#btas anniversary

[vetor2064]

I found out yesterday that it was Batman The Animated Series's 32nd Anniversary. So to celebrate, I posted this posca drawing of the illustration seen in the end credits. This was actually done back in July, but just like with that color pencil drawing. I kept forgetting to post it. But good thing I saved it for this occasion.

Happy 32nd Anniversary Batman The Animated Series!!

[jondoe297]

first thrift trip of February here's what i got

4 inch Marvel Legends Doctor Strange. missin the Cloak obvi but still a nice find

ID/image description: photo of an action figure of Doctor Strange as he appears in his solo MCU movie minus his Cloak,standing on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. end description.

Lucy finger puppet from the 50s!! the 50s! pretty crazy

ID/image description: photo of a small rubberry finger puppet toy of Lucy from Peanuts placed on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind it. end description.

Kenner Air Assault Batman💙

ID/image description: photo of a Kenner action figure of Batman from Batman The Animated Series wearing an armored Batsuit with black cowl,gloves,boots and trunk and light blue reppacing the gray of his regular Batsuit. white lines/streaks are painted over the blue parts. he has his regular yellow oval Batsymbol and his belt is yellow. he is standing on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. end description.

an DC Direct Black Adam from the year 2000!! got im for only a couple bucks too cuz they had im with the cheaper/younger kids' figures loool

ID/image description: photo of an action figure of Black Adam in his classic comics look standing on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. end description.

[pengumi12]

[emaratygirl]

Happy Anniversary Batman The Animated Series 1992 in September 5nd

@romancemedia @fyeahdickgrayson @fyeahdickandbabs @animusrox @batmananimated @superheroes-or-whatever @fyeahbatmantheanimatedseries @batmantheanimatedseries @60sgroove @donnastroy @dickbabs @jazzymarie1006 @chonijabitha @gordongrayson-blog @crystal-starlight @worldsfinestonline @dickgreyson @batmannotes @babsgordnn @abyssling @darkphoenyx @batmantheanimatedseriestvseries @btasbats @btas-gifs @jessequicks @castlewyvern @btas-screens @sakurastark @dickbabslovers @dcmultiverse @dcugifs @dcuniversewatchtower-blog

[riddle-me-ri]

A/N: Whelp, the results are in, and the vast majority of you guys voted to how the Rogues will react to a reader refusing to reciprocate their affections. When I tell you it was hard to narrow down the title to fit the header image lmao but I hope it still makes sense! Starting up first with the Riddlers...duh and the rest will follow shortly I promise! Hope you guys enjoy! And thanks so much for voting again!

Reader Ignores The Riddlers' Affections

Arkhamverse Riddler: 

Listen, I don’t think it’s even worth it to see his reaction. 

He’s not that big on affection as it is. 

Now that you finally somehow warmed him up to the idea…

You’re gonna tease him? 

Really?

You know this isn’t…normal for him

Why give him a hard time??

FINE, be that way…it’s not like he enjoys your hugs or kisses anyway…absolutely stupid.

(not really, please don’t ignore him)

There’s no point in mentioning that miniscule sigh of relief he lets out when you kiss his cheek. 

He will never admit to it.

Reevesverse/Dano Riddler: 

He’s going to immediately think he’s done something wrong. 

Did…did he do something wrong?

Oh, gosh…did he forget a birthday? Anniversary? Holiday?? No..he couldn’t have..

You’re always so forthcoming with your hugs and kisses.

At the very least, you always reciprocated. That’s how Edward knew he was…doing it right.

Like many Riddlers on this list, this is new to him. 

Please don’t tease him too harshly

Man’s will get mad confused and flustered. 

You have to be as quick to apologize and comfort him. 

Kiss him until your lips are numb and your arms are falling asleep.

And please don’t do it again

Gotham Riddler: 

Are you upset? Has your mind drifted to something else? 

He puts his hand on your shoulder or taps you lightly. 

Okay, you acknowledged him, he gives you his signature tight lipped smile.

He leans in and gives you a peck on the cheek

After a pause he taps his own cheek.

You’re supposed to return it…don’t shrug and walk away!

This leads Ed to anxiously ramble about every decision he made that day, apolgizing for each one, cause clearly you’re mad. 

The only way to get him to shut up is to kiss him. 

Tell him he’s fine, you were only messing with him. 

He’s relieved but, please, don’t do that again. 

BTAS Riddler: 

Ed loves to give you adoring kisses on the cheek and sweet hugs. 

It’s quite routine, whenever he first sees you, either in the morning or in a new room he does it. 

You always return the gesture. 

So he’s taken aback when you blatantly ignore him. 

At first he wants to think you were distracted about something, or something is wrong.

When you remain steadfast, he becomes flustered. 

However, the minute you see his face fall, you can’t keep it up. 

You hug him and kiss him back, surprising him.

You apologies giggly, saying you only meant to tease him a tad.

You both agree you took it a bit too far. 

You promise not to do it again…for now with a kiss. 

Zero Year/Capullo Riddler: 

Ugh fine, whatever. 

Don’t come crying to him when he leaves. 

You should’ve taken his affections when you had the chance. 

He doesn’t have to stick around, kiss your cheek or hand, wrap his arm around you.

Nope, he just did it cause he knew you liked it. 

(also knew it’d give him brownie points to your pants later)

Although that’s likely the reason you stopped returning his gestures in the first place. 

Is it so hard to actually be romantic without expecting something? 

