William David Lee, ESQ.

There’s an unwritten law in the comic book world. If you want your comic to make money, put an X in front of the title. The X-Men have become a massive cash cow for Marvel Comics and it’s become commonplace for comic book stores to have dozens of X-titles on the racks at any one time. So far there have been X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, Generation X, New X-Men, X-Men Academy, X-Men First Class, Excalibur, Exiles, New Mutants, and Astonishing X-Men. Not to mention countless solo titles and mini-series for the hundreds of mutants at Marvel’s disposal. In fact, one of Wolverine’s mutant powers is apparently the ability to be at seven different places at once. Currently, Wolvie is a member of the Uncanny X-team as well as the leader of X-Force. He’s a member of the New Avengers and appears in two of his own books, Wolverine and Wolverine: Origins.

Hard to believe that X-Men was one of the least successful Marvel titles during the renaissance of the Silver Age. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Marvel’s merry mutants weren’t as popular as Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four. Sales of the book fell enough that the comic simply reprinted old material rather than original content. It wasn’t until Len Wein and Dave Cockrum were brought in to revamp the team with an all-new, more culturally diverse combination that X-Men skyrocketed to stardom. The new roster introduced in Giant Size X-Men included brand-new characters such as Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler, all of whom became integral characters in the X-universe. They also added in a certain claw-poppin’ Canadian who had only made a handful of appearances beforehand.

Films and animated series based on the property had been in development for decades. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that an X-Men movie would finally hit multiplexes. The X-Men had made appearances on other Marvel cartoons such as Marvel Superheroes back in the 60’s and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. A pilot, Pryde of the X-Men, was produced in the late-80’s for a proposed X-Men series that never got off the ground. I have it on VHS and you can view it on YouTube. It’s not half bad even if they inexplicably made Wolverine Australian. The pilot also spawned a friggin’ awesome arcade game.

A new animated series would debut on Fox in 1992 and it remains Marvel’s longest running cartoon. The rights to the show passed on to Disney and fans have spent years clamoring for complete season sets rather than the piecemeal releases offered to them. With X-Men Origins: Wolverine hitting theaters this weekend, Buena Vista has timed the release of these first two volumes perfectly. Volume 1 features all 13 episodes of the first season along with the first three episodes of the second. It’s a wise decision since it not only gives us more bang for the buck, but it nicely bookends the Morph story as well.



The animation isn’t as smooth or detailed as Batman: The Animated Series and some of the movements and characters are off-model from time to time. Still, the stories are deeper than you’d expect from a Saturday morning cartoon with the series tackling themes of prejudice, isolation, and religion. The look of the show is steeped in the comic culture of the 90’s with the show utilizing the Jim Lee costume designs. Characters that were heavily popular at the time also made frequent appearances on the show including Bishop (with futuristic mullet action), Cable (in all his Rob Liefeld inspired shoulder pad glory), and almost every member of X-Force popped up somewhere. Many of the more famous X-Men stories (Days of Future Past, The Phoenix Saga) have been deftly adapted for the small screen.

Also, from everything I've been able to dig up on the interwebs, these episodes are the original uncut versions and not the ones edited for syndication.

Video/Audio/Extras
The video is presented in the original fullscreen aspect ratio. The picture quality is decent enough, but no remastering was done at all. The colors probably aren’t as sharp as they should be and there’s the occasional grain and specks. A big disappointment is the complete lack of extras. All you get are a few trailers for other Disney releases that play at the start of the disc. Only thing of interest is an upcoming special edition of Black Cauldron.

1. & 2. Night of the Sentinels (Parts 1 & 2)


Jubilee runs away from home after her foster parents register her with the Mutant Control Agency under the belief they’ll be able to help her. Under the direction of Henry Peter Gyrich and Dr. Bolivar Trask, the Agency has built an army of giant robots known as Sentinels with the express purpose of capturing mutants. One tracks Jubilee down to the mall where she’s rescued by Storm, Rogue, Gambit, and Cyclops. She’s taken back to their mansion in Westchester and introduced to the rest of the X-Men, Professor X, Jean Grey, Beast, Wolverine, and Morph. The X-Men break into the Control Agency’s headquarters to destroy their data.

They realize too late that it was a trap. Morph is killed and Beast captured as Cyclops is forced to call a retreat. Jubilee is taken by one of the Sentinels while attempting to see her foster parents. Cyclops visits Jubilee’s parents and damages a Sentinel, following it back to the Agency’s factory. The X-Men trash the place and rescue Jubilee who enrolls in Xavier’s School for Mutants.

Sabretooth makes his first appearance in the opening scene while Domino and Cannonball appear on television screens in the background.

3. Enter Magneto


Magneto attacks the federal penitentiary in order to free Beast who is awaiting his trial for the raid on the Mutant Control Agency. Beast refuses to go in order to see his day in court. During his hearing, the judge denies Beast bail. Sabretooth bursts into the courtroom demanding they release Beast. He is gunned down by the guards using laser weapons until Cyclops saves him. Wolverine simply stands by and does nothing. Meanwhile, Xavier explains Magneto was once his friend, but did not share his views that humanity and mutants could live together peacefully. Though they never mention it outright, it is alluded to that Magneto’s family was wiped out in the Holocaust. Magneto attacks a military base in order to launch its nuclear missiles. He defeats the X-Men easily, but Storm (with telepathic help from the Professor) is able to disarm the missiles in mid-air.

4. Deadly Reunions


Wolverine leaves the mansion in disgust when he learns that the Professor is giving Sabretooth sanctuary in an effort to curb his savagery much like he did with Logan. He also leads the X-Men when Magneto hits a chemical plant. Once again, Magneto defeats the X-Men handily until Prof. X forces him to remember his traumatic childhood. Left alone with Jubilee, Sabretooth breaks free revealing he was sent by Magneto to destroy them from the inside. Wolverine manages to chase him away, but is severely wounded.

5. Captive Hearts


Cyclops and Jean Grey try to have a quiet night on the town when they’re captured by the Morlocks, mutants living underground due to their deformities. The Morlocks’ leader, Callisto, chooses Cyclops to be her mate and rule at her side. Storm, fighting her claustrophobia, challenges Callisto and defeats her in one-on-one combat to win their freedom and become the Morlocks’ new leader.

6. Cold Vengeance


Unable to come to terms with his feelings for Jean, Wolverine returns home to the Canadian Arctic only to find Sabretooth has tracked him all the way there. Logan barely escapes and is taken in by a tiny village of Inuits. He finds peace until a jealous villager leads Sabretooth right to him. Meanwhile, Storm, Gambit, and Jubilee are sent undercover to the island of Genosha which claims they welcome mutants with open arms.

7. Slave Island


On Genosha, Gambit, Storm, and Jubilee are captured by the Genoshan government and used as slave labor along with dozens of other mutants. The leader of Genosha is the unimaginatively named Leader is plagued by guerilla attacks by a former comrade known only as Cable. Gambit bides his time, playing both sides until he can make his escape. Gambit returns to free the other mutants while Cable goes after the Leader.

Among the slaves were Feral, Warpath, Mystique, Sunfire, Northstar & Aurora, Richter, and the Blob,

8. The Unstoppable Juggernaut


The X-Men return from Genosha only to discover the mansion has been trashed and Professor X missing. Unbeknownst to them, Xavier has flown to Muir Island to visit an old colleague, Moira McTaggart. Investigating the destruction, Wolverine and Jubilee come across Colossus, a large Russian mutant with the ability to turn his skin into steel. Colossus demolishes a building single-handedly angering the other construction workers. He’s arrested for robbing a bank and placed in a cell across from Beast. Rogue and Storm break him out in order to track down the real culprit, Xavier’s step-brother, the Juggernaut. Together, the team knocks off Juggernaut’s mystical helmet leaving him vulnerable to a psychic attack by Jean Grey.

9. The Cure


In the Swiss Alps, Cable is on the hunt for Dr. Godfrey Adler who invented the control collars used by the Genoshans on their mutant slaves. He battles Adler’s benefactor, the wealthy philanthropist Warren Worthington, AKA Angel. On Muir Island, Xavier is introduced to Adler who has discovered a way to cure mutants of their…uh…mutantcy. Rogue flies their on her own hoping he can make her normal. In reality, Adler has been dead for some time and been replaced by the shape-shifting Mystique. The machine doesn’t cure mutants, but turns them into mindless slaves for Apocalypse. A three-way battle between the X-Men, Pyro & Avalanche, and Cable teaches Rogue that she can still use her abilities to help others.

10. Come the Apocalypse


Mystique uses the machine to turn several mutants into the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. This includes Worthington who has been transformed into the Archangel of Death. The X-Men confront Apocalypse and his forces when they attack Paris. Rogue learns the location of Apocalypse’s headquarters underneath Stonehenge from Mystique. There, she absorbs some of the evil inside Archangel freeing him from Apocalypse’s control.

11. & 12. Days of Future Past (Parts 1 & 2)


This two-parter opens sometime in the future with an older Wolverine running from Sentinels in a post-apocalyptic future. He’s eventually captured by one of the Sentinels’ trackers, a fellow mutant named Bishop. The Sentinels determine Bishop is of no further use to them and decide to terminate them both. They manage to escape to the rebels’ headquarters where their leader, Forge, has built a time machine. Forge believes the future can be altered if they return to the past and prevent an assassination. Bishop volunteers and is whisked back, but the strenuous time traveling leave his memories muddled. He is able to discern that one of the X-Men is the assassin and attacks them at the mansion, fingering Gambit as the trigger man.

Subdued, Bishop reveals that following the assassination, the Mutant Registration Act is passed and Sentinels are mass produced. Mutants are rounded up into internment camps or killed, including the X-Men. The Sentinels eventually turn on the humans and enslave all of mankind. Not knowing who to trust, the X-Men fly off to D.C. and leave Wolverine in charge of Gambit and Bishop at the mansion. Gambit escapes as the rest of the X-Men battle Pyro, Avalanche, and the Blob. Mystique, disguised as Gambit, attempts to assassinate Senator Kelly in order to frame the X-Men. Rogue stops her only to realize Mystique was also her foster mother long ago. Bishop is sent back to the future and sees nothing has changed.

When Prof. X probes Gambit’s mind, we see glimpses of Ghost Rider and Belladonna.

13. The Final Decision


Following the failed assassination attempt, Magneto kidnaps Senator Kelly who is rescued by new metal-free Sentinels. The alpha Sentinel, Master Mold, has developed his own free will and determines all of humanity is a danger. The first part of his plan is to replace Senator Kelly’s brain with a computer along with the other world leaders. All of the X-Men along with Magneto work together to destroy Master Mold and his army of Sentinels.

14. & 15. ‘Til Death Do Us Part (Parts 1 & 2)


With the Sentinels no longer a threat, Cyclops and Jean Grey get married and go off to the tropics for their honeymoon. All along they’ve been under surveillance by Mr. Sinister who saved Morph’s life and sent him in disguised as the reverend. Meanwhile, an anti-mutant hate group, the Friends of Humanity, have risen into power following Senator Kelly’s change of heart and his election to the presidency. Using his powers, Morph disguises himself as various X-Men, incapacitating them in a variety of ways. He was also able to lure Professor X and Magneto to Antarctica where they are trapped by an avalanche. Learning Morph is alive, they track Morph to Sinister’s base in the tropics where Scott and Jean have been captured by Sinister’s henchmen, the Nasty Boys.

16. Whatever It Takes


Storm and Rogue travel to Storm’s village in Africa when her godson is possessed by Professor X’s old enemy, the Shadow King. Wolverine searches high and low for Morph in a desperate attempt to convince him to return to the X-Men. Bloodscream and Roughhouse make quick cameos leaving Morph’s bar which I would assume is in Madripoor. Morph also shape shifts into Omega Red and Maverick in order to taunt Wolverine.

I am a child of the 80’s and growing up, G.I. Joe was my obsession. I had tons of the action figures and vehicles. I watched the cartoon every chance I got and I almost burst into tears when Duke got impaled by Serpentor’s snake in G.I. Joe: The Movie. I know there are more old school fans and collectors who prefer the original 12 inch G.I. Joes back when ‘Kung Fu Grip’ was a remarkable achievement in the toy industry. But, I was all about the Joes vs. Cobra version. The concept was originally developed as a Nick Fury pitch by comic book writer (and Vietnam veteran) Larry Hama. The idea was reworked when Marvel Comics was approached by Hasbro to reinvent the G.I. Joe toy line into the 3 ¾ inch figures made popular by the Star Wars figures. Joe fans really owe a lot to Hama as he not only wrote the entire run of the G.I. Joe comic for Marvel, but he also wrote all the filecards on the back of the toy packages.

In 2007, Hasbro revived the Joes vs. Cobra concept for its 25th anniversary and rolled out a all-new versions of the original characters. The 25th Anniversary toy line was supposed to only consist of 25 fan-favorite characters, but the figures were received so well that Hasbro expanded the line and continues it today. I have a countertop cluttered with the Cobra army that can attest to that.



