Beware the "Beware the Batman"

[Glitch Girl]

New Batman series on CN will be CG

Register revealed that Beware the Batman, executive produced by Glen Murakami (Batman Beyond, Teen Titans), will feature the Dark Knight teamed with a gun-toting Alfred Pennyworth and Katana, the sword-wielding samurai from DC Comics.

Okay my first thought was, "Gun-toting Alfred?" 

My second is that I'm not particularly fond of the character designs, but then again, these are stills, and seeing something animated can make ALL the difference.  I remember seeing the character designs for B:TAS before the show aired and I didn't know what to think, and then I saw my first episode "Heart of Ice" 

Third, Glen Murakami does have a pretty good track record.  Teen Titans was fun and I enjoyed it quite a bit and I loved Batman Beyond.  I plan in giving it a chance.

Also of note:

He also announced that the one-hour DC Nation block, which premieres in spring 2012, will include a mixture of animated shorts and live-action interstitials, the latter of which will showcase the fans, collectors and creators who make up the DC Universe (DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee appears in the sizzle reel). As for the former: Look for Aardman Animation-produced Batman claymation shorts, shorts featuring Plastic Man and the Doom Patrol, and from the creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Girl starring in Super Best Friends Forever.

Wow, that's... a lot of stuff.

I have yet to see an episode of the new My Little Pony (I still have bad memories of the original, back when cartoons for girls sucked (except for Jem... and maaaaaaaaaaaaybe She-Ra)), but a bunch of my friends say I need to see  it and from that, "Super Best Friends" may be okay. 

I do wonder if the Plastic Man short is going to be based off of the pitch episode I saw a while back for a regular Plastic Man series (look it up, 'tis very strange).

No idea who's doing Doom Patrol.

Aardman doing claymation Batman shorts...I honestly have no idea what route they're going on this, but the mental image of Wallace & Grommit as the caped crusader and the dog wonder is now wedged in my head.

EDIT: Another article here with better picture

[BentonGrey]

Wow......I'm not quite sure what to make of all of that.  I definitely DON'T like a gun-toting Alfred.  Why would Bats EVER go along with that?  Besides, Alfred shouldn't really be an action hero.  It just doesn't really fit.  However, I'll wait and see.

[lugaru]

Wow, at first I thought you where pranking us.

It reminds me a little bit of "The Batman" which was not bad but I just did not like, it was too much of a reworking. This also looks, I dont know... like they are missing the mark.

What is funny is that I remember the Jem cartoon that you are refering to, It was a guilty pleasure back when I was a little kid and girl stuff was gross.

As for making a succesful cartoon for girls I think something like Teen Titans with a slightly more feminine touch would probably be really succesful, just based on random fan art and stuff on the internet I would think Teen Titans has a huge following of young women.

[Tomato]

Eh, wevs. I'll check it out when it airs, maybe. The sheer fact that they're showing Professor Pyg to promote it (one of the lamest bat villains ever, IMHO) is a major turn-off though.

As for the Super-girlfriends thing... if Lauren Faust is at the helm for that (I assume that's who the article refers to), it's in good hands. She's been behind some of the better kids shows in the last decade (Power Puff Girls, Foster, and of course My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), so in some ways I'm looking forward to that more then Beware Batman.

[JeyNyce]

Ok first off, Jem was and still is awesome.  I got my daughter watching it and we already order the DVDs coming out this month.  I had to get that off my chest.

I really don't like this version of Batman.  Kantana being his sidekick stinks.  Also if Alfred is with Batman, then who is watching the cave and Wayne Manor?

The new My Little Pony Show is good.  It have it's moments when it's actually funny. 

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/07/my-little-pony-iphone-parody/

[Tomato]

Only funny "moments"? Obviously you need to watch the season 2 opening two-parter. The Mane 6 face off against an omnipotent enemy (voiced by John de Lancie, of Star Trek fame), defeat him, and end up at an award ceremony pulled right out of Star Wars.

What? So I'm a Brony. Deal with it parasprites.

[JeyNyce]

Only funny "moments"? Obviously you need to watch the season 2 opening two-parter. The Mane 6 face off against an omnipotent enemy (voiced by John de Lancie, of Star Trek fame), defeat him, and end up at an award ceremony pulled right out of Star Wars.

What? So I'm a Brony. Deal with it parasprites.

Saw that one, Very Funny!

[Podmark]

Um...why does Alfred have guns???

It's too early for me to get upset or excited about this show. I got no problem with Katana being in it though, of course I'd rather one of the actual Bat sidekicks.

[Midnite]

They canceled Batman: The Brave and the Bold, for this? 

[Midnite]

First Look at Beware the Batman and DC Nation

[bredon7777]

They canceled Batman: The Brave and the Bold, for this? 

No, technically they stopped making B:TBaTB in favor of the new CG Green Lantern series; which, sadly, looks awful.

[MJB]

My thoughts... (yes I realize no one asked... so what? )

Katana as Batman's sidekick doesn't bother me. Batman is flexible & can work with pretty much anyone to get the job done.

Alfred carrying a gun is a big no-no though. Why in the heck would Batman sign off on this? Last I checked one of the quirks the modern day Batman has is he's very anti-gun. What would possess him to allow his butler (no matter how highly trained he may be) carry & use guns? Bah.

