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Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Battle of the Superheroes (Review)

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Man of Steel this month, we’re going Superman mad. Check back daily for Superman-related reviews.

Batman and Superman. It’s a great combination, like cookies and cream or spaghetti and meatballs or… feel free to insert your own analogy here. The two characters are two of the oldest and most enduring superheroes, both owned by the same company. They also both embody two very different ideals. Batman is a pulp action hero in a silly outfit with gothic trappings, while Superman is an alien from another world dressed in primary colours. Pairing the two up to compare and contrast is great fun.

Battle of the Superheroes focuses on Batman and Superman as friends and colleagues, a portrayal which seems somewhat dated. After all, ever since Frank Miller wrote The Dark Knight Returns, the tendency has been to treat the pair as grudging allies rather than bosom buddies. Still, the Silver Age aesthetic of The Brave and the Bold suits this approach well, and it’s hard not to get swept up in the wry enthusiasm of it all.

Superhero team-up time…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: adam west, batman, Batman & Robin (film), batman: the animated series, dark knight returns, dc animated universe, dc comics, Jimmy Olsen, justice league, man of steel, metropolis, Pharaoh, robin, Smallville, Steel, superman | 5 Comments »

The Demon by Jack Kirby (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Darren

Of all of Jack Kirby’s seventies DC work, I think that everything must be somebody’s favourite. His Fourth World books bristled with ambition and perhaps serve as the most high-profile, influential and long-running of Kirby’s work with the publisher, but you never have to look too hard to find a proponent of the author and artist’s work on O.M.A.C. or Kamandi. While I am fond of all of Kirby’s DC work, enjoying the raw energy and sheer volume of ideas he brings to his high concepts, I have a soft spot for The Demon, if only because it’s a delightfully off-the-wall example of Kirby’s multiple interests bouncing off one another and familiar archetypes to create something that is often quite difficult to pin down.

Night of the Demon!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: art, Arthur C. Clarke, batman, Dan Turpin, dc animated universe, dc comics, Demon, Etrigan the Demon, fourth world, Garth Ennis, gotham city, Hero Initiative, hulk, JackKirby, jason, Kirby, marvel comics, Merlin, Nintendo, Philosopher's Stone, Shopping, superman: the animated series | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Batman Beyond – Return of the Joker

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Darren

The Joker holds a special place among Batman’s iconic selection of villains. Appearing as early as Batman #1 all those years ago, the clown prince of crime has managed to hold on to his position as the prime Batman bad guy for pretty much all of Batman’s publication history. It was the Joker who put Barbara Gordon in a wheelchair in The Killing Joke, and it was the Joker who killed Jason Todd in A Death in the Family. As such, it’s no real surprise that the character should eventually make his way to the futuristic setting of Batman Beyond, to give Bruce one last challenge.

Guess who’s back…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: barbara gordon, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, bruce wayne, ChristopherNolan, dark knight, Dark Knight Rises, dc animated universe, film, gotham city, heath ledger, joker, mark hamill, Movie, New Batman Adventures, non-review review, paul dini, review, robin, Terry, Wayne Enterprise, Wayne Enterprises | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Batman/Mr. Freeze – SubZero

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Darren

Surprisingly, not all films featuring Mr. Freeze are terrible. Batman/Mr. Freeze: SubZero doesn’t quite live up to the best of the animated Batman movies or even animated television shows, standing in the shadow of both Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker, but it’s still a surprisingly solid adventure that offers a much better showing for the Caped Crusader than either of the Joel Schumacher Batman movies.

Things are heating up…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alfred, alfred pennyworth, Barbara, barbara gordon, batman, batman animated series, batman forever, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Boyd Kirkland, dc animated universe, Freeze, gotham city, jim gordon, Shirley Walker, tim burton | 3 Comments »

Justice League Unlimited – Epilogue (Review)

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Darren

At the time Epilogue was written, the creators didn’t know that Justice League Unlimited would get another season. The show ultimately got another year on television, but Dwayne McDuffie and Bruce Timm constructed Epilogue so that it would serve as something of a coda to the entire animated DC universe, stemming as far back as On Leather Wings. It actually works almost perfectly, bringing everything a full circle. Justice League and Justice League Unlimited consciously pushed Batman to the periphery, which made a bit of sense. After all, the character had anchored two shows already. However, Epilogue moves Batman back to the centre, re-establishing Bruce as the core of the animated DC universe and giving him a (mostly) happy ending a few years before The Dark Knight Rises would do the same thing.

