The Onion's AVCLUB Reviews Every Episode of BTAS

Revelator · Dec 1, 2010

Batman: The Animated Series "On Leather Wings"

by Leonard Pierce November 29, 2010

season 1 , episode 1
Though I've had my problems with the medium and its fans in recent years, I remain an unabashed fan of superhero comics in general, and of Batman in particular. And one of my very favorite interpretations of the Batman character is the one featured in Batman: The Animated Series, the stylish and addictive cartoon that launched the DC Animated Universe. So I'm very pleased to be your guide as TV Club Classic begins its exploration of that universe and the many rewards it has in store. Reaction to the DCAU Gateway To Geekery we ran earlier this month was generally very positive, so I hope a lot of you feel the same way about the show and will be joining me as we take this trip. (Tentatively, our plan is to cover at least B:TAS and the Justice League shows, but that may expand or change based on your response, so don't be shy in telling us what you want to see covered.)

Many people have (correctly) observed that Batman: The Animated Series defined the Batman of the '90s, in much the same way that Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns defined the character in the '80s and Christopher Nolan's films defined him in the 2000s. This carries special weight when you consider that it was Tim Burton's films that were meant to fulfill that purpose. But B:TAS borrowed some of the best elements of the Burton movies (their willingness to tinker with iconic villains, for example, and especially their conception of Gotham City as a timeless metropolis where high-tech gadgets coexist with '20s-era Art Deco architecture and post-war noir design) while jettisoning their worst excesses. Another major influence for artist/producer/mastermind Bruce Timm: the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 1940s, with their clean lines, moody Impressionist lighting effects, and clever camera angles.

But one of the biggest influences of all is one that's rarely acknowledged: the storytelling prowess and marketing genius of Marvel's Stan Lee. Just as Lee made a fortune gambling that teenagers and college students would relate to neurotic superheroes with "real-world" problems and give superhero comics a profitable new demographic to replace its prior target audience of children, writer/co-creator Paul Dini felt that animation, a medium at that time aimed squarely at kids and meant only to move plastic toys, might also have grown up. He believed that there was was now an older, more informed audience for superhero 'toons, and he could harness that audience by bringing them a show with more adult themes, more sophisticated stories, and a unique and appealing visual approach that would hook them. He was right, and the result was nothing short of an animation revolution.

Rather than spend the rest of this review on history lessons, though, I'll get right to the debut episode, "On Leather Wings." We'll be presenting one episode a week every Monday, and naturally, I'll be recapping and critiquing it but also using it to talk about the Batman mythos, creative teams, villains, the show's historical influence (and how it influenced future interpretations of Batman), and so on. That'll give us the chance to not only discuss the show proper but the tendrils it sends out into the greater world of comics culture. Not coincidentally, that'll help us get through some of the lesser episodes, which, as good as the show was, are far from rare.

The opening sequence, which we'll see here for the first time, is dynamite. Over a percussive piano variant of Danny Elfman's moody Batman theme, we see all the classic elements of a superhero cartoon: bulky goons in suits, shadowy skyscrapers, and a caped avenger appearing out of nowhere. It's the very definition of a classic show opening, and the Art Deco title cards are also a spiffy touch. (The sequence is also notable for the fact that it doesn't reveal the title of the show.) "On Leather Wings" begins with another element from the opening sequence: the police blimp, an idea invented by Bruce Timm to help fill out the timeless retro-futuristic feel of Gotham. It spots something flitting around in the skies and rises up through the clouds—in a scene that's, I think, deliberately evocative of a scene in Watchmen where Nite Owl's airship does the same—and finds nothing. But a security guard at Phoenix Pharmaceuticals (voiced by the ubiquitous Richard "Bull" Moll, who also plays Harvey Dent and the Bat-Computer) isn't so lucky; he gets taken out by a fearsome bat-like creature.

Of course, living in Gotham, it's not unreasonable to assume that this would be none other than the Batman. Harvey Bullock, characterized here as stubborn, filled with contempt for Batman, and willing to take shorts to get what he wants, but not openly corrupt, as he sometimes was in comics, certainly makes that assumption, though he's opposed by Commissioner Gordon, who knows Batman a bit better. The point is made even clearer when we see Batman himself pursuing a lead in the case, using almost exactly the same tactics as the monster. It's a nice way to give the show some room to play with the moral shadiness of vigilantism, which already puts Batman: TAS far ahead of typical cartoons of the time. Batso may get fancy with the detective work, but his first move is to knock out a police officer so he can work uninterrupted.
Bullock presses the mayor and the district attorney (one H. Dent) to go after Batman, resulting in a scene where his hand-picked goon squad pursues our hero into a factory to flush him out. The attack goes awry and leads to a raging fire, in a well-done scene drawn straight from Frank Miller's excellent Batman: Year One comic. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne, in civilian mode, does some snooping at the Gotham Zoo, consulting bat expert Dr. March (Rene Auberjonois), whose snide manner and aggression makes him an instant suspect. His assistant, Dr. Kirk Langstrom (Marc "Beastmaster" Singer) and his wife, Francine, are much more helpful, but their cheery demeanor doesn't fool the world's greatest detective. Bats soon susses out that Langstrom is the "Man-Bat", as the result of a serum he invented that combined human and bat DNA and to which he quickly became addicted. This leads to the episode's exciting action set-piece, a chase scene where Batman, lashed to Man-Bat's ankle, flies through construction sites (and in a nice callback to the beginning of the episode, over a police blimp) before bringing him down.

Man-Bat may not have been the best choice of villain for the first episode; the character, always a bit absurd, has recently been a laughingstock for some fans. But the best Batman foes are the ones that reflect some aspect of Batman himself, only curdled and turned. This is no exception: Langstrom is a man whose obsession with his pet project turned him into a monster, and he becomes dangerous because the people who know about him try to protect his secret instead of getting him help. By abetting and enabling him, they allow him to thrive. Sound familiar? It's also worth remarking that while Batman: TAS isn't a serialized narrative, it does have a lot of recurring struggles and character elements, and it's astonishing how neatly these are all set up as early as the very first episode: Bullock in his adversarial role; Harvey Dent compulsively flipping his coin and keeping an eye on his conviction rate; Alfred (played here by stage veteran Clive Revill, who does a fine job but would soon be replaced) wising off to his risk-taking employer; and Kevin Conroy using different voices as Batman and Bruce Wayne, an idea that was, at the time, a bit of a departure.
All these things are in place literally from the first frame, and listening to the audio commentary with Timm and producer Eric Rodomski (which I highly recommend), what's even more astonishing is that they're elements that were almost all intentional and envisioned by the show's creators very early on in the process. Not all the early episodes would be as good as "On Leather Wings," but it unmistakably establishes that this was no kludged-together production. It was a show made by men and women with a vision, who knew exactly how they wanted it to look and feel, and set out to make a show that stayed as true to that vision as possible.