Likely the only Riddler where you hold out from returning ANY affection for the longest. 

It takes awhile, but Ed eventually becomes to frustrated and pent up. 

The moment he admits you may have a point or better yet, he may be so torn up to apologize. 

You return the praises, kisses, and caresses. 

You will never forget the absolute sparkle in his green eyes. 

Twojar Riddler: 

Edward is taken aback.

He too tries to think if he’s done something to piss you off. 

Yet, when you don’t give him a straight answer, he’s likely to pick up on the fact you’re just teasing. 

Well, two can play at that game. 

What once started as a means to get him to grovel to his knees towards you…

Winds up being an almost two week long challenge to see who yearned more for the other. 

Who wins is totally up for debate. 

Regardless whoever wins or loses…you both get yours in the end. 

Gotham City Sirens Riddler: 

Ed cringes, but sighs in exhausted defeat. 

He’s already assumed your cross with him because he has been neglectful. 

Things have been crazy busy at the office, case after case…

And you both know he can’t afford to say no to too many of them. 

When you turn your head from his lips and don’t get off the couch to hug him. 

He already knows your hurt, and already sets the wheels in motion to make things right. 

Eddie almost breaks your heart when he outright apologizes if he’s been neglectful of you. 

You instantly go to him, wrap your arms around him and shake your head. 

Insisting that it wasn’t him, you were just teasing, he hadn’t done anything wrong. 

Now you’re the one apologizing, not realizing how good of a front you put up. 

All is forgiven in the end, with a sweet long kiss.

Telltale Riddler: 

Probably, no most definitely, the one least bothered about it. 

He finds it annoying more than anything. 

You constantly nag him about showing a lack of affection.

So now that he shows it, you're going to ignore him?

Fine, suit yourself.

But don't come bothering him later about him not trying.

It doesn't take long for you to realize you may have messed up. 

You instantly apologize, saying you were just teasing.

Even asking how it feels to be ignored…

(which he has been guilty of doing to you when you kiss or embrace him)

Edward rolls his eyes and just sighs. 

You guys still have a ways to go, but there has been some progress.

Young Justice Riddler: 

Another riddle lad that thinks he's messed up somehow. 

When you turn your head to the side to dodge a kiss.

Eddie's hurt almost instantly.

He's also immediately thrown into panic mode. 

Oh my god, please comfort him

He’s about to cry

You hug him and kiss him. 

You didn’t mean anything by it, just wanting to tease him. 

Please, please don’t tease his wee heart like that. 

Eddie can only take so much. 

Hush (DCAU) Riddler: 

Edward instantly assumes you're mad at him for something. 

If anyone is aware of his shortcomings it's him. 

He wouldn't be surprised if he messed up somewhere. 

But when it comes to you, it's harder to sweep under the rug

Ed asks if something is wrong, usually, you return his kisses with your own. 

It's extremely discouraging, especially from someone…the only one who has encouraged him in anything. 

After dodging a couple more pecks and embraces…you can't keep the act up anymore. 

You just can't handle that saddened look on his face. 

You spend most of the evening reassuring him, insisting you were just teasing. 

You promise not to ever turn down his affections again.

[about-faces]

Hi, I want to read some DC comics about how Harvey transformed from former DA to the criminal mastermind who ruled half of Gotham's Underworld (against the Penguin). I've already read/seen: Two-Face: A Celebration of 75 Years Batman: The Long Halloween Batman: Dark Victory (1999) Batman '89 Batman: The Animated Series Batman: The Audio Adventures

Any other reading recommendations? Thanks a lot for your help. :)

So you're looking for origin stories, or at least ones that shed more light on Two-Face's origin? Well first off, I'm glad you read the 75th Anniversary collection, because that has three of my very favorites: the original Harvey Kent trilogy from 1942-43, the Grace Dent story from Secret Origins Special (1989), and "Eye of the Beholder" from Batman Annual #14 (1990).

Besides those, and the ones you've listed, here are a few others to check out. Some are great, some are mixed bags, and some are downright lousy.

First and foremost, I STRONGLY recommend the 1989 Batman newspaper comic strip, which I loved so much that I posted the whole two-year saga on its own tumblr account. You can start from the very beginning right here, but keep in mind that Harvey's storyline--which runs all the way to the very last strip--doesn't really start until the second arc.

Next, Batman: Dual to the Death by Geary Gravel is a YA novelization of the BTAS origin, seamlessly combined with the two-part Batgirl origin episodes. It improves on both the animated versions in small but crucial ways, and it's highly recommended for BTAS fans. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to find.

On a similar note, Peter David's movie novelization of Batman Forever can be found more easily, either in used book form or on the Internet Archive, and it's absolutely worth reading. I love the movie of Batman Forever, but it's objectively a terrible take on Harvey. The novelization adds SO MUCH, including an original prequel scene with D.A. Harvey Dent, and his ending is far more satisfying.

Cartoon Network's CGI animated series Beware the Batman (2013) also features a series-long origin arc for Harvey Dent, but it's one of the worst takes I've ever seen on the character. He's a petty, selfish, ambitious little prick, an absolute scumbag, completely devoid of depth or tragedy. Thankfully, few have seen this arc, since the majority of Harvey's episodes were never aired after the series was cancelled, but they're all available to watch for those morbidly curious to see just how badly someone can screw up Harvey as a character.