Fan response has been more lukewarm towards the live-action version coming this summer. Not all is lost as Cartoon Network recently aired G.I. Joe: Resolute, another attempt to reboot the franchise. Several episodes were made available online at the Adult Swim website, but Cartoon Network aired the cartoon in full this past weekend. Resolute was written by Warren Ellis, the acerbic British comic scribe behind books such as The Authority, Planetary, and Transmetropolitan. Ellis was certainly an odd choice for Hasbro to go with, particularly since he knew nothing about the Joes. However, just read Global Frequency and you’ll see how he was just the guy to turn the Joes into a modern-day global response team.

I should note that this isn’t the sanitized G.I. Joe you came to know on Saturday mornings. They aren’t shooting lasers out of their rifles and the bad guys don’t parachute out of their planes in the nick of time. We get a sense of the more mature take right at the beginning as authorities discover the body of Major Bludd at the Lincoln Memorial. A renewed and even more ruthless Cobra Commander launches a multi-tiered assault on the free world. He launches several satellites into the stratosphere shutting down communications networks then blows up the entire city of Moscow with a particle cannon. Finally, Storm Shadow is able to sneak on board the USS Flagg and plant several bombs to take out their jets and weapons cache. The Joes have to get their shit together real quick to launch the counterattack.



Snake Eyes goes to confront his arch-nemesis at their old temple in Japan and through flashbacks we learn about their age-old rivalry. Duke and Scarlett parachute into a decommissioned Russian bunker where Cobra has built their weapon of mass destruction. Meanwhile, Gung Ho, Stalker, and Roadblock stage an attack on a science lab where Destro and the Baroness have taken the staff hostage.

Resolute is action-packed with battles going on three fronts. Snake Eyes is totally badass and there’s a lot of really cool sword fights and martial arts stuff in his section. I should note that even with the increased levels of violence, the faceless Cobra minions STILL can’t hit the broadside of a barn. Despite not knowing anything about G.I. Joe, Ellis has done a great job in keeping everything familiar, but updated for the 21st century. Resolute is a fantastic blend of the cartoon with the comic book continuity. There are subtle nods to the past incarnations sprinkled throughout Resolute. So much so that you could easily believe Resolute picks up right where the original series left off.



The other main characters remain faithful to their more familiar versions with a few personality quirks accentuated. Destro and the Baroness, for example, have a Mickey and Mallory vibe to them. There’s definite sexual arousal between them when it comes to death and violence. By the way, kudos to whoever decided to give Destro a Sean Connery-esque voice. People seem to forget the dude is descended from Scottish aristocracy. He shouldn’t talk like he’s James Earl Jones. Speaking of which, the voice acting is fairly decent. I didn’t particularly care for the guy voicing Duke since he sounded like almost every other male lead in a dubbed anime series. Due to budgetary limits, it appears they only had a small group of actors to provide multiple voices for the cast of characters.

Fun bit of trivia, the original voice of Cobra Commander was Chris Latta who passed away in the 1994. He also used the same raspy, high-pitched voice for Starscream. Charlas Adler does the voice of the Commander in Resolute as well as Starscream in the Michael Bay Transformers.

That’s probably the biggest detriment with Resolute. A cap on the budget meant only so many characters could be utilized and only so much could be done with them. Many favorites like Flint, Cover Girl, and Wild Bill only get one or two lines. Others like Lady Jaye, Shipwreck, Spirit, and Beachhead have no lines at all or only appear in the background of one scene. Resolute runs less than an hour so the storyline and resolution feel rushed. A lot of subplots don’t get developed as well as they should have. The nuances in the back story of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow gets boiled down to petty jealousies. Fans familiar with the cartoon will be aware that Duke and Scarlett were an item. More right-thinking fans familiar with the comic know that Scarlett and Snake-Eyes were the couple. Tying into the melding of continuity, there are hints at a love triangle between them, but they only devote a couple of lines to it and it’s never fully explored.



Final Thoughts: Considering that G.I. Joe: Resolute is available to view for free on Adult Swim's website, I'm giving it a definite recommend to watch. It's probably not something I'd rush out to buy on DVD, but it's a serviceable interpretation of G.I. Joe and will satisfy fans more than the upcoming Stephen Sommers production. Resolute is also a better revamp than either Valor vs. Venom or Sigma 6.

Rating: ***

Just a couple of parting words before I go. One of the elements that bugs me about Rise of Cobra is how the Joe team now wear generic black bodysuits. I don't like it because it's what everybody fuckin' wears now since X-Men. You can't tell who is supposed to be who because they all look the same. You're also taking away the individuality of each character as parts of their personalities lay in the way they dressed. I'm not saying Gung Ho and Shipwreck should walk around in their Village People outfits, but you can redesign them realistically without sacrificing recognition. It's also harder for Snake-Eyes and the Baroness to stand out when ALL the characters wear black.

Finally, many many thanks go out to Shout! Factory who are set to release brand-new DVDs of both G.I. Joe and Transformers. The rights for both shows were previously with Rhino who released all of Transformers, but only released 1 and a half seasons of G.I. Joe. The rights passed to Sony who tentatively planned to re-release the shows under their now-defunct Sony Wonder brand. They managed to put out an excellent 2-disc special edition of Transformers: The Movie, but nothing ever materialized about the TV series. Shout! has them now and plan to release individual seasons with new extras along with complete series box sets. At Comic-Con, they plan on debuting a G.I. Joe complete set in a foot locker package. The Rhino releases have long gone out of print and go for high prices on eBay so this will be a relief to many fans. Me? I'm more than likely going to double dip on the boxsets, especially if they've remastered the picture quality.

Welcome to another trip down the DC Animated Universe memory lane.

77. Showdown


Ra’s al Ghul returns to Gotham. His men sleep gas the staff of a retirement home as Ra’s makes off with one of the elderly patients. Ra’s leaves behind a cassette for Batman and Robin to find. Playing the tape they hear Ra’s narrating a story set during the tail end of the 1800’s as the railroads expand into the Wild West. Bounty hunter Jonah Hex searches for a wanted outlaw named Arkady Duvall. A saloon girl leads Hex into the desert where he comes across Ra’s al Ghul and Arkady spearheading construction on a massive airship. Ra’s uses the ship to bomb the railroads eventually making his way east to Washington D.C. Hex sneaks aboard the airship, blowing it up from the inside out. Back in the present, Batman arrives at the airfield where Ra’s reveals the old man he has absconded with is Arkady, his son. Arkady served 50 years of hard labor and has survived due to a bath in the Lazarus Pit in his youth. Batman allows Ra’s to leave with his son, knowing there will be another day.


I'm a huge Jonah Hex fan. The early issues of his current series are some of the best Western tales I've read. It's awesome that the producers were able to push a character the majority of their viewers never heard of and relegating Batman to a cameo appearance. The Jonah Hex depicted here is a much older version of the bounty hunter. His younger incarnation would appear in an episode of Justice League Unlimited. Jonah Hex is voiced by veteran Western actor Bill McKinney who played Redlegs Terrill in The Outlaw Josey Wales and one of the rednecks who made Ned Beatty squeal like a pig in Deliverance. "Showdown" also featured Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery as the saloon girl and Malcolm McDowell as Duvall.

78. Riddler’s Reform


The Riddler has seemingly reformed and now works as a game designer for Wacko Toys. Batman doesn’t believe he’s gone straight for a minute. Sure enough, the Riddler is still leaving hidden riddles in his toy ads to clue the Dynamic Duo onto his next crimes. Deciphering the message, they find two of Riddler’s men robbing a jewelry store. The thieves manage to escape while Robin breaks his leg. Riddler uses his next clue to lead Batman into a trap at the convention center where he’s rigged the place with explosives. Of course, it fails and Riddler gets sent back to Arkham. Not knowing Batman survived by hiding in a safe, Riddler is driven insane by the fact he can’t figure out how Batman did it.


Currently, the Riddler has gone successfully straight in the pages of Detective Comics, using his intellectual acumen as a private investigator. In "Riddler's Reform," he's unable to leave behind his criminal impulses. They do a really good job in exploring Nigma's obsessions. Riddler's henchmen in this ep are played by the late-Robert Pastorelli and The Greatest American Hero William Katt.

79. Second Chance


Bruce Wayne picks up the tab for Two-Face to have reconstructive surgery in an effort to return him to plain, old Harvey Dent. Thugs burst into the operating room and abduct Two-Face. Batman and Robin question two men who have grudges against Dent, Rupert Thorne and the Penguin, but neither of them did it. Batman tells Robin to stay back when he realizes the true mastermind. He confronts Two-Face (who kidnapped himself) at a construction site, only to be captured and placed in a typical supervillain death trap. Before he can decide on Batman’s fate, Two-Face flips his coin, but it lands on its edge. Batman, who switched it with a trick coin, uses the distraction to escape. Robin disobeys orders and swings in for the last second save.


An actual mystery for the detective which is surprisingly rare for the series. To the writers' credit, they found a way to make Two-Face even more sympathetic while still making him the main villain of the piece.

80. Harley’s Holiday


Harley is declared competent enough to be released from Arkham. She takes her pet hyenas for a walk and decides to buy a new outfit at the same store where Bruce Wayne and Veronica Vreeland happen to be shopping. A misunderstanding with a security tag freaks out poor Harley. She slaps on the make-up and costume, grabbing Veronica as a hostage. From there, everything builds to a long, wacky chase involving the Dynamic Duo, Harvey Bullock, Boxy Bennett and Veronica’s father, General Vreeland, who comes after them in a tank. Harley is sent back to Arkham once more though Veronica has dropped all charges against her. Batman brings Harley the dress she attempted to buy and receives a big, fat kiss in return.


All the Harley episodes are great, but I think "Harley's Holiday" is the best one followed by "Mad Love," "Harley & Ivy," and "Harlequinade." Paul Dini redeems himself following Ivy's birthing of the pod children. Again, they make Harley more sympathetic despite being the main antagonist. And I love the crazy screwball chase sequence.

81. Lock-Up


Batman and Robin return the Scarecrow to Arkham where they meet the new head of security, Lyle Bolton. Scarecrow pleads with our heroes not to take him back as he escaped just to get away from Bolton. His curiosity piqued, Bruce Wayne calls for a hearing on Bolton where Harley, Scarecrow and the Ventriloquist are too intimidated to testify against him. Seeing this, Bruce offers to extend Bolton’s contract causing the inmates to recant their testimony. Bolton flips out, blaming society for creating all these lunatics. Remaking himself into Lock-Up, Bolton begins his mission by kidnapping Summer Gleeson who he views as the liberal media glorifying the very criminals he detests. Next, he goes after Commissioner Gordon, Mayor Hill and Dr. Bartholomew, imprisoning them all in the brig of a freight ship. Batman and Robin manage to free the prisoners. Lock-Up is defeated and sent to Arkham, this time as an inmate.


Much like Harley, Lock-Up was a villain created for the series whose popularity warranted his introduction into the comic books. His most high profile criminal act was giving Lex Luthor and the Secret Society blueprints for every prison on the planet, allowing them to stage simultaneous break-outs worldwide.

82. Make ‘Em Laugh


Batman encounters a new costumed criminal called the Condiment King, who robs a ritzy restaurant armed with ketchup and mustard guns. He slips on his own gunk and falls onto the roof of a police car. The Condiment King is revealed to be a well-known comic and his manager has no explanation for his actions. Alfred’s shopping trip is interrupted by another fruitcake dubbing himself the Pack Rat, who passes up valuables for junk. Batman and Robin deal with him easily and discover he’s really another famous comedian. They also find one of the Mad Hatter’s control chips attached to his neck. Visiting the Hatter in his cell, they find him comatose with one of his own chips implanted on his neck as well. Meanwhile, a third comedian, Lisa Lorraine, has been kidnapped. Their one connection was that they all judged a comedy festival which was crashed by a disguised Joker. This time around, he’s returned to make sure he’s crowned the funniest man in Gotham. To combat Batman and Robin, he’s turned Lorraine into Mighty Mom. Robin deals with the mop-wielding maniac while Batman takes his arch-nemesis. The Joker finally gets the trophy along with a ride back to Arkham.


You know, I would totally buy JLU-style action figures of Condiment King, Pack Rat, and Mighty Mom.

83. Deep Freeze


A powerful robot breaks into prison and grabs Mr. Freeze from his cell. Batman and Robin consult with Carl Rossum who tells them the robot was designed by him for theme park mogul Grant Walker. Walker has taken Freeze to Oceania, a state-of-the-art island stronghold. He wants to undergo the same procedure that Freeze went through to become immortal. In exchange, he gives Freeze a new suit and the means to cure his wife. Becoming Mr. Freeze-lite, Walker further plans to freeze the entire world leaving only a select few alive and under his rule. Batman convinces Freeze to help them stop Walker. Freeze activates the island’s self-destruct sequence. Everyone evacuates, except for Freeze who stays behind with his wife. In the end, Walker is seen trapped inside a block of ice, sinking to the bottom of the sea while Freeze floats towards the Arctic inside a glacier.