Program note: Since the various networks on which Batman: The Animated Series aired had a pretty slapdash approach to ordering the episodes, I'll be going in order of production, not by original air date. This will not only make it easier for you to follow along at home (it's also the order they appear on the DVDs), but it will honor the creators' intentions more closely.

Stray Observations:

The animation here is remarkably kinetic and exciting, even more so than in later seasons. Timm and Rodomski note that a lot of this was risk-taking on the part of director Kevin Altieri, who improvised ideas (such as the great-looking chase along the surface of the police blimp) they didn't think would work.

Another huge strength of the show as a whole is composer Shirley Walker, and the fact that she was given a full orchestra to work with. This was rare enough at the time and has become even more so as studios get more and more budget-conscious, but it really pays off in terms of making the whole production seem more cinematic and adult.

The Batmobile featured in TAS is a departure from both the '60s TV model and the high-tech Burton movie version. It's designed after the 'roadster' one used in the comic book in the 1940s. I was surprised, though, to learn about the origins of a similar vehicular visual element: the bizarre-looking police van that houses Bullock's goon squad, with its huge front sliding door, isn't an invention of the creators, but is based on a real police vehicle, a prototype made but never widely marketed by General Motors in the 1930s.

The producers faced a lot of headaches putting Batman: TAS together. They fought the network to be able to show blood (and won); they fought the network to have characters use real guns instead of the abstract ray-gun style of the '80s (and won); they fought to bring in a lot of the more adult elements they wanted to make the show appealing to grown-up audiences. But apparently their biggest struggle was about how (literally, not tonally) dark the show was; FOX felt that, with the animation done on black paper and the color palette being very limited, viewers might not be able to even see what was happening. It's a fair enough objection, but looking back, it seems unthinkable that they'd consider sacrificing the noir shadings and vintage color scheme that helped make the show so visually attractive.

Next week: A timely holiday theme and the first appearance of Mark Hamill, in "Christmas With The Joker."

DisneyBoy · Dec 4, 2010

Always fun to read reviews of B:TAS. This one had some nice tid-bits, offering more than the usual to those who may be unfamiliar with the series.

Revelator · Dec 10, 2010

Another week, another review. This time Pierce reviews "Christmas With the Joker."

Batman: The Animated Series

"Christmas With The Joker" season 1 , episode 2
by Leonard Pierce December 6, 2010

B av club rating

B reader rating based on 13 ratings

Let's talk about the Joker.

In fact, let's talk about any iconic character, any outsized fictional character resonant enough to call a classic. When I say that Batman is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, I'm not really talking about a specific portrayal of Batman. Though I have some in mind (the Denny O'Neil Batman of the '70s, the Batman of Year One), I really mean a conception of the character. And this is key: it doesn't even have to be a conception of the character that's ever actually been portrayed. Many people, for example, worship a God that has no real similarity to the way God is portrayed in the Bible or other "primary sources." They like the idea of God, and they carry around with them an image of the way God is that suits them, regardless of whether or not it has any resemblance to the "real" God. It's the same thing with Batman: the Batman I love doesn't necessarily come from any single issue of Batman or any single media portrayal. It's a character I more or less developed in my mind based on the appealing aspects of all the media portrayals I've ever seen. Most people do this, and the Batman I love may be vastly different from the Batman you love, while both of them may be at odds with any Batman that's ever actually appeared in comics, movies, TV, and so on.

The same is most definitely true of Batman's most resonant villain, the Joker. I love the Joker as a villain almost beyond reason; he's in my pantheon of all-time great fictional characters. But my conception of him is an amalgam of all sorts of portrayals of the character. The Joker's persona has veered wildly over the years, from the murderous schemer with the unforgettable face (drawn from the disturbing 1928 Expressionist movie The Man Who Laughs), to the campy crime boss of the '60s TV show, to the bloodthirsty psychotic obsessive of The Killing Joke, to the filthy, twitching force of chaos in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. Which Joker you prefer depends on how you perceive the character's strengths; your conceptions of those strengths inform your choice, and how you react to any portrayal of him depends on what characteristics you want to see brought out.

Personally, I've always liked a Joker that straddles the line between deranged prop comic and psychotic lunatic. Aside from the visual brilliance of the Bob Kane original, I've always disliked the idea of the Joker as a master criminal. I like a Joker who sees money as a means to an end rather than a goal itself, and that's one reason I like the Killing Joke recounting of his origins, because it makes his time as gang boss the Red Hood into just another absurd gag. The Joker-as-force-of-nature thing is a bit too cerebral for me (the Joker is a psychological terror, not a philosophical one like R'as al-Ghul); straying too far to the psychotic side makes him less interesting and straying too far to the comedic side makes him less threatening. A balance between those two extremes forms the Joker I carry around, and that's the one I want to see the most.

With all due respect to Heath Ledger's phenomenal performance in The Dark Knight—and it was a revelation—that's why I've always liked Jack Nicholson's oft-maligned performance as the Joker in the first Tim Burton Batman. I have very mixed feelings about much of the movie, but I thought Nicholson absolutely nailed the Joker: a combination of self-absorbed showman, forever laughing at his own corny jokes, and heartless killer, casually murdering even his own henchmen out of convenience, vengeance, or pique. And that's largely the conception of the Joker that was used in Batman: The Animated Series, as we'll see in this week's episode, "Christmas With The Joker".

It's hard to believe now, because he's so established as a reliable, versatile and talented voice actor, but Mark Hamill wasn't always thought of that way. When he signed on to play the Joker, he'd done only a limited amount of voice work and was in a lengthy post-Star Wars career slump. But he took to the role so well, he defined the Joker (whose arch, sneering voice sounds almost nothing like most of Hamill's other roles) as much as any actor who's tried the part. Casting Hamill as the Joker was an absolute coup, one of the first, but hardly the last, scored by the show's hugely talented casting director, Andrea Romano. Not realizing that voice acting is a special talent with its own particular skill set, a lot of producers of animation, especially of big-budget movies, simply hire a high-profile Hollywood actor with a recognizable name to voice their characters, regardless of how well that actor's voice suits the role. Romano never makes that mistake. Sometimes her voice actors are name-brand, and other times they're unknowns, but they're always hired based on how well they will inhabit the role. Her good judgment paid off in spades, as to my mind, Hamill has become one of the best voice actors in the business and is the definitive voice of the Clown Prince of Crime.