"The Big Burn" from Batman and Robin, vol 2 #24-28 (2014), also collected in B&R volume 5. After the huge DC reboot, this was Harvey new origin, which tried some very different things with him. A VERY mixed bag, but one that ended in a hugely exciting way that makes the whole thing worth reading. Follow it up with its sequel, "Ugly Heart," from Detective Comics #1020-1024, collected in Detective Comics Vol 5: Joker War.

Finally, watch the entirety of the recently-released/cancelled CW series Gotham Knights, with Misha Collins performing a surprisingly rich, interesting, and flawed Harvey Dent origin arc. The show got a lot of shit, some of it undeserved, but Collins' Harvey was an intriguing surprise, and I fear nothing we see from Harvey in any Reevesverse media will bring half as much care and interest to Harvey as GK did, for better or worse. All 13 episodes can be watched for free on CW Seed, region permitting.

EDIT: Oh right also the Telltale Batman video game! I haven't actually played that yet because I know enough about what happens and the illusion of meaningful choice indicative of Telltale games that I just don't feel like putting myself through that. People seem to like it a lot, though! I just... don't put me in a position of choosing to save either Harvey or Selina if you're just going to cheat and have him go evil anyway.

[zahri-melitor]

Going through a really weird period of Catwoman 2016 right now (the transition between the Joëlle Jones run and the Ram V run) where the artists really cannot decide what costume Selina's supposed to be wearing. I assume it's some tribute to 80 years of Catwoman but it's also really distracting as some of the shifts don't even have a story-prompt.

Is she wearing the Jones free-the-armpits design? (#1-17, #22, books not titled 'Catwoman')

Is she wearing the 70s purple dress and green cape? (#17-18, though this one feels like she picked it specifically to dress up as Catwoman-but-not-in-costume for a night out)

Is she wearing a modern version of the 90s purple with black thigh boots? (#19-20, with no story reason given)

Is she wearing her Darwyn Cooke costume, with the red cat eye goggles? (#20-21, opens box from Alfred containing it)

Is she wearing the BTAS outfit??? In grey with the blobby gold circles belt? (#23-24, look I don't even know why)

And then there is 80th Anniversary, which deliberately uses everything, but that's because they're telling stories from various periods.

I don't mind some of the choices (70s dress worked really well for the story it was in), but given I use her costumes to be able to place what period a story is supposed to be set in it was really, really distracting.

[everyones-least-favorite-bard]

🔥 for the brucester

OOOOH thats kinda hard actually i feel like i dont have very strong brucie takes

that being said while it isnt something i genuinely believe i do like to entertain the idea that bruce is actually straight just because i think itd be funny if he has all these deeply intense, deeply emotionally fraught, and deeply, deeply, WEIRD homoerotic relationships with other men because hes just Like That. thats just how he makes friends. he doesnt want to fuck any of them even a little bit.

what else. hm. i bet he actually can cook pretty well but pretends hes really bad at it so alfred+his kids can "help" him in the kitchen. i think he likes dad rock too. i bet he listens to steely dan. john mellencamp. completely unfounded but i think itd be fun. imagining damian in the car witheringly sitting through fuckin pet sounds or something while bruce hums and taps the steering wheel

hm. is saying hes still not over talia a hot take or just true. i bet he cries himself to sleep on their anniversary. sniveling wretch (affectionate).

there are probably things i could say about bruce-and-batman regarding the split identity idea but i want 2 save those thoughts for a proper post but still. i dont think my take is very hot on that its really just an extension of what btas established

[poisonousquinzel]

Batman: The Animated Series: Death In The Family arc & Harley Quinn's involvement.

Hiiiiiii, I've been working on remaking a post and I wanted to briefly discuss this arc itself beforehand because of a panel that's being used in the other post. <3

So Ig to begin, in case you weren't unaware, the btas universe isn't technically over.

While the animated show has long since wrapped, Paul Dini has participated heavily in a continuation comic series that take place somewhere in the New Batman Adventures seasons.

(Side note: Batman: The Animated Series / The New Batman Adventures are the essentially the same show.

Wiki: Three years after the second season of Batman: The Animated Series ended production, the show was moved from Fox to The WB network, which was airing and producing Superman: The Animated Series. These shows were merged as part of an hour-long segment called The New Batman/Superman Adventures. The WB wanted more episodes of Batman, so 24 new episodes were produced, which featured a different format and more focus on Batman's supporting cast.

In addition to the network's demands, the producers decided to make the show match the graphic style of Superman, so all the characters and objects were redesigned with fewer lines, usually referred to by the fans and creative staff as the "revamp" (or alternately, the "new look"). A similar graphic style was used in the rest of the DCAU later on.

The entire series was released on DVD as Batman: The Animated Series Volume Four (From The New Batman Adventures), most likely to establish the connection with the original series.

Ex: Catwoman is shown in the first arc of these comics and she's based off TNBA's redesign.

-

So, the Death in The Family storyline. It starts off right from the bat in Season 1 of the comic.

This story is being told multiple years after it happened, all from what Alfred knows of the event. He's telling the current Robin what happened after it's been discovered that Jason Todd is alive.

The first appearance Harley has in this series is this moment.

"Well, well! Looks like the bat-brood is in serious need of family therapy."

"I happen ta know a good shrink..."

He explains that Jason ran away and quickly remade his public image, from Boy Wonder to Boy Barbarian.

This change was noted by the Gotham Rogues.

Batman gets Intel that Jason's next target is rumored to be The Joker. Cut back to Harley & that creep.