"Deep Freeze" was a pretty good episode and a nice return for Mr. Freeze though it's not nearly as strong as "Heart of Ice." But, that's a hard act to follow. Still, I love the idea of Grant Walker, the evil Walt Disney with his James Bond supervillain headquarters. The direct-to-video movie, Batman: SubZero picks up right where this episode left off.

84. Batgirl Returns


Bored with her studies, Barbara Gordon dons the Batgirl outfit to investigate the theft of a valuable jade cat. Checking out the scene of the crime, she runs into Catwoman who claims she didn’t steal the statue. The two of them team up to figure out who’s really responsible as Robin tries to keep tabs on them with Bruce Wayne away in Paris. Batgirl and Catwoman trace the acid used in the robbery to Roland Daggett who’s using one of his abandoned factories as a hideout. Daggett’s goons capture the girls, preparing to forgo the supervillain deathtrap and just simply shoot them and dump their bodies in the acid. Robin swings in just in the nick of time. As a part of their deal, Catwoman agrees to turn herself in, which she does only to escape a few minutes later.


The flip side of "Harley and Ivy" with the good girls or, at least, the good girl and the sorta-good/sorta-bad girl. I believe this is the last Batgirl appearance for the original incarnation of the series. She became a regular character when the show revamped and switched to the WB. The popularity of episodes such as this and "Harley and Ivy" lead to the web-exclusive Gotham Girls focusing on the female denizens of Gotham. To my knowledge, they haven't been released on DVD yet.

70. The Terrible Trio


A new gang of criminal masterminds, the Terrible Trio – Fox, Shark and Vulture, strike Gotham. During their initial encounter with the Dynamic Duo, a bomb hidden under the docks leaves Robin with a broken leg and Batman vowing to bring them to justice. In reality, the Trio are three trust fund babies turning to crime out of boredom. Their leader, Fox, is Warren Lawford robs and beats the father of his girlfriend, Rebecca Fallbrook. On a ski retreat, she discovers their dual identities and the Trio plan to kill her until Batman makes the save. Lawford suffers the worst punishment, imprisonment inside a tiny, filthy, cockroach-infested cell.


This was a solid episode that I don't hear people praising too much. I love the dichotomy between the rich douchebags and Bruce Wayne. These are slightly different versions than the Terrible Trio of the comics. The last versions were CEOs responsible who were taken down by the new Dr. Mid-Nite. Later, they were sent to Arkham Asylum where Warren White took over as the shark. They were revamped into mutated versions of their respective animals in The Batman while being turned into martial arts masters in Brave and the Bold. Hector Elizondo plays Rebecca's father. "Terrible Trio" also features Peter Scolari as Shark and Bill Mumy as Fox.

71. Harlequinade


The Joker crashes a black market auction, Joker gassing some poor schmoe and stealing a massive bomb. Mayor Hill refuses to evacuate the city in order to avoid panic. With no alternative, Batman springs Harley Quinn from Arkham to help find her boss. Harley leads Batman to one of Joker’s old hideouts and discovers its now being used as a gambling den by Boxy Bennett. Harley conks Bats in the head and enraptures the entire club with a torch song. Distracted, they fail to notice Robin freeing Batman. All three of them mop the floor with Bennett’s gang. Harley figures Joker is holding the Mayor hostage to keep everyone contained in the city. There’s no ransom this time, he plans on blowing everybody up. Harley turns on the Dynamic Duo, ready to getaway with her puddin’. When she realizes Joker plans on leaving behind all her friends and her pet hyenas, Harley turns on him. Batman deactivates the bomb just in time and those wacky lovebirds are back together again.


Harley episodes always rule and "Harlequinade" is no different. We learn a little bit more about Harley's backstory which was new territory since she'd been created specifically for the series. Robin using fish as nunchucks was also awesome sauce. This wouldn't be Paul Dini's last foray into torch songs as he'd also write the Justice League episode, "This Little Piggy," which had Batman showing off his baritone pipes. Dick Miller makes the first of two appearances as crime boss, Boxy Bennett.

72. Time Out of Joint


The Clock King resurfaces, now working as a lab assistant to a physicist named Dr. Wakati. Fugate steals an experiment drive that allows him to move at super speed. Batman and Robin are able to foil his first attempt on the Mayor’s life, but Clock King manages to attach one of the devices to the Batmobile, putting them out of synch with normal time. Batman locates and destroys the device, having been trapped for two days. Clock King rigs a bomb to kill the Mayor at the opening of the new courthouse. Wakati shows Batman and Robin how to use the devices and they arrive at the last split-second. Mayor Hill is saved, Clock King is arrested and Dr. Wakati must continue to keep his invention a secret until mankind is ready for it.


They dropped some neat science here. This would be the last appearance of the Clock King who wouldn't return to the DCAU until Justice League Unlimited.

73. Catwalk


Bruce Wayne invites Selina Kyle to a museum fundraiser thrown by Veronica Vreeland, but she finds it to be a big bore. Almost as big as life without Catwoman. She’s accosted afterwards by the Ventriloquist and Scarface who hire her to steal Vreeland’s jewels. However, Scarface pulls a double-cross, sounding off the alarm and making Catwoman a wanted criminal once more. She and Batman check the museum and figure out Scarface was really after stuffed, extinct animals to fence to the Penguin.


Supervillain team up! In what would become a recurring theme for Catwoman, she keeps trying to go straight, but can't help doing bad. Catwoman and Ventriloquist is an odd combination so kudos to the creators for thinking outside the box. They played off each other really well.

74. Bane


For $5 million, Rupert Thorne hires an expensive freelancer to take out Batman once and for all. His name is Bane, who escaped from a Cuban prison after becoming a test subject for a super-soldier program. He vows to break the Bat. His first move is to observe and study Batman in action against Killer Croc. Bane decimates Croc before he can lay an ambush in the sewers. Bane also trashes the Batmobile with his bare hands. While spying on Thorne’s office, Robin is grabbed by Bane to be used as bait for the bat. Bane and Batman finally fight it out aboard one of Thorne’s cargo ships. Batman jams one of Bane’s venom feeders with his Batarang causing a massive overdose. The Caped Crusader gets the last laugh, bringing a defeated and unmasked Bane to Thorne.


Bane debuts and tries to go Ivan Drago on Batman's ass, "I must break you!" Of course, he isn't nearly as successful as he was in the comics. Batman beats him pretty solidly in his one and only appearance on the original show. Bane would return in the revamped New Adventures of Batman and also make a one-time appearance on Superman: The Animated Series. Henry Silva from several Cassavetes films as well as Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog plays the South American Bane.

75. Baby-Doll


Mary Dahl was a former actress who suffered from a rare disease that prevented her from aging. Despite being in her thirties, she still has the body of a six year-old. She became a star on a cheesy sitcom, but failed to achieve success afterward because of her condition. Dahl has snapped and kidnaps her former co-stars in a demented effort to relive her glory days. Robin disguises himself as the final cast member, leading Batman to Baby Doll’s hideout. Robin frees the hostages while Baby Doll escapes into a nearby amusement park. Chased into a funhouse hall of mirrors, Baby Doll finally gives it up after staring into a reflection of what her normal self would look like.


Another odd episode from Paul Dini. I think Baby Doll was created to give Batman more women in his rogues gallery. Obviously, she doesn't pose a physical threat to the Dark Knight at all. However, she has one of the saddest and most realistic origins out of any of the other bad guys. Weird note, Baby Doll's henchmen were dressed as Gilligan and the Skipper.

76. The Lion and the Unicorn


Alfred abruptly leaves in the middle of the night after receiving an urgent call from his old friend Frederick. Arriving in London, he’s kidnapped by two men working for Red Claw. Alfred and Frederick are the only men who know the access codes to a secret missile silo. Red Claw injects them both with truth serum to extract the information she needs. Batman and Robin follow Alfred’s trail to Black One Castle only to arrive too late to prevent the missile from launching. Batman jumps into the Bat-Plane to go after the missile before it hits London. Red Claw pops out from the back seat, accidentally ripping off his mask. Batman activates the ejector seat, launching Red Claw into the English Channel and allowing him to shoot down the missile just as it was about to strike Big Ben.


A rare Alfred episode. People don't realize that he's more than just the dude who fixes Bruce Wayne sandwiches and shit. He's a mechanic, a trained actor, former war medic, and in this episode, he's revealed to have been a former British intelligence agent. The lion and the unicorn are a reference to the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

63. Read My Lips


A new gang strikes Gotham beginning their wave of crime by robbing the box office at Gotham Square Garden. Viewing surveillance tape of the crooks, Batman recognizes one of them as the massive Rhino. He follows Rhino back to the gang’s hideout and shockingly discovers the ringleader is the nebbish Arnold Wesker, the Ventriloquist, whose split personality manifests itself in his psychotic dummy, Scarface. The gang captures Batman who tricks Scarface into believing the Ventriloquist is his informant. While Ventriloquist and Scarface wrestle over a gun, Batman uses the distraction to free himself. One of the flunkies accidentally blasts Scarface into a million pieces. The Ventriloquist is sent to Arkham where the doctors note he’s made remarkable improvements. He passes the time in wood shop where he begins building a new Scarface.


The first appearance of one of Batman’s more underrated archenemies, the creators do a good job of balancing the comedic aspects of the character while maintaining the inherent creepiness of all ventriloquist dummies. Character actor George Dzundza does the voices for both Wesker and Scarface. Earl Boen who played Dr. Silbering in the Terminator films played henchman, Rhino, and Joe Piscopo also makes an appearance in a bit role.

64. The Worry Men


Veronica Vreeland returns to Gotham from a trip in the Amazon. She gives out Worry Men, tiny dolls that relieve one of their nightmares and worries when placed under their pillow. Bruce Wayne notices a Mayan witch doctor on the roof. He dons the costume and fights him. The witch doctor escapes by toppling over a large statue into the crowd. Unbeknownst to him, Alfred puts one of the dolls under Bruce Wayne’s pillow. The following night, Bruce tells his secretary to place $20 million in a briefcase and he leaves it on the ledge outside his office where it’s snatched by another tribal man. Batman follows Veronica to her yacht where she prepares to toss a briefcase full of jewels over the side. Batman stops her, but allows the tribal men to escape. Examining the worry men, he finds the mind control technology of the Mad Hatter. Batman is overpowered by the Hatter’s entranced mob and about to be guillotined when he uses a sound device to deactivate the microchips.


Batman fighting Mayan warriors probably sounded cooler on paper. I don't have much to add to this episode. Marilu Henner returns as Veronica Vreeland and Geordi LaForge himself, LeVar Burton plays one of the Mad Hatter’s victims.

65. Sideshow


Killer Croc escapes from a train while being transported to prison. Croc flees into the woods and goes over a waterfall. He’s rescued by a boy with flippers named Billy who is a part of a commune of sideshow freaks. The others are Richard, a hunchback ringleader; May & June, the Siamese twins; and Goliath the strongman. Croc claims to have been an abused circus attraction. When Batman arrives, Croc and the others subdue him and lock him in a cage. The freaks prevent Croc from killing Batman so he knocks them out with sleeping gas from the Bat-utility belt. They break free and Billy & Goliath assist Batman in capturing Croc.


This is probably the best Killer Croc episode and it does a great job in humanizing an otherwise silly character. The flipper boy reminded me of Arturo from Geek Love. JoBeth Williams provides the voices for the Siamese Twins while the awesome Kenneth Mars plays the Shakespearean inspired ringleader. Brad Garrett from Everybody Loves Raymond plays the strongman and he'd return to the DC animated universe as Lobo.

66. A Bullet For Bullock


Bullock has a rough time enjoying the holidays seeing as how somebody is trying to kill him. He’s nearly run over by a car and shoved onto the subway tracks. Bullock actually calls on Batman’s help in investigating the culprit’s identity. Batman narrows down the lists of suspects to a drug dealer named Vinnie the Shark who was sent to prison by Bullock earlier that year. The substitute Dynamic Duo bust up the Shark’s new operation, but learn he’s not the one making the attempts on Bullock’s life. In the end, it turns out to be Bullock’s hoity-toity landlord, Nivens, who finally snapped due to Bullock’s constant ridicule and filthy habits.


I love these episodes that delve into the lives of the supporting cast. It's too bad they haven't been able to work Bullock or Montoya into the Bat-films. Watching Dark Knight you could tell Wuertz and Ramirez were probably supposed to be them. Jeffrey Jones from like a billion other movies (incl. Ferris Bueller) does the voice of Bullock's landlord who does bare a strong resemblence to David Nivens.

