Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of February 14 – February 19/20, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some “low-key coarse language and occasional griping”
THIS ISSUE’S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: “THANK YOU FOR FINALLY AIRING ‘LEGACY’!!!!”
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
MAKE US LOOK LIKE FOOLS AND SEE YOUR NAME IN PRINT!
Yeah, that’s right. Over the past 55 issues, my hasty editing procedures have always left not just a few, but sometimes a whole horde of simple errors, grammatical problems, untrue facts, and whatnot. Just no typos – you’ve gotta be more creative than that! Here’s where YOU come in.
If you can find any mistakes in this issue (we’re not purposely making mistakes – any mistakes you find will be ones we were too blind to see), we’ll print your name in the following issue in a special column. Sound fun?
Come on. Make us look like idiots. We dare ya. Grrrr.
-Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
the tremendously warped editor
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THOSE WHO POINTED OUT OUR FAULTS
RANDY MOISAN
EDDIE BEILES
KATHI HECKENLIVELY
SSS 979
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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING…
New episodes are on the horizon! Here’s what we can expect in the near future…
For synopses of all other upcoming second season BATMAN BEYOND episodes, check out of BTAN at this address:
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan
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WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS site)
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES air Mondays thru Saturday; BATMAN BEYOND also airs on these days. Check local listings each day for what show is on at what time.
http://www.batman-superman.com/batman/cmp/episodes.html
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/
http://www.ktla.com/backstage/programming/kids_framed.frm
NOTE:
If our schedule is not updated, then go to the following URL. It will ALWAYS contain the most up-to-date schedule possible.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Taping/2928/airdate.htm
THIS WEEK:
Mon 02-14-00:
Tue 02-15-00:
Wed 02-16-00:
Thu 02-17-00:
Fri 02-18-00:
Sat 02-19-00:
All episodes #86 and onward of BATMAN are considered THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES while the original 85 are considered BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS) episodes.
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CANADIAN EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BTAS/BEYOND on YTV)
(courtesy of our friends at YTV)
-To find the episode guide and airing schedule of BATMAN and BATMAN BEYOND on YTV then please go to http://www.ytv.com and click on the YTV GUIDE icon at the bottom of the screen. To check out the schedule then click on BATMAN or BATMAN BEYOND in the time grid and it will have the schedule for the current week.
BTAS will air at Noon on weekdays (in all time zones), and BATMAN BEYOND will air at 2:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. YTV has the rights to show all 109 BTAS episodes. They also have the rights to air the first 26 episodes of BATMAN BEYOND (all of season 1 and the first half of season 2).
-YTV is moving BATMAN! BATMAN will no longer air at 7:30am (ET). BATMAN will now air at 12 noon (ET) Monday thru Friday. YTV is making their early morning shows all kid oriented, and felt that BATMAN did not suit that time slot.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 02-14-00: BTAS #22 Joker’s Favor
Tue 02-15-00: BTAS #13 Cat and the Claw (Pt. 1)
Wed 02-16-00: BTAS #16 Cat and the Claw (Pt. 2)
Thu 02-17-00: BTAS #05 Pretty Poison
Fri 02-18-00: BTAS #03 Nothing to Fear
Sat 02-19-00: BEYOND #03 Black Out
Sun 02-20-00: BEYOND #04 Golem
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CARTOON NETWORK WB ANIMATION SCHEDULE:
“Yabba Dabba Doom”
(courtesy of Brian Cruz)
THE CARTOON NETWORK was able to get the exclusive rights to 52 episodes of the classic BTAS, as well as both animated movies. BTAS airs Monday-Friday at 6pm (ET) and then repeated again at midnight. If our schedule listings is not complete or up to date then please go to either of these sites for the schedule:
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/batman-cn.html
http://homes.acmecity.com/animation/saturday/352/schedule.html
To see the 52 episodes that the CARTOON NETWORK does show, go to this link:
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/eplists/batman-cn.html
NOTE: The schedules at Brian Cruz’ site are currently unavailable; if anyone knows of any other place where people can get listings for BTAS on the Cartoon Network, please e-mail us!