This episode (second in production order, but aired much, much later) sees a change in the creative team. Kent Butterworth, a less sure-handed director than Kevin Altieri, is behind the camera, and TV veteran Eddie Gorodetsky takes the writing reins. The plot is a basic hero vs. villain set-up: the Joker, free once again to pursue his dishonorable profession, ruins Gotham's Christmas Eve by kidnapping "the awful Lawful Family"—Commissioner Gordon, reporter Summer Gleeson, and Det. Bullock—and threatening to murder them at midnight if Batman can't stop him. It's a simple idea, and it's pretty simply executed; there's nothing emotionally, morally, or psychologically complex at work here. Speculation about the Joker's role as Batman's classical nemesis will have to wait for future episodes. (Although the script does repeatedly remind us that the Joker, like Batman, has no family of his own.)

But this is also a holiday episode, however twisted, and though it was produced in an awkward order, it comes at a convenient time for us here at TV Club Classic. Holiday episodes are when TV shows traditionally let their hair down and allow their characters a chance to mix it up a little, to get to know one another while engaging in a familiar, comforting situation. That's what this episode feels like to me: a comfort. It's not brilliantly animated or deeply insightful, but it's a classic old-school Joker routine cleverly framed (the device of having the Joker take over Gotham's airwaves and put on his own sick version of a Christmas special works like a charm, right down to the Joker's Perry Como sweater ensemble) and well-executed. It's light and breezy, or as light and breezy as a story with a "diseased maniac," as Gordon calls him, can get, and that's what holiday specials ought to be.

"Christmas With The Joker" also gives us our first look at Robin (voiced by Loren Lester, who's been showing up on HBO's Hung lately). He'll become a central character as the show goes on, and although he doesn't have much to do this time around outside the action sequences, we do get some glimpses of what the show intends for him. He's a bit older and more mature than some conceptions of Robin, a fact that's reflected in his attitude and his costume, and he already makes some gestures towards humanizing Batman. I've always felt that a key element to the character of Dick Grayson is to prove to Batman that someone could undergo the same trauma that struck Bruce Wayne and not let it consume and destroy him; Robin represents, to Batman, what he could have been, and that's a vital role. It's good to see it being laid in so quickly, but as we discussed last time out, one of the strengths of Batman: TASis that it knew what direction it wanted to take things right from the start.

I can't rate this episode too highly, since it's pretty inconsequential and technically not very well-executed, especially compared to what came before it. It's also got a lot of padding. It could easily be 15 minutes and far tighter. No Shirley Walker this episode either, and the music suffers as a result; it's pretty lackluster. And Summer Gleeson, a character that never did much for me, has nothing to do here other than be menaced. But it's a funny, charming piece of work, by no means a failure, and it provides some memorable lines and the beginning of two relationships—Batman and the Joker and Batman and Robin—that are essential to the show's development. It does what it needs to do quite well, and for that reason, I can't rate it too poorly, either. If nothing else—and it has plenty else, if its virtues are small instead of great—it's a fun component of a Christmas TV marathon.
Rating: B

Stray Observations:

The Joker's escape from Arkham is pretty hokey and not that well-animated, but it has its moments: He gets to sing that 3rd-grade favorite, "The Batmobile Song," and if you look closely during the scene, you'll notice him bidding a friendly adieu to a fellow inmate who's a ringer for Charles Manson.

The early scenes where Batman tries to find some crime to fight on Christmas Eve, only to discover that no one needs him, are, I'm pretty sure, a reference to the classic Harlan Ellison story in Detective Comics #567, "The Night of Thanks But No Thanks." A highly recommended story from 1986, if you can dig it up.

The animation is already getting a bit less dark, and the character design a bit more cartoony. I'm not too happy with the former development, but the latter works fine, especially in a broad episode like this one. Still some fine-looking set-pieces, though, particularly the race to stop the retro-looking passenger train.

Mark Hamill also plays the unseen announcer of the Christmas With The Joker show, presumably the J-man himself, though Hamill gives him a different voice, a wide TV huckster jawn. "The show that nobody wants to see, but everyone will watch!"

Batman on It's A Wonderful Life: "You know, I've never seen that. I could never get past the title."

Next week: The animated debut of another classic villain, and the pathology of Bruce Wayne, in "Nothing To Fear".

FightingDreamer · Dec 10, 2010

Eh, these are fine, though I'll always love Alex Weitzman and Maxie Zeus' writing about this series more.

Revelator · Dec 10, 2010

FightingDreamer said:
Eh, these are fine, though I'll always love Alex Weitzman and Maxie Zeus' writing about this series more.

No argument there--Alex and Maxie are definitely better writers and more nuanced fans. (I've of course read all of Maxie's BTAS reviews--did Alex do a series too? And does anyone know where he's gone off to?) But Pierce's reviews are also interesting, since they're from a somewhat more casual viewer, rather than a DCAU expert like Maxie or Alex.

Yojimbo · Dec 11, 2010

Revelator said:
No argument there--Alex and Maxie are definitely better writers and more nuanced fans. (I've of course read all of Maxie's BTAS reviews--did Alex do a series too? And does anyone know where he's gone off to?) But Pierce's reviews are also interesting, since they're from a somewhat more casual viewer, rather than a DCAU expert like Maxie or Alex.

I wondered that, too, from time to time. I imagine there was a Quickening was involved, since there can only be one.

Stray observations were neat to read and well, the reviewer uses Heath Ledger but omits using Caesar Romero?

Revelator · Dec 23, 2010

Some recent posts to this thread were lost in the site update. Among these was a response by Alex Weitzman. I've reprinted it below.

Alex Weitzman said:
Revelator said:

No argument there--Alex and Maxie are definitely better writers and more nuanced fans. (I've of course read all of Maxie's BTAS reviews--did Alex do a series too? And does anyone know where he's gone off to?)

Click to expand...

Second question first: I've been very, very, very busy. In particular, with trying to get my voice-acting career off the ground. Thusly, I've only had the time to devote to one message board with anything resembling consistency - which, because of my moderator status and long history there, necessitates it being Rotten Tomatoes. Every once in a blue moon, I do lurk on by these boards to check things out. But it's been tragically long between visits, and I caught this post on pure coincidence.

And as to whether I ever reviewed B:TAS episodes, I reviewed some of them. They're on the Big Cartoon Database, when I was writing for that site. Most of the links to those commentaries can be found at the bottom of the individual episode write-ups on Maxie's site, for those that I did indeed review. Obviously, the only DCAU series I consistently reviewed was JLU, in the reaction threads.

