#Batman The Animated Series Review

[eshbaal]

Remember Mask of the Phantasm? Sure you do - but do you remember the OTHER Batman: TAS Movies? That's right, with Caped Crusader out on Amazon Prime, I'm in a bat-mood! So let's watch some Batman stuff together!

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[not-another-robin]

So...I did something.

I've never made a video before, but I love talking about btas and I thought I'd take a swing at reviewing some episodes... or all of them. Maybe. This video is super jank because my computer is always on nightmare mode, but honestly, I'm still proud of it. Here's my little review of On Leather Wings :)

[pingu-please-cane-right]

height is pretty good! weirdly enough! ⭐⭐ - it looks a little too tall in the photo but it also looks like the hands in this art style are a little short so this works

end tip meh 🤔🤔 -its like, thiner then the reguler cane lengh, so like, could unstabalize him easily

poor guy having to use this handle 🛑🛑🛑 -round, painfull, its clear he is using this cane for style, so its better then nothing, but the round handle is so uncomftrble to lean on. ouchy riddler ouchy ouch. no clear space to grip it right and having the extra problem of having to grip it tightly to hold on to it

design is ok i guess 🤔 -like ok, he is a fancy man ill give him that, so i get the nice and sleek design, but come on Riddler, have a propper riddle stick! not even one question mark? i can't even count them?

actually walking with it: walks pretty good!! ⭐⭐⭐ -even for a fancy ass cane that is just for show and to use againstr batman in pulling out weird traps, he walks with it correctly! mirroing his leg perfectly

does it make sense character wise to have this spasific mobility aid: yep! ⭐ -the history of the riddlerstick is an interesting one for sure, but for this riddler it makes sense! it adds to his weird business man vibe in the time he went for a toy company. in general, he uses it to show his offical seriosness and i like it!

STAR TOTAL ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

HMM TOTAL 🤔🤔🤔

FAIL TOTAL 🛑🛑🛑

PERSONAL SCORE OF FUNCTIBILITY 6/10

(usable, but ouchie for too long of a use, and minus one point for no question marks)

[macmanx]

You deserve to see the best Batman in the best Batman film.

Make time for it.

[episodicnostalgia]

Batman: The Animated Series, 102 (Sep. 6, 1992) - “On Leather Wings” [Production order #01]

Written by: Mitch Brian Directed by: Kevin Altieri

This is the episode where…

The Police blame Batman for a Man-Bat’s crimes, thanks to their perfectly-on-brand profiling methods, resulting in a lot of avoidable property damage. In other news, the Batmobile looks amazing, and Alfred has perfect comedic timing.

The Breakdown

A rash of chemical plants are being broken into, and after an injured security guard describes the culprit as a “giant Bat-Creature,” the cops peg Batman as their prime suspect. Naturally they begin a mindful and meticulous investigation to ensure they have the right guy- hahah. No. I’m just kidding. They jump squarely into the deep end on this one, pretty much right away (again, all perfectly on-brand). You see, Detective Bullock went behind Commissioner Gordon’s back, and prematurely announced a “war on Batman” to the press, so now Mayor Hill feels pressured to authorize a task force, to save face (honestly, you really have to admire the cynicism on display in this scene).

Naturally the front-page story about Batman’s alleged B&E (plus aggravated assault) quickly catches his attention, especially since he didn’t actually do it (this time), so he zips over to the plant to investigate the crime scene… by breaking and entering for real. Thankfully Batman is canonically a far superior Detective than virtually any paid professional, and he finds two vital pieces of overlooked evidence. A) Tiny animal fibres that are not dissimilar to something a Bat might shed, and B) the injured security guard’s handheld cassette recorder, with a nifty audio clip of the creature’s high-pitched shriek (the guard was preparing a voice audition at the time of the attack).

[There’s also a whole altercation with the cops here, but I’ll talk about that later. Needless to say, Batman totally dominates.]

