Steve Presents: Reviews of Batman Animated Series and others

[La Maupin]

On the subject of BTAS, I recently saw 'Batman: Sub Zero', and it was a great movie. Good characterization, exploration of the Dick/Barbara romance, and it gave (in my opinion) a great end to Mr. Freeze's storyline. Nora even woke up at the end.

Sub-Zero was delayed for several years because of a conflict with the live-action Batman & Robin film (specifically, Joel Schumacher wanted it buried so it couldn't make his drek-fest look bad).

[JME2]

On the subject of BTAS, I recently saw 'Batman: Sub Zero', and it was a great movie. Good characterization, exploration of the Dick/Barbara romance, and it gave (in my opinion) a great end to Mr. Freeze's storyline. Nora even woke up at the end.

Sub-Zero was delayed for several years because of a conflict with the live-action Batman & Robin film (specifically, Joel Schumacher wanted it buried so it couldn't make his drek-fest look bad).

Yeah, that an animated children's film could be superior to a live-action blockbuster always amused me.

[Steve]

Hrm, maybe sometime in the next couple of days I'll write a review for the Centurions episode "Zone Dancer", which is a pretty entertaining episode for the time, combining as it does cyberpunk with Chicago crime/PI noir. It's also the first aired episode with one of the two new Centurions, the infiltration expert John Thunder, I believe.

Fits pretty well with my last review being from the Mega Man cartoon, which was one of Ruby-Spears' final hurrahs, while Centurions was from their heyday.

[Molyneux]

Hrm, maybe sometime in the next couple of days I'll write a review for the Centurions episode "Zone Dancer", which is a pretty entertaining episode for the time, combining as it does cyberpunk with Chicago crime/PI noir. It's also the first aired episode with one of the two new Centurions, the infiltration expert John Thunder, I believe.

Fits pretty well with my last review being from the Mega Man cartoon, which was one of Ruby-Spears' final hurrahs, while Centurions was from their heyday.

Er...what IS Centurions? I can't say I've ever heard of that show.

[Drooling Iguana]

I don't remember much of the show, but the gimmick for the toyline was that the figures had holes in their chests for attaching various bits of armour and gadgetry. It was pretty cool. I made a version of one of their power-armours with Construx as a kid. Not full-sized, since I wasn't full-sized myself at the time, but big enough to wear.

[Steve]

Bah! Damned whippersnappers....

The Centurions!

BTAS fans would recognize Crystal Kane's voice if they imagine it a tad softer and more sultry. Think... green.

[Steve]

Hrm, I shall have to do a review of one of the best BTAS episodes of all time. It was so good that it got one of the commentary tracks on the Vol. 4 DVD set!

I speak, of course, of the awesomeness called.... Critters!

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The sleep deprivation shows, doesn't?

[RogueIce]

Hrm, I shall have to do a review of one of the best BTAS episodes of all time. It was so good that it got one of the commentary tracks on the Vol. 4 DVD set!

I speak, of course, of the awesomeness called.... Critters!

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The sleep deprivation shows, doesn't?

Do it. You know as well as I do that an episode as thought provoking and touching on many complicated and deeply emotional issues as Critters deserves a review. After all, it's not often episodes of a cartoon show (a superhero cartoon show) can be said to border on high art, but this one definately comes closer than any other I've ever seen.

[Molyneux]

Hrm, I shall have to do a review of one of the best BTAS episodes of all time. It was so good that it got one of the commentary tracks on the Vol. 4 DVD set!

I speak, of course, of the awesomeness called.... Critters!

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The sleep deprivation shows, doesn't?

Do it. You know as well as I do that an episode as thought provoking and touching on many complicated and deeply emotional issues as Critters deserves a review. After all, it's not often episodes of a cartoon show (a superhero cartoon show) can be said to border on high art, but this one definately comes closer than any other I've ever seen.

I find it hard to believe, but there's apparently an episode of the show that I have never seen. I've never heard of "Critters" before...

[Steve]

It's part of the TNBA run, with the re-designed characters and stuff. Disc 3 of the Vol. 4 Batman DVD set.

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh, fuck yes! The CENTURIONS! That was one of the greatest shows of ALL TIME!

Particularly when they had this ruthless AI called G.O.D.! That's what it was, wasn't it? Pretty ballsy for a cartoon show!


What's this TNBA episode Critters all about?

[FaxModem1]

What's this TNBA episode Critters all about?

Imagine an episode where the main villain is a farmer who used to have a huge food line(like Tyson or Butterball). His company was destroyed when he unveiled gigantic mutated cattle(I think through steroids), so big they could feed dozens if not hundreds. The problem was that they were aggressive cattle and nearly killed everyone at the presentation. A year later, he has giant bugs, cows, goats and pigs at his disposal. He even uses it on his daughter.