Revelator said:

But Pierce's reviews are also interesting, since they're from a somewhat more casual viewer, rather than a DCAU expert like Maxie or Alex.

Click to expand...

Indeed. For instance, he has a much greater appreciation of Christmas with the Joker, which probably stems from not being a DCAU snob like me and Maxie.

I'm embarrassed to say that I read (and quite liked) those BCD reviews years ago but forgot they were by Alex. In any case, I wish him the absolute best of luck with his voice work.

Revelator · Dec 23, 2010

The Onion AVClub's coverage continues, this time with "Nothing to Fear." (Original link here.)
Why the delay? Well, as noted by a post that was lost in the server change, the series has a new writer. Leonard Pierce, who had written the first two reviews was fired from the Onion after fabricating a book review. The new writer is Oliver Sava, who gave a rather high grade to what I consider an utterly mediocre episode.

Batman: The Animated Series
"Nothing To Fear" season 1 , episode 3

by Oliver Sava December 20, 2010

A av club rating
B+ reader rating based on 14 ratings

The first three episodes of Batman: The Animated Series can be viewed as a trilogy, giving a primer on the Batman mythos by using the three villains with the strongest thematic connections to the character. Man-Bat takes the bat persona to the extreme, the Joker is the anarchic, insane yin to Batman's cool, calculating yang, and the Scarecrow’s main weapon is the same as our hero’s: fear. Hideous mutations of Batman’s core values, these villains reveal the depth of Bruce Wayne’s humanity, detective genius, and honor-bound duty. Each episode also unveils a different element of the core supporting cast, with the pilot introducing Alfred and the Gotham P.D., the second bringing in the Boy Wonder, and “Nothing To Fear” featuring the first appearance of the two characters most integral to Batman’s development: Thomas and Martha Wayne.

The series’ first truly great episode, “Nothing To Fear” explores Bruce Wayne’s tortured psyche in the wake of his exposure to the Scarecrow’s fear gas. Haunted by visions of his dead father, Bruce is forced to confront his greatest fear: that he has failed to live up to his murdered parents’ expectations. Heavy subject matter for a cartoon, but the episode establishes the tone that will define most of the series, showing the creators’ refusal to dumb down their plots for a younger target audience.

While visiting Gotham University for a charity event, Bruce Wayne learns about the string of robberies and incidents of vandalism that have jeopardized the school’s enrollment rate. Before he gets a chance to investigate, an unpleasant encounter with one of his father’s colleagues leaves Bruce shaken, as Dr. Long accuses him of disgracing his parents with his “self-centered, jet-setting playboy” lifestyle. While patrolling the campus, Batman meets the man responsible for the recent crime spree: the Scarecrow, ex-university employee Dr. Jonathan Crane. Fired for his unethical experiments on the nature of fear, Crane paralyzes his enemies with a gas that forces them to live out their worst terrors. In the midst of foiling Scarecrow’s arson attempt, Batman is shot with a time-released dosage, and the drug, combined with Dr. Long’s words, throws Bruce into a spiral of self-doubt triggered by the images of his father.

Any examination of Batman’s daddy issues is incomplete without looking at his relationship with Alfred, and “Nothing To Fear” shows just how much Bruce relies on his butler. Alfred is both an enabler and a moderator of the Batman persona, and he keeps Bruce grounded while consistently motivating him. In a telling line after turning off Summer’s broadcast, Alfred jokes, “Someone dressed up in a frightening costume running around scaring people? What will they think up next?” Alfred’s ability to appreciate the irony is a boon to the perpetually serious Bruce, and he is a source of optimism and hope, whereas Bruce can only associate despair and guilt with his real father. At the height of his hallucinations, Alfred tells Bruce, “I know your father would be proud of you because I’m so proud of you.” The words revive Bruce’s self-worth, and give Batman the ability to overcome Scarecrow’s fear gas and dispel the image of his father.

Bruce overcomes his fear of disgrace, but writers Henry T. Gilroy and Sean Catherine Derek begin to suggest a deeper demon: his guilt over his parents’ deaths. The only hallucination that doesn’t take the form of his father’s ghost occurs while Bruce watches a television news report of the Scarecrow’s arson attempt. After recounting how Batman failed to catch the perpetrators, Summer Gleason turns and looks directly out to Bruce, repeating the word “failed” until Alfred shuts off the television. The small moment serves as a reminder that Batman is ultimately driven by his will to find and punish the first perpetrator he ever failed to capture.

Watching Batman interact with his father’s ghost, I can’t help but see the similarities between Bruce Wayne and Hamlet, two heroes who put on masks to avenge their father’s deaths. Where Hamlet disguises himself in lunacy, Bruce takes on a much more literal costume, albeit not necessarily less insane. Darwyn Cooke explores this aspect of the character in his one-shot Batman: Ego, pitting Bruce against the madness that threatens to consume his subconscious. Unsurprisingly, Cooke’s big break came when Bruce Timm hired him as a storyboard artist for Batman: The Animated Series.

Both Hamlet and Bruce Wayne find themselves crippled with doubt after encountering their fathers, the former succumbing to his rationality as the latter collapses under his insecurity. The difference is that Hamlet’s enemies have a direct relationship to the incident that spurs his revenge, whereas Batman displaces his hatred across the entirety of Gotham’s criminal community. Proximity leads to Hamlet’s downfall, while Batman is able to pursue an abstract war on crime, transforming him into a relentless force of nature obsessed with preventing the tragedy that spawned him. In arguably the series’ most famous line, Batman howls at the skeletal apparition of his father, “I am vengeance! I am the night! I … AM … BATMAN!”

Notice how he doesn't say “I am Bruce Wayne”?

Stray Observations

I’m Oliver Sava and I’ll be guiding you through Gotham for the remainder of the season. Batman’s been a part of my life since childhood, when I used to race home to catch B:TAS before my parents could enforce their “no TV on the weekdays” rule. My favorite rogue is Catwoman, my favorite Robin is Tim Drake, and my favorite Batman comics are the first 12 issues of Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka’s Gotham Central.

The scene with Batman’s “I am vengeance …” line is an amazing example of juxtaposition, as his battle cry is set against the image of him clinging to the front of a blimp, looking decidedly unheroic as he wriggles in mid-air. The appearance of vulnerability reminds us that Batman is just a man on the outside, but Kevin Conroy's forceful voice suggests something much more within.

Why is Kevin Conroy’s Batman voice so much better than Christian Bale’s?

Bullock refers to Batman as “Zorro.” Despite being an obvious influence on Batman as a character, in the comics The Mark of Zorro is the film that the Wayne family attends before Thomas and Martha are gunned down. Little details like that make this series great.