Anyways, those clues inspire the Dark Knight to visit the Zoo as Bruce Wayne, seeking the expertise of famed-bat-expert Dr. March, along with his collegiate daughter & son-in-law (Francine and Kirk Langstrom). Bruce hands over the evidence he found the previous night (claiming it’s connected to a bat infestation at his mansion) hoping the friendly family of Bat-scientists might be able to tell him something that his super-computer can’t. However, after Dr. March calls back, claiming that the fibres-and- audio were left by common brown bats, Bruce concludes the Doc is full of shit, and therefore must be connected to the creature; so he returns to the Zoo as Batman.

It turns out March isn’t quite the guy Batman is looking for, but he wasn’t too far off, either. You see, Kirk Langstrom was so enamoured by his father-in-law’s theories (which entail turning humans into giant bats, in order to “survive the next evolutionary cataclysm”, apparently) that he decided to take a stab at a genuine man-bat-hybrid-serum. Evidently, the attempt blew up in Langstrom’s face, transforming him into a living “Jekyll & Bat�� trope; and the Man-Bat has been stealing more chemicals to make the change permanent, ever since. But the real kick-in-the-pants? Langstrom had just taken the last necessary component to finalize his transformation, mere seconds before Batman arrived (Talk about poor timing).

So, Kirk transforms into the Man-Bat, and things get violent. Eventually, the creature tries to fly away, and Batman gets dragged around for a tour of the Gotham skyline. Ultimately, Batman figures out his opponent’s weakness is crashing into walls at high-speed, by making that happen. After hauling Langstrom back to the cave, Batman whips up a counter-serum to reverse the doctor’s condition with remarkable ease, because Batman is also canonically very good with all-of-science.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Luckily, the Police witnessed the entire Bat-chase, thus exonerating the Dark Knight, and presumably reinstating him as just a generic fugitive from the law, as opposed to one who justifies a task force. Not bad for an honest (if illegal) night’s work.

The Verdict

I’m gonna have to level with you guys, I’ve never really given ‘On Leather Wings’ a fair shake before now. It’s not that I ever disliked it or anything, but it’s perhaps not as flashy or as widely talked about as some of the later episodes, especially as the writing and animation became more consistent. But yeah, Bruce Timm and Co. really popped off with the pilot, and it immediately establishes the series as more than ‘just another cartoon.’ The story itself is easy to overlook; the plotting is admittedly quite simple and largely predictable, but the dialogue and animation more than make up for it.

Unlike a majority of animated shows during the 90’s (Including one of my other childhood favourites, Spider-man), the dialogue in this episode is far more focused on interpersonal dynamics, over exposition. Most of Alfred’s interactions with Batsy/Bruce tends to revolve more around verbal sparring and repartee, through which we glean enough to understand the plot while simultaneously establishing the nature of their relationship. Likewise, the duality of Batman’s double life is shown to us, and not told. It’s likely that anyone watching this already knows who Batman is and what motivates him, but even if you didn’t, this Pilot-episode provides all the information you need to understand it without additional context, and minimal exposition.

The same can be said for the recurring cast. Who is Commissioner Gordon? Detective Bullock? Mayor Hill? Harvey Dent? Within a single one-minute scene, we are made to understand who all these people are, their stance on Batman, and even their opinions of each other, all of which works to establish the obstacles our hero will face. Many cartoons would approach the same scene by having the characters explain things to each other with convenient exposition dumps, but instead the characters predominantly discuss the situation as if it’s already shared knowledge. It’s slightly trickier to write, especially in a way that resonates with children, but the result is dialogue that avoids feeling affected, unnatural, or rushed (something that was not lost on me even back then).

