’s entertaining, and even funny, but also unlikable and terrifying which is how the character should be. He’s not someone deserving of sympathy, and he doesn’t get it from the viewer. He does get it from Harley, who is truly a tragic figure. She’s grown over the course of this series, and in some respects her character here doesn’t reflect that. I chalk that up to this story being an old one relative to when this episode was adapted. Some of the plot points were reused for “Harley & Ivy,” mostly Harley trying to figure out where things went wrong, but it’s done well here so I don’t mind. Her sequence in the alley is what is utilized as reference for basically any video on the character, and her hopeless devotion to her beloved Mr. J is truly sad. Seeing her lying there in the rubble blaming herself for the violence inflicted upon her by her partner is almost too real as many abuse victims can attest. This might be the rare episode that’s actually too troubling for some people to watch. The ending, with her smiling and apparently forgiving Joker, is the only place I find it easy to criticize. It almost feels like it’s supposed to be funny, when really it’s tragic. I think the episode was fine to end this way, but the score could have been better utilized to make it absolutely clear that this is a sad ending for Harley.

Production wise, this is also a high point for the series. Maybe not visually, as there are a few gaffes here and there, but the voice acting across the board is stellar. Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and Mark Hamill all turn in possibly their best work on the series. Maybe not so much for Conroy, but that’s only because he didn’t have as much to work with here as he has in the past. Even so, his delivery of Batman’s lines are biting. He’s remorseless in exploiting Harley and Joker’s mental state giving him a touch of viciousness we’re not used to. Part of me wishes he was worked into the end so we could see a showing of sympathy on his part towards Harley. His laugh is also well done. It sounds genuine and it’s even a touch unsettling, which is good because it helps us react to it in the same way Harley did. Sorkin has always been wonderful as Harley, but here she is able to inject both comedy and tragedy into her performance. It’s painful to see her expecting praise from Joker like a dog expecting a pat from its owner only to have pain inflicted upon her instead. And Hamill, what more can be said about his Joker? I may not like what this show did to Joker visually, but the loosening of the censors has been a boon for the character. It’s allowed Hamill to approach Joker in a more menacing manner giving the villain the chill he needs. He’s no longer just a punchline, but a dangerous psychopath.

mad love two-pack

In case you were wondering, you can indeed get an action figure two-pack based on this episode. And better yet, it features the season one version of Joker.

I am slightly disappointed that this episode isn’t the last we’ll see of Joker and Harley. It really is a great way for the show to end, but we’re going by production order which means the pair have one more appearance to make. This episode is the final appearance of Commissioner Gordon though in this series. He’ll return for the film based on this series, but he won’t be seen in any of the final episodes. The same is true for Detective Bullock, who was seen, but not heard in this episode. It feels weird to say goodbye to these characters after so long, but there’s more of that coming with only three episodes remaining so I guess I should get used to it.

“Mad Love” is on the short list for best episode in the series, and by series I mean Batman as a whole as this is considered season three for Batman: The Animated Series. If you just want a great Joker and Harley story then this is it. No other tale about the two has really come close and given the critical failure of Suicide Squad it surprises me that DC and Warner have yet to turn to this as a remedy. That’s a movie I’d be excited to see, but by no means is such a thing needed to legitimize this story or anything. Whether it’s experienced as a comic or television show, “Mad Love” is excellent as is. I’m partial to this episode as being the definitive take because the voice acting performances are so well done, but both are stories that should not be ignored.

 

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