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EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)
All of Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton’s reviews of the new-style BTAS episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links, which link to “Two-Face’s Tower of Tranquility and Terror”:
MAIN PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BTAS PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFaceText/bats.html
NOTE #1: ALRIGHT! I’ve been messing up WHO is writing WHAT for this column for too long now. If you wanna see who’s writing each review, just go to the bottom – they all sign it there. Sorry Zanna and Justin! I feel so foolish…agh…*HALF OF MY FACE BLUSHES*
NOTE #2: You’ll notice that in addition to our usual review for BATMAN BEYOND, we have the review of a SUPERMAN episode in this issue. Why? Well, LEGACY has been anticipated for SO LONG that we just thought we should cave in and give the Superman fans here a moment in the sun. Besides, we reviewed part one last issue, so it’s only fitting that part two is reviewed in this one. Enjoy!
FINAL CUT
Story by Hilary J. Bader, Alan Burnett
Teleplay by Hilary J. Bader
Directed by Butch Lukic
Animation by Koko, Dong Yang
Original airdate: February 5, 2000
My rating: ***1/2 (Out of five stars)
Curare returns with a vengeance. After Batman stopped her from killing Sam Young (in A TOUCH OF CURARE), the Society of Assassins demanded her death as her punishment. She survived and now hunts down the members of the Society of Assassins. The last one goes to Gotham and plans to get Batman’s help to defeat Curare. But Curare is also after Batman.
This episode had plenty of action and a pretty good storyline, too.
GOOD POINTS:
Curare is an exciting villain. She is silent, strong, extremely agile, inventive, and deadly, usually. In this episode, she outwits all of the other members of the Society. Her final weapon of choice is an effective mind-wiping capsule that explodes on contact. The capsule doesn’t kill, but it renders the victim incapable of thought. It is similar to a gas used in the BTAS episode, “OFF BALANCE”, where the Society of Shadows uses a mind-wiping gas to prevent its members from revealing the organization’s secrets.
Tim Curry was an interesting villain as Mutro Botho. It’s too bad that Botho succumbed to the mind-wipe.
It was a clever twist to the story to have a member of the Society of Assassins to request Batman’s help in defeating Curare.
Since it was Bruce’s secret, I was glad that Terry did not have to tell Max who his “partner” was. Max had already figured it out.
Max shows off her computer and investigational skills.
Max’s foray into Batman’s world showed just how unprepared she was, but she displayed the occasional flash of talent that will undoubtedly result in her joining the team officially.
Perhaps, she will ultimately serve in a capacity similar to Oracle in the DC comics.
The final fight scene was thrilling and the use of the museum artifacts added to the action.
Having a futuristic Batman defeat Curare using an old-fashioned catapult was ironic and novel.
The final scene ended the story nicely. Terry and Max make good partners.
The animation, writing, and acting all worked in concert to provide tension and excitement in this episode.
Bad Points:
Curare has apparently used the mind-wiping capsule on other members of the Society of Assassins, yet the last surviving members do not seem to be prepared for her targeting them with it, nor do they attempt to avoid being hit with the capsule. The gas was very fast acting, so perhaps no gas mask or antidote was feasible. But, why didn’t such athletically capable men try to dodge the capsule? Curare only tossed it at them; she did not shoot it from any gun.
I can’t imagine that with all of Bruce’s money and technology, he would ever be so completely unreachable, no matter where he was. This is a Batman show; Bruce should be in it.
Max hides behind a shower curtain to escape Curare? I suppose that was meant to illustrate how panicked she was, but it was still pretty foolish for such a clever young woman. It’s a minor point, but she didn’t even TRY to do anything after finding the window locked. She could have thrown shampoo in Curare’s eyes and tried to get away, or pulled down the curtain, thrown it over Curare and then tried to get away. That cabinet under the sink would probably have been empty; she could have hidden there. Max was petrified with fear and any action might have caused Curare to kill her, so hiding in the tub works for the story. But it makes an otherwise strong character and possible costumed-partner look silly and helpless.
Terry lets Max do all the research for the transmitter and bomb. She had to walk him through simple mapping techniques to figure out where the bomb was. Surely, Bruce would have taught Terry this skill. She even had to explain why the Museum of Armaments was a good place to hide a bomb. Perhaps Terry was trying to make Max feel useful after messing up his trap for Curare, but it makes him appear somewhat stupid. Max could have acknowledged that Terry was capable of locating the bomb by himself, but he let her help so that she could make amends for interfering with his surveillance.
And, it’s not really a bad point, just a question. Curare’s voice is credited to Melissa Disney, but did she speak in the episode?