This approach leaves the animation team some room to flex, which is good because the visual storytelling is where ‘On Leather Wings’ really shines. Firstly, Warner Brothers clearly spared no expense on the pilot, which easily boasts one of the most impressive sequences from the first 60-episode-season, if not the entire show. [I’m talking specifically about the sublime tracking shot of the Man-Bat flying along the length of the police blimp with Batman in-tow.] But more than being visually impressive, the animation is never averse to lingering on a prolonged moment if it makes for a stronger story beat.

At the beginning of the episode when, the security guard is recording his audition tape (hey, we all got dreams), the scene plays out for a solid minute before he’s interrupted by the Man-Bat. It’s a beat that would probably be regarded as superfluous in most other cartoons, but it’s a perfect Chekov’s gun moment that pays off when Batman finds the tape recorder beneath a desk later on. It might have been more direct to simply have Batman find one of the Langstrom’s ID badges, or whatever, but this approach shows us how Batman’s analytical capabilities are as much a part of him, as his ability to throw a punch, all without a single line of dialogue. It’s not complex story telling, it’s strong story telling, reinforcing how one can intelligently cater to children instead of pandering to them.

Were I judging this on the story alone, I might not go much above 3 stars, but going solely based on the animation I’d probably give it a 5, to say nothing of the sound design and musical score. All in all, this is an incredibly impressive pilot, so I’m giving it…

4 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Cryptozoology in Gotham City: This isn’t really a critique, but I can’t help but wonder how Batman explained the Man-Bat ordeal to Commissioner Gordon. Bearing in mind, Gordon witnessed Batman punch a giant bat out of the sky, and then drag it off into the shadows, never to be seen again. Surely he must have a few lingering questions about the whereabouts of the flying anthropomorphic beast with a penchant for mutagenic chemicals. Did Batman offer any explanation whatsoever, or is this a “don’t ask don’t tell” situation? How would that conversation even go?

Gordon: Hey, just curious. What exactly did you do with the Giant pants-wearing-Bat? Batman: Oh, that was some guy who just got a little carried away with a science experiment. But I fixed it. Gordon: Uh, okay… so how do we know that’ll never happen again? Batman: *vanishes into the night*

Silly things I find interesting: I have done zero research on this, but I believe this episode may feature one of the earliest on-screen-depictions of Batman being specifically hunted by the police (beyond just being chased from a crime scene). After Batman collects his evidence at the chemical plant, he finds himself cornered-and-hunted by Harvey Bullock’s task force. The ensuing chase shows Batman dodging gunfire, ducking into elevator shafts, employing gas pellets, and escaping a sizable explosion (courtesy of Gotham PD incompetence). The scene is notably reminiscent of Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ comics, and I’m guessing that’s not a coincidence, since that story was released only a few years prior to this. That same comic would go on to inspire a number of other Batman v Cops sequences, including Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins,’ and (seemingly) my personal favourite Bat-feature-film ‘The Mask of the Phantasm.’ Today this would all be considered par-for-the-course in a Batman story, but in 1992 it was still a moderately new precedent for Batman to be considered a full-blown fugitive from the law; certainly within a “kids show.”

The sound of bat-music: For all the credit given to Bruce Timm & Paul Dini for the show’s success, one can never overstate the critical importance of the late Shirley Walker’s monumental contribution. Every episode has a fully orchestrated, and almost-entirely original score (with some recurring themes for specific characters and villains), and the impact is undeniable. I don’t believe I’m being in-any-way hyperbolic when I say that the music for this episode would not sound out of place in a feature film. It’s a genuine shame that Walker never became a household name, ala John Williams/Danny Elfman/etc. because she was an incredible talent, who I fully believe could have given those guys a run for their money if given the same opportunities.

Will the real Pilot please stand up? Most fans are up-to-speed on this, but for anyone wondering why I’m referring to episode 102 as ‘the pilot,’ that’s because the episodes were usually produced in a different order than they were released. The first episode to actually air was ‘The Cat and the Claw, Part 1’ in an attempt to capitalize on ‘Batman Returns’ (because Catwoman was in both stories), which had dropped a couple months earlier. Consequently, Part 2 was released a week later as the 8th episode, which I believe was due to a whole wonky thing about differing time-slots that I won’t get into. In an any case, ‘On Leather Wings’ was always intended to be the show’s official pilot.

