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belliesandburps · 3 years ago

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10 Reasons Why I Love Batman: Arkham City

Yesterday marked the 10-year anniversary of one of my all time favorite video games, Arkham City. I recently replayed the “Return to Arkham” remaster on the PS4, and as someone who greatly adores this game which, in many ways, revitalized the entire superhero beat-em-up genre, I decided to take a page outta @twistedtummies2 book and post a lil non-kink tribute to something I just really, really love.

So, without further delay, here are the ten reasons I love Batman: Arkham City!

10) The Voice Acting

Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill go without saying, but this was also the game that would lead to many iconic performances that would become synonymous with the character. It was Tara Strong’s debut as Harley Quinn, which has since become the defacto voice that immediately comes to mind for many people when they think of Harley, myself included. Nolan North had a thing where he was pretty much in EVERY damn video game for a while, but he OWNED that cockney bugger, Penguin, by the end of this game. Troy Baker knocked it outta the park as Two Face, really selling that duality of noble and deranged for poor Harv. Corey Burton was spectacular as the eternally unnerving Professor Hugo Strange. Khary Payton sounds so unbelievably enigmatic and badass as Azrael. Wally Wingert is the DEFINITIVE voice of Riddler now, whenever I think f the character. And Maurice LaMarche gave, quite easily, my all time favorite take on Mr. Freeze.

It’s this great blend of newcomers and icons all colliding and creating a new world that feels distinct yet every bit as familiar and beloved as we’ve all come to expect. Every single actor knocks it outta the park. Even the actors whose takes I find generally “not distinct enough from their general body of work” still give great performances. Steve Blum is not one of favorite takes on Croc, simply because it just sounds like every other monster he’s played, but damn if he doesn’t do a great job playing that monster. Fred Tatasciore kind of has one default zombie monster voice, but like Blum, it’s a damn good one and DOES suit Solomon Grundy. And I’d much rather see a middle eastern actor playing Ra’s Al Ghul, but Dee Bradley Baker still captures that deadly charisma like a master.

It’s even better having grown up with Conroy and Hamill as Batsy and Joker respectively, because by the end, it really does feel like the end of an era between those two. And a perfect send off to the Clown Prince of Crime.

The end result is a game where the audio works, in every sense of the word, to pull you into this world, and the actors all do a wonderful job of making it feel both lived in and Batman-y.

(Also, James Horan as Jack Ryder is kind of hilarious for me, seeing this wimpy reporter go on to become the dreaded Skull Face four years later. ‘XD)

9) The Soundtrack

Arkham City’s soundtrack is as iconic as it is goddamn captivating. The orchestral tune to Arkham City masterfully captures the gothic setting of Arkham, this sense of decay and abandonment as you venture through Gotham’s underworld into places long forgotten and buried. The score knows when to pick up and complement the wonders and ominous dread around you, and when to go dead and let the environment set the atmosphere itself. And the music in combat is downright beautiful.

Seriously, show me a single combat theme that more perfectly captures the essence of all that is Batman than “You Should Have Listened To My Warning.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bWqgqcaQVs

Or a track that captures the mythical wonders and unknown dangers of the Wonder City music below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWoZx-q8aAM

Everything just sounds beautiful in this game, which is not an easy feat whilst also simultaneously sounding both haunting and badass at the same time.

I’d rank the music higher, except there’s also one fundamental flaw with the music. While it perfectly captures the world of Batman and Batman’s journey himself, it never seems to really characterize any of the villains. All the Gotham Rogues themes and boss themes sound great, and yet, not a single one sounds like it brings the character to mind.

Tell me honestly, which of these two truly makes you think Mr. Freeze when you hear it. His Arkham City boss theme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Afg2JvxgXk

Or his Arkham Origins boss theme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrLJXfXum3w

I rest my case.

BUT! That said, even with that flaw, the soundtrack is still iconic, deeply memorable, and just a joy to listen to every time.

8) Riddler's Challenges & Trophies

Arkham City kind of set the bar for how to do open world sandbox collectibles the right way, something many video games of today struggle with. And what made it work in Arkham City so well was the pacing of collectible unlocks and the rewards that came with ‘em. See, Riddler’s Trophies weren’t just collectibles scattered throughout for the sake of completionist stuff. Obtaining enough unlocked all manner of things, from concept art, character models, and Strange’s patient interviews with all of the rogues. What’s more is, with enough trophies unlocked and riddles solved, you would get to confront Riddler’s death trap challenges, each one an elaborate environmental setpiece that required using your gear in all the right ways to navigate through the obstacles and eventually rescue Riddler’s hostages.

The ultimate reward for all the trophies, however? Actually getting to take down Riddler himself in one last puzzle that sees you eventually ripping Riddler from his control room and putting the evil nerd on his own fake death march, much to his humiliation and your amusement.

I love this because it gives you in-game incentive to wanna seek out the trophies. It isn’t just for a number or some stupid “Playstation Trophy,” but rather, challenges that emerge and test your skills in difficult yet fun ways. These rooms are as close to an actual Riddler boss fight as the series gets (because god knows that stupid mech fight in Knight doesn’t cut it). And I wish more open world games would do this; have collectibles but also have them lead to something like Riddler’s confrontations instead of just static bonus stuff you can look at but not engage with.

7) Arkham City Itself

I’ve often struggled to determine which was my favorite Arkham game; City or Origins. I think Origins does a lot MUCH better than City, but one thing City has over the entire series is, well, Arkham City itself. This mega-prison is an absolute joy to fly and run around in. It’s a ruined city rich with atmosphere, where every sector feels like it perfectly fits the villain in charge, and has such an under-appreciate “world of yesteryear” quality to it. In many respects, Arkham City almost has much of the same feel as a failed utopia. Lots of beautiful, vibrant structures that are appealing to grapple onto and fly off of, perverted by the villains running rampant across the city.

Everything feels cold, desolate, almost post-apocalyptic. And the underground itself is designed to feel like there’s an entire other world down there, abandoned by time.

It’s something far too many open world games struggle with; yeah, you have tons of space to do stuff and explore, but what good is any of it if your vast surroundings are so damn generic? Arkham City doesn’t have that problem. Nothing about this sandbox feels generic. It feels gothic, overbearing, and rich with character and atmosphere in a way that masks so many of the rinsed and repeated assets.

(Looking at you, every Assassin’s Creed game after Unity...)