Reviewed by Zanna
* * * * * * * * * * * *
LEGACY (Pt. 2)
Story by Paul Dini
Written by Paul Dini and Rich Fogel
Directed by Dan Riba
Animation by Dong Yang
Original Air Date: February 12, 2000
Rating: ***** out of 5
Manipulated by Darkseid into devastating the Earth, Superman regains his memory and sets off to settle the score with his ultimate nemesis once and for all.
HIGHS: Oustanding plot and characterization. The fight scenes are much more intense that previous episodes. Many visuals kick ass, in contrast to Part 1.
LOWS: This is the last Superman ep for the time being.
OVERALL: The best episode of Superman. Ever.
When I reviewed part one of Legacy, I stated that I hoped that Part 2 would take this already great finale up another level. Well, after seeing the oft-delayed end, I can say that it has done just that, and then some. The makers of the series have delivered their most powerful episode to date, and you can’t truly call yourself a fan of the show until you’ve seen it.
In Part 1, Darkseid brainwashed Superman and adopted him as a son as part of a plot to take over Earth. Earth’s defense forces were nearly annihlated in the battle, but the U.S. military, with the aid of Lex Luthor, managed to bring Supes and Supergirl down with a Kryptonite projectile. Part 2 opens with the former hero under close guard with red sun lamps to keep him weak. General Hardcastle interrogates him as to his intentions, but to no avail since Supes was truly under someone else’s control. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor sees this as an opportunity to destroy the man of steel for good, and has a special solution prepared for the job. I’m not going to go into too much detail (except at the end perhaps) to synopsize the story because quite frankly, my words wouldn’t do it justice. However, I will touch on some points in the episode that stood out to me.
-This episode is all about characterizations. In powerful flashbacks we see how Superman was abducted and brainwashed by Darkseid. Superman is now more sorry than ever for his actions, but they pale in comparison to his hatred for Darkseid.
-Lois Lane’s feelings for Superman are shown explicitly through a daring attempt to rescue him, despite what he has done. She may be the only person who is really able to trust that Supes is really a good guy on the inside.
-Lex Luthor is also portrayed as a cold, cunning villain who finds the prospect of examining Superman’s carcass “a most profitable endeavor”. At one point, Superman (as a mortal) gives Luthor a massive punch in the face. Now that is some built up aggression!
-Superman’s relationship with Supergirl is quite evident during his escape from the military base where they are being held captive. She too is mortal after being under a red sun lamp. In a scene, she is shot and badly injured by a group of soldiers. Even though we might not always see it, Superman’s caring for her is quite evident in the the look on his face afterwards. In anger, he uses his eyebeams to destroy the troops’ weapons, causing an explosion that sends them flying.
-The general public is extremely distrustful of Supes. He requests that Dr. Emil Hamilton of STAR Labs treat Supergirl’s injuries. The doctor refuses due to the risk of treason. In a violent moment, Superman lifts his friend into the air, almost attacking him before regaining control. After this, Supes realizes that he has now eliminated any trust the doctor had.
Eventually, Superman comes to the conclusion that in order compensate for the destruction of all he ever loved, he has to finish his dispute with Darkseid forever. Lois asks him to wait just one moment and touches his face before Supes uses a device to generate a portal to Apokolips. “Heaven help you,” she says quietly. No hatred of this degree has been on a Superman show before. The vengeance in him puts Supes at the very least on an equal level with Batman, and I’m tempted to say that he goes beyond even that.
-The intensity of the fights on Apokolips are also above the standard for this series. Lois’s above quotes seem out of place during the first few battles, as the villains are the ones to be worried about Superman’s wrath. An unlucky squad of parademons is completely wiped out by Supes almost instantly. They’re dead and gone, forever. Granny, the one who carried out the brainwashing, is also disposed of in a satisfactory manner. She is electrocuted by one of her own devices, leaving her virtually brain-dead. >From his castle, Darkseid watches. “Let him come,” he says.
-The battle against the Female Furies is equally impressive. Lashina says a few quotes that follow up on the suspected sexual innuendoes in the first part. All that is behind him though, and Superman carries them into a tower of flame and drops them from the sky, ending that threat.
-After a great scene with Supes knocking down the doors to Darkseid’s fortress, Kalibak attacks. True to his reputation, he affects the Man of Steel about as much as a mosquito bite.
A few quick punches send Kalibak into a pit below, out of commision. “I can’t believe he’s blood,” a slightly embarassed Darkseid mumbles.
