the brave and the bold?

[Silver Nemesis]

I'm delighted to hear you're getting into the show, colors. It doesn't get nearly enough support from Batman fans. Many didn't even give it a chance when it first started. Instead they just complained that it wasn't dark enough and that Conroy and Hamill weren't reprising their roles from Batman: The Animated Series. But that was the beauty of it. Everyone trashed The Batman (2004) for being an inferior version of B:TAS, but The Brave and the Bold wasn't trying to compete with the darker Batman shows. It was doing something we hadn't seen before. And it did it really well.

If you look it up on sites like the IMDb you'll see a dispiritingly high number of comments from people saying they're glad the show's been cancelled. Why? If they didn't watch it anyway, what harm was it doing? It's not like it was the only Batman available. There's been a steady supply of dark Batman animated movies, the Nolan trilogy and the Arkham games to tide people over. So why would anyone take pleasure from knowing a show they didn't even watch was cancelled? I find that really sad.

A part of me wants to attempt a massive episode-by-episode comic analysis of this series, but I know I'll never be able to finish it. There's an insanely high number of things adapted from the comics in each episode. Some of them are really obscure. In the prologue to 'Emperor Joker!' they even adapted the infamous 'The Rainbow Batman' from Detective Comics #241 (March 1957). The first few lines of dialogue were taken verbatim from the cover, right down to Robin describing the Batsuit as red, even though it's clearly pink. The explanation the TV show writers came up with for why Batman was wearing the multicoloured suits was so much better than the payoff in the original comic.
 

It wasn't just the old comics they were referencing either. I remember being quite shocked when they featured Damian Wayne, Professor Pyg, Mr Toad and Pink Flamingo. And this was smack in the middle of Grant Morrison's run when these characters had only recently been introduced. The writers were clearly on the ball with what was going on in the latest comics. Incidentally, Grant Morrison himself is a big fan of the show and has spoken highly of it in several interviews.

Credit has to be given to the voice actors too. Nika Futterman's Catwoman sounds exactly like Julie Newmar (she used the same voice for Asaaj Ventress in Clone Wars). And Diedrich Bader is pitch perfect as Batman. He uses a deep, heroic voice like Conroy's, but with an added note of irony that works equally well for both the comedic and serious moments. I'd definitely rank Bader amongst my top five favourite Batman actors, along with West, Conroy, Keaton and Greenwood. West himself guest starred in a number of episodes too.

There are too many great episodes to highlight individually, but I'll briefly comment on a couple of my favourites. 'Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!' is my favourite adaptation of The Flash comics outside the nineties TV show. And they even got John Wesley Shipp to play Professor Zoom! The final fight scene between him and the Flash is one of the standout action set pieces from the entire series.

'Chill of the Night!' is a great adaptation of the Pre-Crisis Batman's origin as depicted in Batman #47 (June 1948) and The Untold Legend of the Batman (1980). And I'm a big fan of the Metal Men, so it was a real treat to see them take centre stage in a number of episodes.

I've also got to give this show credit for having the balls to kill off several DC superheroes. I won't say which ones, because I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't seen it yet. But offhand, I can recall at least three episodes where the hero/heroes Batman teams up with get killed.

I've occasionally bought issues of the tie-in comic when I've seen it in shops. It's clearly geared towards young kids, but that's a good thing. It reminds me of the Batman: The Animated Series comics I used to collect when I was in primary school. Each of those would include a secondary story featuring another DC superhero, as well as a poster and character profiles detailing some of that hero's best enemies. That was how I first learned about the wider DC universe as a kid. And the Batman: The Brave and the Bold comic offers the same experience to today's children.

Then there was the excellent video game for the Nintendo Wii and DS. It was a charming old school side-scroller with two player co-op and a cell shaded visual style reminiscent of the TV show. It was also nice to see Batman: The Brave and the Bold toys and fancy dress costumes for kids on display in stores. Children love Batman, but most contemporary Batman products – the comics, the Nolan trilogy, the DC animated movies, and the Arkham games – aren't really suitable for them. Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Lego Batman offered a nice family friendly alternative to those things.