6) The Boss Fights

Okay, so this is...a tricky subject in the Arkham series. Boss fights are the part of every game I look forward to the most, ESPECIALLY with comic book games. And yet, one thing Rocksteady could never quite get right were its boss encounters. Their combat was tailored for massive brawls with gangs of thugs, and yet, they couldn’t make it work for mano-y-mano showdowns. As a result, in Arkham Asylum, every boss was against a giant monster, and in almost every instance that wasn’t Poison Ivy, they didn’t work. Bane’s fight was too dull to be fun. Croc’s fight felt like the first stage of a larger boss fight that never happens. Scarecrow’s also felt like it should’ve concluded with a proper showdown at the end of the obstacle course. And Titan Joker’s fight was garbage.

But Arkham City is an example of taking everything that worked about the last game and improving it in every way...and learning from the things that DIDN’T work. And nowhere was that more apparent than the boss fights because they’re some of the best parts of the entire campaign. You have giant monsters, but unlike Bane, Croc and Titan Joker, each one has a wide array of different attack patterns that makes it increasingly harder to land hits.

Solomon Grundy goes through multiple phases, and timing becomes ever more crucial to do damage against the big zed. Clayface is one of the most mechanically elaborate bosses in the whole series, with tons of attacks, and a lot of freedom in terms of how you face off against him, particularly his second half. Ra’s Al Ghul is a perfect blend of brawl fighting against a bunch of ninjas at once, and more classic pattern remembrance as he pops up in his giant sand monster, slashing with his massive sword.

Combat’s best suited for giant brawls? Screw it, give Joker a giant brawl where Joker himself may be little more than an NPC with a machete who has a giant healthbar, but match Joker’s psychosis by making the arena absolutely crazy with incoming train rides that run you or anyone nearby over, giant Titans who pop in along with Mr. Hammer, and make the act of fighting Joker and his gang just one giant madhouse. They even bring in proper predator stealth with Two Face / Harley’s DLC fight, having an enemy with a grenade launcher that does tons of damage, whom you have to constantly sneak up on to take on. It’s not nearly as spectacular as the other fights, but it DOES work for more stealthy encounters.

And speaking of stealthy encounters, NONE surpass one of my all time favorite stealth action fights in all of gaming, Mr. Freeze. This boss fight is one of the gold standards of how Arkham fights should be tailored. Here’s an intensely dangerous enemy you’re trapped with. Use your environment and every single gadget in your arsenal to land hits on him. And each time you do, he evolves and forces you to use new strategies. This truly is a perfect boss battle, and easily my favorite part of the entire campaign.

I’d rank bosses higher, except for as great as they are, there’s only four REAL boss fights in this game:

- Solomon Grundy

- Ra’s Al Ghul

- Mr. Freeze

- Clayface

Those are the only four with proper life bars and a whole host of unique attacks and mechanics to be mindful of. Harvey and Harley are pretty good fights, but they basically involve doing the same thing multiple times before the boss goes down. Joker’s fight, while it works and suits Joker feel, IS still just a brawl which, if you removed Joker from the equation, wouldn’t even feel any different. Penguin’s could’ve been great, except it’s basically just the prelude to Grundy, and a single beatdown (a damn satisfying one to boot). Mad Hatter gets a side boss fight where he’s constantly popping up in a brawl and you have to hit him multiple times to end the madness, but he only has one attack he barely uses, and the fight still mostly feels like most brawls in the game. And all the side villains get one button takedowns as opposed to proper confrontations.

Arkham City’s campaign is as long as it needs to be, but it desperately could’ve used more bosses peppered in between to make for a truly perfect Arkham experience.

5) Combat

Arkham essentially re-invigorated the brawler genre. After Asylum, you started seeing a lot of games pull off the one vs a bunch brawler mechanics with the same counter and beatdown chain combos as Arkham, but in my opinion, none did combat as well as Arkham City (least not til Spider-Man came out).

Arkham City took everything that worked about Asylum’s combat and improved on it in every way. You had more gadgets to use in-battle, all of which flowed much more seamlessly with the melee attacks than in Asylum. There was better responsiveness, which made picking up massive combos that much easier without making it feel any less rewarding. You also had way more combos and takedowns to use when you built momentum up. City also had more variety in the enemies you combat than Asylum, introducing armored foes, enemies with shields, freakin’ ninjas, even robots.

It’s a system that always managed to get better and better with each game, but City got the most out of it, especially with it having the best challenge rooms of the whole series.

4) Side Quests

Remember a time when open world games didn’t completely oversaturate the ‘AAA’ market? Where every single game wasn’t loaded to the brim with bullshit side quests that were just doing the same generic tasks over and over again? I remember that time. And what I remember most about side quests was how much better Arkham City’s quests felt than any other game I’d played by that point.

Each side essentially felt like a mini-episode. A villain is running amuck, and you have to steadily uncover their plot and eventually take them down. They were simple yet interesting yarns, often building genuine intrigue and mystery.

My favorite was easily “Shot in the Dark.” Deadshot’s been dropped into Arkham Asylum by Hugo Strange, disguised as an inmate, with a secret drop for him to get all his gear and pick off political prisoners Strange wants silenced. And he has to target both Batman AND Bruce Wayne, with Strange’s gambit being that if Deadshot manages to kill one, he’ll be trapped in Arkham City and likely killed in Protocol 10 when he fails to realize Bruce and Batsy are one in the same. And your goal is to use his track record to prevent his next assassination and take him down. It’s intriguing, uses Arkham City’s new investigative tools well, making it genuinely challenging to track Deadshot’s movements, and ends with a timed race to save Jack Ryder and sneak up on Deadshot.

I wish it had ended with a proper boss battle, but at least the takedown itself can feel satisfying to pull off, and not a gimme like how it would be handled in the later entry. But that’s the neat thing about the quests, there’s a story thread to follow, and an environmental puzzle that leads to a takedown. I’ll take it. More than that, this gives you tons of mileage to milk after you beat the main campaign, because there’s still more story to resolve that isn’t just completionist crap or storyless, repetitive trite.

Arkham City set the gold standard on how to do side quests correctly in video games (even if it had room to grow), and I always looked forward to jumping into them almost as much as I did the main campaign itself! Speaking of which...

3) A Near-Perfect Campaign

I’ve often struggled to decide if Marvel’s Spider-Man or Arkham City was the best comic book game ever made. Because Spider-Man one-ups Arkham City in almost every way. The combat was FAR more involving and got great use of the environment for added strategy, with WAY more variety in the enemies. Minus Mr. Freeze, Spider-Man had infinitely better boss battles than Arkham City and three times as many, clocking in at twelve bosses in the main campaign, and five within the DLC’s. Some of it’s villain-driven side quests also concluded in boss fights and not just takedowns, all of which were some of the best bosses in the game.