One final spotlight on Batman…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Barbara, barbara gordon, batman, batman animated series, Bob Haney, Bruce, bruce wayne, Brucetimm, Characters of Friends, Christopher Nolan, Counties and Districts, Dark Knight Rises, DarkKnight Rises, dc animated universe, Dwayne McDuffie, gotham city, joker, justice league unlimited, kevin conroy, Ontario, robin, Royal Flush Gang, Selina, Terry, Tim, Tim Drake | 4 Comments »

Batman Beyond – Rebirth (Parts I & II) (Review)

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Darren

This September marks the twentieth anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, and the birth of the shared DC animated universe that would eventually expand to present one of the most comprehensive and thorough explorations of a comic book mythology in any medium. To celebrate, we’re going back into the past and looking at some classic episodes.

Batman is one of the very few of DC’s major superheroes who faces his own mortality. Superman knows that he inspires the Legion of Superheroes, and his alien physiology could allow him to live forever. Wonder Woman is an immortal. Green Lantern comes from an entire deep space police force. Even Hawkman and Hawkgirl live through a perpetual cycle of reincarnation. Bruce Wayne is just a man, and – as such – he will eventually die. Due to this simple fact, a lot of people have wondered what might happen if Bruce Wayne were confronted with his own mortality.

Batman Beyond explores that potential future.

A flying start?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: batman, Batman Beyond, Bruce, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, ChristopherNolan, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rises, DarkKnight Rises, dc animated universe, Derek Power, green lantern, Hawkgirl, joker, Jokerz, Terry, Wayne, Wayne Enterprise, Wayne Manor | Leave a comment »

Justice League Unlimited – Destroyer! (Review)

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Darren

Destroyer is the last episode of Bruce Timm’s shared, massive DC animated universe to air. Beginning with On Leather Wings, two decades ago, the producer brought an animated version of the publisher’s pantheon to the small screen. It’s certainly an impressive accomplishment, and I think that Timm’s work provided the definitive versions of many of the company’s characters and concepts. That said, the entire final season of Justice League Unlimited seems like one giant epilogue. The first season of the show finished on a triumphant note, with a four-part story that would have provided a nice finalé for the shared universe, and a one-episode coda to the entire world that Timm and his staff had brought to life.

Destroyer, the actual final episode, isn’t nearly that good. At best, however, it serves as a fond farewell, conclusive proof that, as Wonder Woman promises, “The adventure continues.”

Talk about an unlikely team-up…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: batman, batman animated series, bruce timm, Brucetimm, clancy brown, darkseid, dc animated universe, Dwayne McDuffie, justice league unlimited, Leather Wings, lex luthor, superman | 3 Comments »

Justice League Unlimited – Alive! (Review)

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Darren

I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with the final season of Justice League Unlimited, and the final season of Bruce Timm’s animated DC television shows to air. It had its moments, of course, but it felt a bit more shallow than everything that had come before. The first season of the show had wrapped up in such a way that it really was the perfect conclusion to well over a decade’s-worth of stories. While the finalé presented here, in the two-part Alive! and Destroyer, works well enough for what it is, it isn’t nearly quite as satisfying as either Divided We Fall or Epilogue.

The gold standard?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: art, batman, batman animated series, bizarro, Brucetimm, comic book, Comics, dc animated universe, Dwayne McDuffie, gorilla grodd, justice league unlimited, Legion of Doom, lex luthor, Tala, Vandal Savage | Leave a comment »

The Adventures of Batman & Robin – House and Garden (Review)

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Darren

It’s amazing how thoroughly Batman: The Animated Series was able to explore Batman’s iconic selection of bad guys, demonstrating how remarkably deep and varied his villains are. Paul Dini was perhaps the strongest writer when it came to drafting these psychological portraits of Arkham’s countless denizens, even inventing characters like Baby Doll and Harvey Quinn for the show. (With Harley now an established and iconic character in her own right.) While Poison Ivy had a strong debut episode, and a run of strong appearances, House & Garden stands as perhaps the most thorough exploration of the villain’s psyche, building a relatively complex portrayal of her psychology and pathology in under half an hour.

House call…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Arkham, art, batman, batman & robin, batman animated series, ChristopherNolan, comic book, dc animated universe, Diane Pershing, Freeze, House & Garden, List of Batman animated episodes, mad hatter, paul dini, Poison Ivy, riddler, robin, Subtle, Venus Flytrap | 4 Comments »

Batman: The Animated Series – Nothing to Fear (Review)

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Darren

In many respects, Nothing to Fear feels like more of a proper pilot and introduction to the world of Batman: The Animated Series than the first episode, On Leather Wings, actually did. It feels like something of a mission statement for the series, offering a very rough outline of what the show would learn to do very well, illustrating the approach that the series would take in handling the lead character and his world. While the finer details aren’t necessarily present, and there are more than a few missteps along the way, Nothing to Fear serves as a fitting welcome to this definitive animated Batman.