67. Trial


Gotham’s new District Attorney, Janet Van Dorn, disapproves of Gordon’s relationship with Batman. Not only does she disagree with his methods, she believes him to be responsible for every one of his rogues. Both Van Dorn and Batman are kidnapped and taken to Arkham where the inmates are literally running the asylum. The villains are putting Batman on trial with Van Dorn as his defender, Two-Face as the prosecutor, Joker as the judge and the rest as the jury. One by one, Van Dorn calls each of the villains to the stand where they all blame Batman for their problems. After hearing their testimonies, the D.A. sees that they would have become nutjobs with or without Batman. Surprisingly, the jury finds Batman not guilty. Naturally, they decide to just kill him anyway. Batman is able to get loose and fights pass an asylum full of psychotic inmates, facing off against Judge Joker in the climax.


This is definitely my favorite episode of the entire series. They managed to work in nearly every member of the Bat-rogues gallery while exploring all the neuroses that went into their creation and their symbiotic relationship with Batman. We also see how the super-villains react to each other and a day-to-day basis which is something else we almost never see. Plus, Joker is awesome in this ep. All the usual voice actors return for their roles. This time around, Van Dorn is voiced by Stephanie Zimbalist from the 80's TV series, Remington Steele.

68. Avatar


The episode opens with a sepia-toned flashback to 1898 in Egypt where a young Ra's al Ghul explores a hidden tomb. Returning to the present, Ra's has stolen a scroll that will supposedly lead him to the resting place of the Ancient Egyptian queen Thoth Khepera. Batman travels to Gibraltar to find Talia who believes her father is dead and questions why he wouldn't contact her first. Flying to Egypt, they find a secret entrance to Ra's lair behind an antiquities shop. Ra's forsakes his daughter for her disobedience. Ra's finds the tomb of Thoth Khepera whose magicks were similar to the ones used to create the Lazarus Pit. However, Thoth Khepera attempts to suck the life before Batman stops her as the tomb collapses around them. Ra's asks for his daughter's forgiveness and she frees him, leaving Batman behind in the desert.


Another Star Trek alumni drops into the DCAU as Lt. Uhura, Nichelle Nichols voices the undead Egyptian queen.

69. House and Garden


Wealthy bachelors all over Gotham have been attacked and hospitalized by a rare plant toxin. Poison Ivy is the obvious suspect, but she has been released from Arkham and gone straight. Ivy is now married to her psychologist, Dr. Steven Carlyle. Because her body is swimming with toxins, Ivy is sterile and has found a new lease on life with her husband and his two sons. Dick Grayson is kidnapped by a plant monster and held for ransom. Bruce Wayne delivers the money at the docks and then tossed into the harbor. Changing into Batman, he rescues Dick who tells him Carlyle’s has no sons, only daughters. The Dynamic Duo sneaks into Carlyle’s home and discover Ivy has grown plant-based humanoids which grow at an accelerated rate. Batman douses the sprinkler system with herbicide to kill Ivy’s plant creatures. However, Ivy has already made her getaway, replaced by a plant double.


Okay, this episode is just FUCKED up and so is writer Paul Dini. This fact is confirmed on the commentary track by Bruce Timm. I can’t believe they got away with some of this stuff on a kid’s cartoon. Ivy creating pod children still freaks me out. Dini eventually topped himself for creepy Poison Ivy stories when he wrote an issue of Detective Comics where Ivy was revealed to have sexed up dozens of men & women, then fed them to her plants where they were slowly dissolved into a blob of ooze which merged together to seek revenge. Peter Strauss does the voice of Dr. Carlyle and Megan Mullally appears briefly as Dick’s girlfriend.

I did not realize that my last DCAU entry was last June. Personal life took a toll last summer, combine that with a little bit of laziness and procrastination. Not to mention, my computer crashed a few months ago. I actually had the next several write-ups completed, but thought they were deleted. Luckily, I found a few on a flash drive and we're back in Bat-Business.

56. & 57. Shadow of the Bat


Rupert Thorne is finally caught red-handed while smuggling contraband into Gotham. Though Batman trussed him up for the cops to find, it was Commissioner Gordon and the new Assistant District Attorney Gil Mason who are responsible for the collar. Mason has been taking the city by storm, bringing down crime figures due to a mysterious informant. His next bust is Gordon himself on suspicion of accepting bribes. Batman, too busy with his investigation, turns down Barbara’s plea to appear at a rally in support of her father. Robin goes instead and so does Barbara in a homemade bat-costume. A gang of thugs belonging to a new syndicate pull a drive-by. Robin and the all-new Batgirl team up to chase off the bad guys. Viewing a replay of the vent, Robin notices Mason ducking a minute before the bullets flew. At police HQ, Barbara finds the mugshot of one of the shooters only to find that he and Gil are buddies. In his guise as Matches Malone, Batman gets captured while tailing Mason’s goon, but learns Two-Face is the mastermind.



Robin and Batgirl bump into each other while following Mason who is called to an abandoned subway tunnel by Two-Face. The sidekicks arrive and Two-Face floods the tunnels to wipe them all out. Only Batgirl escapes while Two-Face’s men abduct Gordon, making it look like a prison break. Batman and Robin make it out eventually and the extended Bat-family battle Two-Face and his gang on the docks. Batgirl goes after Mason while he tries to escape in a speedboat. He pulls off her mask, but gets kicked into the stern. Gordon is cleared of all charges while Mason remains in a coma.

The show's creators waited until the right moment to introduce Batgirl. They did the slow burn, bringing in Barbara Gordon first then eventually bringing her into the action. Even so, she didn't decide one day to put the costume on and fight crime. It all comes about purely accidentally. Batgirl only appeared in one other episode and didn't become a regular part of the cast until the series was revamped. I'm happy about the continuity nod in having Two-Face take out his old nemesis, Thorne. Melissa Gilbert does the voice of Batgirl and Tim Matheson (from Animal House) plays Gil Mason. Looking over his IMDB page reveals a neat tidbit, Matheson played Jace, one of the sidekicks, on Space Ghost. He also appeared on a recent episode of Brave and the Bold as Ted Kord's uncle.

58. Blind as a Bat


Bruce Wayne oversees the demonstration of a new heavy-armed helicopter. The Penguin hijacks the chopper and opens fire on the crowd. Bruce gets caught in close proximity to an explosion and is rendered temporarily blind. He refuses to remain bed-ridden while the Penguin holds the city hostage. Dr. Thompkins rigs up a helmet to allow him to see. Penguin shoots down the Bat-Plane and a disoriented Batman takes refuge inside a smelting plant. With his helmet damaged, a blind Batman still manages to defeat the Penguin.



I don't have much to add to this episode, except I love how Batman hooks his eyes up to a Virtua Boy in order to see. I thought that thing was supposed to make you blind? It was kind of a fill-in between a pair of 2-parters. The Star Trek connection continues with Diana Muldaur (Dr. Pulaski) returning as Dr. Leslie Thompkins and John de Lancie (Q) as one of Penguin's henchmen.

59. & 60. The Demon’s Quest


Robin sneaks back into his dorm room late one night where he’s ambushed. Batman returns to his Batcave after a fruitless search for the Boy Wonder. He is shocked to find Ra’s al Ghul and his manservant, Ubu, awaiting him. He tells Batman that his daughter Talia and Robin were kidnapped by the same people. Examining a photograph of the abductees, Batman deduces they have been taken to Calcutta. Tracking them there, they follow the trail into the desert. From there, it’s to the Himalayas. Batman parachutes out of Ra’s plane just as it’s blown up by a missile. Batman kicks all kinds of ass to find Robin and Ra’s al Ghul reveals himself to be the mastermind, something Bats always suspected. The whole elaborate plot was a test as al Ghul desires Batman to be the heir to his empire. Batman refuses and Ra’s collapses. Near death, Talia pleads with Batman to take her father to the Lazarus Pit where he will be resurrected. The process works, but Ra’s emerges completely insane.



Batman saves Talia from being thrown into the Pit as Ra’s returns to his normal self. Again, Batman refuses his offer so leaves him in the mountain as he activates the self-destruction process (like any good supervillain). Batman locates Ra’s al Ghul’s desert stronghold in the Sahara. Ra’s al Ghul plans to use a satellite relay to trigger multiple bombs located inside Lazarus Pits around the world. The resulting explosions would flood the chemicals everywhere and cause of the deaths of over 2 billion lives. Batman destroys the satellite and defeats Ra’s in combat.

The only major Bat-villain that hadn't been introduced yet, Ra's al Ghul, was created by writer Dennis O'Neil back in the 70's at a time when DC was trying to wash the campy horror of the Adam West series out of people's mouths. O'Neil adapted the comics himself for the show. What better way to debut a new adversary then by having him just walk right into the Bat-Cave? They also opened up the world with Batman going global and doing the Lawrence of Arabia thing. Former Supergirl, Helen Slater returns as Talia while David Warner (Tron, Titanic) plays Ra's.

61. His Silicon Soul


A trio of crooks break into a warehouse looking for high-tech equipment to sell. Batman bursts out from inside a crate and trounces the thieves. However, he’s injured during the fight, revealing wires and circuit boards in his stomach. This Batman goes home to Wayne Manor and totally freaks out Alfred who realizes that he is one of HARDAC’s Duplicants. Batman and Robo-Batman clash at the home of HARDAC’s creator, Carl Rossum. The phony Batman saves Rossum’s life as his greenhouse crumbles. The Duplicant follows a signal to a Raiders of the Lost Ark-looking warehouse and finds a tiny piece of HARDAC still functioning. He tries to reactivate HARDAC by uploading its program into the Bat-Computer. The robot Batman overrides HARDAC's control after falsely believing he killed the real Batman. It destroys itself to stop his master.



Again, not much to add. I think "Silicon Soul" could have been handled in a more interesting way. It would have been cooler if they did the whole episode from the point of view of the robot.

62. Fire From Olympus


Commissioner Gordon calls on Batman’s help when an informant is blasted by a lightning bolt by his boss Maxie Zeus. Zeus is a shipping tycoon involved with smuggling and has stolen an experimental, electrical cannon from the government. He’s also batshit bonkers, believing himself to actually be the Greek god, Zeus. He lives on a self-styled Mount Olympus atop his skyscraper and looks at his girlfriend and assistant, Clio, as a muse. Zeus prepares to fire the cannon into Gotham with Clio tied to the front of it. Batman short circuits the cannon with one of Maxie’s lighting bolts and the bad guy is sent to Arkham.



The first and only appearance of C-list villain, Maxie Zeus, who got really buffed up for the cartoon. He just popped up in Kevin Smith's mini-series, Batman: Cacophony, where he was apparently cured of his delusions of grandeur. Before that, I think the only other Maxie Zeus story I read was the time he escaped from Arkham, ran into a tree, and knocked himself unconscious. Bess Armstrong who played Claire Danes' mom on My So-Called Life does the voice of Clio.

My comprehensive look at the DC Animated Universe continues with its feature film debut. Funny thing is, I don't think I've ever seen this before. I'm sure I caught bits and pieces of it on Cartoon Network, but I can't recall ever watching it all the way through. So, I'll be viewing Mask of the Phantasm with fresh eyes.



Our hero finds his lives as both Batman and Bruce Wayne turned upside-down. A new vigilante, Phantasm, arrives in Gotham, killing two of the city’s top mob bosses and the Caped Crusader takes the blame. Meanwhile, Bruce is reunited with an old flame named Andrea Beaumont.

The main story is intersperses with flashbacks of a young Bruce ready to begin is career as a costumed crime fighter. Wearing only street clothes and a ski mask, Bruce takes down a group of thieves, but realizes he needs something to strike fear into their hearts. While visiting his parents’ gravesite, he meets Andrea who is there at her mothers’ grave. The couple falls madly in love as Bruce proposes to Andrea and has second thoughts about putting on the costume. However, Andrea’s father, Carl, has embezzled money from crime boss, Sal Valestra. Andrea mails Bruce her engagement ring and disappears without a word. Alone, Bruce now resigns himself to becoming Batman.



The Beaumonts have fled to Europe, but Carl is found and killed by an unnamed henchman who would eventually become the Joker.

Seeking revenge, Andrea became Phantasm and the last name of her list is the Joker. She faces off with him in the remnants of a City of the Future exhibit, where she and Bruce had their first date. Batman tries in vain to convince Andrea not to go through with more killing. Andrea grabs Joker as the entire place is rigged to explode in order to make sure the both of them will perish. They disappear in a puff of smoke before Batman can stop them.

In the epilogue, Batman stands alone on a rooftop staring out into Gotham while Andrea, on board an ocean liner, stares off into the distance.



Originally intended as a direct-to-video release, the Animated Series team was given unprecedented support from the studio who pushed for a theatrical release and bumped the budget up to $6 million. However, the film flopped at the box office and barely missed making back its budget. The mainstream audience sadly just didn’t care about a Batman who wasn’t live-action. The kiddies might find themselves restless as a lot of the film is a bit too heavy and grown-up for them. However, most comic fans view Phantasm as a far more faithful adaptation of Batman than any of the Tim Burton films. At this point, the world was blissfully unaware of the putrid, nipple fetish monstrosities that Joel Schumacher would unleash.