And yet, I can barely bring myself to replay Spider-Man, whereas I’ve replayed Arkham City a good few dozen times now. And the reason, I’ve concluded, is simple. There’s far less bullshit in City’s campaign, and it does just enough of everything to keep it from feeling stale. Arkham City is an example of a campaign that gives you almost everything you WANT from an Arkham game. It has just the right amount of combat, predator stealth, environmental and obstacle navigation in a vast sandbox and puzzle solving. Nothing ever feels like it drags on or grinds the pacing of the game to a halt. It’s a very tightly crafted, sweet-n-to-the-point campaign that moves at a steady pace, cycling new, interesting locations with differing gangs and villains, without ever making one element feel mindnumbing the way games like Marvel’s Avengers did.

If it’s all brawling nonstop, it gets repetitive and dull. If it’s all predator stealth, same as above. If there are too many puzzles, you become eager for combat. And if it’s JUST navigation, it gets dull because eventually, you will see all the game has to show you. City was just paced better than any Arkham game in the series, and any comic book game to date. It also doesn’t overstay its welcome, giving you a complete and deeply gratifying campaign you can knock out in three or four days.

And it’s made better with the New Game + that lets you keep all your upgrades so you never stop feeling like a beast once you do everything in the post campaign and wanna relive that great Batman experience. More games could use Arkham City’s brevity. It’s an open world sandbox game with plenty of meat to its campaign, tons of quality side content, and loads of bonus modes to enjoy. And because the campaign isn’t super long, but varied enough, it becomes infinitely more replayable than any other game in the genre and almost any open world game that isn’t MGSV or Deus Ex.

2) Challenge Rooms

Beyond the campaign are all the arcade-style Challenge Modes that are tailored made for people desperate to beat their top scores. These modes are a bundle of fun because they let you play as multiple characters to clear out rooms as fast and efficiently as possible, while also doing various tasks in the midst of wiping out the bad guys. There’s loads of really ones here, one of the best being the Side Scrolling adventures of Nightwing, where you gotta race through a moving train, pummeling goons left and right until you reach Black Mask and Mr. Hammer in a pseudo boss fight. I say pseudo because sadly, Black Mask is, like Joker, just an NPC with slightly more health. But the ride up is a lotta fun.

Truly though, Joker’s Madhouse is the one I spent HOURS replaying. It’s an endless brawl where your goal is just to build momentum and keep it for as long as humanly possible. Guards keep jumping in, all the while, Joker is taunting you from the crowd, until he eventually jumps in and joins the fight. Others like Mr. Hammer drop in, the madness keeps coming and coming. And there’s truly nothing in Arkham more satisfying than getting the highest momentum combo you can as you start knocking out goons with single punches, leaping and punching nonstop until that one asshole eventually hits you and ruins the entire thing.

In a game that is ultimately a brawler, no mode more perfectly embraces that crazy goodness like this. And ten years on, I can still jump into this one mode and lose it for minutes on end, having a blast every step of the way.

But for as excellent as this is, there’s one thing Arkham City that has that virtually no other game I’ve ever played within this genre has.

1) Exploration

What TRULY made Arkham City a near-masterpiece, and why I rank it above Arkham Origins is simple; it’s the only game in the series where I’m tripping over secrets to find. All throughout Arkham City, there’s not only atmosphere galore, but hundreds of Easter Eggs, calling back to other Batman characters and properties, hidden secrets hinting at the game to come (and disappoint), even secret exchanges with villains like Croc, who you can only find and have a brief cutscene with if you get a trophy in the sewers at a very specific point in the campaign.

You WANT to go looking around Arkham City because you genuinely never know what you’re gonna find next. Even the secrets without material rewards like trophies or character models still have fun appeal as a Batman fan like myself. Arkham City is an example of a sandbox with craftsmanship to it. Things don’t just feel big for the sake of spacing everything out. Everything feels precise; condensed enough to where it doesn’t take ages to get from A to B, but big enough that there’s always tons of secrets to find.

Who else remembers getting completely freaked out by the totally unprompted and out of nowhere Scarecrow tease on the boat, where you find a single boat with a data lock you can pick, and go inside for the one FPV sequence that makes you feel like Scarecrow can pop out at any moment? I kinda wish he DID, but just the presence of it with those eerie numbers and decoding what they meant just sent chills down my spine the first time I found it.

It’s truly the city itself, and everything you have to find within it that makes this game such a joy to revisit and come back to long after you’ve beaten it. For as great Marvel’s Spider-Man is, and for as AMAZING as the webslinging across rooftops is, I never felt compelled to actually explore New York, because it doesn’t have that sense of mystery and craftsmanship the way Arkham City does, and much of it does feel like the obligatory “checklist” crap we’ve come to expect from open world games.

City was the example of doing all that right, and letting the player naturally explore and find new things without leaving things too vague, since you could always interrogate Riddler’s goons to get hints of other secrets to find on your map.

#general ramblings #non kink #arkham city #appreciation post #top 10 list #batman #also the killer croc model #i'm VERY thankful for that ;)

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multifanritz · 2 years ago

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How I think each of the batkids react to being sick

Dick: biggest drama queen. His nose is runny one day and he swears he's fine. Then the next his head starts hurting and he's dying. He doesn't get sick often but when he does he goes to the manor and just "UGHHHHH. It's time to plan my funeral. It's over. I'd rather go toe to toe with killer croc right now. Please make it stop."

Jason: he has a short(er) temper when sick. He apologizes right after normally, but if someone says he looks sick he'll say "cuz I'm sick of YOU, get off ASS." (if it's bruce he doesn't say sorry) If it's super important, he'll go on patrol, but he tries not to. He's died once already, he doesn't want to again just cuz he was too tired to see an enemy. He tries to stay at his apartment when he gets sick but Alfred normally can tell when he starts feeling bad and guilts him into staying at the manor.

Alfred: are you really going to make an old man worry over you, Jason Todd? My heart can't take it.

Jason: Alfie, I'm fine I promise.

Alfred: I'll believe it when I see it. Be here in 10 minutes. Your soup will be done by then.

Jason, sighing heavily: yes Alfie

Tim: Tbh I think tim is very careful, especially when he loses his spleen, to not get anything nasty. There r a few times where it just happens, but he knows how to handle it. He just stays in bed all day and catches up and some much MUCH needed sleep

Damian: he doesn't get sick. Or so he says. He's very good at hiding it, so he ends up either passing out from a fever or nearly getting shot from stumbling. But he's handling it, he swears.