Now, even though they'd commented on him needing a shrink, that's not what they were doing that night.

Knowing Harley, this was a very special night for her. Their anniversary.

They were out for a romantic night on the town, or so Harley had hoped...

"Ya call this romance?! I get more affection dewormin' th' hyenas!"

"Oh, don't be such a party pooper, Pooh. Look! Something for you to snuggle when I'm out with the bat-boys."

Of course, The Joker being the stupid little bitch he is, the night doesn't scream romance or anything close and she's frustrated. She tells him off and storms off, Joker giving a loving "Yeah, you'll come crawling back. You always do!". what a charmer 🔪💀

"An' now I'm out! Sayonara, smiley! We're done!"

"Yeah, you'll come crawling back. You always do! Now where's that pesky whack-a-mole..."

"Who's crawling now, Puddin'?!"

"Give my regards to th' laffin' fish!"

That was just the start of their very public breakup. Ms. Quinn appeared intent on destroying every place they had gone as a couple.

Let's make it clear that Harley did not have some elaborate "Let's pretend to fight and break up and I'll go pretend to be mad and destroy shit until the Boy Barbarian shows up." Plan with Joker.

She was destroying stuff that reminded her of him and their time together because she was mad and hurt. That's it. This wasn't a ploy to get Jason out of hiding.

He just happened to show up.

"I'm single an' celebratin'! Whoopee cushions fer all!"

Of course, these shenanigans would bring her out into the open. As they did that evening when she decided to close down their favorite restaurant.

"Red hots! Get 'em while they're hot! Umphh!"

"And here I thought you only dated weiners."

"Back off, boy scout!!"

"Boy scout? You haven't been watchin' the news."

"Agh!"

"I'm a bad boy now. More your type. In fact, we got something else totally in common."

And The Joker just happened to feel like stopping him.

Though it's Very Very doubtful he did this out of a "oh no, my love, Harley, is getting hurt." It was an opportunity and he took it.

That's it.

It had nothing to do with Harley being in danger.

It also likely had to do with the fact that he heard Jason ask her about his location and he didn't want to risk losing whatever hideout they'd acquired this time.

So he shocks him, asking Harley if she's playing the field already.

"We both want to get rid of The Joker. Tell me where he is and you'll only wind up in the emergency room."

"How could a girl say no ta that?"

[Jason gets shocked by Joker.]

"Playing the field already, punkin-pie?"

"Oh, Mista J., You really do care!"

"Smucks, Harley-Mae, I cain't stay mad at you. I even brung ya some flowers from ma's garden. Ah-hyuck!"

"It was a...trick....uuhh..."

"On second thought, they're more fittin' on this here young fella. Now don't that look purdy?"

While Jason passes out believing it was a trick, it wasn't.

It was just bad timing.

Harley wanted a romantic night on the town, and when that didn't happen, she wanted to instead destroy all the places she'd been with Joker that reminded her of that relationship. That's the Only thing she wanted.

Maybe Joker had a plan, but it wasn't one she was privy to.

This isn't what's stated by Alfred, but frankly, that's understandable. He does have bias in this situation.

But what we're shown does not align with "So Harley lured Jason in and Joker sprang the trap."

I said it once and I'll say it again, as great as Alfred and Bruce are, sometimes, they aren't reliable narrators. It was the same thing in the Mad Love episode and, especially, comic. As the comic is the only one that's got their conversation about Harleen. In the episode itself, it cuts straight from the Dentist's office to Harley trying to be seductive.

I've talked about that comic and the themes here, here and here.

Anyway.

"I wanted a cheerful environment for our playdate. You've been a busy bird lately. And an unhappy one too, it seems."

"I'll feel better when my hands are around your neck!"

"There! You see? All that pent up hostility! The boy is obviously in need of help."

"Oh, if only there was a trusted professional we could call!"

"A-hem. The doctor is in!

In...sane, that is! And ca-raaazy t' help ya!"

"You're dead, Quinn."

"Oh my! Such violent psychotic tendencies."

"What do you make of him, doctor?"

"The patient has a history of acting out destructive power fantasies. No doubt the effect of a very toxic home environment."

"Knowing the father, I concur."

"It's clear that Batman's obsession with building a vigilante dynasty has driven him to make anyone a so-called Robin. Even an unhinged maniac like this."

"Yes, yes! I'm in complete agreement with your diagnosis. With an emphasis on the "Die"!

What we're faced with is a case of self-preservation.

Penguin nearly splattered into street pizza, Clock King almost losing his second hand...and poor Crocky! He'd be a matching set of luggage now if our rabid Robin's aim had been better.

Junior here has become a real plague on our kind.

[Hits Jason with the crowbar.]

Fortunately, I've got the cure!"

[Hit]

"Yowzie! That's gonna hurt in the morning!"

[Hit]

I think something else to note is that if Harley was in on this elaborate plan, she would have been aware of what The Joker planned to do. She wouldn't have clearly thought this was a typical "let's rough up the punk cause he's being a pain in the ass for all of us rogues."

She's here to mockingly diagnosis him and watch him get roughed up a bit for all the trouble he's caused to the criminals in Gotham.

That's it.

"Indeed it would! If he weren't going to that big birdbath in the sky tonight!"

[Hit]

"Laugh it up, bird boy! These are the jokes! Ha, Ha, Ha!"

[Hit]

"Wait!"

"How selfish of me! Have a whack at him, Pooh."