-The fight scene with Darkseid is undoubtedly awesome. It is said that Bruce Timm personally storyboarded this battle himself to make sure that it rocked, and indeed it does! Watching Darkseid’s reaction after Superman landed him one in the face was a pretty good indication that the rest of the fight would be much more intense. “YOU DARE STRIKE ME?” he yells. He catches one of Supes’ punches in midair and presses it back into him, almost bringing the hero to his knees. Combined with his Omega eyebeams, Darkseid leaves Supes battered and bloody. Supes fights on, but he is definitely losing. In one moment, Supes hits the tyrant, and the following conversation ensues.
“That was for Dan Turpin.”
“Who?”
“The good man you murdered.”
“Had I known one human’s death would pain you so, I would have killed more. And kill more I shall.”
The ending is equally impressive. Darkseid is about to finish Supes off with his eyes, but… (you’ve probably heard this many times until now)…Superman clasps his hands over his foe’s eyes, and all the built up energy explodes inside his head. I personally thought the blast would have killed Darkseid (it certainly would’ve darkened the ep even more), but surprisingly he is still alive. His face is badly injured, and he collapses at Superman’s feet. Supes throws Darkseid’s body from the tower to the ground, and announces to the slaves below that they are free. Surprisingly, they aid their fallen ruler and take him away. Supes is about to follow them, but is stopped just in time by Supergirl. She says if he fights by Darkseid’s rules, he would end up killing someone. Guess the parademons didn’t count.
The series (for now) ends with Supes standing on top of the Daily Planet building staring into the sunset. All over, people express their fear and distrust of him. Their words repeat in his mind again and again. Jimmy Olsen thinks he deserves a second chance, but he’s in the minority. Lois comes up and tells Superman that he can win back the people, one at a time.
Wow. This is the best episode by all means. The animation during the end fights rocked, in sharp contrast to what I saw in the first one. The cast of characters is great, and the events here will certainly change the life of Supes forever. The finale is left fairly open-ended as well, since there was another season originally planned in which the public distrusted Superman. Perhaps we’ll see more on that when he appears in Batman Beyond. I’m sorry that the Superman Animated series is drawing to a close, but this superb episode ensures that the series goes out in style.
-Justin Chen, aka The Overseer
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EDITORIAL
(by Kelly Tindall)
cointoss@hotmail.com
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GUEST EDITORIAL
(by “Ranger”)
The following info can be found on my message board at ISN. I put the call out to every Ranger I have for any info on what is up with BB. I am getting scattered reports in now. Here is one of them from the boards from a very reliable source who goes by the screen name of “SavantB5”. Savant has access to ratings info and gave this report.
According to ratings I have for Feb 5th, “Batman Beyond” got a 4.8 rating for K2-11, but its lead-in Pokemon2 got a 7.9 rating. So, it loses 40% of its lead-ins kid viewers. Men in Black, which followed the first Pokemon1, got a 5.2 rating to its lead-in 6.3 (an 18% drop). The ratings for BB’s competition: Digimon 5.1 (Fox); Sabrina 3.1 (ABC) (I don’t know much about Saturday morning, but I always have an inquiring mind). I wonder if this is a situation akin to what NBC goes through with the sitcoms that run at 8:30 or 9:30P on Thursday. The show can be highly rated, but they judge it by how much it holds the lead-in.
The ratings mentioned are those of the overall US Neilson Households and are used by the TV industry to set the prices of TV advertising. So.. the way that the numbers read so far is that BB is popular but it is not hitting the younger audience that the WB is trying to target to get the most out of their commercial asking price. It’s not that the show isn’t popular…it’s that it is not hitting the 7 year olds who bug their parents to buy stuff. Say like Burger King toys, games and other Pikachu related garbage. Sure Batman is a bigger name. Sure Batman can run longer than any *fad* show. Sure you can say that older people are tuning in but the meat of it is that TV execs have very short memories and attention spans. It must do well now because their cushy jobs are riding on it. That means that if they can get better ratings by moving the Bat so they can have a two hour block of “Pieka Piieka” then you can bet your sweet bat’o’rang that they will do it in a Gotham City Second.
The real problem is that there might be even more to this than what’s on the surface. There might be some internal moves reguarding the Bat franchise. If there is another push for a fifth film then that conflicts with the live action “Bruce Wayne” series which also happens to intrude on BB. I know you are thinking “Hey…if they can ram Pikachu into the ground then why not the Bat?”… Well, they kinda already did that in the days of “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin” in the Joel Screwmocker era. They burnt the candle on both ends then and they aren’t likely to tamper with fire again, a.k.a. the Superman movie shuffle. So…there might be a higher power deciding just what gets the green light as far as the entire Bat franchise goes. Just a speculation on my part but like I said before I don’t trust coincidences of any kind.