If Scarecrow’s fear gas is to be believed, nearly everyone is terrified of OH GOD SPIDERS EVERYWHERE.

Jonathan Crane was fired from Gotham University because he trapped people in tiny rooms filled with rats and noxious green gas. Big surprise there.

Apparently, everyone that falls out of the Gotham sky lands on awnings or rooftop shrubbery. Convenient.

Alex Weitzman · Dec 25, 2010

Revelator said:
I'm embarrassed to say that I read (and quite liked) those BCD reviews years ago but forgot they were by Alex. In any case, I wish him the absolute best of luck with his voice work.

First of all, thank you for retrieving that post; I was starting to think I'd dreamed making a response.

Secondly, even greater thanks for your post here. I'm not currently doing much voicing right now since I'm suffering a miserable upper respiratory infection (coughs aplenty).

Revelator · Jan 7, 2011

Sava's second review. To compensate for giving a high grade to a mediocre episode, he's given a mediocre episode the grade it deserves.

Batman: The Animated Series
"The Last Laugh"
season 1 , episode 4

C av club rating
C+ reader rating based on 7 ratings

by Oliver Sava December 27, 2010

Before I get to this week’s episode, I’m going to talk about Planetary. For those unfamiliar, Planetary is a comic book by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday that explores various corners of genre fiction through the adventures of a group of superhuman archaeologists. In Planetary/Batman, the Planetary team follows the trail of reality altering murderer John Black to Gotham City, where they come face to face with various incarnations of the Caped Crusader. As Black rewrites the world around them, the Batmen of Bob Kane, Neal Adams, Frank Miller, and more cycle into existence, changing the tone of the story as the character’s appearance is altered.

Spotlighting the characteristics of specific creators in both dialogue and art, Ellis and Cassaday create a perfect visualization of the ideas brought up in the “Christmas With The Joker” review. Characters are defined in our minds by aspects taken from different creators’ interpretations, but there is a unifying thread between all the variations. For Batman, it is one fateful night in Crime Alley. The Joker? As Harvey Dent says in Brian Azzarello’s Joker, “Death, for him, is the punchline.” Life’s just a joke, and nothing’s funnier than pulling the trigger. Whether he’s the master comedian of Alan Moore, the over-the-top gangster of Steve Englehardt, or Grant Morrison’s cross-dressing demigod of chaos, the Joker kills with a smile.

“The Last Laugh” has the potential to make some intriguing comparisons between the Joker’s twisted sense of humor and Batman’s largely absent one, but Carl Swensen’s script devotes most of the episode to an extended chase sequence that offers little in the way of emotional gravitas. The Joker is back in Gotham to celebrate April Fool’s Day, and while Alfred tries to cheer Bruce up with some holiday humor, the Joker uses his garbage-covered submarine to drive the populace insane with laughter. When the toxic garbage-fumes (yeah, the plot’s pretty thin) eventually find their way to Wayne Manor and claim Alfred as their latest victim, Batman must race to stop the Joker and save his best friend from madness.

Episodes like “The Last Laugh” serve as a reminder that Batman is still a Saturday morning cartoon, and that not every episode is going to be a psychological dissection of a tragic pop culture icon. Sometimes, kids just want to see Batman beat the hell out of a giant clown robot with a metal pole. The stakes never feel very high, with everyone’s insanity manifesting as giddy happiness that isn’t particularly terrifying, and some of the plot points require a child’s suspension of disbelief to make the story work. How does the gas manage to travel all the way to Wayne Manor? If a knife can cut through the container Joker tries to drown Batman in, why can’t a batarang? These are small complaints, but when there’s not much in the way of story, small issues have a much bigger effect.

With Kevin Altieri returning to direct, the episode looks great, with the particular highlights being Batman’s thrashing of Captain Clown, the Batboat’s laser rescue, and a touching Batman/Alfred pieta moment that further builds the bonds between the two. Yet despite its visual flourishes, the episode is still very simple compared to the mature, poignant storytelling of other episodes. “The Last Laugh” is largely inconsequential, and its saving grace is the unbridled theatricality of Mark Hamill’s Joker. What I appreciate about Hamill is that he’s able to make the Joker genuinely funny, and this episode is mostly Hamill spouting one-liners to fill in the insubstantial plot. There’s a showmanship in his delivery that suggests the Joker’s stand-up comic origin from Moore’s The Killing Joke, and Swenson has taken Moore’s cue of making most of the character’s lines a joke. It gives the impression that there’s a little more method behind his madness than he’s leading on, but the insane cackle gives him away: He’s totally crazy.

The most disappointing aspect of “The Last Laugh” is the way it tiptoes around the idea of Bruce’s sense of humor, ignoring an opportunity to create a stronger contrast between Batman and the Joker. The comics have explored this dynamic, most famously in The Killing Joke, and I feel these words on humor from Hollywood casting director Michael Shurtleff enlighten both Moore’s story and “The Last Laugh.”

“Humor is not being funny. It is the coin of exchange between human beings that makes it possible for us to get through the day. …We try in life to put humor everywhere; if we didn’t, we couldn’t bear to live.”

Now, look at this exchange from The Killing Joke:

JOKER: Why aren’t you laughing?
BATMAN: Because I’ve heard it all before…and it wasn’t funny the first time.

If humor is the way that human beings cope with the horror of reality, then wouldn't Bruce's sense of humor be the Batman? In "The Last Laugh," Batman cracks a joke before Bruce does, but after being in the mask, Bruce has loosened up enough to play an April Fool's joke of his own on Alfred. Traditional ideas of humor aren’t enough to comfort Bruce in a world without his parents, and it’s only when the Batman laughs that Bruce can too. In The Killing Joke’s controversial ending, the Batman and Joker share a laugh when the Joker tells a joke about two men in an asylum, whose escape attempt is ultimately foiled by their own madness. That’s a joke that Batman’s apparently never heard before, and it’s the one that he’s living.

Stray Observations:

If the police get a blimp, the Joker gets a submarine.

April Fool’s Day is so popular in Gotham that it’s the front page story of the Gotham Gazette. It’s like they’re asking for an insane clown to terrorize them.

Batman punches the Joker through a periscope. Badass.

“You’re going to melt just like a grilled cheese sandwich!”

“You killed Captain Clown! YOU KILLED CAPTAIN CLOWN!”

The design for the robot under Captain Clown’s crunchy candy shell looks like a car engine with an eyeball. Perfect.

As great as Shirley Walker’s music is, that early-‘90s drum machine that comes in for this episode’s main theme completely detracts from the series’ classic feel. But Joker’s circus theme music is perfect.