The main problem with shows jumping onto the big screen comes from the fact that most of them don't offer anything you couldn't get on TV. You can tell Mask of the Phantasm is definitely a bigger production right from the start when it opens on a sweeping shot of a CG Gotham. The story is much more intense. Bruce and Andrea as flip sides of each other. Both born from similar tragedies, but taking divergent paths with one seeking justice and the other revenge. Characters are killed off though you never actually see anyone killed.

There's still a small screen feeling once the end credits roll. Chock that up to the film's scant runtime. At just under 80 minutes, the story isn't given enough time to fully develop and neither do the new characters. The surprise revelation of Phantasm's identity isn't much of a surprise either. Those are the only negatives.

The Year One inspired scenes are the highlights of the film. There were little glimpses of Bruce Wayne's early training during the series, but we never saw his first days in costume. What I really love is the scene when Bruce puts on the Bat-mask for the very first time. There's this classic look on Alfred's face as he realizes the kid he helped raise is now going to spend the rest of his life beating people up while dressed as a giant bat.

All the usual voice actors return for the feature film. Dana Delaney makes her first foray into the DC Animated universe as the voice of Andrea Beaumont. Her work here would lead the producers to cast her as Lois Lane on the Superman cartoon. Dick Miller, from like a bazillion Joe Dante movies, also makes his DC debut as Chuckie Sol. He'd return to voice another mobster, Boxy Bennett, as well as Mr. Miracle's sidekick, Oberon, on Justice League. They're joined by Stacy Keach as Carl Beaumont, Abe Vigoda as Sal Valestra, and Hart Bochner (whose father does the voice of Mayor Hill) as Councilman Reeves.

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49. Off Balance

Batman meets with a snitch named Twitch on top of the Statue of Liberty about a group called the Society of Shadows. Twitch reveals they are led by a man named Vertigo who is after a sonic weapon. Two ninjas attack, throwing Twitch into the harbor. Batman takes them down, but not before they suicide themselves to avoid capture. He realizes the Society is after a sonic drill built by WayneTech. The shipment of the device is overseen by Lucius Fox and Harvey Bullock. They are attacked by Vertigo who uses his eyepiece to disorient everyone’s perceptions. He and Batman duke it out until both are distracted by the arrival of a mystery woman. Batman tracks Vertigo to his secret headquarters (an old cathedral) where he saves the woman from a gang of assassins. Two more henchmen use the drill to collapse the ground underneath them. Batman comes to only to find his mask removed. The woman introduces herself as Talia and explains Vertigo once worked for her father who “cares for all of humanity.” Vertigo traps them both with more of his vertigo devices which Batman counteracts by simply closing his eyes. Talia prevents Vertigo’s escape by ringing the giant church bells causing him to plummet into the river. Talia turns on Batman, flying off with the sonic device, not realizing he has sabotaged the device.



Not a memorable episode, but one that was important in the long time. Off Balance marks the first appearance of Talia and her father, Ra's al Ghul, one of Batman's most enduring villains. It was adapted by Len Wein from the original story in Detective Comics #411. Talia was smokin' and the final scene featuring Ra's cameo is the highlight. Off Balance is also quite violent as at least 4 different characters are killed. They're never explicitly pointed out as being deceased and the two ninjas are diagnosed as "brain dead." This episode also features the first and only appearance of Count Vertigo. I actually preferred Vertigo's Nazi-esque uniform to his standard comic book costume. Former Supergirl, Helen Slater voices Talia and does a splendid 'moose and squirrel' accent. British thespian Michael York provides the voice of Vertigo and doesn't quite do as good a job with his iffy German accent. David Warner also debuts as Ra's al Ghul.

50. The Man Who Killed Batman

A goofus named Sid the Squid runs through the rain soaked streets of Gotham, pounding on the door of Rupert Thorne. Sid gains sanctuary and tells Thorne the story of how he became, The Man Who Killed Batman. Sid was hired as a rooftop lookout for some crooks who really just want to use him as a distraction for Batman. Sid gets spooked by the Caped Crusader and nearly falls off the roof. Batman saves him, but goes over the side and falls into an exploding propane tank. Now, everyone wants to become the Man Who Killed the Man Who Killed Batman. After a bar brawl, Sid gets hauled into jail before being bailed out by “his” lawyer, Harleen Quinzel. The Joker and his gang take Sid along on a heist to make certain Batman is dead. When Batman doesn’t show up, Joker becomes depressed as it dawns on him his arch-nemesis really is gone. Angered that he didn’t get to kill Batman, Joker locks Sid in a casket and rolls it into a vat of acid. Thorne doesn’t buy any of this, believing Sid is looking to muscle in on his territory. Batman makes the last-minute save, revealing he faked the death to get close to Thorne. Sid the Squid is sent to prison, but his antics have made him the big man in the big house.



From the show's true dynamic duo, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. This was an excellent companion piece to Joker's Favor, both taking a look at what it's like for an ordinary schlub in the crazy Bat-Universe. Matt Frewer, best remembered as Max Headroom, voices Sid the Squid and the late-John Vernon returns as Rupert Thorne. Robert Picardo from Star Trek: Voyager and veteran voice actor Maurice LaMarche are also present voicing background goons.

51. Mudslide

Clayface returns and fights with Batman while breaking into an office building. However, his condition has deteriorated. He’s slower, leaving behind chunks of himself wherever he goes. Clayface has been under the care of Dr. Stella Bates, a super fan and medical consultant on his old films. She’s discovered a mutagen known as MP-40 that will cure his condition, but the only known sample is stored at Wayne Labs. Clayface steals the isotope and escapes from Batman in the subways. Batman follows the paper trail to Dr. Bates’ labs on a seaside cliff, interrupting the process. Taking the fight outside, Clayface is weakened as he absorbs the rainfall. They tumble over the side where Batman loses his grip on the diluted Hagen who falls into the ocean.



Wow...Batman was a real dick here. Yes, Clayface was a total testoserone case, but all the guy wanted was a cure so he wouldn't walk around like a melting chunk of chocolate ice cream. Batman couldn't wait another minute until Clayface was patched up to whoop his ass? Hellboy himself Ron Perlman returns to play Clayface, but this would be his last appearance for a long time. He pulls off a nice Stanley Kowalski in a scene where he screams, "STELLA!" Clayface wouldn't reappear until the show was revamped as The New Batman Adventures.

52. Paging the Crime Doctor

Batman tries to thwart a gang of crooks robbing an armored car in a hijacked ambulance. Bats gets concussed and knocked off a bridge. He gets medical attention from Dr. Thompkins while the thieves bring the loot, a surgical laser, to their boss Rupert Thorne and his brother, Matthew. Matt Thorne was an old friend of Thomas Wayne and Dr. Thompkins who lost his medical license by refusing to report his brother’s GSW. Now, he works as a sawbones for Thorne’s men, earning the nickname, “Crime Doctor.” When his brother has a heart attack, Matthew and his brother’s men kidnap Leslie and forces her to operate. He helps Dr. Thompkins escape when he learns Rupert has ordered her to be killed after surgery. Batman saves them both as they are about to be gunned down. Bruce Wayne agrees to speak on Matthew Thorne’s behalf in exchange for stories about his late father.



Yet another instance where the show runners took a minor villain from the comics and remade him into a much more sympathetic character. Here, Matthew Thorne bares little resemblance to the original Crime Doctor of the comic books. Nothing too mind blowing here. It's solid and the final scene has a touching poignancy to it with Bruce asking Dr. Thorne about Thomas Wayne. Rupert Thorne manages to be one of the more slippery bad guys. The dude gets arrested and somehow manages to get free a scant two episodes later.

53. Zatanna

Bruce Wayne and Alfred attend one of Zatanna’s magic shows. Bruce flashes back to his time training as an escape artist with her father, Zatara. He bids farewell to Zatanna as he leaves for further Batman Begins training in Japan. Back to the show, Zatanna pulls off a disappearing act, making the entire contents of the Gotham Mint vanish. When the money fails to reappear, she’s placed under arrest. Checking the vault for clues, they deduce that Montague Kane, a renowned debunker of magicians, is the real culprit. They’re lured into a trap at Kane’s mansion where they break out of the clichéd spiked walls. Batman and Zatanna bring Kane and his hydroplane down. Zatanna says goodbye in a puff of pink smoke to the man she only knew as “John Smith.”



The first and only appearance of Zatanna during the Batman series. She would return to the DC Animated universe in Justice League Unlimited. No surprise here, Paul Dini writes this one. The man has an unhealthy fixation for the leggy magician, so much so that he wound up friggin' marrying her. Mighty fine work, my friend. Zatanna is played much more realistically, lacking the expansive magical powers she displays in the comics. I also loved the flashback sequence of the young Bruce on his journey to becoming the Dark Knight. I think this might have been the first time any romance was hinted at between Bats and Zatanna. The threads of which wouldn't be picked up on until the post-Identity Crisis DC. Julie Brown (Just Say Julie not Downtown Julie) voices Zatanna while character actor plays her father, Zatara. Michael York is back using his proper English accent as Kane.

54. The Mechanic

The Batmobile gets trashed while chasing after some of the Penguin’s goons. Batman and Robin drop it off with their mechanic, Earl Cooper and his daughter, Marva. Batman saved Cooper’s life after he blew the whistle on his crooked bosses at Global Motors. Unemployed and near poverty, Batman hired him to re-design his car. Penguin’s driver brings his friend Rundle, an employee for an auto parts distributor, who has connected large orders of specialized components to the Batmobile. Penguin uses the information to find Cooper and force him to sabotage it. Using a remote, Penguin assumes control of the Batmobile and drives it off the top of a parking structure. The Dynamic Duo manages to escape and rescue Marva. Penguin is sent back to prison where he stamps license plates.



This episode answers the where and how of what Batman does when the Batmobile gets trashed. It's an interesting premise even though Earl Cooper was never shown or mentioned again after The Mechanic. I wonder if the writers came up with the episode before or after Batman Returns as both feature the Penguin gaining control of the Batmobile and turning it into a moving deathtrap. Paul Winfield is this episode's requisite guest-star, playing Cooper the Bat-Mechanic.

55. Harley and Ivy

A diamond heist goes wrong for Joker and Harley Quinn, leading to a car chase with Batman. Through a series of wacky shenanigans, they barely manage to escape. Joker, fed up with Harley’s screw-ups, kicks her out of his gang. Harley decides to steal the diamond herself, running into Poison Ivy who as there stealing rare plant toxins. They get away scot-free from Montoya and the GCPD, then team up to embark on a successful crime spree. Missing her puddin’, Harley calls Mister J who traces the call. Using the trusty ol’ Bat-Computer, Batman learns Ivy is using an old toxic waste dump as her hideout. Ivy gets the jump on Bats with one of her mutant plants, chains him up and drops him into a pool of chemicals. Joker shows up just in time to collect on the ladies’ loot. He sprays Ivy with Joker Gas to no effect. The Clown Prince of Crime goes berzerko firing indiscriminately with his Tommy gun causing the whole place to explode. Batman grabs Joker and makes it out just in the nick of time. Meanwhile, the mighty Ivy-Harley team has already made their getaway only to have their tires shot out by Montoya.



If I already said another episode was my favorite, then fuck that noise. This is my favorite episode. Paul Dini is all over this edition of the Project and he just cuts loose on Harley and Ivy. Batman takes a backseat as this episode goes Thelma and Louise by spotlighting the villanous female characters. There isn't a single boring beat to be found. The show is just packed with great one-liners and classic moments. Joker trying to find his socks, "Poison Oakey?", Harley using a rocket launcher on a trio of horndogs (one of whom was modeled after Timm), Montoya being the one to take them down and the final denouement with Ivy giving Harley a face full of dirt. Dini also expands on the love/hate relationship between Joker and Harley. And is it wrong for me to think Harley and Ivy were hot wearing nothing but man shirts?

42. Moon of the Wolf


A werewolf attacks a security guard at the Gotham City Zoo, but is stopped by Batman. The werewolf is star runner Anthony Romulus who was given experimental steroids from Dr. Milo and the guard helped procure them a pair of timber wolves. Romulus makes a pledge to donate a significant sum to charity if Batman meets him at his mansion. Romulus gasses Batman and chains him up in the middle of a stadium still under construction. In a flashback, we watch Romulus take Milo’s formula made from steroids and wolf estrogen. He becomes a star athlete, but the side effects turn him into a werewolf. Romulus begs Milo for the antidote, but he refuses wanting the werewolf to kill Batman. Romulus changes and goes berserk, attacking Milo. Batman picks the lock on his chains and fights it out. He knocks the werewolf into the river with a wrecking ball. Romulus ups and disappears, all his possessions sold off to pay his debts.