(If anyone gets sick in the manor, damian is basically held under a microscope to see if he get infected and didn't say anything)

Steph: I feel like steph literally doesn't get sick. She's one of those rlly lucky ppl that just doesn't. Maybe a cough every now and again, but nothing super bad. If she did ever get sick tho, she'd be worse than dick. Begging to go to the er cuz there's no way this is normal my head is going to EXPLODE

Cass: model patient. Also doesn't get sick often, but handles it very well when she does. She gets a bit on edge tho cuz she doesn't like how unfocused it makes her

Duke: tbh I don't know much about duke but I think he's in the same boat as cass. He just stays in his room so he doesn't get anyone sick. Doesn't go on patrol cuz he knows better. Smart baby boy

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inthememetime · 2 years ago

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A continuation of Anon's Danny + Jazz Adoption AU except its set in the Young Justice Universe and both siblings get placed on the team as a means to keep their respective parents from causing too much trouble (their villains and thus being model citizens is off the table...primarily because Danny ate part of said table)

Like imagine Season 1 of Young Justice but with Jazz oozing out her "Big Sister" vibes while Danny is the gremlin that Mama [Harley] and Dad taught him to be, plus having to openly supernatural beings on the team (the gator-themed halfa ghost king and his halfa elder sister).

Maybe Dani comes into play at Cadmus, as in Cadmus through their sources gets the materials needed to Clone the duo but due the instability of Ghosts in general they had to combine the material which creates Dani as a stable entity who gets busted out by her genetic donors.

Ate the table...ate the- that is SO Danny oml.

I will have to do some research on Young Justice to do this (wait for it!) Justice.

But here's what I've got so far:

The adults LOVE Jazz at first! Despite being raised by Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and Harley Quinn, she's almost an upstanding citizen!

The issue comes when they realize she'# also scamming rich assholes out of their money, helping people break laws she thinks are unfair, and has repeatedly advocated for murder as an acceptable way to deal with bad guy of the week. You know, if she doesn't just let them go.

Danny harrases the hell out of Constantine at any chance, and has helped Dani kidnap Kon, which creates an ensuing custody battle for the ages.

Mainly because she's had Kon blend in with the 4 OTHER black-haired blue-eyed clones she calls her brothers and call Vlad dad for 6 months.

Vlad has imprinted. Finders keepers, this is HIS child now! Cue shenanigans as Vlad just barely toes the line of what the JL will let slide, merrily singing 'na na na na na na you can't get me' the whole time.

Danny keeps slipping out of any ghost restraints they put him in. (Batman has adoption papers ready).

They're great allies in a fight, but within 6 months, the JL is READY to let them go.

"Oh great, we didn't want to bring out the really annoying stuff."

"THAT WASN'T THE WORST?!" "Haha no." They refuse to elaborate.

#inthememetime #danny phantom #vlad masters #danny phantom au #jazz fenton #dp x dc #poison ivy #killer croc

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incorrectbatfam · 3 years ago

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Stepmom!Selina?

She sees what she's getting into from a mile away, but she welcomes it because Bruce's kids are a part of him, and she loves all of Bruce.

The kids all see it coming too, and while some (Damian) take longer to warm up to her, she's welcomed into the fold with open arms.

Selina's got a heart as big as her partner and while she's not always perfect, you can see how much she cares.

As a former foster child herself, Selina understands Duke's unique experiences and traumas from the foster care system, so whenever he needs to talk, she's the first one he goes to. Sometimes he doesn't want to (or need to) talk, so they'll watch boxing matches or she'll teach him little bits of Mandarin. If the kitchen isn't busy, they'll try their hand at new TikTok recipes, and film themselves either succeeding or debunking the original poster.

Being raised in isolation to be a human weapon meant Cass missed out on a lot of the things daughters typically learn as children/teens. The evening of Cass's first gala, she didn't know the first thing about doing her own hair and makeup. She's braved assassin armies, but her self-made disaster of bobby pins and eyeshadow nearly drives her to tears. Selina swoops in, wipes Cass's face with gentle reassurances, and walks her through step-by-step.

Selina considers it a privilege to have watched Dick grow from the spunky little Robin to the man he is today. Even though he's taller than her, she still ruffled his hair when he does a good job. She also keeps the first ever birthday card he gave her, which includes a pop-up bat signal and scented stickers, and remembers all of his favorite radio stations. Also, when Bruce does something, Dick goes tattling to Selina.

For a while, Carrie mooched off of her siblings' Netflix profiles, but everyone got tired of her messing up their algorithm and she was forced to make her own. She soon realized how much freedom she had because no one could see what she was watching. Selina caught on to the power trip and started researching and watching snippets whenever a new show comes out. That's how she stopped a bunch of preteen girls from watching Squid Game.

Tim often gets overlooked as not just the middle child, but the child who appears put-together and regularly takes on adult responsibilities. Selina, however, remembers that he's still a teenager. She regularly checks in and gradually teaches him that it's okay to let go and act his age. Selina encourages him to call his Young Justice friends outside of missions and take small acts of rebellion against Bruce. When Tim and his boyfriend snuck out to a famous lover's lookout, Selina gave them the car keys and covered for them.

She noticed that Jason really enjoys hanging out with Harley Quinn, bonding over not just Joker trauma but other shared interests like music taste. After Harley turns to the antihero side, Selina discusses with Bruce and they start inviting Aunt Harley and Aunt Ivy to dinner. The first time they do that, Harley is so excited that she baked a three-layer cake just for Jason. Literally, in strawberry frosting, it said, "THIS CAKE IS FOR JASON ONLY." Finding someone that Jason can relate to remains one of Selina's proudest accomplishments.

She's trying her best, but she makes mistakes too. For instance, although Wayne Manor has plenty of kitchen space, Selina does her cooking at Harley and Ivy's because Ivy can offer her fresh plant-based ingredients that suited Damian's needs. When Alfred's not available, she sends Damian to school with healthy, flavorful vegan lunches shaped into Cheese Viking characters. One time, she was tasked with bringing brownies to a PTA meeting. Incidentally, Harley was simultaneously baking a... different kind of brownie for a block party (you can see where this is heading). When an angry superintendent demanded to know who was responsible, Selina wisely kept her mouth shut and thankfully, so did Damian.