"Roughin' th' punk up is one thing, but killing him?!"

Because that Is what she thought it was. She makes that apparent in her reaction.

Joker doesn't appreciate her hesitation, or interruptions while he's beating him. So he has her thrown out by his henchmen.

"Did you think we were just going to give him a love tap and let him go?!"

Harley cowers as he physically leaned towards her, the crowbar still gripped in his hand.

"He won't stop until he's killed every one of us! You've seen what he's done! He begged for this!"

"But..."

"Get her out of here!"

"Don't touch me! Slimy creeps! I'll knock yer heads off!"

Harley's restrained and lifted out of the warehouse by two goons.

Batman is perched outside, presumably already searching for Jason.

"Batman later admitted that Quinn volunteered to help him stop Joker, though he wisely left her cuffed outside."

Batman: The Adventures Continue Chapters 10, 11 & 12

Written By: Paul Dini, Alan Burnett

Artist: Ty Templeton

Colorist: Monica Kubina | Letterer: Josh Reed

[tawneybel]

HAPPY TWO DAYS AFTER EQUINOX

Song of the day: “Fell in Love with a Ghost” by Gvllow. 

About half-way done with Ryan (Dead Island) request. I’ve never been a gamer, and even prefer movie adaptations, but there are a lot of characters that check off boxes. Rewarched Scream 3 for Roman request. More Ghostface in the future probably… Even though I have to write a lot for work, I feel out of practice fic-wise. 

October’s going to be super busy work-wise, but I have been and am going to a bunch of festivals and stuff. ^_^ Though my polish melted at the last outdoor event. Wool got stuck to my nails, ew. First time that’s ever happened. When it gets less sunny I might actually start wearing makeup again.

And this Halloween I might get to do a group costume! Which are usually so hard to coordinate beyond, like, two other people. And/or my dog.

Hmm… really been into Batman stuff lately. Slowly getting back into Gotham after Caped Crusader. Introduced the latter to coworkers and watched it twice.

I like how this Penguin is a crime boss mom. And her boat has a hat. Clayface is officially hottest member of the rogue gallery. In CC and The Animated Series. I love how Harley Quinn’s doing her own thing, sans Joker. Even though she’s very obviously forcing her kinks on others. XD First (?) introduction to Jim Craddock. I don’t remember him in Justice League: Unlimited at all lol. He’s interesting, but would probably mug me. :(

Natalia is great goth representation. I was more emo/scene kid lite, but the other alt girls were exactly like that:

Batman: Caped Crusader has pretty much the same vibe as BTAS. I felt like a fake fan for not watching it until now. Even though I liked Justice League and The Batman. (The latter had its twentieth anniversary this month.) I’m super excited for Joker: Folie à Deux. Morally complicated clownery plus Lady Gaga, yess. 

[popculturebuffet]

Batmarch!: BTAS: See No Evil Review

Hello all you happy batpeople and welcome to batmarch! For the next few weeks expect some caped crusader content same bat whenever I get to it, same bat blog all through march! This fine theme month came about thanks to Kev having a bunch of bat-ideas, me wanting to cover the 89 film for it's anniversary, and it all swirling around till eventually it became a theme month. I want to give bat-credit where it's due after all.

To kick it off we've got a return to what's become a recurring guest on this blog: Batman: The Animated Series. Last time I covered it after the sad loss of Richard Moll, I talked about wanting to cover this episode and when the theme month came up.. well.. I couldn't resisist.

See No Evil is one of my faviorite episodes of Batman the Animated Series and a great showcase of just about everything that makes the series as good as it is: Letting sitcom stars try out something diffrent that shows off their dramatic chops? Check. Awesome animation. Check. A great unique premise masterfully staged in 20 some minutes yup. An intresting and hearbreaking villian? Yupppp. This is one of the most stacked episode sof the series and rewatch only made me find MORE to love about it. And if you haven't heard of this one... your in for a treat. I highly recommend going to watch it first as my review isn't a substitute for the full episode. It is worth a look under the cut to spotlight WHY this episode shines so much.

We open in a little girl's bedroom. Her name is Kimmy and she has a special friend. His name is Mojo

No not him. He didn't exist yet. No Mojo is an invisible man, and Kimmy is played by future star Elizabeth Moss... who sadly would not escape being stalked by invisible men in high tech suits as an adult, but would get at least another amazing story out of it. Or we would.

Mojo then finds out some news that while he tries his best to hide his reaction from Kimmy, clearly bothers him: Their moving soon and Mojo may not be able to find her.

Before he can give up the game, Mojo disappears when Kimmy, the girl in question,'s mom shows up: Elizabeth, played by the legendary Jean Smart of Designing Women and Hacks royalty. It's neat to see her in a dramatic roll like this, and despite growing up with Desining Women.. I NEVER knew this was her but i'm happy she's here. Elizabeth assumes Mojo is just imaginary.. even though a kicked can and movement in the earlier scene shows not so. Granted while Imaginary Friends are possible in the DCU, it's still at the early point where I get her not going to that: Most of batman's rogues are criminals with gimmicks and what few meta human foes he has are downplayed a bit here in their powers: Ivy isn't at full control plants levels yet, using more toxins and trained plants, Killer Croc just has a skin condition and Clayface.. well okay clayface still counts. But most every day people probably don't know every foes batman's fought and evne if they had don't assume this is one of those situations. I bring this up because after so many damn works where "oh well this can't be real even though superheroes exist" come up, it's refreshing to see one where that's.. actually entirely plausable and you don't feel like the characters an idiot for not knowing this. Most superheroes in this setting hadn't publicly debuted yet and those we know had by this time like Zantanna or Wildcat were either other street level heroes, or in zantanna's case protected by the veil of stage magic.

