Batman: Brave and the Bold.

Welcome again. As you know, who am I kidding, only Robert reads this. Hi Robert. Anyway, onto the review thingy.

When Batman was first created, it was clear that people were enjoying him. So, we got those cartoons that were around before Superfriends and stuff. Then, we got a live action TV in the form of Adam West. Even his name sounds awesome, even if the show itself was overly silly and basically whacked Adam's career over the head with a shovel. It was popular enough to bring us the Superfriends version of Batsy that was also moderatley popular. Let's face it though, that didn't do the character justice. The Adam West show actually did the character more justice than most believe. But I guess while he is Crazy Prepared, I think he'd more likley carry around a harpoon as opposed to Shark Repellent.

So then for a few years we got nothing. Until Tim Burton decided, 'Hey, I'm gonna make a kickass Batman movie!' And did he succeed? HELL YEAH he succeeded. Okay, I actually didn't like the film as much as I probably should as a Batfan, but I can't help but see too many problems with it. Not to say that it wasn't a good film, the absolutley only true problem I had with it was that Batman was willing to kill. However, I can actually accept that in this film. Except for when he blows up Ajax Chemicals, which didn't necessarily kill anyone, Batman's only kill attempt was on the Joker, and that failed. He died, and Batman had to do with it, but he didn't push him off the edge of the building. The machine guns on the Batplane were a bit strange, but he didn't hit anyone, it's justified as intimidation. Plus, Joker killed his parents, and is the Big Bad so yet again, justified.

This problem came up again in Batman Returns when...you know what? I'm gonna do this another time, I just lost track for a moment, my bad. We're here to talk about Brave and the Bold.

So, yeah, Batman The Animated Series came out and kicked serious ass. There were sequels and spin-offs, and then we got The Batman. This show was sort of like a less realistic Batman Begins. In fact, I actually felt that it was just a tie in. But the series lasted long enough to get a following, and while I didn't think it was that great, I did think it handled itself pretty well. Eventually it ended.

As it turns out, the people need a healthy dose of Batman to keep them going. Unfortunatley, BTAS had already established the awesomeness, and it was continued in The New Batman Adventures, and Justice League, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited. The Batman attempted to reimagine the universe with limited results. So, what would the plan be? Do the exact opposite of what we're used to. Let's make our way back to Adam West. This was the beginning of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Brave and the Bold is one of DC's crtitically acclaimed titles that serves pretty much as advertisement that they get paid for. I don't mean to demean the comic in any way, but I'm just saying it's there to show off characters we might be interested in. It's been through multiple incarnations, at one point specifically having Batman team up with people. So, they made a TV show.

I can't say I was thrilled with the idea of a campy and bright Batman show, I had just seen The Dark Knight and decided that this was the Batman I loved. My feelings were pretty much identical to the later Superhero Squad Show. But like SSS, I saw one episode and was hooked.

Unlike SSS, BBB dosn't feature an awesome theme song. The opening theme is cool, but I don't have it in my Youtube favourites. To make a long story short, the show is about Batman, who is treated as awesome as we feel he is, teaming up with superheroes to take down supervillains. Obvious really. Though we get many, and I mean MANY different heroes, if there's a recurring cast, it would have to be Aquaman, Green Arrow, Blue Beetke, Red Tornado and Plasticman, mainly because they're pretty popular yet unknown, especially Aquaman. Yeah, he can control fish, breathe underwater and throw balls of water. What use it that?

...F*ck.

With SSS, I have to admit the action sequences aren't all as good as the first few I saw. Most of the time they actually just stand there and throw lame punches at each other, or they just stand there and talk. BBB dosn't have this problem, and the action sequences almost ALWAYS rock. Batman himself is done pretty well. Admittedly he dosn't hide in the shadows as much, but he's definatlet 'powerful' and respected. And you'd think he's look silly with the bright blue, but when they show him in his more classic outfits, then he looks ridiculous.

It's also really fun to see other heroes being awesome. Especially Aquaman, who is now a fan favorite because he is now effective and pretty damn hilarious. Many people might think the campy nature is pretty lame and even a step back, but I disagree. While I do love darker Batman, I am also a sucker for the Silver Age. In fact, when I think superheroes, or comic books in general, I think Silver Age. I love the silliness, the campiness, and the style, and especially the basic, 'Oh no!' covers. Love them, so basically this is one of the reasons I love the show.

Now, let's talk about some negative aspects. Well, to start off with, the characters have some problems. I've heard people complain that Batman is too godlike. He's Batman, he's supposed to be. Well sort of, he's awesome nonetheless. I guess my biggest character related complaint is the occasional blandness of characters. Not necessarily in personality, but appearance. They just look like, 'I am a superhero,' or in some cases, 'I am a supervillain.' Like for example Dr. Fate and enemy sorceror whose name escapes me. Aside from Fate's mask, they look bland as hell. I hate that in characters, the appearance helps hook you in. That contrasts other times when characters look awesome, like Blue Beetle or Rubberneck (kinda).

Then there's the substitute villains. Fun Haus is obviously replacing Toyman for copywrite reasons. But why? Toyman isn't exactly our one stop for Superman villains. He's been known to be creepy, but he's not that great. So, why did you create Fun Haus? Same with Toy Maker on The Batman. Didn't Toyman appear on that show anyway? I can't remember.
Then there's Kru'll the Eternal. What? You wanted to draw Vandal Savage as a neanderthal? What gives? Didn't you like the name? I mean I've barley heard of the guy in the first place. I first 'found out' about him because of a Simpson's Super Spectacular where a knock-off named Sinister Van Dallus, who had the same basic gimmick kidnapped some writers from RL and made them screw around with Radioactive Man's continuity. Packed with jokes about Marvel Zombies and Clone Saga.

Then there's Babyface, and Mrs. Manface...WHY?!?! These are two original characters who I guess are parodies of Batman's common gangster enemies. But seriously, they have to be some kind of Nightmare Fuel. But then, one man's Nightmare Fuel is another man's Fetish Fuel. Wait...WHY?!?!
I suppose they aren't forbidden from creating original characters but...They're just weird.

Then there's Equinox. I don't know if he's original or not, but he's an okay villain. He attempts to create order by creating chaos to make up for all of Batman's doo gooding. He keeps reappearing to bother us until the season final where he faces Batman and Dr. Fate. The action and stuff was good, and it was sorta cool to have the heroes come togethor, but...this didn't seem like an episode of BBB. It seemed like 'Oh shit, we have to wrap up that storyline, don't we?' Dr. Fate was important to the plot, but he didn't really contribute anything that we couldn't recieve from the likes of any other mystic hero. It would've been much more epic to have a full on brawl between the heroes and Equinox.

Then there's Joker. Seeing how Batman's Rogues Gallery is purposley left out on the most part (though Catwoman has appeared more than she ought to) and in fact some like Riddler only appear in the world of Bat-Mite, because he's a big time Batman fanatic. But...Joker. I will admit, he's had some funny moments, and he's more of a Silver Age villain, but honestly, he's not that great. I don't hate him, but he just dosn't give me any sense of, 'Come on, do a Joker episode!' which is what we always wanted from BTAS and to a lesser degree, The Batman. But at the very least you can take him more seriously than Doctor Doom, who was beaten up by a little girl. I don't care if she was powered by a Fractal, he was beaten up by a little girl. Lame!

But other than those minor problems, BBB is an awesome show that showcases what's awesome about the DC universe, and may actually convince you to buy series you'd otherwise never look twice at. It made me pick up Booster Gold.