I Found Cool Stuff - Chapter 5: Batman - The Brave and The Bold
For the last decade-ish, comic books have gone through what others have called a "Reconstruction" phase. Specifically, the stories try to set aside the relentless grim/dark deconstruction spawned by cheap imitators of Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, and instead embrace the high adventure and even the ridiculousness of the Silver Age of Comics, roughly 1960 to 1986. Comic tropes that were mocked or picked apart in the 90's are now lovingly brought into modern times, the weirder aspects handwaved away and modern sensibilities added hither and thither (such as modern dialogue styles and more drawn-out story arcs).
Now, a comic-inspired cartoon has come forward to embrace that spirit of reconstruction, and it does so magnificently.
But first, let's look back at Batman cartoons in days of yore, just to establish some further context. Let's start with The Superfriends. Cheap animation, Batman was but one of many heroes, and his level of gadgetry was a bit over the top at times. Perhaps his most frequently-used trick in that show was that he could deflect enemy fire or lasers or whatnot with his cape, not unlike Captain America's shield. Really, not much to write home about.
Then we had the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, which completely blew everyone's mind, and for good reason. Lush animation, fantastic voice acting, iconic character designs, and some really great scripts. It could get uneven, especially in the later years of the show, but it was still a fantastic show. The gadgetry was present, but not out of control. The stories were as much about Bruce Wayne as they were about Batman, and the show had a grim overtone with only a little lighthearted banter here and there.
Later came THE BATMAN, produced by the same folks who did AEON FLUX and JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES. I kinda liked this show, but I would apparently be in the minority of this one. The show was mostly an action piece, with not nearly so much mood or menace of the Dini/Timm. The gadgetry quotient got higher, and many of the villains were redesigned completely, which is probably what set off some of the diehard fans. While reimagining the Penguin as an "orientalist" melee terror was a nice way to use what's otherwise a stale character of late, the idea of the Joker as a Rastafarian Capoeira Fighter was hard for many to swallow. I thought it was neat, but again, I think I'm the minority on that.
So now we have BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD. Batman's back in blue and gray with the yellow chest emblem, the gadgetry is the most over-the-top it's EVER been (the batmobile turns into a mecha in one episode, and the first five minutes of the pilot episode shows Batman pulling a lightsaber out of his belt-buckle), and the Silver Age homages are in full force. The core of the show is Batman teaming with various characters from around the DC Universe, and it's interesting to see which characters (and which *interpretations* of those characters) we get to see. Green Arrow is youthened back to his beardless (and pre-Social Conscience Of The DCU) days, but Blue Beetle is the Jaime Reyes version and the Atom is Ryan Choi, which is awesome. The Green Lantern we meet is Guy Gardner, Red Tornado is obviously robotic (usually he could pass for human, somewhat), and most interestingly, Superman is Nowhere to be seen, or even referenced that I've noticed.
It's rollicking good Superhero Fun, but with some seriousness to it. Some. It captures the charm of superheroes in a way that we haven't seen for awhile, but never insults your intelligence. And it pulls off something that comic writers have struggled with for years -- they made Aquaman THE COOLEST CHARACTER EVER. Think about that! Back in the Superfriends, Aquaman was something of a joke, and only able to be helpful if the adventures went underwater. Now he's a bombastic Brian Blessed-inspired bad-ass KING OF THE SEA, and the writers clearly love using him every chance they get. As he so often puts it, "Outrageous!"
I love this show. I love that the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle is a showcase character, I love the animation, and I surprised myself by loving the fact that this is a show about BATMAN, not Bruce Wayne! The show never shows Batman without his mask, and only references his identity as Wayne in passing. He's not angsty in the fashionable "MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!!!" manner, he's a Superhero with a job to do -- Beat Up The Bad Guys, and Fight Crime!
Also, R. Lee Ermey as Wildcat is an inspired casting choice. Not what I would've picked, but I like how it worked out.
I will leave you with one word, which will make perfect sense once you've seen a particular episode of this:
"PLATELET!!!!"
Enjoy!
Now, a comic-inspired cartoon has come forward to embrace that spirit of reconstruction, and it does so magnificently.
But first, let's look back at Batman cartoons in days of yore, just to establish some further context. Let's start with The Superfriends. Cheap animation, Batman was but one of many heroes, and his level of gadgetry was a bit over the top at times. Perhaps his most frequently-used trick in that show was that he could deflect enemy fire or lasers or whatnot with his cape, not unlike Captain America's shield. Really, not much to write home about.
Then we had the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, which completely blew everyone's mind, and for good reason. Lush animation, fantastic voice acting, iconic character designs, and some really great scripts. It could get uneven, especially in the later years of the show, but it was still a fantastic show. The gadgetry was present, but not out of control. The stories were as much about Bruce Wayne as they were about Batman, and the show had a grim overtone with only a little lighthearted banter here and there.
Later came THE BATMAN, produced by the same folks who did AEON FLUX and JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES. I kinda liked this show, but I would apparently be in the minority of this one. The show was mostly an action piece, with not nearly so much mood or menace of the Dini/Timm. The gadgetry quotient got higher, and many of the villains were redesigned completely, which is probably what set off some of the diehard fans. While reimagining the Penguin as an "orientalist" melee terror was a nice way to use what's otherwise a stale character of late, the idea of the Joker as a Rastafarian Capoeira Fighter was hard for many to swallow. I thought it was neat, but again, I think I'm the minority on that.
So now we have BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD. Batman's back in blue and gray with the yellow chest emblem, the gadgetry is the most over-the-top it's EVER been (the batmobile turns into a mecha in one episode, and the first five minutes of the pilot episode shows Batman pulling a lightsaber out of his belt-buckle), and the Silver Age homages are in full force. The core of the show is Batman teaming with various characters from around the DC Universe, and it's interesting to see which characters (and which *interpretations* of those characters) we get to see. Green Arrow is youthened back to his beardless (and pre-Social Conscience Of The DCU) days, but Blue Beetle is the Jaime Reyes version and the Atom is Ryan Choi, which is awesome. The Green Lantern we meet is Guy Gardner, Red Tornado is obviously robotic (usually he could pass for human, somewhat), and most interestingly, Superman is Nowhere to be seen, or even referenced that I've noticed.
It's rollicking good Superhero Fun, but with some seriousness to it. Some. It captures the charm of superheroes in a way that we haven't seen for awhile, but never insults your intelligence. And it pulls off something that comic writers have struggled with for years -- they made Aquaman THE COOLEST CHARACTER EVER. Think about that! Back in the Superfriends, Aquaman was something of a joke, and only able to be helpful if the adventures went underwater. Now he's a bombastic Brian Blessed-inspired bad-ass KING OF THE SEA, and the writers clearly love using him every chance they get. As he so often puts it, "Outrageous!"
I love this show. I love that the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle is a showcase character, I love the animation, and I surprised myself by loving the fact that this is a show about BATMAN, not Bruce Wayne! The show never shows Batman without his mask, and only references his identity as Wayne in passing. He's not angsty in the fashionable "MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!!!" manner, he's a Superhero with a job to do -- Beat Up The Bad Guys, and Fight Crime!
Also, R. Lee Ermey as Wildcat is an inspired casting choice. Not what I would've picked, but I like how it worked out.
I will leave you with one word, which will make perfect sense once you've seen a particular episode of this:
"PLATELET!!!!"
Enjoy!