Its 22 minutes of stupid.

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh, that one! That was awesome! His superhuman and sexy farm girl daughter!

[Steve]

Oh, fuck yes! The CENTURIONS! That was one of the greatest shows of ALL TIME!

Particularly when they had this ruthless AI called G.O.D.! That's what it was, wasn't it? Pretty ballsy for a cartoon show!


What's this TNBA episode Critters all about?

Actually, the alien AI from the "Man or Machine" 5-parter that went so far in trying to wipe out life that even evil transhumanist fanatic Doc Terror turned on it was not "G.O.D.". It was Gog. And the massive unstoppable robot extension of itself was Magog.

Quite... apocalyptic naming, yes?

[Steve]

What's this TNBA episode Critters all about?

Imagine an episode where the main villain is a farmer who used to have a huge food line(like Tyson or Butterball). His company was destroyed when he unveiled gigantic mutated cattle(I think through steroids), so big they could feed dozens if not hundreds. The problem was that they were aggressive cattle and nearly killed everyone at the presentation. A year later, he has giant bugs, cows, goats and pigs at his disposal. He even uses it on his daughter.

Its 22 minutes of stupid.

Oh come on.

Tim: "Holy cow!"
Babs: "You had to say it."

Plus having one of the Giant Chicken Beasts being defeated after Batman tricks it into running into a vat of BBQ sauce!

Critters was pretty hilarious. Especially if you listen to the commentary track.

"Bull in the china shop. We had to do it!"

[JME2]

Heh, indeed. I remember when the commentaries for the TNBA set were announced, I was looking forward only to "Over the Edge". It's good, but the track for "Critters" is pure gold (though me wishes, as Team Timm observes at the end, that Farmer Browm had been recruited by Cadmus; would have served to tie the TNBA-era into the arc).

[RogueIce]

Heh, indeed. I remember when the commentaries for the TNBA set were announced, I was looking forward only to "Over the Edge". It's good, but the track for "Critters" is pure gold (though me wishes, as Team Timm observes at the end, that Farmer Browm had been recruited by Cadmus; would have served to tie the TNBA-era into the arc).

And just imagine the fanboy reaction!

"Now that's purty."

[JME2]

Heh, indeed. I remember when the commentaries for the TNBA set were announced, I was looking forward only to "Over the Edge". It's good, but the track for "Critters" is pure gold (though me wishes, as Team Timm observes at the end, that Farmer Browm had been recruited by Cadmus; would have served to tie the TNBA-era into the arc).

And just imagine the fanboy reaction!

"Now that's purty."

Heh, yeah probably.

[Steve]

Of late I've been watching the seventh season of the TMNT 2K3 series, referred to as "TMNT: Back to the Sewer". The general plot of the season has the Turtles returning one year after they were drawn into 2105, but with a complication: Viral survived the decompiling process Cody and Serling subjected her to in "The Day of Awakening", regaining form just in time to take over Serling and interfere with the Turtles and Splinter returning to their home time. After an opening episode of Viral, controlling the time window's vortex, trying to off them in different time periods, they finally get home.... but not before Viral, again controlling Serling, zaps Splinter with the decompiler program in energy form. Due to the nature of the time tunnel they're in it converts Splinter into data and fragments him. The fragments are pulled by Viral into the internet, where Viral in turn is destroyed trying to recover her energy by attempting to interface with a sinister-looking data vault bearing the Foot Clan insignia, creating.... you'll see.

To sum it up, the story arc of Season 7 is that the Turtles have to undertake major Tron homages to explore cyberspace and recover the fragments of Splinter while dealing with a resurgent Foot Clan under Master Khan (and perhaps someone else, mwahaha) and Hun's Purple Dragons. The season is actually pretty good from what I've seen, as it's hit the ground running and remaining pretty interesting. All in all, I recommend it, and it airs on Saturday Mornings on Cartoon Network, 9:30AM EST (re-run of the season, actually).

But I'm not writing a review of the season. I'm writing a review of the penultimate episode of the season, "Super Power Struggle", which brings back the classic superhero recurring cast attached to the show and fleshed out in Season 5's (aka the Lost Season) "Membership Drive" and Season 2's "Return of the Justice Force" (Stainless Steve Steel from that episode returns in this one as well for a quick scene), as well as taking part in the Big Damn Battle against the Tengu Shredder's army of demons and ghouls in Season 5's two-part "Enter the Dragons" finale.

Why am I writing a review of this episode, even as I continue watching it? Because of what it does and whom it introduces. We start with a flashback to 1968 and a superhero and evil villain robot fighting in the sky of New York. Said superhero? A figure called "The Green Mantle". With a shining green cape and aura around him and an eye mask.

Yeah, you can see my interest now.