Didn't I just watch this episode? Our last episode featured werecats, this one has a werewolf. Neither show was very interesting. I might have liked "Moon of the Wolf" better if I hadn't already seen the same basic premise with nearly the same exact ending in the previous episode. "Moon of the Wolf" was based on an old story from Batman #255, written and adapted for the show by the great Len Wein. Not as good as other adaptations like "Mad Love" or "The Laughing Fish." Neither Romulus nor Tygrus ever returned on The Animated Series, though they did return in the Batman Adventures comic. Guest voices include Harry Hamlin (who previously voiced Cameron Kaiser) as Romulus, Bosom Buddies star Peter Scolari as the security guard and the voice of a million animals (and Megatron~!) Frank Welker brings the wolf noises.

43. Day of the Samurai


Bruce is called to Japan when his old martial arts rival Kyodai Ken returns, having kidnapped their master’s star pupil. Bruce tells Alfred about the Way of the Fang, a forbidden art of fighting that includes a secret, death strike. The scroll had been hidden by an ancestor of Yoru-Sensei. Bruce must exchange the location of the scroll for the girl. During the exchange, Kyodai knocks the girl off the roof of a skyscraper. Batman dives for her, allowing the ninja to steal the scroll. He finds what he’s looking for at the base of a volcano. Having aged quite a bit, the scroll falls apart, but Kyodai is still able to read the section about the touch of death. Kyodai kidnaps Alfred in preparation for their showdown. They battle as the volcano begins to erupt. He gives Batman the death touch, seemingly killing him. However, the Dark Knight pops back up. They continue to fight until being separated by the lava flow. Batman throws him a line, but Kyodai kicks it away and apparently dies as the volcano erupts again. Batman reveals he noticed Kyodai’s training dummy had a soft spot (where he would have practiced it) and protected himself with a steel plate.



This was pretty sweet. I liked that they didn't focus on Batman the detective or Batman the crime fighter, but Batman, one of the most dangerous martial artists on the planet. The climactic fight scene by the volcano was animated really well with the red-orange tinge adding to the atmosphere. And Batman going all Fistful of Dollars to counteract the Death Touch was definitely a plus.

44. Terror in the Sky


Two longshoremen are attacked by Man-Bat who feeds off a cargo of fruit. Man-Bat flies towards an apartment as Kirk Langstrom wakes up from a nightmare. He notices the remnants of some fruit and scratches in the carpet. Batman overhears the dock workers giving a statement to the police. Both, he and Langstrom’s wife believe the man is taking the Man-Bat formula again. Francine and Batman confront Langstrom in his lab. He declares his innocence. Believing Batman’s antidote failed, he attempts to create his own. Bats grabs a DNA sample from Langstrom only to be attacked in the parking lot by the Man-Bat. Batman chases it through the streets of Gotham on his Bat-Cycle until it runs head-long into a commuter train. Batman discovers someone else is the Man-Bat, while Langstrom rushes to catch his wife before she leaves him for good. Batman confronts Francine’s father who has recreated the serum, but did not take it. He dropped the initial batch and it infected Francine when she was cleaning it up. In flight, she transforms and busts through the cabin door. Kirk is knocked unconscious and sucked out the plane, only to be carried off by the She-Bat. Batman catches up with them and manages to tag her with the antidote.



A nice twist on one of the more underrated Bat-villains. Solid episode, but not very memorable. I don't think it was some startling revelation when Langstrom's wife was revealed as the new Man-Bat. There's also a really goofy sequence where Batman rescues a stewardess in mid-air with the Bat-Plane's ridiculously long robotic arm. Compensating, much? The Beastmaster, Marc Singer, returns as Langstrom with Rene Auberjonois and Meredith MacRae also back as his father-in-law and wife, respectively.

45. Almost Got 'Im


Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Killer Croc, and Poison Ivy meet up to play poker and swap stories about how they almost killed the Batman. Ivy recalls one Halloween when she lured Batman to a patch of exploding pumpkins that spread toxic gas. The Caped Crusader calls in the Batmobile with his wrist remote to save him. Two-Face recalls the time he captured Batman and instead of just shooting him in the face, he ties him up to a giant penny and flips it. Batman manages to palm Two-Face’s coin, cutting himself free in mid-air, and taking Dent and his goons out. Croc reminds everyone about the time he threw a big rock at Bats. Penguin’s tale finds Batman tracking Penguin to an aviary where Mr. Cobblepot used a variety of exotic birds to try and kill his nemesis. Saving the best for last, Joker gleefully recants strapping Batman to an electric chair in front of a live television audience. The chair is trigged by laughter as Joker floods the studio with laughing gas. Catwoman makes the save only to be knocked out by Harley Quinn and that brings us up to the present. Joker reveals he’s got Catwoman trapped at a cat food factory. However, Croc is really Batman in disguise and the bar patrons are all cops. The bad guys are arrested and Bats saves Cats before she's ground up into kitty chow.





Paul Dini once again brings the awesome. It's always cool when they bust out one of these villain-centric episodes. The banter between Batman's bad guys is classic ("It was a big rock...") and I loved the callback to "Pretty Poison" between Ivy and Two-Face. We also find out where Batman got the giant penny on display in the Bat-Cave. The animators throw in some nice, little touches like Two-Face having two 2's and a pair of face cards in his hand, while the Joker has four aces and a joker in his. Finally, I have to admit Ivy was looking pretty hot in that black outfit.

46. Birds of a Feather

Penguin robs an art museum only to be promptly foiled and thrown into prison. Fast forward and Penguin is released, vowing to go straight and rejoin high society. Though none of his acquaintances are there to meet him, he receives a call from socialite Veronica Vreeland to meet up for dinner. Unbeknownst to him, Veronica is only cozying up to him to liven up her parties. Despite his embarrassing behavior, Veronica grows fond of Cobblepot when he saves her from a trio of muggers. During the big party, Penguin overhears Veronica and her snobby friend, Pierce, discuss their true intentions and he flips out. Penguin abducts Veronica and demands Pierce drop off a million dollars personally. Penguin lures them both to the opera house where he plans to kill them both with the standard, elaborate death trap. Of course, Batman rescues them and Penguin goes back to prison.



Another villain-centric episode and the first focusing on the character of the Penguin. While he's made several appearances before, they hadn't really delved into what made Oswald Cobblepot tick. Like they've done with the majority of Batman's other enemies, Timm and company find a way to make the Penguin more sympathetic. He truly does try to go straight until getting screwed over. One of the things about the Penguin though, is that he's not a lunatic like his peers. He doesn't get shuffled off to Arkham after being arrested. I think they could have expanded on what made him different from criminals like Mad Hatter or Riddler who are compelled by their obsessions. Guest-voices here are Marilu Henner as Veronica Vreeland (who'd pop up again) and Sam McMurray as her snobby friend, Pierce.

A pair of Easter eggs were snuck in. The cops mention the corner of Barr and Englehart, named after comic writers Mike W. Barr and Steve Englehart. Also, look out for Hopey from Love & Rockets in the background when Penguin gets on the bus.

47. What is Reality?


The Riddler returns to Gotham, causing havoc with the city's computer systems. It's all a feint while his henchmen destroy all files regarding his true identity. Riddler also drops off a large package in front of police headquarters which contains an advanced computer system. Deciphering Riddler's clues, Batman discovers Nigma's goons attempting to steal files from the DMV. Meanwhile, Robin learns the computer holds an incredible virtual reality program. Like a moron, he allows Commissioner Gordon to hook himself into the system where the Riddler captures him. Batman has no choice but to enter the Riddler's world and contend with a number of dangerous traps. Batman tricks Riddler into losing his concentration causing the VR world to crumble. The computer short circuits before Nigma can escape, leaving him catatonic.



Probably the weakest of all the Riddler episodes. The Virtual Boy looking Riddler world was kinda hokey and definitely dates the episode.

48. I Am the Night


Batman makes his yearly appointment at Crime Alley with Dr. Thompkins where he leaves a pair of roses at the side of his parents’ murder. While saving Wizard, a teenaged hustler, from a beating, he is late for a police raid on a gangster named the Jazzman. Batman stops him from escaping in a semi-truck, but Gordon is injured in the process. Batman blames himself and, already weary of his never ending crusade against crime, contemplates hanging up the Bat-suit for good. Robin finally draws Batman out of his funk when the Jazzman escapes from prison looking to finish Gordon off for good. Bats catches Jazzman outside Gordon's window. The Commissioner is saved and Batman bumps into Wizard who's catching the bus home, his life changed for the better thanks to our hero.



I know a lot of fans list this as one of the best episodes of the show's run, but I thought it was just okay. I think part of it is the episode's runtime. There wasn't enough room to really convey Batman's angst. Let's face it, a guy dressed up like a giant bat who runs around a night and beats people up has got a wealth of personal problems. I don't know if 22 minutes is enough time for the audience to experience it. Still, some good stuff here and more foreshadowing of Barbara eventually becoming Batgirl. A young Seth Green, long before Austin Powers and Robot Chicken, pops in for a couple lines as Wizard.

Greetings, my fellow otaku. I present to you Appleseed: Ex Machina, a sequel to 2004's Appleseed which was a remake of the original film from 1988, which itself was based on the manga by Masamune Shirow. Anime fans don't need all this explained, but I hope I haven't lost any of you newbies. Anyways, Shirow is known for his mecha-infused sci-fi/action thrillers with a political edge (Ghost in the Shell and Dominion: Tank Force). The new Appleseed films eschew traditional hand-drawn animation for CGI motion capture. I'm not a huge fan of the process. I did enjoy Beowulf even if some of the facial movements weren't quite right. I still haven't seen The Polar Express because the characters looked too damn creepy. Monster House had it right in using a more stylized look. Considering this is anime, highly stylized is a prerequisite.



It's a post-apocalyptic kind of future and those are always the most fun. World War 3 has ravaged most the planet with the remnants of mankind living in high-tech, utopian cities. The first film followed Deunan Knute, a skilled soldier taken to the city of Olympus where she discovers the war ended months ago. Her partner and lover, Briareos, was severely wounded in battle, but is put back together as a cyborg. It's a process used to treat many of the other humans injured by the war. There also exist, Bioroids, which are essentially clones. Bioroids are generally created with suppressed emotions making them more level-headed and perfect for duties such as politics, diplomacy, and administration.



The gist of the back story gets explained pretty quickly. You don't really need to have seen the first film to enjoy the sequel. Honestly, the stories aren't that sophisticated. I doubt you'll get lost. Both films were directed by Shinji Aramaki, but it is Ex Machina that claims John Woo as producer. The film features many of the John Woo trademarks: double fisted gunplay, acrobatic action, gunfights in a church, and a sequence with a motorcycle. No speedboats, unfortunately. Doves are present, but there's actually an honest-to-goodness reason for them to show up.

Ex Machina kicks off in classic John Woo fashion with an action set piece inside a massive cathedral. Deunan and Knute are members of the city's ESWAT force. The 'E' stands for Extra. Their team does battle with a group of cyborg terrorists. Deunan does all the things you've come to know and love from a John Woo action hero. She dives through the air, slides across the floor, and fires her guns in slow motion. During the mission, Briareos is injured and taken temporarily out of commisison. Deunan is awkwardly paired with Tereus, a Bioroid made from Briareos's DNA, who looks just like his genetic originator before he was changed.



There are hints of a love triangle and a rivalry between Briareos and Tereus, but neither are really explored to any depth. The story is paper-thin, in fact. It's predictable with no sense of tension or suspense. Ex Machina is essentially an hour and forty minutes of eye candy. The animation is certainly beautiful to look at. The designs of the cityscapes are gorgeous and reminiscent of a more optimistic Blade Runner. There are times where it feels like you're just watching a cinematic from a video game. And there are times when I'd marvel at the backgrounds because they looked so realistic. It's odd how the animation works at certain points and doesn't at others. The complicated action sequences are well done, but ordinary movements are performed in a very stiff manner. Flying off a motorcycle, running up the arm of a mech-suit, and firing off a machine gun? No problem. Picking up a wine glass or shaking someone's hand? Still needs work.



Final Thoughts: Appleseed: Ex Machina is junk food. Tasty, but not entirely satisfying. It's eye candy, pure and simple. The story is forgettable, but the animation is stunning, especially when watched in high definition. Ex Machina doesn't stand up to classics like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, but it might be worth a rental for you anime fans. I give Appleseed: Ex Machina two cyborgs out of 5.

Rating:

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Back with another part of my comprehensive look at the DC Animated Universe. I'm changing up the format here. Less screencaps, maybe give me more time to devote and get these out quicker.

35. Cat Scratch Fever


At her court hearing, Selina Kyle is looking at serious prison time for her crimes as Catwoman. However, the judge decides on leniency since she saved Gotham from a biological attack by Red Claw. Selina gets off easy with six years probation, but is warned to never don her Catwoman costume again. Returning to her apartment, her assistant Maven confesses that Selina's beloved cat, Isis, ran away. Selina goes searching for her and comes across a pair of goons working for Daggett Industries. They try to round up a couple stray cats and get into a brawl with Selina. She's bailed out by Batman who takes off when the cops show up. Officer Montoya and her partner arrest everybody. Selina is eventually bailed out by Bruce Wayne. Selina slips back into her work clothes and sneaks into Daggett's laboratory. Daggett and his head scientist Doctor Milo are injecting stray animals with a contagious virus, to which only Daggett has the cure for. Catwoman is scratched by Isis. Delirious, she's rescued by Batman who checks out Daggett's lab just as they're clearing it out. Milo sics an infected dog on the Dark Knight who was able to grab an aerosol canister containing the antitoxin. He battles the dog and Daggett's goons on a frozen lake. The ice cracks, but Batman pops back up and pulls the bad guys down into the water. Selina is cured and later reunited with her cat.