[jackofallnerdsshow]

This month's BTAS review is on the episode: Terror in the Sky.

[thatgeekwiththeclipons]

Happy 73rd Birthday to Emmy Winning, 3x Saturn Award Winning, Annie Award Nominated actor Mark Hamill! ^__^

[sinnermannn]

The Justice League Crisis On Infinite Earths Trilogy Is Finally OVER

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed - Batman: Caped Crusader

Batman: Caped Crusader does not aspire to be the definitive interpretation of the eponymous superhero, nor is it a postmodern deconstruction of the “tropes,” “lore,” and “mythology” traditionally associated with the source material (à la Matt Reeves’ recent blockbuster film). It’s just a straightforward, no-frills adaptation—and in an era where everything comic book related has to be a capital “E” Event, that modesty feels positively radical.

The show’s structure is elegant in its simplicity. As in Bruce Timm’s classic ‘90s animated series (as well as such similarly influential works as Teen Titans and Batman: The Brave and the Bold), each episode tells a self-contained story, with a handful of recurring threads—Harvey Dent’s mayoral campaign, the increasingly blatant corruption of Detectives Flass and Bullock, the gradual development of Bruce Wayne’s initially icy relationship with Alfred—contributing to a season-spanning narrative arc that ultimately culminates in an explosive two-part finale. This non-serialized approach allows the writers to experiment and discover variations on the versatile “villain of the week” formula: “…And Be a Villain” and “Kiss of the Catwoman”, for example, revolve entirely around the origins of their respective antagonists; “The Night of the Hunters”, meanwhile, utilizes its costumed criminal du jour as a mere prop in a plot that explores the growing schism within the Gotham Police Department.

Beyond this surface-level familiarity, of course, there is ample room for novelty, innovation, and subversion. The creative team’s depiction of Batman’s duality is particularly compelling. Defying the commonly held fan theory that the performative “lazy playboy” façade is the real mask, whereas the “brooding vigilante” alter ego is closer to his actual self, this iteration of our hero treats both personae as equally fabricated—divergent embodiments of the same fundamental vulnerabilities. His “true identity” resides somewhere between these extremes, obfuscated by the repressed trauma that he refuses to confront, emerging only in fleeting moments of compassion—when he prioritizes rescuing imperiled innocents over pursuing perps, for instance, or when he chooses to be merciful towards his vanquished foes.

Lean, efficient, and easily digestible, Batman: Caped Crusader is refreshingly old school in its style and sensibilities. To Hell with the corporate gruel of Multiverses, multibillion-dollar budgets, and bloated “prestige” television; give me ten more years of the bite-sized gourmet meals that Timm, Reeves, and Abrams are cooking.

[julianlytle]

"In a year of reinvigorated superhero animated series, Batman: Caped Crusader might be the brightest spot in all of them in a very competitive scene from sister series like My Adventures with Superman to even the competition across the street with X-Men ’97. Much like Batman himself, it worries about none of that, continues tunnel vision on its own mission, and succeeds stellarly." Read more of my review in the link

[thenerdsofcolor]

'Batman: Caped Crusader' is the Superior Animated ‘90s Revival

With apologies to fans of X-Men ‘97, I must proclaim Prime Video’s Batman: Caped Crusader as the clear winner of the battle between nostalgic revivals of classic ‘90s animated series. Continue reading ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ is the Superior Animated ‘90s Revival

[fabby-book-blog]

Books with Pictures: Batman: The Adventures Continue: Season One

Writers: Alan Burnett & Paul Dini

Artist: Ty Templeton

BTAS is one of my all time favorite things and I was super excited about a comic continuation. But upon reading this first volume, I was frankly underwhelmed.