Unfortunately the Green Mantle, despite his obligatory Silver Age dialogue, falls this day. Grappling with his foe, the metal monstrosity rips the mantle off his shoulders and throws him away. The mantle drifts earthward and is picked up by a geeky looking kid, who carries it off.

The fun, ear-catching new main titles for TMNT: BTTS plays, an improvement over TMNT: FF's but still not to the perfection that was TMNT 2K3 Seasons 4 and 5 title theme (mostly similar to Seasons 1-3, true, but I prefer the listing of the four turtles to the "Code of the martial arts" rules from the first three years). It's the present day now and Mikey and Raph are skipping the rooftops. Mikey's motivation becomes apparent when the line of costume-wearing geeks is seen; it's a massive comic book convention, and the Turtle Titan desires to attend. As Mikey, now in costume, pleads with Raph to put on some ridiculous sidekick uniform clearly modeled on the Boy Wonder, a caped figure slips into the convention and finds the Green Mantle cape in a case at one booth. The now-grown up geek kid from the flashback owns it as a prize possession, having bragged about it, and the caped figure steals it. Mikey is oblivious initially to the thief and the security guard chasing him, but Raph isn't, and he follows. In an alleyway Raph gets close enough to reclaim the mantle and the figure is now revealed as Dr. Malignis, cheesy supervillain extraordinaire (my title, not his). He tries to fight Raph and Mikey arrives to find Raph avoiding Malignis' blasters. Malignis suddenly looks Mikey's way and runs, making Mikey feel really impressive... until he realizes that Silver Sentry and other Justice Force team members are behind him. They have a conversation and Mikey decides to introduce Raph as a sidekick, so he quickly grabs the mantle and ties it around Raph's neck as he tries to struggle.

Mikey turns away, and the Justice Force looks on in awe as Raph hovers above them, in a shining green uniform and aura and with a Superman-like physique. And so we have a new Green Mantle in town.


Tests in the JF HQ confirm Raph now possesses superstrength as well as flight, while the old heroes Stainless Steve Steel and Zippy Lad confirm whom the original Mantle was (in a nice artistic touch, his story is retold in the pages of a Silver Age-style comic book - it goes without saying the original also resembles Hal Jordan). Silver Sentry offers to let Raph, as the Green Mantle, join the Justice Force, and Raph accepts, needling the jealous Michelangelo that he can be Raph's new sidekick.

Raph joins the JF for a day of hero duty, showing that the Mantle grants both classic Green Lantern and Superman abilities. He can create constructs from the mantle, fire blasts, has superspeed. Mikey desperately tries to help but can't keep up.

Meanwhile, Dr. Malignis is still out there and still wants the Mantle.

Raph leaves JF HQ to go on patrol and is lured into a warehouse by Mikey, who rather insistantly demands the cape. Raph stirs up his brother's jealousy by finally saying Mikey doesn't have the responsibility to use superpowers and begins to leave when Mikey jumps on his back, blinding Raph and causing them to crash into a construction site. Mikey yanks the cape off of Raph and puts it on, but Raph yanks it right back, and the two continue this until they both have their hands on it and try to take it, ripping it in half.

Which, of course, is when Malignus shows up with an army of robots.

The two dodge, still arguing, and Mikey eventually puts his half on like a head scarf... giving him the ability to fly. Raph does the same thing and has power-generation abilities like eye-beams. The two, trying to survive, begin to work together and are able to use their combined powers to wipe the army out in a massive attack that levels the partly-completed building.

When the dust settles, though, Malignus still stands, and takes out an artifact that weakens whomever holds the Mantle (naturally said artifact is yellow, though it acts like kryptonite as well). Mikey and Raph promptly toss the mantle at him, causing the artifact to weaken him to the point they take him out in a punch.

We return to JF HQ. The JF believes the Mantle can be repaired, but Raph decides he doesn't want it anyway. Which is fine, as Zippy Lad and Stainless Steve enter with the security guard that pursued Malignus at the convention. They introduce him as the original Green Mantle, Al Gordon (which makes me chuckle). Gordon reveals that after losing the Mantle he kept up the good fight, spending 25 years as a police officer before retiring and becoming a security guard. He'd long lost hope of finding the Mantle, though, until that night at the convention. He remarks to the two Turtles that "Turns out you don't need superpowers to fight crime" before lifting the two halves of the Mantle and holding them together. It repairs itself and he throws it on, reclaiming his old, heh, superhero mantle (*ducks to avoid retaliation for bad pun*), adding, "Of course, they don't hurt". He gives the two a pair of painful superhero pats on the back and everyone laughs.

