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Oh, Maaaaaary... (Why you should be watching The Batman)
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monkeycrackmary is going to want to see this (and sit down), but it's of likely interest to other Bat-folks, too.
I've been watching the new cartoon series The Batman. I know, I know. I have issues with it myself (a Bruce Wayne who talks like Tuxedo Mask? a Bruce Wayne with a face like a foot? a Wayne "Manor" and Bat "Cave" in the middle of Gotham City?!) but watch it anyway, largely because the new best friend* they invented for their oddly revamped Bruce is OMG PRETTEH and a detective with the GCPD and as gay for Bruce as Bruce is for him -- ie, very. But I'm getting off point.
Pretty much everything about the Bat-mythos has been re-imagined for this show, mainly with an eye to pleasing the little boys of its target audience. Some of the re-inventions work better than others. Okay, drifting again.
The thing is, they haven't forgotten the fanboys (and fangirls and fan-dancing-bears) who are all grown up. Case in point: the new episode that premiered on Kids' WB yesterday morning. (It's episode 8, titled "Q & A," for those looking for it in schedules or torrents.)
I keep bringing Mary up because my own reaction to this episode was, "Oh wow, Mary is going to SCREAM."
Thing one: Midway through the episode, Bruce is fighting some henchmen. Little people. Barely over knee-height to him. He pauses mid-melee to observe that they are "scrappy little fellas."
Mary, take a breath. Anyone else, you may or may not be thinking of this page, from the (retconned, post-Crisis) first meeting of Batman and Jason Todd, the boy who would become Robin II.
Thing two: Hm. Actually, this is a spoiler for the episode, and while I think it's unlikely anyone would care about being spoiled for an episode of this show, I'm putting this behind a cut.
Okay.
The villain of the piece? The criminal whose identity Bruce must deduce in order to foil his dastardly plan? None other than Arthur Brown. That's right, the Cluemaster.
Now, there's no reference to Stephanie, but as this series is set during Bruce's first year as the Batman, that's entirely reasonable. Heck, if the show were going to follow comics 'chronology' (such as it is), Steph quite possibly hadn't yet been born when the Batman first appeared. As for her dear old dad...
Well, again, pretty much everyone and everything in Gotham has been re-imagined for this series, to one degree or another. The Joker now has a fondness for straitjackets in fashion colours, and sports hair reminiscent of The Simpsons' Sideshow Bob -- strangely, this redesign works, for me at least.
The point of all this extra crack being pumped into the show (and much of what little logical underpinning comics-Gotham has had being stripped out) was to create a show little boys would love. The WB finally has the kids' show about Batman they've long wanted -- let's face it, Batman: The Animated Series, The New Gotham Adventures, Batman Beyond and even (pre-Unlimitedness) Justice League may have been cartoons, and may have been enjoyable for kids to watch, but taken as whole series, none of them were what I'd call a kids' show.
The Batman is definitely a kids' show. And yet -- because there are in fact still enough people involved with the show, apparently, who know both that grown-up comics fans will also watch and how to please us. It's candy-coated crack, to be sure, even more so than the Teen Titans cartoon, but it's still our regular brand of Delicious Crack Comics.
*Note: the pretty detective, alas, does not appear in this episode. If you want incentive to watch more and see him for yourself... picture Cris Allen, clean-shaven and with aqua-blue eyes. Then picture him playing one-on-one b-ball with Bruce, both of them in shorts and tanks. Or picture them in crisp business suits... hugging. Yeah. Tell yourself you have an excuse not to be watching this.
**This space intentionally left blank. Information on rebroadcast times for this episode, for North America, and/or where a torrented copy might be available for download for those on other continents, will be added as it becomes available.
monkeycrackmary is going to want to see this (and sit down), but it's of likely interest to other Bat-folks, too.I've been watching the new cartoon series The Batman. I know, I know. I have issues with it myself (a Bruce Wayne who talks like Tuxedo Mask? a Bruce Wayne with a face like a foot? a Wayne "Manor" and Bat "Cave" in the middle of Gotham City?!) but watch it anyway, largely because the new best friend* they invented for their oddly revamped Bruce is OMG PRETTEH and a detective with the GCPD and as gay for Bruce as Bruce is for him -- ie, very. But I'm getting off point.
Pretty much everything about the Bat-mythos has been re-imagined for this show, mainly with an eye to pleasing the little boys of its target audience. Some of the re-inventions work better than others. Okay, drifting again.
The thing is, they haven't forgotten the fanboys (and fangirls and fan-dancing-bears) who are all grown up. Case in point: the new episode that premiered on Kids' WB yesterday morning. (It's episode 8, titled "Q & A," for those looking for it in schedules or torrents.)
I keep bringing Mary up because my own reaction to this episode was, "Oh wow, Mary is going to SCREAM."
Thing one: Midway through the episode, Bruce is fighting some henchmen. Little people. Barely over knee-height to him. He pauses mid-melee to observe that they are "scrappy little fellas."
Mary, take a breath. Anyone else, you may or may not be thinking of this page, from the (retconned, post-Crisis) first meeting of Batman and Jason Todd, the boy who would become Robin II.
Thing two: Hm. Actually, this is a spoiler for the episode, and while I think it's unlikely anyone would care about being spoiled for an episode of this show, I'm putting this behind a cut.
Okay.
The villain of the piece? The criminal whose identity Bruce must deduce in order to foil his dastardly plan? None other than Arthur Brown. That's right, the Cluemaster.
Now, there's no reference to Stephanie, but as this series is set during Bruce's first year as the Batman, that's entirely reasonable. Heck, if the show were going to follow comics 'chronology' (such as it is), Steph quite possibly hadn't yet been born when the Batman first appeared. As for her dear old dad...
Well, again, pretty much everyone and everything in Gotham has been re-imagined for this series, to one degree or another. The Joker now has a fondness for straitjackets in fashion colours, and sports hair reminiscent of The Simpsons' Sideshow Bob -- strangely, this redesign works, for me at least.
The point of all this extra crack being pumped into the show (and much of what little logical underpinning comics-Gotham has had being stripped out) was to create a show little boys would love. The WB finally has the kids' show about Batman they've long wanted -- let's face it, Batman: The Animated Series, The New Gotham Adventures, Batman Beyond and even (pre-Unlimitedness) Justice League may have been cartoons, and may have been enjoyable for kids to watch, but taken as whole series, none of them were what I'd call a kids' show.
The Batman is definitely a kids' show. And yet -- because there are in fact still enough people involved with the show, apparently, who know both that grown-up comics fans will also watch and how to please us. It's candy-coated crack, to be sure, even more so than the Teen Titans cartoon, but it's still our regular brand of Delicious Crack Comics.
*Note: the pretty detective, alas, does not appear in this episode. If you want incentive to watch more and see him for yourself... picture Cris Allen, clean-shaven and with aqua-blue eyes. Then picture him playing one-on-one b-ball with Bruce, both of them in shorts and tanks. Or picture them in crisp business suits... hugging. Yeah. Tell yourself you have an excuse not to be watching this.
**This space intentionally left blank. Information on rebroadcast times for this episode, for North America, and/or where a torrented copy might be available for download for those on other continents, will be added as it becomes available.