One of the main attractions for me was the introduction of Jason Todd to the BTAS universe, which I think should have been planned out a little more. It felt too forced to have him shoehorned as the second Robin when the animated series pretty much established Tim Drake as the second Robin with Jason Todd’s partial origin story.

Maybe just rework it with Jason as the third— or better yet, have this story set in the Batman Beyond setting.

Of course I’ll keep reading to see if Jason comes back in a later story.

The volume ends with a Christmas story featuring Batman and Robin featuring Joker and Scar Face (a severely underutilized villain!), which was pretty fun!

Now my own personal gripes: Nightwing is my favorite bat family member and he’s not in this volume at all 😢. Favoritism aside, I still think he should have been featured in the Red Hood and Deathstroke arc. Most especially with the Deathstroke story since he has a fascination with the protégés (plus his actual origins as a Teen Titans villain). To me, just felt like he was missing.

Not perfect, but I’m still going to move forward with the series and see where it goes.

Rating: 2.75/5

[not-another-robin]

New episode of Every BTAS ranked :D!! I had a lot of fun with making videos again, hopefully I can keep it up!

[shadowwingtronix]

BW's Daily Video> That Time Junior Detectives Helped Batman

BW's Daily Video> That Time Junior Detectives Helped Batman

Catch more from Casually Comics on YouTube Nice to see someone defend this episode. The occasionally lighter story to break up the heavier stuff is fine. It keeps the series flowing and doesn’t drag you down in being depressed all the time. They don’t all have to be Baby Doll. Some of the Joker’s episodes are more humorous than others and that’s okay. Also, seeing kids do stuff in a kids show,…

[snowmiserboio]

Got a review done on Mafex Harley quinn! Take a look it's under 4 minutes

[episodicnostalgia]

Batman: The Animated Series, 138 (Nov. 13, 1992) - “Christmas With the Joker” [Production order #02]

Written by: Eddie Gorodetsky Directed by: Kent Butterworth

This is the episode where…

The Dynamic Duo race against the clock to capture the Joker on Christmas eve, so that Batman can finally watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (yes, seriously). Oh yeah, and there are also innocent lives at stake. Then again, two of those are cops so… let’s just say there are lives at stake and leave it at that.

The Breakdown

It’s Christmas Eve at Arkham Asylum, as the inmates work happily together, decorating the communal Christmas tree (aw!). And who should climb the ladder to mount the star? None other than the Joker himself. And if you’ve already guessed that he’s about to employ the time-honoured tradition of converting a tree into a literal-rocket, with which to launch himself through the roof, and toward freedom, then you guessed right! In fact, that’s surprisingly accurate of you.

Meanwhile… Robin has made a shocking discovery, Batman has NEVER seen ‘It’s a Wonderful Life!’ [Evidently, Robin has been under the impression that the brooding vigilante billionaire he works for is a big “Holiday Spirit” kinda guy.] So, since the criminal element seems to be taking the night off (probably catching up on their gift wrapping), Robin convinces his begrudging partner to watch Jimmy Stuart oppose the ruling class. Unfortunately, at the precise moment the Dynamic Couch-Potatoes turn on the television, The Joker successfully hijacks EVERY channel (to be fair that happens a lot in Gotham), to broadcast his very own live Christmas Special!

So here’s the deal: the Joker has kidnapped Commissioner Gordon, Detective Harvey Bullock, and news reporter Summer Gleeson to stand in as his own surrogate Christmas family (since he has none of his own), who he intends to murder on live television unless Batman and Robin successfully complete a list of deadly tasks at inconvenient Locations. The tasks in question involve A) preventing a train full of passengers from hurtling over a blown-up bridge, B) Shutting down an observatory that’s been repurposed as a laser-cannon (obviously), C) defeating an army of giant weaponized robot-nutcraker-soldiers at an abandoned toy factory, and finally… D) preventing the three hostages from falling into a vat of molten liquid (classic). Unsurprisingly, Batman comes out on top, but not before taking a pie to the face, serving a stark reminder that victory always comes at a price.