But alas, the haters won out. The show was cancelled. And now there's this new darker series, Beware the Batman, looming on the horizon. There have been quite a few sad moments in the history of Batman cartoons. Mask of the Phantasm has a powerfully downbeat ending. And Jason Todd's "This is the best day of my life" line from Under the Red Hood tugs at the heartstrings. But for me, the single saddest moment in all of Batman animation is the final scene of 'Mitefall!', the last ever episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The plot of that episode mirrors real life, with Bat-Mite trying to get the show cancelled to make way for a darker Batman TV show. And in the end he succeeds. In the final scene Batman breaks the fourth wall by turning to the camera and saying goodbye to all the children watching the show. For fans of the series, it's heartbreaking.

I wish we could've gotten some interviews with the cast back when the show was on the air. I've heard James Arnold Taylor (Green Arrow, Guy Gardner) responds to fan mail through his official site and even occasionally posts on the IMDb. We might have stood a chance of getting an interview with him and some of the other cast members, but it just never occurred to me at the time.

Batman works great as a character that's a straight-up adventurer. I love Batman in both flavors!

Quoted for truth! I love both the dark and light versions of Batman and every variant in between. But I must admit, while I occasionally get fatigued with the unremittingly bleak Batman stories, I never grow tired of the lighter adventures. Maybe I'm growing softer with age.

I've already seen the Superman episode and if this same crew were to make a Superman series along the same lines as that episode, I'd be a happy camper.

A Superman show in the same style would have been amazing. I'm looking forward to Beware the Batman and I'm going to give it a fair chance, but I honestly would have preferred more B:TBATB and a Superman spin off. Still, at least B:TBATB went out on a high note. And we got three great seasons, which is the same amount as the Adam West show.

[BatmAngelus]

I've only seen three episodes- Chill of the Night, Knights of Tomorrow, and Battle of the Superheroes (with Superman)  All excellent, Chill of the Night in particular since I also grew up with The Untold Legend of the Batman and they finally were able to plug Adam West into playing Thomas Wayne!  I regret that I didn't catch more of the show when it was on, but luckily the show's hitting Netflix Instant soon and I'll be able to catch more and discuss it further here.

[Silver Nemesis]

I'll look forward to talking about this show in more depth in the future. I watched the first half of season 1 when it first aired, but then I didn't keep up with it. I occasionally read the tie-in comics and played the videogame, but I didn't watch the show itself on a regular basis. Luckily they've started repeating it on Saturday and Sunday mornings over here in the UK, so I've been following it diligently all year. I haven't seen absolutely every episode yet, but I have seen most of them. And it's nice knowing there are still a few episodes I've yet to watch.

It might be worth having separate threads for individual episodes since there's so much to talk about with each one. Reviews, guest stars, references to the comics, references to the other Batman TV shows and movies (for a connection to the Burton films, just look who did the voice of Bat-Mite). I know nobody will agree with me on this, but I honestly think this show is up there with Batman (1966-68) and Batman: The Animated Series in quality. It's that good.

Now if Warner Bros would just release a complete DVD set...

[thecolorsblend]

I know nobody will agree with me on this, but I honestly think this show is up there with Batman (1966-68) and Batman: The Animated Series in quality. It's that good.

I'm happy to disappoint you. Based on what I've seen... yeah, I could see that. I'm not quite ready to sign on yet because I want to watch some more episodes. But if the remaining episodes are "only" of the same quality as those I've watched up to now, don't be too surprised when I come back to officially agree with you.

[Silver Nemesis]

I'm happy to disappoint you. Based on what I've seen... yeah, I could see that. I'm not quite ready to sign on yet because I want to watch some more episodes. But if the remaining episodes are "only" of the same quality as those I've watched up to now, don't be too surprised when I come back to officially agree with you.

