Batman animated series

[Orin]

I want this to happen so much!!!

Same here!!!

[philcho]

Some more art for "Batman: Gotham Crusaders"


by Phil Cho (qbatmanp)

[Mr. Holmes]

Honestly, I'm fine with what Beware the Batman is looking like so far. I love that Batman is being stripped down to his roots as a pulpy detective. I loved Anarky from the Alan Grant stories too.

[Xistel]

This... Would...be....epiicccc

[bilwit]

This is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen.

[Aquacatlungfish]

It would be great. Minus Damian, Stephanie, and Cassandra.

It would be great. Minus all the best characters that aren't overexposed and overdone. More TAS repeats please.

[blackadamFTW]

I feel like they wouldn't handle Damien and Cassandra well, and they'd make Stephanie a bore. It would be a whole lot better than the whole "Beware the Batman" crap, though.

[Ironman2978]

Honestly, I'm fine with what Beware the Batman is looking like so far. I love that Batman is being stripped down to his roots as a pulpy detective. I loved Anarky from the Alan Grant stories too.

This. Honestly "Beware the Batman" is going to be a relief from seeing the usual "Batman fight Joker, Penguin, Clayface, Riddler, Killer Croc, Mr.Freeze, etc each episode and same few fans complain about how it's not Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill or DCAU/BTAS characters I'm used to" and we actually get obscure Batman villains who don't usually get to see on TV shows like Magpie, Anarky, Professor Pyg, etc as well as bringing Batman back to his roots. So yeah I can't wait for the cartoon to.come out.

[Spider-Mike]

Love it!

Now if only someone'd do the same for Spider-Man... Oh wait, Greg Weisman did.

[Kensei]

I'm in my 40s and I only vaguely recall "Batman: The Animated Series" from the early 1990s. I know I saw it a few times but for whatever reason was not a regular viewer. Recent discussions here focusing on who everyone thinks has provided the best voice for various characters over the years prompted me to go looking for it in my local public library and I found one DVD with eight episodes on it, labeled Volume 2. So I just thought I'd open a discussion about what everyone thinks of the show- praise, critiques, what was good and what wasn't, etc.

My first reaction is unfortunately a negative one, and shouldn't reflect my overall opinion of the show because it is enjoyable to me. But what first jumps out at me is that it is most definitely a kid's cartoon that can also be enjoyed by adult fans, with art that looks like it was drawn by a child. I'm not a fan of that kind of artwork, whether in animation or in comics. I always like at least some level of realism, and to me the look of the Batman-Tarzan-Lone Ranger Adventure Hour I recall from my childhood was far superior. The theme of the show is darker than that, but not too dark. In the handful of episodes I've now watched, no one ever dies except for Bruce's parents. The violence is quite watered down- as it should be for kids, I suppose.

Sorry for my ignorance, but how long did the show run? In the "Volume 2" disc I've been watching it features Poison Ivy incarcerated in Arkham and Batman consulting with the guy who becomes Man-Bat. If there is a Volume 1 of equal length, I wouldn't think that either of those would have been in place yet if telling the story from the begining. The theme from the Tim Burton movies being used was a surprise, as was the Batmobile from the same. I guess Warner Brothers owns everything, and can use it as they please.

The voices-
Richard Moll as Two-Face. So that's Bull from "Night Court," a show I remember fondly. Not bad, but I think the way he's drawn is kind of poor. Paul Williams as the Penguin. Is that the short, fat, blonde Paul Williams with the glasses who used to appear on shows like "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island"? Adrienne Barbeaux as Catwoman. Wow, I remember her as Bea Arthur's daughter on "Maude" and I know she was in "Swamp Thing" which I never saw. I guess she's fine as Selina Kyle, but her being blonde was a surprise. I suppose it was because the most recent live action Catwoman had been Michelle Pfeiffer.

The two biggies- Batman and the Joker. There's been debate here over whose Batman is best- Keaton? Bale? Conroy? Whose Joker is best- Nicholson? Ledger? Hammil? To me, Kevin Conroy gives a steady and capable performance. I don't know if I'd call him the best as some have, but he's definitely good. And with Mark Hammil, there is absolutely no trace of Luke Skywalker to be found in his Joker. Hard to believe it's him, really. I've written previously that I thought Heath Ledger's take was what the Joker would sound like in real life. I'm now putting equal emphasis on Hammil, but there's a difference. I think Ledger studied the character and came up with a voice that was fresh and new. But with Hammil, this might be hard to explain but I feel like there was always a voice to the Joker ever since his inception that we were meant to imagine in our minds, and that Mark Hammil didn't so much create it as tap into it and be able to accurately channel it.

What does everyone think? Feel free to comment on any of this or to discuss any other aspects of the animated series.

[Kensei]

Argh. I thought I was starting a new thread here.

[David Walton]

It sound like maybe you should try Volume 4, where the animation style changes.

Personally, I love the style and tone of the first three seasons (the fourth, too, but it's a different animal). The washed out colors, the 1930s-50s setting, the tommy guns, it's all great.

Man-Bat actually appeared in the first episode of the series, where the police mistakenly assumed he was Batman.

Also of note, if you don't have the first season you've missed out on Two-Face's origin, which was fantastic. And in a different episode, Poison Ivy tries to kill Harvey Dent (which is why they're so antagonistic toward each other).

I think the show is written in such a way that it appeals to kids and adults alike. There's some great characterization and complex themes running throughout different episodes. (For instance, "His Silicon Soul" is a weird and wonderful take on a HARDAC replica who thinks he's really Bruce Wayne.)

I recommend the entire series, honestly! But at the very least, give Volume 4 a shot. You might like the animation style shift. And it's got "Mad Love," one of the highlights of the series.

[Tristan_MC]

I've been looking through the thread and seeing so many beautiful images I could cry!

With that said, I loved the animated series. Kensei, definitely check out the first season. The Clayface and Two Face episodes alone are worth the purchase. Awesome music, story, voice work, everything.

[mosdef]

That’s a Batman show I can get with. Especially since the only two constants every season would be Dick and Alfred. I would love to see and hear their perspective on the every changing bat-family. And Dick being Batman for a season.

[irisgoddess]

This inspired me to write a brief outline at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9111383/...stuck-to-canon The full show would have nice flashbacks to utilize all the costumes, but condense the histories of the characters into one season.