Mojo's next target is a jewlery exchange.. which has low security for anywhere, especially Gotham: Costumed Crime Captial of the World. I was going to gripe about this scene as Mojo's big plan for having an invisiblity suit.. is to just straight up rob people with it, stealing the jewelery as their brougth out of their cases and basically doing a smash and grab. But I realized something as I wrote this: Mojo being this clunky with his suit.. is deliberate. Mojo is, as we'll find out shortly, is a petty criminal. He dosen't have the need for theatrics Batman's normal rogues have, and he dosen't have the experince to pull off an elaborate heist. Of course he's going to see an invisiblity suit as more of a blunt tool to use rather than the very dangerous and versital one it is.

He's not entirely stupid, he knows how to use it as we see when Batman, who naturally was at the exchange as bruce either on rich person buisness, wayne corp buisness or "oh my god these idiots barely hired any security better be ready" buisness, fights him. Bruce is thrown off as even if he knows from Mojos's crimes t his opponent is cloaked that .. dosen't really help when your cowl dosen't have infared or anything. It just looks dope. And yes later cowls do but this one clearly isn't high tech to the gils like later entries, it's just dope as fuck. Batman does do the obvious when fighting an invisible opponent: Spill shit on them, in this case plot convience paint... but whoever built Mojo's suit thought of that or Mojo himself did as he has a setting to melt it off, a clever subversion of the usual tactics that gets batman a batassbeating. And that again shows Lloyd's style: even though we don't know exactly what he went away for, his style is all smash and grab: blunt force. He only beats the more experinceed combatant bruce in one on one. .because Bruce can't see him and dosen't hav etime to listen closely.. and even if he did it'd be too late. It's what makes "Some guy what got an invisible suit" work as a batman villian: Yes he's not as flashy and yes he has a simple gimmick.. but sometims all you need is a simple power. It's something I never thought about before but most of batman's clever gadgets.. are sight based. Even the gas bomb would only be mildly useful at figuring out WHERE he might be and with a full face mask, it woudln't do any actual damage, while Lloyd could pull down batman's gas mask and make him go sleepy bye. Batman.. isn't invincible and his stories are at their best when the writers remember that.

Mojo slinks back to his place and we get the shocking reveal that he's...

A guy who looks like a human ventriquist dummy? Did Slappy finally become human and end up fighting batman? Because i'd pay good money for that instalment of goosebumps, just saying.

No this.. objectively weird looking man is Lloyd Ventrix aka Kimmy's Dad. As a kid I found the idea of mojo creepy.. as an adult I find it deeply unerving. Part of this is having a passle of nieces and nephews, so the idea of an unstable man, let alone one the parent dosen't want seeing thier kids, sneaking to see them in a way their unaware of and that the kid impliclity trusts is fucking terrifyign. Part of it is just the idea of a person your trying to escape being able to find you and do whatever he pleases no matter how far you run is fucking horrifying. It's why the 2020 invisible man film is so good.. and so terrifying I haven't watched it since I saw it theatrically. It is a LOT on the nerves. It's also why both can coexist as this episode captalized on a different kind of fear: instead of an abusive ex, it's an abusive ex spouse who you are COMPELTELY unaware is contacting your kid till it's too late.

It's also what brilliantly creates the episodes tension: by the first commerical break WE know who this invisible man is to a point and what he wants, but not HOW he got invsible, or if Batman can solve the mystery of the how and who in time to get to Llloyd before he kidnaps Kimmie.

Before we move on i'd like to spotlight Lloyd's voice actor: While I always loved the performance here I didn't know the man behind the invsible man until this review.. and it was a nice reveal too: Michael Gross of Tremors and Family Ties fame. It's the latter that helps this role as in his scenes as "Mojo", Lloyd has that same kind warmth Gross had on Family Ties as Steven.. when he wasn't comically breaking down or reacting to his children's shenanigans. And that.. makes it ten times creepier coming from someone whose activley manipuating and stalking a child.

Not only that he transitions well to Lloyd in the rest of his life, wether it's his cockiness ast his power when fighting batman or his assuredness when trying to win back elizabeth, which we'll get to in a second. It's a brilliant performance that makes me wish he could've come back or they'd brought him back in another roll: Gross is just damn good portraying a man whose determined to get what he thinks he's owed no matter what it takes.. but can't understand WHY no one wants him around.

Case in point, that trying to win back his ex wife thing. He shows up at her work, and his defense to his wife understandably not wanting anything to do with him isn't "i'm changing as a person I just want a chance ot see my kid" or "I know I screwed up and you have every reason not to listen to me but hear me out" You know stuff that shows your contrite and genuinely reformed. Instead Lloyd shows he learned nothing from prison a his only response is "I got why you needed the restraining order when I was a bum but i'm bigger now". Yes really. Elizabeth tells him to shove it and stay way from his daughter then to just "disappear" unfortunately for her she's in a horror story and said something tragically ironic.

The good news is she's also in a batman story and thanks to plot convience turns out the inventor of the cloak of invsiblity pitched it to them last year, and he has his tech guy bring up the info on the man's assitant.