Cullen loves concerts, but he's a huge introvert who gets anxiety when he's left alone in a crowd. Selina becomes his concert buddy, and she'll go as all-out as he does. Sometimes that's showing up to a garage band dressed-down in hoodies and sunglasses. Other times it's painting their faces and looking like they just came out of a Hot Topic blowout sale. She even listens to the discography beforehand so she can blend in. Selina learns a lot about Cullen through this, because nothing says more about a person than the music they listen to.

Harper, though looking rough around the edges, turns into a giddy little kid at interactive science museums. During one of these trips, Harper got distracted by the giant Newton's Cradle so she didn't notice a fourth grade field trip sweeping up Selina. When they reunited at the gift shop, a chaperone had given Selina a school t-shirt and she was put in charge of grading ten kids' assignments. Harper laughed so hard that she spewed lemonade on the museum owner. Neither of them will let the other live that day down.

Selina and Barbara openly talk about guy stuff, and Selina is more than happy to offer advice in times of need. They're both pretty liberal talking about that stuff, and one time they did a tier ranking of all the Gotham Rogues based on how effective their gimmick is (Joker was the only S-tier). They then proceeded to get into a debate on whether or not Man-Bat and Killer Croc should qualify for the list, which led to them staring each other down at dinner while the other family members sat around them confused.

Steph's school offered a Mother's Day breakfast. Although Crystal Brown was doing her best and wanted to make it, she was scheduled a double-shift that the breakfast fell right in the middle of. Selina reached out to Crystal and with permission, went in her place. Afraid that Steph would publicly reject her, Selina sat in the parking lot for ten minutes as Bruce amped her up over the phone. Steph, thinking that no one would no up, was ecstatic and said that she couldn't have thought of anyone better. They enjoyed stacking up waffles and making the girls who bully Steph envious.

Long before she and Bruce got married, Selina made it clear that she would not be relegated to the gender-typical role of a homemaker, and Bruce happily concurred because it's 2021. They knew that to give Alfred a break, they'd have to take on some chores themselves. Instead of dividing up a boring old chore chart, they find ways to make cleaning fun and collaborative. They'll dance around the halls in mop slippers, play "guess the stain", and race their roombas. The kids see this and start modeling the behavior in their own ways—Dick swings from high places to dust them, Damian trains his pets to pick up garbage, and Cass and Duke compete to see who can clean the most bathtubs.

Some parts of the Manor are due for redecorating, so Selina and Alfred make a day trip out of interior design sketches, flipping through furniture catalogues, and looking at paint swatches. It sounds boring at first, but the menial tasks meant they had plenty of time for conversation, and she finally understood why everyone respects him. They also made room in the afternoon for a stroll through the park and afternoon tea, where he told her and her only the secret to a perfect scone.

The other Justice League partners welcome her into the group too. Whenever Selina's in Metropolis, she joins Lois and Ma and Pa for Sunday brunch where they share what their kids have been up to. Iris shows her life hacks to cooking large batches of food in a short time. Selina and Dinah discover an online store dedicated to selling vigilante gear and go on a Cyber Monday spree for their whole families. Steve Trevor, Diana's partner, teaches Selina how to fly with the invisible jet so she can surprise Bruce with the batplane.

After overcoming their initial conflicts, Selina and Talia hold a high amount of respect for each other. Talia sees Selina as not just a capable combatant, but a worthy partner to her former beloved and stepmother to her son. Selina, after spending all that time with the kids, understands the motherly love that Talia holds for Damian and makes it abundantly clear that she would never try to replace Talia in the boy's life. Regardless, looking after all those kids is hard, so they are very much open to the idea of co-parenting.

(Selina doesn't know it, but all this makes Bruce fall in love with her all over again.)

#ask #anonymous #selina kyle #catwoman #gotham city sirens #gotham rogues #batfamily #batfam #batkids #batsibings #batclan #batman family #dc comics #headcanon #tw food mention #tw mental health mention #tw drug mention

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hellraisered · 4 years ago

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Is it okay if i request poly bane and killer croc fluff with an s/o that loves to draw them in their sketchbook or paintings?

waylon jones / bane / reader || hcs.

these men, both renown for their violent natures, waver when it comes to you. you are significantly smaller than the both of them, and they are careful with you. they use a particularly light touch when holding you in their arms, holding your hand, afraid they might snap your bones if they tighten their grip even the slightest amount.

(still, out of the two, waylon does have his moments when he squeezes you a bit harder than he should.)

they also both tend to try and keep you out of the more... unsightly portions of their business, bane moreso than waylon. despite their efforts, you’re bound to see a fair share of blood with either of them.

they love your drawings. waylon tends to ask directly to see your work, sometimes peering over your shoulder, while bane tends to wait for you to approach him yourself with what you’ve made - he respects an artist’s space and privacy.

waylon is mildly self conscious when you first ask him to model for a sketch or painting - he has come to accept and utilize the way he looks to his advantage over time, but he still has his moments. he doesn’t say anything, but the way he stiffens and breaks eye contact for the briefest moment as you start drawing him, is enough to give him away.

he absolutely gets an ego boost once he sees your finished work. if you let him take it, he’ll keep it on his person, in his pocket, or near where he’s sleeping. when it inevitably gets ruined and drenched by sewer water, he doesn’t toss it, even when the drawing itself was faded and barely visible.

bane is a little more enthusiastic about being drawn, and upon seeing your work at first, might ask you to draw him. he might also ask you to show him some drawing tips, when he’d like to spend time with you. he loves the way you draw his form - you perfectly capture how powerful he looks.

as for bane and waylon interacting - they’ve... met. in the past. even though those interactions were often not the most positive, you are their unifier. they’re amicable, and perhaps a little more - only because of you.

#killer croc #bane #waylon jones #killer croc x reader #Anonymous #bane x reader #i've never written for bane before! and honestly i'm not too familiar with how he's characterized ; hope this worked!#does. bane have a real name

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cyrah-is-cool101 · 3 years ago

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OC in the DC Universe: Two AUs

Here’s another story idea but not one, but two story ideas! Please enjoy! My OC, Kate Morgan D. Jones, are in these stories.