Reading Ed Brubaker’s The Man Who Laughs, I noticed something mentioned in last week’s column. All the first-person narration comes from Batman, while Bruce Wayne is referred to in the third person. The story takes place early in his career, leading me to wonder just when the Bat took over for Bruce. How much of him died in Crime Alley with his parents?

Notice how I haven’t mentioned anything about the crossover “Joker’s Last Laugh”? For good reason …

Next Week: Poison Ivy and the beginning of The Tragedy of Harvey Dent

Revelator · Jan 7, 2011

Another review, and, alas, another inflated grade. This episode isn't mediocre, but it's not great either.

Batman: The Animated Series

"Pretty Poison"
season 1 , episode 5by Oliver Sava January 3, 2011
A av club rating A- reader rating based on 5 ratings

After last week’s lackluster Joker detour, Batman: The Animated Series returns to introducing Gotham’s rogues gallery with “Pretty Poison,” the first appearance of botanist turned eco-terrorist Poison Ivy. More significantly, the episode marks the series writing debut of producer Paul Dini, joined on story by Michael Reaves. As a producer, Dini helped set the tone of the series by pushing for stories that challenged conventional ideas of children’s programming, delving into the psychological and emotional aspects of characters in a way that hadn’t been done before. While “Pretty Poison” doesn’t reach the same level of gravitas as Dini’s later episodes, it succeeds by expanding on the series’ supporting cast and placing more emphasis on Bruce Wayne outside the mask. By developing a personal relationship between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent, Dini and Reaves craft a mystery that Bruce and Batman can both investigate when Harvey is poisoned, and the intersection of Bruce’s two worlds is the episode’s major strength.

When it comes to Batman’s main female rogues, Poison Ivy stands alone as a strong, unattached woman. Catwoman is romantically involved with Batman, Talia al Ghul is devoted to her father, and Harley Quinn will forever belong to the Joker. Poison Ivy is the only female without a male counterpart to tie her down, and while her history with Dent could have changed this, the writers thankfully opt for a Thelma and Louise relationship with Harley Quinn later in the series. If each of Batman’s villains represent a larger idea–fear for Scarecrow, justice for Two-Face, etc.–then Poison Ivy represents female sexuality. Sex is her weapon, whether it is the poison on her lips or the giant Venus Fly Trap in her greenhouse, because let’s face it, that’s just a giant vagina with teeth.

“Pretty Poison” opens with a flashback to the groundbreaking of Stonegate Penitentiary, a project spearheaded by District Attorney Harvey Dent to create a “better, safer Gotham,” despite the construction’s effect on the neighboring plant life. Five years later, the prison is completed and, in the Gotham fashion, being broken out of. While Batman foils the helicopter escape, Harvey Dent waits at the Rose Café with his fiancee, Dr. Pamela Isley, for the chronically late Bruce to show up for dinner. In one of the episode’s many comedic moments, Batman’s rooftop action is intercut with Dent’s explanation of Bruce’s absence, assuming he’s been held up on business. Dent emphasizes his and Bruce’s trust-based relationship while Bruce is directly above him, dressed up like a giant bat and knocking helicopters out of the sky. The irony is brilliant.

Bruce makes it to dinner just in time to pick up the check and catch the so-long-he’s-got-to-check-his-watch goodbye kiss Isley gives Dent. After she leaves, Harvey breaks the news of their engagement to a shocked Bruce, who has some concerns over the fact that they’ve only known each other a week. His “marriage is a big commitment” speech is cut short, though, by Harvey’s faceplant into a bowl of chocolate mousse. When Bruce finds out his friend has been poisoned with an extinct plant toxin, his investigation leads straight to Dr. Pamela Isley, putting an abrupt end to Harvey’s engagement.

The repeated sequence in the police department of Gordon answering the phone to call his squad to move out and Bullock stopping for a donut has its intended comedic effect, but it also emphasizes the changing role of the Gotham P.D. Batman is the real first response in Gotham City now, but Gordon is still going to head out with full force, even in a back-up or pick-up-the-pieces capacity. But Bullock is a cop from a different time, before people dressed up in costumes and used plants and laughter to kill each other. By the time they get back from the prison break, the District Attorney’s already been poisoned. The city is going to ****, and while Bullock may not have time to sit down and enjoy his cup of coffee, nothing is going to stop him from having his donut, because the donut is his resistance to the new world order.

When they learn Dent’s been poisoned at the Rose Café, Bullock assumes it was the food and goes after the chef, rather than an insane botanist in a green bathing suit with toxic lips. Bullock has trouble adjusting to the changing Gotham landscape, and he ends up looking like a paranoid fool most of the time, but his old school methods do occasionally come in handy. One cop who is prepared for the wave of insanity infecting the city is Officer Renee Montoya, who makes her debut as Dent’s hospital guard in “Pretty Poison.” Montoya becomes a bigger presence on the series, and fan response to the character ultimately led to her being integrated into comic book continuity, currently protecting the streets of Gotham as the Question.

Dini has acknowledged the influence of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on Batman: The Animated Series, and by showing more of Bruce Wayne’s personality Dini brings Lee’s pathos to the character, matching the Kirby influence of producer Bruce Timm’s governing animation style. Lee’s work humanizing superheroes opened the door for the kind of storytelling Dini used on B:TAS, emphasizing that the emotional and mental workings underneath the mask can be just as compelling as the fantasy outside it. Lee showed that the best villains are the ones with connections to the hero’s personal life, and there’s a wonderful cycle that happens in the relationship between Bruce Wayne, Pamela Isley, and Harvey Dent. Bruce funds Harvey’s Stonegate project, which in turn creates Poison Ivy. She poisons the already unstable Dent, and he becomes Two-Face in his next appearance, beginning a career of terrorizing Gotham. And it all starts with Bruce. Uncle Ben should have given some tips on power and responsibility in investments, because Bruce Wayne blew it big time with that one.

By showing Bruce investigating both in and out of the costume, the series brings up some interesting questions about just how far above the law Bruce sees himself. In one telling moment, Bruce finds himself alone with Harvey’s poisoned blood sample, takes out his handkerchief, and swipes it from the forensics lab. That’s totally illegal, right? Especially when Batman could probably just ask for the sample and have them give it to him. Batman has zero tolerance for any criminal, but Bruce Wayne is probably the biggest one of all, funding a massive illegal vigilante operation with corporate money that could be going into employee paychecks.

Stray observations:

This episode had a lot of great action moments, but Batman stopping a helicopter with his grappling hook and a building antenna is the only one that comes close to matching the awesome of last week’s periscope smackdown.