Batman decides rather than talk to said assitant, who could be the invisible man, to .. rifle thorugh the guys cabinets

Naturally when the man hears Batman bat rifling through his shit, he tries to throw a rack on him.. and batman's response to this entirely resonable reaction is

Gee your just.. so likeable bruce. Thankfully he does actually stop when the guy makes it clear he was here the last few days. And look jokes aside I get bruce dosen't know if this guy did it.. but there are more subtle ways to deal with this shit or someone understandably thinking your trying to rob them than the bat fist. There are better uses for the bat fist. And yes I meant that sexually, I will not be taking questions.

The Science Man explains that he's actually destroying all the fabric. Turns out while he was able to make it turn stuff invsible it's highly toxic. He was trying to correct that problem but coudln't, so he's destroying it. And i'm baffled why there was an entry on tv tropes saying "Well why can't he use it on cars" as we see it used. And to this I say this guy is picking up his old mentor's work, probably sunk a lot of money into remaking this and testing it, and has had some time to do so. If he COUDL salvage this project he would've.

Turns out Floyd was their old assitant though in a pompus way Science Man says he was "really more of an errand boy". Gee I can't imagine why he stole from you. Such a puzzler.

At any rate this slightly douchey science man has given Batman all he needs and he goes to talk to Elizabeth. To Bruce's credit his prorities are in order: he wants to save Lloyd from dying rather than get the jewels back.. I mean he will, he's the goddamn batman, but he'll save the guy who stole them first. Maybe punch him a bit.

Elizabeth connects the dots about the invsiblity suit and mojo.. but Lloyd's already one step ahead as during this scene he's been talking about taking kimmy to a special place

She does as he takes her to a drive in theater nearbye and plans to take her away but she dosen't want to get into a car with an invisible man. So he takes the mask off.. and credit to Kimmy she instantly realizes "Shit this wasn't my imaginary friend". I mean granted it probably wouldn't be BETTER if it was

Fun fact: I did not realize this was coming out the same week as this review. Dates are fun

Anyway, Kimmy realizes it's not just her imagination and won't run away with him, so he reveals himself as her father.. and her reaction is not what he expected

Yeah it turns out Elizabeth isn't stupid and it's something I love about the episode: Elizabeth didn't make that mistake you see in 87 percent of tv parents who don't trust their shady ex. She TOLD kimmy about him. She didn't hide it, she didn't try to keep ti as some dark secret so he can manipulate it later: She just told her in terms a kid would understand: her dad is a bad man and should not be trusted. Granted the fact he looks like if archie andrews became a vampire should tell her that but the point stands.

This is also the great tragedy of Lloyd Ventrix: he wants his family back.. but he can never understand WHY they don't want him back. Floyd could've worked his way back to his daughter by staying clean after prison, staying at his job, finding another if he didn't work for Errand Boy Man, which is a fair thing not to want. Am I saying it would've been remotely easy? No, our country isn't set up to help ex-cons and treats them like pariahs, like every former prisoner is lloyd when some genuinely want to change and others were victims of circumstance. But he could've had his daughter back or at least a CHANCE at it had he genuinely tried. Elizabeth is reasonable, while she wouldn't want him around the guy she'd at least give him a chance to see kimmy if it was shown he really changed.

That's the rub though: Lloyd dosen't WANT to change. He's a smash and grab guy and that's who he wants to be. It's in most things he does: He has an invsible suit.. yet uses it for smash and grabs and his fighting style when fighting the bat is hit him with a blunt insturment. or maybe it's more of an object. But i'ts blunt hard and blunt. He says he's not a two bit hood when talking to elizabeth.. but that's relaly ALL he is. He could've conquered the gotham mafia, conquered the city, or even gone the other way and became a hero himself, fighting to make the city better. He has all this power.. but he still thinks in terms of "how can I smash this thing in my way" "what can I grab". He's emotinally and creatively empty.. and thus he can't understand why Kimmy won't accept him just for being her dad.

As a production note, the only one I have for this episode Kimmy was SUPPOSED to be in the final chase scene for a bit, but standards and practices were like

Because a child's lost criminal father pretending to be her best friend and her being in danger every time he's in the room? That's fine. But oh no she can't have a car chase.

So Kimmy runs home to her mom and Batman and Llloyd begin tussling, with Lloyd turning the car invsible with him and a passerby assuming batman can fly now which.. is fair. I'm suprised he dosen't have a bat jet pack.. wait did he have a bat jet pack? Questions for later

Bruce takes another beating, begging lloyd to consider but it's clear he's drunk on his own power and we see while he's a blunt intersturment/object/whatever he is it's hard and blunt, he gets this suit means no matter where Elizabeth and Kimmy go they'll neve rbe safe. Thankfully for him Lloyd made the mistake of fighting batman on a water tower and Batman's able to douse him, shorting out the suit. It's a clever set up: While water is also a common invsiible man fighting tool, when explaning how it worse it runs on an electric currrent. It's probably why it has the dohicky to steam stuff off.. but LLoyd can't get rid of that much water and he's out

The ending is masterful as we get a repeat of the opening scene: Kimmy is once again talking to a special friend, telling him that their move is final and Lloyd will never find her again. The vistor exits.. but thankfully it was batman, and we get a nice echo of the first scene: this time instead of playing it off.. elizabeth's relieved. Kimmy lost an imaginary friend, lost a father.. but gained a batman.