1. Arkham Asylum AU

Story:

Kate Morgan D. Jones, a once half-demon sergeant in Metropolis but had moved to Gotham for reasons unknown but it would be because her superiors had given her a job offer from Gotham or something like that. She started working at Arkham as a security guard, Dr. Arkham was skeptical at first of her but due to her mannerism and politeness, he trust her. Kate became a role model towards the inmates, helping them with any needs they are having, especially towards the Batman’s rogues gallery. Harley Quinn and Kate have been close childhood classmates in high school and Killer Croc, being a relative and 7th cousin in Kate’s family, Kate also has a crush on both the Mad Hatter, who would calls Kate “Alice” instead because of her blue eyes and the Riddler. After Dr. Arkham committed suicide, due to the Scarecrow’s fear toxin in his system, Dr. Hugo Strange took over as new director and even sent Batman in prison at Arkham, Kate knew what she had to do: consult a plan with one of the inmates, particularly the Riddler, who would do anything to get even with Dr. Strange. Kate finally had some information about Dr. Strange’s methods on handling patients, even as gone far as bribing them to get info about Batman and the mysterious Batwoman. Soon enough, Dr. Strange was then fired from Arkham Asylum and was sent to Blackgate Prison, a new director was hired, Dr. Leland, who was Kate’s “senpai” from middle school and Kate became head of security after Lyle Bolten, her predecessor, was dismissed when Dr. Arkham was still alive.

2. Central City AU

Kate is a half-demon lieutenant who would often get into everyday scenarios, particularly being involve in the Flash’s everyday routine on stopping a crime committed by one of the rogues. Kate would often get kidnapped, taken hostage or other by a rogue. Kate has somewhat a few crushes with some of the rogues, some like Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, The Trickster, Weather Wizard and Mirror Master. She is also a close friend with Barry Allen and knows that he is the Flash because of her half demon abilities.

#batman #my OC #kate morgan jones #the flash

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david-was-here · 4 years ago

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Reference sheet I made of one of my favorite comic book characters, Killer Croc. I had this idea for a very gay fan comic that I may or may not do, who knows!

First model sheet is to show the color and different profile shots in establishing what the character looks like. I went with the more traditional, humanoid look of Croc as this one is more common, plus I also wanted to practice more on human-like designs too.

Second is an expression sheet on the different facial expressions he would make.

Third is an outfit ref sheet. First two are variants of street outfits, third one is an inmate attire.

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bisexualsforprompto · 5 years ago

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Guilt and Love Chapter 4

“So demon spawn whos this soulmate we’ve heard so much about?” Teased Jason at dinner. “None of your business Todd.” Damian replied curtly. Dick started to crack up, “He-he has Ladybug on one wrist! And a French girl on another!” Jason almost spat out his steak, “Two soulmates?! Damnnnn. When’d you get so smooth?” Damian rolled his eyes. “Well, not really smooth if one is an insect!” Dick continued chuckling. Jason joined his laughter while Tim stifled a laugh. Bruce decided his son probably had enough ridicule, “That’s enough boys.”

“Fineee.” Jason snickered until he was able to calm himself down. Damian picked at his food, something didn’t sit right with that blonde kid and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He was barely paying attention to his family’s antics. He also couldn’t stop thinking about the Ladybug on his wrist. Some kind of superhero maybe? Damian stood up from his seat at the table and began to walk down to the batcave. “Where are you going?” Tim asked. “I need to research a certain blonde heathen.”

Turns out the blonde heathen was a model named Adrien Agreste, son of the famous designer Gabriel. Damian researched him for hours on end without avail. He recognized the presence of everyone who walked down to the batcave and when they realized he wouldn’t leave the computer he recognized their departure too. Damian couldn’t find anything all that helpful so he switched gears to look for superheroes named Ladybug. He didn’t expect to find anything but oddly enough there were thousands of hits, he clicked on the first site, a video clip.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Nadja Chamack reporting live on the akuma Queen Wasp. Here are our heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir on the scene once again!” “Ladybug”...Marinette had also mentioned her Damian realized. She’d also mentioned Chat Noir, but as if he did something wrong… He quickly changed gears and searched Chat Noir. The post from the Ladyblog came up.

As of 2:27pm this Thursday Ladybug has confirmed that Chat Noir is no longer coming to fight akumas. Did our dynamic duo have a falling out? Stay tuned! Alya, Ladyblogger out!

‘Interesting’, Damian thought. ‘Marinette called that kid Chat. Maybe there is a correlation.’

“Damian it’s three am.” Dick said as he walked over to the boy at the computer. “And?” Damian asked, eyes still glued on the screen. “And don’t you want to be well-rested for your little coffee date tomorrow?” Damian narrowed his eyes at his brother, “How did you know about that?” Dick punched Damian in the arm playfully, “Hah you’re not denying it’s a date. And I may have overheard…” Damian scowled, “Overheard or eavesdropped?” “Who can say really?” Damian growled, “I can’t believe you.”

“Don’t change the subject. Come on you have to sleep.” Damian rolled his eyes, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” He continued scrolling trying to learn about Chat Noir and Ladybug. “Hey that’s my line!” Tim said as he rushed into the room with coffee in hand. “First Grayson now Drake, you just keep multiplying.” Dick picked Damian up much to his chagrin, but he was too tired and Dick was far too much bigger than him so he squirmed until he realized he wasn’t going to win this battle. Dick threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried him to his room.

Dick threw his adopted brother on his bed, “Stay.” “Not a dog Grayson!” Dick chuckled, that statement was the last thing to come out of Damian’s mouth before he drifted to sleep.

Damian woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, it was 8:30am, he should’ve woken up awhile ago. He answered the phone groggily, not checking the caller ID. “Yes?!”

“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry did I wake you up?!” Asked a panicked girl with a heavy French accent on the other end. “Marinette? No, no sorry. What were you calling about.” He perked up a little. “I was just calling to see when you wanted to go for coffee.” Damian winced when he remembered the time, “Maybe make that brunch. How about 10?” Damian could practically see Marinette’s grin over the phone in her answer, “Sounds amazing! Where would you like to meet?” Damian was a little groggy but he still wanted to treat Marinette well, as she should be treated, “Can I have the address of your hotel? I can pick you up and take you somewhere. Maybe give a small tour of Gotham since you haven’t been here before.” He wasn’t nervous for her response, no way. He wasn’t afraid she was going to yell at him for asking for the place she was staying, absolutely not. It was ridiculous to imply such a thing.

“Sounds perfect! I’ll send you where I’m staying!” Marinette exclaimed. Damian let out some breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Perfect, I’ll be there at 10 sharp.”

~~~~~~~

Marinette brushed her hair once more for good measure. “Can you imagine Tikki?! He’s so chivalrous, he’s picking me up!” She sighed dreamily as Tikki giggled. “I hope you enjoy the date Marinette, you deserve it!” Marinette grinned as she took her purse and walked out of her room.

