The Batman!(kids wb)

[BatWing]

did anyone watch the new episode yesterday?


[spoiler]where batman abd jonn was fending off of the alien invaders and at the end jonn recruited batman and met flash, hawkman, green arrow and hal jordan! [/spoiler]


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/df/The_Joining.jpg/300px-The_Joining.jpg

[BentonGrey]

Hmm, I'd have liked to have seen Hawkman, should have watched that episode.

[BatWing]

yeah it was a season 4 finale
batman knew that jonn was constructing an outer space base

[Midnite]

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0705/05/batman1.htm
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0705/05/batman2.htm

[BatWing]

shyeah!

[GogglesPizanno]

It was pretty cool.

From what Ive read season 5 is gonna focus on his involvement with the Justice League (with Superman and Aquaman to appear in future episodes).

I really like the idea of it, and have grown to like the new Batman series (after initially feeling kinda cold towards it).
But I'm withholding final judgment...

[BatWing]

aquaman!
hope they make robin as nightwing again like in the future and add tim drake or jason

[BentonGrey]

aquaman!
hope they make robin as nightwing again like in the future and add tim drake or jason

Ughhh......please no.

The series has improved from the terrible state of the first season, but it's still a pale substitute for real Batman stories.  I like that shot of the league, and I appreciate them using the original line-up, more or less.  I can't say I care for the giant honkin' nose on Hawkman's mask, though, although it's nice to finally see him take his place in the league.  (that's one of my only gripes about JLU)

[BatWing]

still i like nightwing
hal jordan man that was exciting when i saw him, i thought it was gonna be kyle but even better

[zuludelta]

The Justice League episode was okay... I think "The Batman" is actually a decent show, and the biggest thing it has going against it is that too many people hold it up against Timm's superlative work on the original 1990s series. Viewed on its own and without any preconceptions of what a Batman cartoon should be, it actually isn't half bad. I'm not a fan of the Dark Knight (Holy Plot Device, Batman!) but I occasionally catch the show despite my indifference to the character. It's obviously not B:TAS, but that doesn't automatically mean it's some sort of animated travesty either.

With the focus shifting to the Justice League next season, though, I fully expect a whole new slew of moaning from from some fans of the JLU series. The thing is, as good as the JLU show was, the whole Justice League thing could bear some new interpretation. IMO, the JLU series is probably, hands-down, the best thing DC has done to showcase its flagship characters and to garner a bigger audience and readership (take that Infinite Crisis!) but even I have to admit that the formula can only work for so long before it becomes stale and essentially turns into a parody of itself, so I'd rather see a sincerely new take on these characters a lá Jeff Matsuda's "The Batman" rather than an attempt to play it safe and not try anything new.   

[Midnite]

Alan Burnett and Michael Goguen serve as supervising producers and Kim Smith is producer for The Batman.

Jeff Matsuda is leaving The Batman and Alan Burnett is taking over season 5 people. This is good news since Alan was one of the producers on B:TAS, S:TAS, and Batman Beyond.

[Glitch Girl]

Saw the Martian Manhunter two parter

It wasn't bad but I swear, I know Batman's a detective, but some of the leaps in logic he made here made my brain hurt.  Seroiously, the bit about figuring out what John Jomes was in the diner just made me go "how the BLEEP did you come to THAT conclusion?!?!"  oy...  OTHO, there were some very nice scenes with interaction between characters that I liked (one with Foxx and Alfred, another where Alfred advises Batgirl and Robin).

It's a very uneven show.  There are moments where I see potential greatness, and others where I see lazy writing.  A little more of the former, a little less of the latter and I think we could have a solid winner.

[bredon7777]

Saw the Martian Manhunter two parter

It wasn't bad but I swear, I know Batman's a detective, but some of the leaps in logic he made here made my brain hurt.  Seroiously, the bit about figuring out what John Jomes was in the diner just made me go "how the BLEEP did you come to THAT conclusion?!?!"  oy...  OTHO, there were some very nice scenes with interaction between characters that I liked (one with Foxx and Alfred, another where Alfred advises Batgirl and Robin).

Just in case-

[spoiler]
Bruce is watching J'onn watch the cook grill some burgers. The flame shoots up, and J'onn recoils.  Bruce then mentions that he's read all sorts of things about every subject and knows that Martians are afraid of fire (since he already knows that J'onn isn't Clayface, and no one else on Earth can shapeshift).

It's contrived, sure. But at least an attempt was made to explain how he came to that conclusion. [/spoiler]

That said, Alfred's line : "Sometimes Master Bruce suggest things that I quite disagree with. In that case I do something I kno wwill make me feel better. I disobey him."- was an instant classic! :D

[Glitch Girl]

Okay, new season started this weekend and I managed to catch the first episode of a two parter.

This episode was written by Alan Burnett of B:TAS, S:TAS, and Batman Beyond and introduces Supermna and his cast to this version of the Batman universe.  And here's where it started getting really weird to me - Superman, Lois, Lex, Mercy, and Jimmy were all voiced by their Justice League voice actors.  It was... odd.  I know it's going to sound strange, but I wish they had done a recast in order to further differentiate this continuity from the Timmverse continuity.