Good man! Not to sound elitist, but I do find it quite telling that you, BatmAngelus and myself all like the show, and we're all old school comic fans. I'm not saying casual fans won't like it too, but I'm pretty sure having some knowledge of the character's history helps us appreciate it on a deeper level. I also strongly suspect the most ardent haters of the show are neophytes who jumped on the bandwagon when Batman Begins came out and think that that's the only legitimate interpretation of the character.

[Paul (ral)]

I watch the show on a near daily basis still.
In the UK it's on Channel 5 on Sat and Sun mornings and is always on Cartoon Network. Usually it's a repeat of some sort so there are quite a few I haven't seen.

I think 65 episodes is a reasonable run. The show was a front runner in its approach and given the retrospective content I think they covered a lot of bases very well.

I don't usually hold WB in high regard when it comes to film licensing tie-ins, but the BATB stuff was done very well. Lots a great figures, cars and a magazine that is still published here in the UK...we get it in this house.

[thecolorsblend]

Good man! Not to sound elitist, but I do find it quite telling that you, BatmAngelus and myself all like the show, and we're all old school comic fans. I'm not saying casual fans won't like it too, but I'm pretty sure having some knowledge of the character's history helps us appreciate it on a deeper level. I also strongly suspect the most ardent haters of the show are neophytes who jumped on the bandwagon when Batman Begins came out and think that that's the only legitimate interpretation of the character.

Although I haven't read as much as you and BatmAngelus, I understand what you mean. And let's face it, there's a limit to how nice you can be in saying "I know more about this subject than you do. Your opinion is not worth my time to consider". There's a school of thought out there that says all opinions are equal; I have never believed that.

[The Laughing Fish]

If you look it up on sites like the IMDb you'll see a dispiritingly high number of comments from people saying they're glad the show's been cancelled.

IMDb is not surprising, going on a site like that is a lost cause if you want an engaging and thoughtful discussion. It's a hotbed of the worst kind of fanboys you'll ever likely to find.

As for Brave and the Bold, it may not suit my tastes and I know it's suitable for a more younger audience, but I can still appreciate it for what it is. I'd say the best episode I've seen so far is Legends of the Dark Mite.

I also like the what Bat-Mite says to the crowd of fanboys: "Batman's rich history allows him to be interpreted in a multitude of ways. To be sure, this is a lighter incarnation, but it's certainly no less valid and true to the character's roots than the tortured avenger crying out for mommy and daddy."

Oh yeah, I liked how they took the chance to poke fun of Schumacher's batsuit as being "too icky": 

[thecolorsblend]

Just finished 1.18- The Color of Revenge. I dig that Robin wears the Earth-2 outfit here. It works for me on a lot of levels. Maybe I'm subjecting all this to a level of scrutiny it just wasn't designed to stand up to but Robin as presented here is uncomfortable continuing as Batman's sidekick... but, unlike the comics, his ambition to grow up and become his own person doesn't come at the expense of rejecting his past partnership with Batman (which, let's face it, is what "Nightwing" is). He's perfectly content with being Robin. It's being perceived as Batman's appendage that bothers him. It's fine with him to grow up and leave the pixie boots behind but he's not ready to abandon his upbringing.

The crux of the issue is that Batman isn't completely willing to accept Robin on his own terms, hence sending him after Crazy Quilt's henchmen, making him ride in the sidecar, etc. In other words, Robin is justified in feeling like Batman infantiles him.

Batman is legitimately in the wrong.

No, that doesn't excuse Robin always having a chip on his shoulder about all things Batman... but he's not wrong to feel the way he does. It's rare to see a fallible Batman in this day and age so I liked seeing some of his foibles here.

Sidenote- As far as line style is concerned, am I the only one who feels like TBATB is sort of a combination of Dick Sprang and Bruce Timm?

[The Dark Knight]

After BTAS, this is it. I've pretty much come to that conclusion. It pays tribute to the whole history and has a bunch of fun while doing so. It was refreshing to see Batman as a cartoon character in a cartoon, if that makes sense. But Batman still behaves and thinks like Batman. The show was uplifting and made me feel good about the character. Adventure is the key word. It's a shame it wasn't renewed for another season - but what we have is tight high quality.