~~~~~~~

“Oh Marinette where are you going?” Asked Lila with a sickening sweetness. “None of your business Lila.” Lila faked sniffling and Marinette turned around, prepared to tell her off but then saw her surrounded by the whole French class. They were not happy, even Adrien who was normally impartial. “Are you going off with that Wayne kid?” Adrien asked stone faced. “So what if I am?” Marinette asked her ex partner. He ran after her and dug his nails into her skin, “Don’t leave. He’s bad news.” Marinette struggled, “Let go of me Adrien!”

“You heard the lady.” Said a voice causing Adrien to jump back. There in full glory stood Red Hood, Nightwing, and Red Robin. “W-what are you doing here?!” Squeaked the model. The class gawked at the heroes before them. Dick wanted to say they were here to check on their newest member of the family, but he figured Damian would not appreciate them giving away their identities. “That’s not important, but what is important is not touching a girl when she says no. And what’s important is not just standing by and letting it happen!” Jason, the hothead he was, yelled at the class. The class fled tails between their legs out of the lobby.

Marinette smiled, “Thank you. That was much appreciated! So I’m guessing Robin told you I’m his soulmate…” Marinette was a little surprised, Robin had seemed so...Not like the others. If he teammates were kind maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “Wait, wait you met Robin?” Marinette gave them a confused look, “Uh yes…” Nightwing stood in shock, “Do you know his identity?” Marinette shook her head, “Of course not. Believe me I know how important secret identities are.” Nightwing stood in a stupor just like his brothers, this meant she had two names on her wrist like Damian. ‘Could this mean Marinette was Lad-‘ Nightwing’s head started to pound. ‘What was I thinking about? I can’t remember.’

Damian walked into the lobby of the Wayne hotel, when he saw his brothers in costume talking to Marinette he immediately regretted telling them where she was staying. Damian gave them the death stare as Marinette skipped up to him. Nightwing gave him a look, it said ‘I need to tell you something.’ Damian nodded at the silent communication and headed out with Marinette.

~~~~~~~

“So Damian I need to tell you something.” Marinette fidgeted with her fork not looking her soulmate in the eyes. She felt so bad that she hadn’t immediately told him that she had two soulmates. A loud ringing made Damian fall out of their engrossed conversation. He checked his phone and almost gasped, “I’m sorry, Marinette but I really have to go. To be continued?” Marinette nodded, although she was enjoying his company she was nervous to tell him about her second soulmate. “I’m going to call my butler to pick you up.”

“B-butler?!” Marinette exclaimed. Damian gave her an odd look, “Uh yeah…” The pieces started to click in Marinette’s mind. She hid her face in her hands, “Oh my god you’re that Damian Wayne!” She banged her head on the table. Damian almost chuckled, although it was refreshing to know his soulmate was sweet to him without knowing he was rich. “I’m going to have to take the car I drove you in, but Alfred will be around soon. Let’s do this again soon Marinette, if you’re available, of course.” Damian said shyly. Marinette nodded as she stifled a blush. ‘She’s kind of adorable’ Damian mused as he left the café. He checked his notification from his father once more, it simply read “Killer Croc”. Damn it why couldn’t Damian just live in a normal city?!

~~~~~~~

Croc wasn’t all that difficult, especially not with him, his father and all his ‘brothers’ there to help. What was difficult was explaining to his brothers that he never met Marinette as Robin.

“I’m telling you Grayson, the only time I’ve ever seen Marinette was as Damian.” He protested. “But baby bird, if that’s true that means your soulmate was lying about meeting Robin!” Dick said, millions of warning signals going off in his head. Damian shook his head, “Or it means she met somebody she thinks was Robin. Drake pull up the security footage from Marinette’s hotel, specifically last night.”

Tim pulled up the feed and Damian scowled, oh how heads were going to roll...

Taglist (y’all know how this goes):

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@beaversuenightly

@legendaryneckjudgestudent

@luciferge

@northernbluetongue

@mandy984

@Zebrabaker

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@my-name-is-michell

@angelofmusickaterinapetrova

@kanamexzeroyaoifangirl

@bee-wrecker

@redscarlet95

@panda3506

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momocon · 5 years ago

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Happy to welcome back Fred Tatasciore to MomoCon 2020! Fred Tatasciore is a voice actor/animator known for his work in film, television and games. He can be heard regularly on Fox's Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show. He plays Aaarggggh! and many characters on the new show, Trollhunters (for Netflix by Guillermo Del Torro), For Marvel, he has voiced Hulk/Banner, Beast, Thing, and Crossbones in countless animated roles, including Hulk and the Agents of Smash, Avengers Assemble, MARVEL Spiderman (Max Model), and Guardians of the Galaxy, Ultimate Spiderman. For DC, He played various characters on Batman, The Brave and the Bold, DC Girls as Bane, Solomon Grundy, Deathstroke, Gorilla Grod, Killer Croc, and The Killing Joke (as Ringmaster). He has also appeared on numerous Nickelodeon programs including Breadwinners (The Bread Maker), Pig Goat Banana Cricket (Thomas Jefferson), Kung Fu Panda, Legends of Awesomeness (Master Shifu), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Rocksteady), Monsters vs. Aliens (Vornicarn), Sanjay and Craig (Barfy the Dog), Loud House, and Invader Zim. Fred's work in videogames include OVERWATCH (Soldier 76), Minecraft (Jack), Gears of War (Damon Baird), StarCraft (Zeratul), Mass Effect (Saren Arterius), Call of Duty (Nikolai Belinsky), and Ratchet and Clank (Neftin Prog). He has worked with Disney Television on Star and the Forces of Evil (as Buffrog), Ducktales, Sofia the First (as Harumph), Future Worm, Penn Zero: Part Time Hero (Coach Egsgard), Tangled, Wander Over Yonder (Monsters), TRON, Uprising (Flynn and Clue), and Star Wars Rebels (Boss Yushyn). In Disney Theme Parks, Fred can be heard as the voices of Darth Vader and Groot; various characters on Star Tours and Soarin; Bigfoot on Mount Everest (Orlando), and the voice of Space Mountain for the past decade.

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dcarevu · 6 years ago

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Batman TAS: Vendetta

“Alfred! You’re beautiful!”