Only the show's second appearance by Catwoman, picking up some of the threads from "The Cat and the Claw." Not exactly one of the more stimulating episodes, even if it is named after a Ted Nugent song. The episode is mainly there to further the relationship between Batman and Catwoman. Nothing much of note here, except for the fact that this is the first appearance of Dr. Milo, voiced by Treat Williams. Milo would only appear in one more episode of Batman, before reemerging years later on Justice League Unlimited. Adrienne Barbeau returns as Catwoman and Ed Asner is back too as Roland Daggett.

36. The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne


A prominent judge, Judge Maria Vargas, meets with two thugs on the Gotham Bay Bridge. She's paying them blackmail money in exchange for a VHS tape they have. Batman arrives and chases the blackmailers away and saves Vargas from almost falling over the side while trying to grab the video. Tracking the license plate, Commissioner Gordon discovers the car is registered to a health spa called Yucca Springs. Undercover as Bruce Wayne, he and Alfred take a visit and see the spa's therapist, Dr. Hugo Strange, who has invented a radiopathic machine for his sessions. Unbeknownst to the patients, the machine allows Strange to visualize and record their deepest secrets. With Bruce hooked up to the machine, Strange learns he is Batman. Strange invites the Joker, Two-Face, and Penguin to his spa in order to auction off evidence of Batman's secret identity. While Strange and his men pick up the villains from the airfield, Bruce checks out the machine and finds that his tape is missing. He erases everyone else's before destroying the machine and being grabbed by Strange's henchmen (who also snatched Alfred). At the auction, the evil trio pool their resources and pay Strange over $51 million in cash. Batman manages to switch the tapes, playing a forged one featuring Strange concocting to scam Batman's rogues. Enraged, the three of them give chase and take Strange aboard their plane. He tries to tell them that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but nobody believes him. Joker and Two-Face threaten to toss Strange out until Bats rips the fuel line. The plane goes down and the cops arrive in time to arrest them. Batman has Dick Grayson show up in stilts and Bruce Wayne mask to fool Strange into thinking the earlier tape was also a fake.



Ah, somebody finally figures out Batman's secret identity and tries to sell it to the Big 3 of archenemies. Any Joker is good Joker and he plays off well against Two-Face and Penguin. The resolution might seem cheesy, but I thought it worked perfectly in a comic book way. Batman and Superman would always get the other (or a robot) to pretend to be their secret identity to fool Lois Lane or somebody. Judge Vargas makes a second appearance, her first being when Poison Ivy turned her into a tree. So, her luck is pretty crappy. This is Hugo Strange's first and only appearance on the Batman series. Like Milo, he would reappear years later on Justice League Unlimited as a part of Cadmus. However, it was only a brief cameo due to the Bat-Embargo. Vargas and Strange are voiced by veteran character actors Carmen Zapata and Ray Buktenica, respectively.

37 & 38. Heart of Steel I & II


A blonde walks into the lobby of Wayne Industries and leaves behind a briefcase. The security guard brings it to one of the offices and thinks nothing of it. He sees Bruce Wayne out as the case transforms into a miniature robot. It breaks into R&D to steal several computer chips, but accidentally sets off the alarms. The guards go to check it out as Bruce uses a secret room to change into Batman. The robot knocks out the guards with gas and escapes to the roof as Batman gives chase. A rocket breaks off from the robot and lands at a nearby beach where the blonde takes the stolen chips. Batman, using a Bat-Glider hidden on the roof, is right on her tail, but gets blown out of the sky by a machine gun in the trunk. Lucius Fox calls Bruce to tell him of the theft. The chips were advanced AI using experimental wetware that combined living protein with technology. While discussing the case, Commissioner Gordon is visited by his daughter Barbara, back home from college. Bruce visits one of his mentors, Carl Rossum, a brilliant scientist gone reclusive after the death of his daughter. He meets Rossum's assistant, Randa (the blonde), along with Rossum's latest creation a massive computer system called HARDAC (Holographic Analytical Reciprocal Digital Computer). Randa sees Bruce at his office for their date and leaves behind her compact. It changes into another robot and hacks into Bruce's PC to steal design specs as Bruce and Randa have a dinner by the fireplace. Bruce entered phony designs into his computer, hiding the real plans at home. HARDAC orders Randa to search for them. She zaps Alfred with a stungun and discovers the Batcave, giving HARDAC access to the Bat-Computer. Meanwhile, HARDAC has also replaced Gordon with a robot duplicate (Duplicant).



Batman narrowly escapes being attacked by his own equipment and shorts out the Computer. Rossum, realizing HARDAC has gone too far, tries to shut him down, but gets electrocuted. Barbara calls Batman to the roof with the Bat-Signal to inform him something is wrong with her father. Bullock arrives and attacks the Caped Crusader with surprising strength. With Barbara's help, Batman knocks Bullock into the Bat-Signal. He gets fried and they see that he is actually a robot. Bruce meets with Mayor Hill to find that he and others have been replaced by more Duplicants. He narrowly survives an elevator crash when the robots attempt to capture him. Barbara breaks into Rossum's headquarters at Cybertron Industries only to be caught by HARDAC's forces. Batman dispatches the robots one at a time and frees the prisoners. Rossum leads the others out of the building while Batman battles the Randa duplicant. He crushes her underneath an elevator. Barbara and Batman manage to make it out before HARDAC explodes.



Man, this two-parter was a lot more violent than the usual fare. Chalk that up to the producers being allowed to wreck shop all over robots the way they couldn't with human characters. The Blade Runner references are pretty easy to spot with HARDAC's robotic minions being called Duplicants (as in Replicants) and HARDAC's creator, Carl Rossum, an obvious play on JF Sebastian. Both were played by William Sanderson. We've also got the debut of Barbara Gordon, voiced by Melissa Gilbert, who hasn't yet become Batgirl. Leslie Easterbrook from The Devil's Rejects and the...ugh...Police Academy movies provides the voice of Randa. In their commentary, Bruce Timm and company mention a deleted sequence involving Batman fighting a robot duplicate of himself. That idea would be picked up later in "His Silicon Soul."

39. If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?


Genius game designer Edward Nigma arrives at work to find that he is locked out of his office. Dan Mockridge, the CEO at Competitron and Nigma's boss, has fired Nigma after he filed suit over royalties. Mockridge's company has made millions on Nigma's hit computer game, "The Riddle of the Minotaur", while he hasn't seen a single dime. Years later, Mockridge is selling out to Wayne Enterprises so that Bruce Wayne can move the company to Gotham and stimulate the job market. During the meeting, Mockridge is spooked by a riddle ("Why do multi-million dollar deals break down in the wasteland?") rolling across a stock ticker. Batman and Robin realize Mockridge is walking into a trap at his nightclub, the Wasteland. There, they meet Nigma's new persona, The Riddler, who escapes with Mockridge while Batman tries to free Robin from a giant version of the Chinese fingertrap. The Riddler sends the Dynamic Duo a second clue using the city's lights and Morse Code. The riddle leads Batman and Robin to an amusement park based on the game. They make their way to the center of the labyrinth passing numerous death traps and puzzles. Running out of time, Batman cheats by taking control of a flying hand (the Hand of Fate) to take him to the center. Bats uses the Hand of Fate again to destroy the minotaur, but the Riddler is already on a plane out of the city. While Mockridge may have made millions on the Wayne deal, he is unable to have a single night's sleep while the Riddler is still at large.



The last of Batman's major rogues makes his debut. Smallville's Lionel Luthor, John Glover, does the voice of The Riddler. Glover's DC connection also extends to...ugh...Batman & Robin, playing Dr. Jason Woodrue who didn't become The Floronic Man the way he did in the comics. Again, the writers give the bad guy a slightly different, and more sympathic origin. Riddler is portrayed much different from the more well-known version played by Frank Gorshin on the 60's show, which Jim Carrey did a take-off on in Batman Forever. This Riddler isn't a hyperactive, giggling goofball. He's much mmore intellectual, more elitist. This might have been one of the only times on the show where the villain technically won. Riddler didn't kill Mockridge, but he did freak him out and escape.

40. Joker's Wild


In the Arkham rec room, Joker and Poison Ivy argue about what to watch on TV. Irving, one of the guards gives them a warning and switches the channel over to the news. Summer Gleason reports from the grand opening of tycoon Cameron Kaiser's brand-new casino. Kaiser unveils the casino's secret theme, Joker's Wild, replete with giant spinning Joker head and employees dressed up as the Clown Prince of Crime and Harley Quinn. Joker feigns illness and escapes in trademark Joker fashion. Though, sadly, not on a rocket powered Christmas tree. As Bruce Wayne, our hero checks into the hotel. As Batman, he breaks into Kaiser's office. He learns that the casino was originally to have a medievel theme and that Kaiser nearly went broke building it. Batman battles Irving, who actually works for Kaiser. Assumed to be another employee, Joker deals blackjack and rips off some of the patrons. Not exactly inconspicuous, Joker alerts Kaiser and Batman of his presence. Joker hops into his Jokermobile (put on display on the casino floor) and sends Batman crashing into the harbor. Batman confronts Kaiser who plans on collecting the insurance once Joker blows the place up. He's zapped by one of Kaiser's security measures and sent down to the Joker as he rigs the building with explosives. Joker ties Batman to a giant roulette wheel and leaves him once alerted of Kaiser's plans. Joker hijacks Kaiser's chopper and is about to off him when Batman comes to the rescue.



Paul Dini + The Joker = GOLD. I know most people probably prefer "Laughing Fish", but this is my all-time favorite Joker episode. Joker alternates between his various personalities: the fun-loving prankster, the criminal genius, and the homicidal maniac. His scenes in Arkham with Poison Ivy are hilarious and his bit with Bruce Wayne is classic ("Twenty one! How nice.") Kudos to both Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy for their acting there. Harry Hamlin from Clash of the Titans voices Cameron Kaiser. The Blade Runner love continues here with Brion James doing the voice of Irving. If that wasn't cool enough, Winston Zeddemore himself, Ernie Hudson also has a pair of bit roles as one of Kaiser's security guards and his pilot.

41. Tyger, Tyger


While Selina Kyle checks on the tigers at Gotham Zoo, she's shot with a dart by an ape-man. He knocks a security guard into the tiger enclosure and kidnaps her. Realizing she's late for their date, Bruce Wayne checks up at the crime scene and finds the syringe. Analyzing the chemicals, he finds that they are similar to the Man-Bat formula and consults with Kirk Langstrom. From Langstrom, Batman learns about Dr. Emile Dorian who has gone all Dr. Moreau using a private island to perform his genetic research. Batman arrives on Dorian's island to find Catwoman has literally become a catwoman. He also meets Dorian's other experiments Kong the Ape-Man and a powerful cat creature named Tygrus. Dorian does the Most Dangerous Game thing, releasing Batman into the jungles to allow Tygrus to hunt him down. He's saved by Catwoman who tries to calm Tygrus down. Seeing that his creation hasn't killed Batman, he slaps him around. Blaming Catwoman, he tries to kill her, but Tygrus turns on him and destroys the laboratory. Tygrus hands an unconscious Dorian over to Batman and the antidote to Catwoman. He walks off alone into the jungle.



Crazy experiments, Catwoman as a guinea pig. Didn't we just do this episode? Rather forgettable installment. Essentially Batman versus Doctor Moreau, but without a completely insane Marlon Brando or that creepy midget thing. Joseph Maher voices Emile Dorian and Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh!) plays Tygrus. Marc Singer (BEASTMASTER~!!!) returns for a short scene as Kirk Langstrom.

He-Man played a big part in my youth as a child of the 80's. It wasn't one of my favorite shows though, always playing a distant third to G.I. Joe and Transformers. I never saw The New Adventures of He-Man, but I'm sure many fans had terrible flashbacks to that series when word got out of a remake of their beloved Masters of the Universe. However, Mattel and the animators blew away those same fans by giving them a remake that was actually good and, arguably, better than the original. It's too bad things got bungled so badly.