“Does she have a sister?” Oh, Bruce.

“Well you know I’d been talking to my broker and his recommendation was –ooh…”

The tagline for Isley’s fragrance Nightshade: “It’s deadly.”

“Yeah, yeah, big wings.”

“No, no. No strychnine. But I added just a pinch of vanilla.”

I bet Harvey had a passing thought about marrying Pamela, flipped a coin and it came up heads.

The stark change in lighting after Batman growls “I’m your worst nightmare” is a fantastic way to amplify the terror of that moment

After last episode’s rare misstep, Shirley Walker redeems herself with this week’s fantastic score and its excellent use of contrast. The aggressive trumpets as bulldozers break ground on Stonegate is the complete opposite of the lilting strings of Poison Ivy’s greenhouse. This same brass/string dynamic helps land the comedy of the Rose Café/rooftop scene, as the romantic acoustic music of the café gives way to Batman’s thunderous backing orchestra.

Paul Dini is currently working on Marvel’s upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. In an interview last week, Dini said, “Coming up with a look for the Spider-Man show, I think it’s really going to take people by surprise. It’s going to take people by surprise as much as the Batman show in the early ‘90s took comic fans by surprise.” I’m stoked.

DisneyBoy · Jan 7, 2011

the donut is his resistance to the new world order.

CyclonatorZ · Jan 7, 2011

Revelator said:
Another review, and, alas, another inflated grade. This episode isn't mediocre, but it's not great either.

To be fair, if you go just by the polls in the talkback threads here, neither this nor Nothing To Fear seem to be regarded badly in general. The real moment of truth is going to be when we find out whether or not he tries to salvage the dreaded "I've Got Batman In My Basement." :evil:

KillerMoth · Jan 8, 2011

Funny, because I've always loved Pretty Poison and it would certainly give it an A. It has a very tight plot, and I never get bored because how smoothly it gets to the next scene. It has a great score, pre-scarring Harvey Dent and an exploration of Bruce's friendship with him, some great classic Batman stuff, a nice indication to Gotham's corruption over the years ("A better, safer Gotham") and the characterisation of Poison Ivy and her interactions with Batman are spot on in my book.

And I'm not even one of those guys who thinks every BTAS episode is great, I recall arguing with a guy who thought they were, whereas I regard Batman in my Basement, The Forgotten, Tyger, Tyger, Moon of the Wolf etc as pure dreck in most cases.

Revelator · Jan 14, 2011

I'm somewhat behind, but here's the AV Club's latest review. Finally, an accurate grade!

Batman: The Animated Series
"The Underdwellers"
season 1 , episode 6

by Oliver Sava January 10, 2011

D av club rating D+ reader rating based on 8 ratings

The Sewer King’s first and only comic book appearance is in 52 #25–14 years after his Batman: The Animated Series debut—and he's dead before he even gets a word balloon. If we could only be so lucky. “The Underdwellers,” the Sewer King’s first and only B:TAS appearance (noticing a trend here?), is one of the low points of the series. With all the rogues in Batman’s gallery, why the producers would devote one of the series’ first episodes to a cheap Fagin knock-off is a mind-boggling decision. Fox apparently agreed, and the episode was the 27th to air, well after the series had gathered a fan base that could forgive a scene where Alfred tries to get a little boy in Ray-Bans to take a bath.

After an opening sequence where Batman saves two boys playing chicken on top of the Gotham elevated train, the action shifts to the streets, where a pick-pocketing “leprechaun” has been terrorizing the city’s pedestrians. The leprechaun is just a little boy in a green cape, but he must have some sort of fairy magic if he can escape Batman, right? This entire scene just feels wrong and begins the streak of unexplainable events that plague the episode. Streets that were previously empty are suddenly packed with traffic, and Batman abandons any notions of stealth to jump across the hoods of cars as he pursues the child, although he has no idea which way the boy has gone. And when the Gotham P.D. shows up, he abandons his search altogether, fleeing to a rooftop overhead. As confusing as the scene is, I do love when Batman delivers silly lines with absolute seriousness, and Conroy’s gruff delivery of the single word “leprechauns” against the ominous full moon almost matches “Bees. My God.” in terms of comedic value. Almost.

The scene that follows is easily the highlight of the episode, a short conversation between Alfred and Bruce that provides a surprising amount of insight into their relationship. As Bruce tries to convince Alfred he indeed saw a leprechaun, he asks, “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” To which Alfred replies, “In what sense, Master Bruce?” Bruce assumes he’s joking, but we already know that Alfred is one of Batman’s only tethers to Bruce Wayne. Alfred is constantly trying to put Bruce’s double life in perspective, and that often comes in the form of humorously criticizing his employer’s mental health. But I think a part of Alfred is seriously concerned with what Bruce is becoming. Alfred spends the latter half of this scene trying to convince Bruce to take a break, leading to another revealing piece of dialogue:
ALFRED: I do believe a break from Wayne Enterprises and crimefighting would do wonders. Perhaps a vacation. A little golf?
BRUCE: Sounds boring.
ALFRED: In the Bahamas?
BRUCE: Hot. And boring.

So it’s more than just that whole avenge his dead parents thing. Apparently, Bruce Wayne has a bad case of ennui, and the only cure is dressing up like a bat and putting down criminals. Unfortunately, this week that criminal is the Sewer King, and he just plain sucks.

The episode’s above-ground action happens in Gotham’s Theater District, and I hope that’s an acknowledgment from story writer Tom Ruegger that Sewer King’s children-as-pickpockets idea is taken from Oliver Twist’s Fagin. But it still doesn’t explain how someone thought a new Batman rogue should come from this: [a video from the musical Oliver!]

There is no motivation for Sewer King’s actions, no explanation as to who he is or where he came from. I try to suspend my disbelief the best I can with anything superhero-related, but Sewer King’s underground empire is nonsensical. Where did all these kids come from? They’re sewing clothes. Is this some sort of sewer sweatshop, too? And why are they mining coal? The situation is so absurd that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing when one of the children accidentally hoes himself in the shin. Everything about the Sewer King, from his semi-British dialect and his never-ending arsenal of crocodiles to his wine glass full of urine, is senseless to the point of stupidity. This is the kind of villain the producers were adamant about avoiding.