Character design wise, I liked Lex, I really liked Clark and Superman, and Jimmy wasn't bad, but both Lois and Mercy looked way too young, almost child-like and for me, that didn't work.

As for the episode itself (spoilers to follow):
[spoiler]It's been a year since the events of last season's alien invasion.  The Justice League at some point had asked Superman to join, but he declined - being even more "lone wolf" in his crusade than Batman in this episode. 

Bats and Supes immediately don't get along, though I like how they handled Batman figuring out that Clark was Superman using a little bit of high-tech detective work.  That was good.  So was some of the interaction.  Lucius Fox appears to be getting a more prominent role this time around, establishing that Bats is going to have an arsenal to fight Supes for the next episode (more on this in a moment) 

Lex's plan involves recruiting some of Gotham's lowlifes to remove Superman from the picture after Metallo (the only recast from the old series) fails to dispatch Superman thanks to Batman's invervention.  In fact, most of this episode was "let's beat the tar out of Superman" and that part got a little awkward for me.

The episode ends with Lex finally triumphing over Superman by lacing some of Poision Ivy's mind control spores with kryptonite to get past his super defenses.  It's actually kind of a cool idea (at least I think so) which will lead up to the big knock-down brawl next episode.  The fact that Batman had access to a pretty big chunk of kryptonite eariler in the episode and Superman didn't check the casing before he sent it into the sun gives the caped crusader a way to put them both on equal footing, and I suspect that's going to happen.

To be honest, while the redesign looks sharp, doesn't come off too good in this episode.  He acts a bit like a jerk around Bruce, he gets beat up every five minutes, and he just doesn't get to be that "super".  The episode was pretty solid and had some good action, but.. I dunno.  It could have been more somehow I think.  [/spoiler]

Still I am very intrigued as to what this season will bring.

[bredon7777]

Hate the character designs (and as GG points out, its disconcerting to hear the JLU voices from these characters) but overall it was a pretty good start to the season.

Just one quibble
[spoiler]
Clayface?  Didn't they shoot him with an antidote when he was mixed with Ethan?
I hate it when they bring a nad guy back without explaining how first.
[/spoiler]

[GogglesPizanno]

I actually am a bit of an apologist for the new batman series as it has really grown on me (I wish i could say the same for the Legion of Super Heroes, even this season's new "maturing" -- blah). So I really dug the episode. Most of my quibbles about the handling of Superman could be leveled at other superman series as well, but I think they did push certain things a bit far. Though I did like their take on Clark Kent being a bit more nerdy and Christopher Reeve-esque in the characterization. It was a nice touch.

And as Ive mentioned in previous posts, my feeble little brain is already confused over "continuity" issues (or whatever you want to call them) among all the different overlapping DC animated series, with art styles, characters, voices etc all getting more and more mish-mashed over time. So Ive basically let it go and just tried to take each one as its own sorta standalone thing ranging from JLU and BTAS (awsome) to The "dare not speak its name superman straight to video movie" (horrendous).

I was just glad to hear Clancy Brown doing Lex again cause for me (much like Mark Hamill with the joker) he has become my definitive sounding Lex Luthor.

[steamteck]

I've really really tried to like it but it is just so pathetic compared to the Timmverse. I won't mind a  new interpretation but the bar has been set so much higher than this I find it unwatchable. Bear in mind I also find the TIm Burton Batman unwatchable after Batman begins though.

[BentonGrey]

Where oh where is Aquaman?  That's the only episode of this I really want to see, but I'll try and catch this next weekend and give it a second chance.

[Glitch Girl]

Hrm.. someone's obsessing.  ;)

Honestly though Benton, they aren't going to kick off a season with Aquaman when they can have Superman, for name recongition alone.  Just be patient. 

GogglesPizanno: I completely agree with you on Clark.  I was seeing the Reeve influence on him in both scenes (the one during the press conference and the one near the apartment) and I really liked that nod. 

And I also agree about Clancy Brown - he addes such smooth menace and intelligence to the character

[BentonGrey]

Haha, me, obsessing over Aquaman?  Never.......just...uh...ignore the picture to the left.....

Seriously though, I'm not upset that the first episode isn't with him or anything, I was just saying that it's what I'm looking forward to.

[Viking]

And I also agree about Clancy Brown - he addes such smooth menace and intelligence to the character

I know that this is sidetracking from the topic, but...

Dr. Polaris: Aren't you going to wash your hands?
Lex Luthor/Flash (voiced by Clancy Brown): No... 'cuz I'm evil.

[Mystik]

i too also hope robin grows up at the end of this season
sorry benton but I love dick as nightwing

the superman episode was cool

I watched the 2nd to 4th season and its not as bad as people complain, I didnt like what the joker was wearing but damn is he hilarious, did you see episode where he's dressed like batman and tries to be serious but keeps laughing

its not timm verse get over it, but still feels like batman to me

[BentonGrey]

It's hard to go from perfection to 'sometimes decent' TR.

[steamteck]

It's hard to go from perfection to 'sometimes decent' TR.

My problem exactly!