Mattel was looking to revamp some of their classic toylines and hired superstar sculptors The Four Horsemen to redesign the He-Man toys for the 21st century. At the same time, they hired Mike Young Productions to produce the show which debuted in 2002 on Cartoon Network. Neither the toys or the show managed to win over new fans. The animated series failed to light up the ratings, while the toyline met with success from diehard fans and collectors, but not the kids. I concede these were certainly major factors in the death of the new Masters of the Universe, I lay a lot of blame at the feet of Mattel. The action figures were fantastic, but Mattel decided to ship them out with ridiculous case ratios. You'd get 6 or 7 He-Mans and Skeletors in each box, but only 1 Teela or Orko. Fans wanted the secondary characters, instead they found shelves packed with the He-Mans and Skeletors they already bought. As the line continued, Mattel continued this practice as the line continued. He-Man and Skeletor collected dust and retailers don't recognize that certain characters aren't selling. They just see it as the entire line not selling, thus ordering less and less, making the already hard to find figures even harder. I never did find Zodak, Fisto, or any of the Snake-Men. The Horsemen were able to resurrect the line in part with NECA as statuettes, which they dubbed "Staction" figures.



The look of the new series definitely had a lot more 'oomph' to it. Perhaps, the biggest change was the disappearance of the dreaded stock footage. Filmation, which produced the original show, was infamous for being cheap bastards. They reused many of the same animated sequences over and over to lower costs while increasing productivity. He-Man was originally intended to be much more like Billy Batson and Captain Marvel. He was supposed to be a young boy who transforms into an older, muscular hero. However, Filmation thought it would be less expensive if He-Man and Prince Adam looked exactly the same (except the tan). That oversight is corrected for the remake.



The 2002 version also expanded the history of Eternia and gave origins to He-Man, Skeletor, and other characters as well as delving more deeply into the relationship between the Sorceress and Teela. There was a much richer mythology and I'd like to think it could've come close to Gargoyles-level if time permitted. Like most animated shows these days, Masters had a definite anime flavor to it. It's not nearly as heavy and annoying as G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 or any of the recent Transformers series. The fight scenes are pretty over-the-top with speed lines, endless posing & twirling of weapons, and characters leaping high into the air.

The episodes break down like this:

-Disc 1-

"In the Beginning, Parts 1-3" - The show opens with Randor leading the royal guards against a coup by his half-brother Keldor and his evil forces. During the battle, Keldor throws a vial of acid at Randor which is deflected back into his face. Severely wounded, Keldor calls for a retreat. Eternia's Council of Elders imprison the villains on the dark side of Eternia and transfer their power within Castle Greyskull. Decades pass and Keldor (now Skeletor) breaks through the mystic wall and captures Randor, now King of Eternia. Prince Adam, who's as much a puss as Luke Skywalker was, finally mans up and channels the power of Greyskull to become He-Man.



"The Courage of Adam" - Skeletor captures Prince Adam in an attempt to lure He-Man into a trap. Of course, only Orko and Man-at-Arms know Adam and He-Man are one and the same. By the way, He-Man is just as insanely strong as he was in the previous series, routinely tossing around mountains. It's silly, but does add a touch of poignancy to the fact that Adam can't do crap.

"Sky War" - Skeletor instigates a war between the Avionians (Stratos and his bird-people) and the Andreenids (Buzz-Off and the bee-people).

"The Deep End" - Man-At-Arms is swallowed whole by one of Mer-Man's monstrous fish creatures.



-Disc 2-

"Lessons" - After screwing up again, Orko gets advice from a mysterious old man in Castle Greyskull, while Evil-Lyn attempts to steal the Ram Stone for Skeletor.

"Siren's Song" - Evil-Lyn casts a spell on Ram Man to turn him against the other Masters.

"The Ties That Bind" - Injured in battle, Teela gets a blood transfusion from the Sorceress and inadvertantly gains telepathic powers. She also begins asking questions about her birth parents.

"Dragon's Brood" - Beast Man raises an army of dragons to attack Castle Greyskull.

"Turnabout" - In the goofiest episode of the series, Man-At-Arms invents a belt that electrocutes Skeletor whenever he has an evil thought. Skeletor trying to be a nice guy is hilarious.

"Mekaneck's Lament" - Mekaneck is down in the dumps when he realizes how lame his power is.

"Night of the Shadowbeasts" - Ram Man must overcome his fear of the dark when Beast Man unleashes night creatures known as Shadowbeasts.



-Disc 3-
Most of the bonus features are housed on the third disc. There are video commentary tracks, a highlight reel of the show, animatics, and production art. There are also audio commentary tracks for some of the other episodes as well.

The show is also presented in anamorphic widescreen along with the ending morals. You know about how Skeletor zapping people into another dimension with a magical diamond teaches you a lesson about taking shortcuts in life.

Final Thoughts: This show pretty much rocked and it sucks it didn't last very long. The rest of the first season continues the Masters war against Skeletor and his Evil Warriors. The second season introduces Kiss Hiss and the Snake-Men. If the show hadn't been cancelled the plan was for season two to end Empire Strikes Back-style with Skeletor defeating the Snakes and conquering Eternia with the creation of Faker. The third season would have featured Hordak and the possible (and long-awaited) introduction of She-Ra.

The next volume containing the second half of the first season will come out in May. If you're interested in picking this up, I'd recommend Best Buy as they have an exclusive slipcase that will house each DVD set. It also fits in with the other packages for the original show and She-Ra.

DC Comics and Warner Animation have been working on a series of direct-to-DVD animated films under the guidance of producer Bruce Timm. Their first release, Superman/Doomsday was a loose adaptation of The Death of Superman and it premiered at the 2007 Comic-Con. It sucked. Sorry, but it did. So, I had low expectations for their next project an adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's brilliant mini-series, DC: The New Frontier. Even though they assembled an all-star cast to provide voices, they didn't instill any confidence from me when it was announced the runtime was a scant 70 minutes. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. New Frontier was actually pretty damn good.

Now, you don't really need any prior knowledge of the characters or DC Comic history. You don't have to have read the original mini-series or seen the previous Justice League show. Like Superman/Doomsday, New Frontier is a standalone piece. Like the source material, the film bridges the gap between the Golden Age of comics (late-30's to late-40's) to the Silver Age (late-50's).



The film picks up around the time of the Communist witch hunts. McCarthy has driven most of the superheroes underground. Superman and Wonder Woman are still active while working with the American government. Batman, on the other hand, is still the spooky boogeyman working in the shadows. They each have big parts to play, but the main focus is on two new heroes: Hal Jordan, an Air Force pilot recently returned from the Korean War, and the Martian Manhunter, who has been accidentally transported to Earth. Both are trying to acclimate themselves to their new lives. At the same time, the big bad is a cosmic entity known as The Centre which is headed to Earth to eradicate all life.



Let me get the negatives out of the way first. The film runs 75 minutes (including credits) which is just way too short. I don't have too many complaints about elements from the original comic being left out. Some stuff like The Losers and Steel aren't absolutely necessary. However, what was put in is isn't given enough time to develop. In addition to the characters already mentioned, New Frontier also features the Flash, the heroes' respective love interests (Lois Lane, Iris West, etc.), and King Faraday. Characters like Robin, Slam Bradley and Rick Flagg get bit parts. Some other fan-favorites such as the Blackhawks, the Challengers of the Unknown, Green Arrow, and Adam Strange get maybe one or two lines or none at all. Wonder Woman doesn't have much to do either. At one point in the script's development, the Amazon was left out of the film completely. She might as well have been since she doesn't add much to the overall story.



Screentime isn't the only thing short changed. There's a feeling that huge chunks of the story seemed to mysteriously vanish. Batman goes through a really sudden transition from the darker, more angular Bob Kane-style Batman to the lighter, more rounded Dick Sprang-style Batman. One minute he's a ruthless jerk, the next minute he's mellow and hanging out with Robin. Because of the compressed runtime, the scenes happen at an almost breakneck pace, one after the other. It's hard to get a grasp at how much time has truly passed in their world. Did Batman's transformation happen over a week? A month? A year? How long was J'onn on Earth? How long has it been since Hal returned to the States? It seems like years are supposed to have passed, but watching the film it only feels like days. I wished Warner had given the animators the extra money to add on at least 15-20 minutes.

I should make note that the film is rated PG-13. "Son of a bitch" is tossed around and it's a little more violent than what you'd expect. Nothing too graphic, but there are splatters of blood. Parents might want to think twice about letting the kiddies watch this one. Fans who are more familiar with the previous Justice League series might be confused since this film follows a completely different continuity.

Not a massive complaint, but there is a hokey Braveheart moment towards the climax where Superman gives the inspiration speech to rally the troops. It comes off as a just a bit cheesy and forced. However, it's the 50's and it's Superman, so it kinda works.



The positives? First, the film is just absolutely gorgeous to look at. Everything is just beautifully colored and the animation is fluid. It doesn't feel at all like a low-budget production. The look of New Frontier isn't a 100%, completely faithful translation of the comic. It's a cross between Darwyn Cooke's art with the look of Justice League Unlimited. It definitely works. The film's climax is positively packed with action as the heroes fight the forces of evil on land, sea, and air. The battle scenes are really well done and all the multiple dogfights remind me of Return of the Jedi. Even with all the action happening, the movie isn't cluttered by too much staff happening at once.

No surprise, the producers manage to wrangle up a stellar cast, hiring a few actors you'd never expect to voice a cartoon. The actors perform their roles as they would any other character they'd play, rather than trying to do a cartoon voice. The cast includes:

Kyle MacLachlin as Superman
Jeremy Sisto as Batman
Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman
David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan
Miguel Ferrer as The Martian Manhunter
Neil Patrick Harris as The Flash
Kyra Sedgwick as Lois Lane
Brooke Shields as Carol Ferris
Keith David as The Centre
John Heard as Ace Morgan

Joe Mantegna does a cameo as a Vegas lounge singer and they even got Smallville's Aquaman, Alan Ritchson, to come in for a quick scene as the King of the Seas. MacLachlin sounds just like you'd imagine the square-jawed, classic Man of Steel would and Xena as Wonder Woman was an obvious choice. The former Angel does a pretty good job as well as Green Lantern. So much so, that he's my second dream pick should they do a live-action GL film. My first pick for Hal is Nathan Fillion, in case you were wondering. Sisto is probably the biggest surprise. Most fans responded to his casting with a resounding, "Yeahbutwhahuh?!?!". Sisto actually makes a good Batman, especially considering the big shoes he has to fill following up Kevin Conroy.

I'd say New Frontier is at least worthy of being put into your NetFlix queue. If you've already read the comic, the movie will feel like a Cliff Notes version. If you haven't read the comic and don't mind having it spoiled, then watch the film first as it will act as a primer for the source material.

I'm anxiously awaiting what Timm and company have up their sleeves. Their next project is the Animatrix-style Batman: Gotham Knight timed to coincide with the release of The Dark Knight. It will feature new Batman stories written by David S. Goyer, Brian Azzarello, Greg Rucka, and Josh Olson (the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of A History of Violence). After that, they've got a Wonder Woman project with Keri Russell as the title character and her Waitress co-star, Nathan Fillion, as Steve Trevor. I believe the Teen Titans story, "The Judas Contract", is still on tap as well. Hopefully, the projects do well. I'd love to see them adapt The Dark Knight Returns or The Golden Age.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)

More screencaps below:

Damn. It's been over a month since the last entry. I have no other excuse except sheer laziness with a slight case of busy-as-fuck. Anyway, this wraps up Volume 1 of Batman: TAS. At this rate, I'll be through the whole project in about 2012. That's assuming the Aztecs are wrong and the world doesn't end.

( DCAU Project - Part 4 )

It's been an extremely busy month for me, but I'll be diving right back into the DCAU Project. We've got a long road ahead. Once I finish reviewing Batman: TAS, I'll be doing Superman: TAS, Batman Beyond, and, saving the best for last, Justice League.

( The Bat-Blog )

Our look at Batman: The Animated Series continues...

( The Bat-Blog )

I've been wanting to do this for awhile now, a comprehensive look at the DCU animated universe. Ever since Justice League went off the air, I've been going through withdrawal, jonesing for some decent cartoons. Sorry, but The Batman and Legion of Superheroes won't cut it. We begin with the juggernaut that started it all, Batman: The Animated Series.



Warner was looking to bring the Bat back and producers Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski (who were working on Tiny Toons) scored the winning pitch. Thanks to the success of Tim Burton's Batman flick, Timm and Radomski were able to do away with the silliness that plagued the Adam West series and Superfriends. This was a far more darker and mature version of the Dark Knight than previously seen. Batman: TAS made a tremendous impact and led to more DC characters being brought to animated life with Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League, in what fans have nicknamed the "Timmverse." All of which I'll be taking a look at.

Other than the animation, the most amazing aspect about these shows was the collection of voice talent utilized. People you'd never expect to work on a cartoon were getting involved. Give credit to casting director Andrea Romano for rounding them up. Of course, the whole show would fall apart if they didn't get the right actor to play Batman. Luckily, they did cast the right actor in Kevin Conroy, an experienced stage actor and bit player on several TV shows. On a lark, Conroy auditioned for the Caped Crusader and wound up voicing him for over 15 years. He's widely considered the quintessential Batman and mastered the duality of the character, using a deep, gravely tone for the Bat and a higher pitch for Bruce Wayne.

( Let the Bat-Blog begin )