Batman eventually finds and rescues the leprechaun boy, and entrusts Alfred to watch over him while he puts a stop to the Sewer King. Another hole in the episode’s logic is Alfred countering Batman’s request with the argument, “I know nothing about children.” Alfred’s been tending to Bruce since he was a child; he should have no problem taking care of his green-cloaked charge. But it’s not convenient to the story, and it leads to a series of scenes where Alfred comically tries to get Frog (yeah…Frog) to eat, wash dishes, and (less comically, more creepily) take a bath. This all builds to a scene where Frog naively points a rifle at Alfred and Batman pulls it out of his hands, growling/preaching, “Kids and guns don’t mix. Ever! You’re lucky it wasn’t loaded, but it could have been!” He then asks for Frog’s help getting to the Sewer King, effectively throwing him back into danger. I feel like Batman’s relationship with his kid sidekicks is like a game of Russian Roulette. The gun's not fully loaded, and five times out of six you walk away with the thrill of escaping death. Or the Joker beats you to death with a crowbar. Frog is lucky one of Sewer King’s crocs never gets him, although the probability of getting an empty chamber is better this early in Batman’s career.

Beyond the abysmal story, the animation of “The Underdwellers” is severely underwhelming, especially in relation to the episodes that bookend it, “Pretty Poison” and “P.O.V.” Director Frank Paur’s (G.I. Joe, The Real Ghostbusters) action sequences lack the refined choreography of Kevin Altieri, and the character interactions lack the emotional gravity of Boyd Kirkland’s episodes. The quality of the animation is much more reminiscent of the ‘80s Saturday morning cartoons Paur made his name on, the same look that Bruce Timm tried to shy away from with his sleek style for the series.

The best episodes of B:TAS are driven by character and emotion, humanizing Batman’s rogues or exploring his deeper psychological issues. “The Underdwellers” does neither, instead offering a predictable Batman vs. Stock Villain story that is almost entirely filler. At the end of the episode, Batman shows some cracks in his usually steadfast demeanor after he rescues the Sewer King from an oncoming train. “I don't pass sentence. That's for the courts. But this time–this time–I am sorely tempted to do the job myself.” What has pushed Batman to this point? The episode doesn’t explain. Despite the Sewer King’s unoriginality, the story could have made some fascinating observations about the sins of adults destroying the innocence of children. Frog is Bruce, Crime Alley is the sewer, a lone gunman is king, and Batman a broken little boy’s savior.

Stray Observations

This episode’s Bat-Beatdowns: Batman slaps a crocodile with a giant bell, then knocks another unconscious by forcing its jaws open (physically impossible). Oh, hell yeah.

Beyond crocodiles, the episode’s only other major threat comes in the form of trains, which are always coming down the tracks the moment Batman lands on them. I wish I had that kind of luck on the El platform.

“You play chicken long enough, you fry.” Save the jokes for Robin, Bats.

Frog steals the silverware he’s supposed to eat his food with and the silver trays he’s supposed to be watching. That gag’s actually pretty funny.

Batman blows up a wall in the subway. Does he carry grenades?

I’m not sure if Batman having a collapsible dumpster to hide his Batmobile in is the lamest or the most awesome thing ever.

Frog’s exclamation of “The light! The light!” when he sees the sun is another of those moments that should have been emotional but just made me chuckle.

My favorite Fagin analogue: The Provost from Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s Runaways Vol. 2 #13. And not just because I had a letter published in that issue.

Cartoon Network’s Young Justice officially premiered this weekend. I saw the pilot and thought it was a pretty good extension of the work started by B:TAS and JLU. Gorgeous animation and a whole lot of cameos rounded out the package for me.

I’ve started watching the Fleischer Superman shorts and was thinking about supplementing Batman with some commentary on those. Any interest?

Next Monday: P.O.V.

CyclonatorZ · Jan 14, 2011

KillerMoth said:
And I'm not even one of those guys who thinks every BTAS episode is great

Neither am I, and yet I can't go out and say that this critic's reviews are "inacurate" just because I disagree with them. Depending on your point of view, you could probably make a case for the quality of just about any episode in B:TAS, although some attempts might be less substantiated than others. Personally, I have to agree with the Onion's reviewer that both Nothing to Fear and Pretty Poison were great episodes, but if someone disagrees with me, I'm fine with that as well.

Regardless, the latest review was downright hilarious to me, because it expands upon everything I hated about The Underdwellers and wrote about in the toonzone talkback. I have a feeling that after I get though the entire series, Sewer King will still *ahem* reign as the worst villian to ever appear on B:TAS.

Wonderwall · Jan 14, 2011

CyclonatorZ said:
I have a feeling that after I get though the entire series, Sewer King will still *ahem* reign as the worst villian to ever appear on B:TAS.

Worse than the guy from Prophesy of Doom? I mean that guy got overshadowed by his lackey :sweat:

CyclonatorZ · Jan 14, 2011

Wonderwall said:
Worse than the guy from Prophesy of Doom? I mean that guy got overshadowed by his lackey

I haven't seen that episode yet, but it's coming up, so I'll get back to you on this.

Ethereal · Jan 15, 2011

CyclonatorZ said:
Depending on your point of view, you could probably make a case for the quality of just about any episode in B:TAS, although some attempts might be less substantiated than others.

I think it all just boils down to one's personal taste, and what tickles one's fancy.

Modern psychologists have discovered that it's not that human beings are essentially RATIONAL creatures (who are susceptible to emotions), but rather, we are fundamentally EMOTIONAL beings (who EMPLOY reason to substantiate one's feelings).

Thus, I don't think any attempt is "less substantiated" than another, because one's response to any episode will be foregrounded by the FEELINGS EVOKED in that person by the episode.
It all boils down to how skilfully one can use logic to defend one's feelings - but the basis for any review is always Feeling, rather than Logic to begin with.

CyclonatorZ · Jan 15, 2011

Ethereal said:
I think it all just boils down to one's personal taste, and what tickles one's fancy.

Modern psychologists have discovered that it's not that human beings are essentially RATIONAL creatures (who are susceptible to emotions), but rather, we are fundamentally EMOTIONAL beings (who EMPLOY reason to substantiate one's feelings).

Thus, I don't think any attempt is "less substantiated" than another, because one's response to any episode will be foregrounded by the FEELINGS EVOKED in that person by the episode.
It all boils down to how skilfully one can use logic to defend one's feelings - but the basis for any review is always Feeling, rather than Logic to begin with.

In general, I agree with you on this, but I also think there are some cases where objectively, something is of rather poor quality. What those cases are is the real question - I think Batman and Robin is one example, as it's been so universally panned over the years that no real objection has been raised to that assesment. On the other hand, while some feel that season one of The Batman is terrible without a doubt, there are others (such as me) who feel that it's not nearly as bad as many people have made it out to be. Again, it's a tough thing to figure out, and I don't think any one person should claim to know what is objectively good and bad. Otherwise, it's basically impossible for anyone to actually have a reasonable debate with you.

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