Anyways, with the Joker subdued, our heroes head back to the mansion to finally watch ‘It’s a wonderful life,’ whereupon they reflect that life IS pretty Wonderful! …Which, as anyone who has seen the film would know, is a remarkably tone-deaf takeaway for a billionaire to arrive upon. Hopefully Alfred can use this as an opportunity to begin a more constructive dialogue.

The Verdict

I loved this episode as a kid, mainly because it featured both Robin and the Joker, and also because I was (as are most children) easily impressed. Sarcasm aside, I’m not going to come down too hard on this episode, but it’s a fairly weak entry of a generally top-tier show. It doesn’t help that the animation is sloppier than usual, especially when you compare it to the Pilot (this one being produced immediately after). To be fair, each episode was produced by different animation houses, and sometimes the preferred ones were booked up. Consequently, the quality in animation could fluctuate a bit, particularly during the first season which pumped out a whopping 60 episodes. Nonetheless, this is some of the gnarlier animation on the show as a whole.

I’m more inclined to forgive sloppy animation when a story is strong enough, but ‘Christmas with the Joker’ comes up short in that department too. Again, it’s a perfectly suitable episode for kids, and about as inoffensive as you can get, but the actual plot is pretty damn thin, and little too silly for my taste. I'm perfectly happy with a more whimsical story when it's done well, there are a decent handful of episodes that lean on physical comedy quite effectively, but this outing feels more like an off-brand Looney Tunes special featuring batman; The gimmicks are a lot zanier than usual, and the gags all feel more-than-a-bit tired (although I’ll give points for the pie-to-the-face bit).

Perhaps I’m being a bit of a Scrooge about it, but this one just falls a bit flat for me. At the very least the episode is responsible for giving us Mark Hamill as the Joker (and Loren Lester as Robin), so I’ll take the silver lining, but I think don't think it’s unfair to rate this at…

2 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Dastardly Logistics/1 - 'O TannenBOOM: I’ve often thought that supervillains always seem to have alarmingly unencumbered access to funds and resources. It’s one of those conventions I’m perfectly happy to embrace as part of the fun, nonetheless I can’t help being amused by the implications of all these elaborate weapons and death traps. Take the Joker’s Christmas tree escape-rocket, for example. It’s not exactly a small “tree,” so how did he build it without anyone knowing? What are the logistics of smuggling a fuselage and jet propulsion system into a prison for the criminally insane, and then assembling and disguising it, without anyone noticing? Did the guards not find it odd when they found a three story fern that no one ordered? Or did he replace the real tree with his Faux-Tree, and if so, what happened to the original?

Dastardly Logistics/2 - The Animated Conspiracy: Obviously the Joker is paying people to do these things for him, considering the whole episode takes place within the timeframe of a single night. Still, I’d be curious to know how he manages to secure funding for all this. I don’t doubt the money is stolen, but I find it hard to believe that he’s laundering it from his cell in Arkham. Where would half of this stuff even be manufactured? The way I see it, the majority of the Bat-rogues must all be backed by a mysterious sponsor, pulling the strings from the shadows. Whatever the truth may be, there are unanswered questions lying in the heart of Gotham City, pointing to an insidious plot that predates even the ‘court of owls.’

Hey Robin, are you high? How in your right mind could you POSSIBLY be surprised that your partner, a man famously known as the “Dark Knight,” who regularly employs torture tactics during his illegal interrogations, would somehow give a flying fuck about ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ This is the same man who put you through rigorous combat training, some of which presumably took place on-the-job against opponents with loaded firearms, while you were still an adolescent. And you’re surprised he hasn’t seen your favourite movie? I would have been utterly shocked if he had. Maybe take a break from your combat drills, and invest a little more of your energy brushing up on the observational skills your mentor is so famous for.