See No Evil is excellent and highly underated: It's a tense tightly packed 20 minutes with a nice twist on the usual batman detective formula the show uses: we know WHO did it but it's all about HOW and if Batman can find out in time. Smart and Gross are fantastic in this and it results in a tense, eerie little tale packed with tension. It's 22 minutes of perfection and worth checking out if you have max.

Thanks for reading and i'll see you some bat time, same bat blog.

[laufire]

writing woes: february

I’m doing an online course that it's eating a lot of my writing time, sadly :/

in general

I continue with my habit pledge of writing at least 180 days in 2024 for the get your words out event in dreamwidth. last month I wrote 19 days and this one just 15, but overall I wrote less, but I'm still on top of my goal, overall.

original fiction

I advanced a little on the first act of "Underground Elysium", though less than I wanted to (and I ended up discarding a bunch of what I wrote lol). Reminder that you can read a little (5k) teaser for it here.

I did advance more on the rewrite of "Petal Decay", a short story I drafted a while ago, though it's not quite finished.

I'm going to press pause on these until the course I mentioned is over (March 25th), and then I'll go after them with a vengeance. A final draft for Petal Decay will probably be my low-effort goal for April's Camp NaNo, actually.

fanfic

I wrote and posted "empty spaces" an angst-filled one-shot for one of the monthly challenges in get your words out. It's more a character study than anything, and predictably, set in the universe of detective comics comics. It shows a moment of Bruce during the anniversary of Jason's death (pre-return).

I didn't advance much in the other WIPs I set out to write this month :/. For March, I intend to finish with the immortal jason wip, and to continue with my long young justice!jason project. That one is for the long run, and I don't want to start publishing it until all the chapters are done, so I predict that will wait until the end of the year.

I did write a lot of disconnected scenes from other projects as inspiration hit lol. Some new earth!Jayroy dialogue based on this post, some scenes that I'll eventually fit into the journalist dick wip (featuring Dick-Steph backstory, Dick-Red Hood secret identity shenanigans, Dick-Tarantula angst/horror, and the inclusion of BTAS!Summer Gleeson as Dick's boss!), and some... nsfw (but not at all titilating...) scenes for my Damon and Elena, Marriage of Doom wip 😬😬😬

Crossing my fingers for March!

[bartoonist]

Tales of Team RWBY: This is Team RWBY as I attempted to draw them, using Kevin Eastman’s two art styles from both the IDW Turtles Comics, and the miscellaneous TMNT 2012 artwork he occasionally made in both some of the 2012 TV tie in-Comic Series’ Variant Comic Covers, as well as when he drew both BTAS/90's Batman and the 2012 Era-TMNT in a variant comic cover for that Spinoff or Remake that’s based on the Batman and Ninja Turtles Franchises’ Two Best Cartoons of course. I hope this one is as Kevin Eastman stylistic enough as I could get at it so far? Because I did make some of their body sizes look a little unintentionally and indirectly like their ArrowFell in game-model designs I’ll say, but hopefully I did hopefully manage to capture the White Highlighted Outlines that Kevin Eastman would draw in those thickly inked comic covers this time y'know, it wasn’t easy for me to capture the Kevin Eastman style interpretation of Team RWBY’s Atlas Era Designs, plus the third picture of my RWBY fan art illustration that I’m managed keep in my iOS Photo Library’s Traditional Art Folder was colored in red highlights to pay homage to both the first Ninja Turtles One Shot Comic’s iconic comic cover and the first TMNT Cartoon’s Red Sky Seasons too of course, which is why I chose to make make the Night Sky, Red, it wasn’t easy but it was fun to make, plus I’m currently planning on upgrading from my current iPhone with a 64 GB Storage to the next iPhone with better storage capacity sooner or later in general after Christmas, as I’m now currently busy making my latest decorative family portraits of my extended family tree and my family and I as our own RWBYsona human & faunus huntsmen and huntresses to celebrate the 10th anniversary year of the RWBY Franchise on it’s last month, before 2024 kicks in where the RWBY CG Anime Saga’s 10th Anniversary year will transition to a Post 10th Anniversary Year since the RWBY Franchise made it’s debut in July 2013, and I hope you RWBY Fans like my Kevin Eastman styled Fan Art Illustration of Team RWBY finished drawing and coloring this year of course.

[jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear]

since tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of henry polic ii's passing, i was thinking about doing something special scarecrow-related but i don't have the ideas or the drive to really make anything. his performance as the scarecrow is very near and dear to my heart, but unfortunately there's not much about him online. i was wondering if the scarecrow/btas fandom could maybe do something small tomorrow as a way of remembering him?

I would love to try and make something! It's a bit last minute, but I'll see what I can do! :) thanks for letting me know about this.

Maybe I'll do some sort of edit or gif. Hmmm~

[emaratygirl]

Happy Anniversary to Batman and Robin 1997 @romancemedia @fyeahdickgrayson @worldsfinestonline @fyeahdickandbabs @animusrox @gordongrayson-blog @superheroes-or-whatever @batmananimated @donnastroy @60sgroove @dickbabs @jessequicks @castlewyvern @btasbats @btas-gifs @batmantheanimatedseries @darkphoenyx @btas-screens @abyssling @crystal-starlight @dickgreyson @jazzymarie1006 @batmannotes @babsgordnn

[yeahyeahbeebisii]

The fact that we didn't get a live action skit of BTAS voice actors playing their characters a la SpongeBob's 20th anniversary is a crime to me. Literally imagine it.