And so the show ends; I've been watching it while writing this review, and with it still fresh in mind I give it a 4/5. It's certainly not the best TMNT episode, but it did entertain this avowed Green Lantern fan greatly and it worked well as a stand-alone episode of the season. I'll be watching it again when CN gets back to it, though, since the audio on what I'm watching now is somewhat low and I'm hearing-impaired.

[JME2]

Not to be a thread necro, but it's been a while since we had any DCAU reviews and I've been working my way through TNBA again and I felt like writing up a review of one or two episodes.

MEAN SEASONS
The first of these two episodes has a simple, though well-excellent plot and is one of the more overlooked outings from TNBA. A masked woman is kidnapping prominent Gotham City CEO's at public venues. Dubbed 'Calendar Girl' by a sarcastic Harvey Bullock, her kidnappings are notable for her leaving different calendars behind (a motif that always reminds of me of Batman: The Long Halloween and the Holiday killer when I watch this episode). Batman deduces the kidnappings are not random and seeks to uncover the link between them. His investigation leads him to Page Monroe, a former actress and model who has been consumed with vengeance towards her former employers and the way of life she once cherished.

While this was her only appearance, the character of Calendar Girl is cut from the cloth of the archetypal Batman rogue. She's a psychologically twisted character with a tragic, if understandable legitimate beef against these CEO's. But unlike say Victor Fries, her tragedy lies in the realm of human vanity rather than corporate greed. Her vendetta is also a pointed and valuable commentary on our society's obsession with youthful appearances and vanity and still stands out 12 years later. In addition to this, there are a few other memorable bits. We get a subtle, though unintentional foreshadowing of Batman Beyond as Bruce Wayne contemplates his own aging. There's also a funny jab at the teen-oriented slew of shows that dominated the WB at the time this episode aired.

5/5

JUDGMENT DAY
The second of the two episodes also has a simple, though well executed mystery as a new vigilante arrives in Gotham. Dressed in judicial robes and a barrister wig, 'The Judge' starts cutting a swatch through the Rogues Gallery. He lands the Penguin in the hospital and nearly kills the Riddler and Killer Croc. Reaction to the attacks on the Rogues is mixed and Councilor J. Carroll Corcoran publicly endorses the Judge, believing him a key to his re-election campaign. Batman, in turn, is furious, but his own investigation becomes a race against time as Two-Face, who has also been attacked, tries to get to the Judge first.

This is a classic BTAS-style thriller done in the revamped style. The mystery of the Judge's identity drives the show and the revelation of his/her/it's identity is one of my favorite twists in BTAS. It's perfectly in line with that character's past history. There' also a subtle commentary on how the rest of Gotham perceives the Rogues Gallery, something which we've seen previously in episodes like "Trial". While Corcoran is an asshole, he has a point that the public is fed up with Arkham Asylum, its revolving door policy, and its costumed madmen. The Rogues have terrorized Gotham for years, caused countless deaths and incalculable destruction. Ironically, only Batman feels a need to treat them as human -- or as close to human compassion as Batman can muster when dealing with the likes of Joker and others. It reminds me of the dilemma Bats faced in Batman: Devil's Advocate, in preventing the Joker from being executed.

5/5

[Steve]

Hrm, I don't remember "Mean Seasons". I didn't quite watch all of the Volume 4 episodes.

But all-in-all a good review, JME. For me, most of my animated series watching as of late has been Gargoyles or Jackie Chan Adventures that my DVR snags off DisneyXD.

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh, Calendar Girl was delightfully neurotic - particularly in the end, where she thinks she's hideous even though she's not deformed or anything. And I loved Judgment Day myself. Very brilliant villain character. Man, Harvey Dent, you crazy fucker.

[JME2]

And I loved Judgment Day myself. Very brilliant villain character. Man, Harvey Dent, you crazy fucker.

That final shot of Two-Face muttering "Guilty" over and over in his cell still creeps me out 10 years later.

And it was a brilliant, yet logical twist because the exact same thing had happened in the comics when Harvey developed the Janus personality. I also liked it because, just as in "Second Chance", it showed Harvey was still in there and fighting 'Big Bad Harv'.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Judgement Day is probably the best 'twist' from any of the DCAU movies ever. I actually got grounded for watching it because I shouted 'What the shit?' at the reveal and my mother heard me.

You know who else was a good one-off villain? That guy who thought he was Zeus in BTAS. He was cool and super-bonkers.

[JME2]

You know who else was a good one-off villain? That guy who thought he was Zeus in BTAS. He was cool and super-bonkers.

Fire from Olympus is one of my favorite BTAS episodes, too. Maxie Zeus is one of the classic, B-list Bat villains and while he'll never be in the elite, he's still a fun foe.

On a geeky, continuity note, I always liked how they tied this episode into Luthor's fall from Grace in "Injustice For All" as the corrupt planner Yanni Stavros was one of Luthor's accomplices in selling weapons to terrorists.