Episode: 23 Robin: No Writer: Michael Reaves Director: Frank Paur Animator: Spectrum Airdate: October 5, 1992 Grade: B

I love it when in Batman media, we get to see Batman solving mysteries. Particularly when it’s a little bit more involved than Batman simply putting something into his computer and having it shit out an automatic answer for him. I like to see him investigating a crime-scene, interrogating thugs, and exploring new areas. That is exactly what we got to see in the episode Vendetta, as Batman tries to figure out who is seemingly axing off different convicts that share some dark connections with Harvey Bullock. Because of these connections, along with some framing and some false evidence, Batman suspects that Harvey himself could be the one causing trouble, a concept that I feel was begging to be done. Bullock often suspects Batman as not only being untrustworthy, but sometimes even having a hand in specific crimes (see On Leather Wings). Here it is a reverse situation. Harvey didn’t do anything wrong (as Commissioner Gordon insisted to Batman, letting him know that Bullock is a good cop), so Batman, instead of immediately blaming him and going after him, takes his time, trying to make sure that he has the mystery solved. This highlights one of Bullock’s flaws, and that is his pride (which we have mentioned before). Once he suspects something, he has too much pride to consider other possibilities. And sometimes, these suspicions of his can get him into a lot of trouble like in the episode P.O.V. Batman, on the other hand, is much more unbiased when he is at work. And even though he heavily suspected Bullock, in the end, he was willing to admit that he was mistaken to Bullock’s face. Bullock, obviously foreign to this respectable behavior, seemed confused, but perhaps it was enough to maybe teach him a thing or two. Batman’s little speech at the end was really nice too, and it shows that even though he feels similar about Bullock to how Commissioner Gordon feels, that he’s stubborn and hard to work with, he still respects him on some level. He knows that Bullock wants what is best for the city, and that he believes in keeping crime down while keeping innocent people safe. They both have questionable ways of working with the law too. Bullock can be slimy, sneaky, and willing to break some of the rules. So can Batman. But one major difference is that Bullock is an official employee, while Batman isn’t. Yet another thing that he is incredibly proud of. He also seemed to assume that Batman wouldn’t ever bother helping out someone like him, as if they were enemies. He didn’t seem to understand that Batman wants the same basic things that he does. The two could probably work pretty well together if they tried. And I’m not going to pretend that Batman can’t be just as stubborn as Bullock. He’s the protagonist, so we may not notice it as much (we get more insight on him), but we are sure to notice a lot of Bullock-like qualities that he possesses as we move much further into the DCAU, when he meets up with some future protagonists. Batman can be a dick, guys. But that’s a discussion for another day. I’ll just leave it with saying that I think as Batman gets more jaded and as things around him start changing, he gets much more disgruntled.

“Why’d you stick your neck out like that to help me?”

“We may have different ways of enforcing the law, but we both believe in it.”

Speaking of disgruntled, Killer Croc makes his first appearance here, and it is pretty satisfactory. When I first saw this episode (my dad watched it with me, by the way, alleviating the pain of him only seeing I’ve Got Batman in My Basement and The Forgotten prior), I already knew who Croc was, and had already seen an episode with him, so the buildup was not nearly as strong. For Char, I think it was more elevated, as I don’t think she was expecting him. She was familiar with his Suicide Squad design, though, so it was hard for her not to compare it with this more ugly one. Yeah, I don’t know about Croc’s design. I’m pretty used to it, so it doesn’t bother me, but I have heard others say that they’re not really a fan. He only kinda looks crocodile-like, and I think that is because of the more subdued, realistic approach that this show was initially going for. I tend to prefer the hulking mass that we get to see in Arkham Asylum, which is significantly scarier. In this episode, we see the fear in the convicts’ eyes as they witness the strange-looking, reptilian man, and I think that it ends up being a little anticlimactic, especially since he doesn’t kill them or anything (on top of looking the way he does). Taking all that into consideration, the episode would have gotten an A most likely if the issue was fixed. Buuuut, I do like Croc as a villain, despite this. He has an interesting enough backstory, he creates a challenge for Batman, he has a cool habitat, and his personality is fine. He’s definitely not a sympathetic villain like Freeze or Two-Face, but Harvey Bullock was the one with the focus this time. It makes sense that Killer Croc would serve more as that scary, mysterious threat which lurks around in the water, stalking and capturing him. Too much insight can take away from the intimidation. Also, not every villain in real life has all that much depth to them. As long as the episode is still entertaining and has other qualities to take the place of the intense feels (and this episode does indeed), then it’s perfectly reasonable that not every villain in Gotham would either. Sometimes you just need an evil guy, with an evil plan, and a cool gimmick.

Oh, Spectrum is back with the animation. This is weird because, again, I thought they went under after Heart of Ice which was a handful of episodes back now. Also, this episode isn’t quite up to snuff with a lot of the things that they’ve done. I noticed some recycled animation, some weird models, and overall a cheaper-feeling quality. But it’s not Akom-level stuff either, it’s closer to Dong Yang, which is 100% fine by me. I’m trying not to be spoiled. This is a 90’s television show, aimed at kids, which had an accompanying toy line. How much can I really expect? So while not very recognizable as Spectrum, it is still beyond passable, and the directing/storyboarding was a highlight (take a look at some of the below screenshots).

Do these look like Spectrum drawings to you?

This one is a little more like it.

I like the bit where Commissioner Gordon dumps out his nasty coffee. Another little bit of character.

Croc’s hand reaching out of the water. “Hayyyy, guys! Can I get a lift?”

This still doesn’t do the intensity of this guy’s fear any justice. His sudden gasp was one of pure panic.

These types of blue colors are incredibly common in Batman TAS. The team couldn’t always use the variety in colors that they wanted. They were pushing the budget as it was.

This section confused me a little bit. We see Bullock toss a toothpick to the ground. But later, the toothpick is treated as though Croc planted it to frame him. It must have been a different toothpick, right? This is not communicated very clearly. And I don’t know, how would Croc have known that Bullock would have a toothpick on him? How would he know that others would notice? And how well known for carrying a toothpick around is Bullock, exactly?

A great shot.

The planted toothpick. Or maybe it’s actually the one Bullock dropped. I’m not entirely sure.

We see lightning flash, engulfing Bullock in light. It looks awesome in motion because we don’t linger on it. Although one thing that bugs me about cartoons is that we always hear the thunder boom at the exact time that the lightning strikes, which is generally not what we experience.

Look at those reflections. Another cool use of lightning. We need a Top 10 Lightning Strikes post eventually I think. Hmm...

There was nothing like this on TV at the time.

Just an s short of being a Psycho reference.

This might be the first time that we see how the entrance to the Batcave works? Oddly, we hear the clock ticking in this scene. I wonder if the hands move. And if they do, there has to be some function to prevent the door from opening when it reaches 12 normally. I’ll bet that Alfred is the one who has to fix the time.