The computer animation style stinks. I don't like the looks of the new Green Lantern series & I highly doubt I'll like it for this Batman series.

Using the newer villains is fine by me. Fine as long as they also use the classic characters. Batman's rogues gallery is one of the big reasons he remains popular. It would be foolish for anyone to throw them aside & solely use modern characters. 

All that being said I doubt I'll watch this show. I'm not one to judge anything by a preview but I rarely watched Batman Brave & the Bold & I liked that toon. So logic dictates that I probably won't set time aside for this series.

-MJB

[Tomato]

Using the newer villains is fine by me. Fine as long as they also use the classic characters. Batman's rogues gallery is one of the big reasons he remains popular. It would be foolish for anyone to throw them aside & solely use modern characters. 

Meh. My biggest issue isn't that they're planning to use more modern villains (relatively newer characters like Black Mask, Hush, and Zsasz have certainly made their mark in the comics already) but including Professor Pyg, one of the lamer villains to come out in the last few years, in the first promotional ad just doesn't sit well with me. In my mind, Pyg's right up there with the devil worshiping Thomas Wayne nonsense that we had shoved down our throats.

[JeyNyce]

GL didn't need to be in CG, that was a waste.  I do like Plas though.  That looks like it will be funny.  The whole concept of DC nation looks like it going to be good.  Let's hope they can keep up with it.  I'm still waiting for ICON to get his own show.  I loved the cameo he did on Young Justice

[cmdrkoenig67]

I'm much more interesting in the Doom Patrol short mentioned in the article.

Dana

[Midnite]

Beware the Batman Intro

BEWARE THE BATMAN "THE HUNTED" SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW

[Midnite]

'Beware' of new villains in new Batman cartoon

Article on the show and a 2min clip. The CG animation looks more clean and refine compare to the GL: TAS.

[oldmanwinters]

Aw... did they not air the theme song or just not even bother to create one for this show?

[BentonGrey]

Ehh...I have so little interest in the recent Batman villains, like Professor Pyg, that it is really anti-interest.  The animation does look better than GL, which is good, because that show was pretty much incapable of providing energy to any type of scene or action.  I'll perhaps give it a chance, but I'm far from excited about this show.

[Tomato]

Yeah... that's kind of where I sit too... I want to like it, and I've heard great things, but I just have zero interest in many of the villains they're pushing.

[Podmark]

See my reaction is actually the opposite. The most interesting thing about this show to me is that it's going to be exploring some lesser known villains, and that it will feature Katana as Batman's partner/sidekick. I've seen a hundred Joker stories, I'd like to see them build up some other villains (and some more cool Joker stories too!).

I'm sure some of the bigger villains will appear eventually. I seem to recall that Ra's is in it.

[Tomato]

ok, I've actually seen it now, and... it's good. Professor Pyg wasn't the best (despite agreeing with pod about lesser known villains getting the spotlight, I hate professor Pyg in the comics) but I do like that they leaned more towards the nursery rhyme theme than the crazy blood covered surgeon in the comic. I liked how Alfred was portrayed, it's a new twist on the character and they did a good job handling it in the first episode.

[Midnite]

The first episode was a great start to the series. I find the animation on par with TMNT. Such a big difference between Beware the Batman and GL: TAS in animation, in my opinion GL animation looked too plastic.

[Cyber Burn]

I guess I missed the first episode of Batman, I'll have to try and catch a repeat.

As for GL:TAS, I am probably one of the few people that actually liked that show, but I will say that the second season wasn't as good as the first.

[Midnite]

I guess I missed the first episode of Batman, I'll have to try and catch a repeat.

As for GL:TAS, I am probably one of the few people that actually liked that show, but I will say that the second season wasn't as good as the first.

I liked GL: TAS, the story was interesting. But the animation was a let down.

[Glitch Girl]

Saw it.  It's not bad, though this episode was mostly setup.  Seeing the character designs in action helped a lot.  Writing was decent, and voice acting solid.  Still not completely sold on the CG rendering, mostly because the world is a little too pristine and empty, but the overall direction is good.  Not sure how I feel about Alfred being THIS Alfred... it's such a departure, it feels like a completely new and different character to me, so while the character himself isn't bad, I just can't see him as "Alfred". 

The show hasn't really hooked me like some of the past series have done, at least not yet.  As I mentioned, it was the pilot and was mostly setup so I may grow to really fall in love with it, but there is groundwork for a good show here. 

For the record: I initially was underwhelmed by GL:TAS, but grew to really enjoy it as it built up the universe and overarching plot.   BtB is starting out in a better position than GL:TAS did IMO (acronyms FTW!) so prognosis is good.

[Midnite]

Beware the Batman - S1Ep2 "Secrets" Preview 1

Beware the Batman - S1Ep2 "Secrets" Preview 2

[clownprince]

Alfred reminded me of sean connery.

[spydermann93]

Alfred reminded me of sean connery.

I thought Lex Luthor stopped by for dinner

[Cyber Burn]

Caught the first show, it wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was that great either. I'll probably give it a few more episodes before I make any decisions about it.