Sprang! Went The Strings Of My Heart: Bat-Mite On BATMAN: BRAVE & THE BOLD!

[Scott Shaw!]

The latest BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD, "Legend Of The Bat-Mite!", co-starring Bat-Mite, just may be the greatest superhero cartoon ever made.

Hilariously written, featuring a sequence with Bat-Mite at the San Diego Comic-Con! This show already captures the outrageous fun of "Pre-Yellow-Chest-Oval Silver Age Batman", but this episode went waaay beyond, with a cameo appearance by the Zebra Batman and monsters from issues of WORLD'S FINEST COMICS! All that Sprang-designed stuff kept my jaw a-droppin' throughout and the Bob Clampett/DUCK TWACY tribute was the perfect way to show that there's very little difference between a bat-themed hero and a talking duck.

I'm serious, I felt like it was written and designed with ME in mind! (No, I'm not so far gone as to believe that.) Never before has the Oddball Comics sensibility been better represented!

I understand that Paul Dini wrote the script! If so, congratulations, pal! You just won the Oddball Medal Of Honor!

Aloha,

Scott!

[Cei-U!]

I was grinning like an idiot through the whole thing. From the oprning scene with Bat-Hound through the battle with Calendar Man (in his Simonson-designed costume) to the delightful Clampettesque climax (who thought we'd ever see Mr. Polka-Dot again?), this was an old school Batfan's wet dream. And who better to capture Bat-Mite's strange blend of mischief and innocence than Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Reubens? I know we're supposed to collectively look down our noses at the Bat-Family, sci-fi stories of the late '50s/early '60s but, doggonit, I just can't! This episode is why Brave and the Bold is the best animated Batman ever.

Cei-U!
Looks like my avatar choice this week was uncannily prescient!

[Sijo]

Yes, the episode was a hoot. B&TB suffers from inconsistent writing, some episodes are definitely better than others. Thankfully, this was one of the best (being written by Dini probably helped- did you catch him in the Joker costume at the convention scene? :biggrin: )

I have a soft spot for Bat-Mite, but more for the version that appeared in the Filmation Batman series, which was more goofy sidekick than crazy pain-the-ass. Still, this Bat-Mite (voiced by PEE WEE HERMAN!) :eek: was great in his own way as well. And yeah, the story had more references and visual gags than you can shake a (signed!) Batarang at. :biggrin: Though it really got surreal when Mite lost control of his own powers (how did Bats know that would happen? Or was it just a coincidence?)- the LAST thing I was expecting was a Daffy Duck cartoon homage! (Good thing the nightmare stopped before the part where Daffy MACHINE-GUNS all the crooks to death...) :p

Anyway, while I enjoyed this a lot, and can't wait to see who else turns up in the series, I hope more episodes get written this well.