Lastly, and this is the kicker, Pokemon costs almost nothing to produce. Since they are being made for two markets by one company then all the WB has to do is dub and promote the shows purchased. An amazing profit is derived from this. In the case of BB the show must be originally produced by the WB for the WB and it’s outside distribution. So the money or profit is not as large or it takes longer for the WB to get the desired results. It doesn’t matter that Pikachu won’t be a household word in five years because it makes money NOW! And that is what counts in a 500 channel univers. “Get them while you can before some other bright shinny object does” is the perfect but simplified way of describing this mentality. The thing that confuses me is that the WB is still spending a ton on new programs… that cost more than BB.
Look at the CGI stuff in that new series for crying out loud.
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AND THAT’S THE FACTS
(by “Reliable Source”)
And yet another week rolls by with no sign of our RELIABLE source. RELIABLE. RELIABLE. Grrrrr.
;-Y
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED TRIVIA
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)
This is one of my favourite sections, where I get to boggle the minds of all our readers!
*EVIL LAUGH* This trivia is all animated-related in some form, and can deal with ANY aspect of the show or comics based on the show. Remember, answer the questions WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE ANIMATED CONTINUITY. Now have fun – let’s see how well you do! Answers are provided below.
Correction: In the previous issue, Question #264 read, “Whose ‘ALMOST GOT ‘IM’ tale involved nearly getting Batman via a kiss?” I knew the answer was CATWOMAN (D), but accidentally put the letter C in the answer key – sorry about the confusion, everyone!
OK, well, I know I jumped the gun with a Valentine’s Day quiz in the last issue, so I decided to dedicate five more questions to the subject of love – if I can think of any. Bear with me, OK? It’s been a looooooong week…
266. What was the name of Derek Powers’ secretary? (She seemed to have some affection towards him, didn’t she? Right?)
A: Anne Turpin
B: Loreina Tehry
C: Miss Winston
D: Alice (last name not given)
E: Corrina Kyle
267. In the BATMAN BEYOND continuity, Max Gibson has been shown on one official date. Which articles of clothing was this individual NOT wearing (as shown onscreen OR on the comic book page)?
A: Brasierre
B: Turtle-Neck
C: Glasses (well, futuristic glasses that look like ski goggles)
D: Vest
E: Brown pants
268. Which of the following events has NOT happened during the courtship/marriage of Victor and Nora Fries?
A: Marriage on Christmas Eve
B: An attempted blood-transfusion on an oil rig
C: Nora never remarried, but separated from Victor
D: Nora remarried another doctor
E: Ferris Boyle was released from prison
269. Which of the following characters has had a romantic interest in either the past, present, or future in Gotham?
A: Summer Gleeson
B: Edward Nygma
C: Hamilton Hill
D: Tim Drake
E: Jonathan Crane
270. In the BEYOND episode “TERRY’S FRIEND DATES A ROBOT”, what was the name of the robotic woman who masqueraded as “a hot babe that no nerd would ever be caught dead with”?
A: Dana Tan
B: Cheryl Stone
C: Cynthia (no last name given)
D: Vanessa (no last name given)
E: Moesha Brandt
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AND THESE ARE OUR FINAL ANSWERS (to the trivia)
Answer to #266: C
Answer to #267: A, B, E
Answer to #268: C, E
Answer to #269: D
Answer to #270: C
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LITTLE FACTS AND BLOOPERS
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)
Here is a section that just points out various little facts and bloopers that we have noticed while watching BTAS and STAS countless times. If you have anything to contribute, feel free to do so! Enjoy!
CONTRIBUTED BY STAFF:
Na da. Sigh.
CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
Rien. Argh.
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MERCHANDISING: WHERE THE REAL BAT-CASH IS MADE
(by Kevin King)
Remember that episode of the Adventures of Batman and Robin where Batman races through the streets of Gotham, taking on Poison Ivy, Riddler, Joker and Harley Quinn, and Clayface, and rescuing Commissioner Gordon and Robin? You don’t? You’ve never seen it? Unless you have the now defunct Sega CD system, you probably never will.
The Sega CD was the next step up from the Sega Genises system. It was basically the forerunner of CD games and it was pretty short-lived. The majority of games mixed the typical Genesis graphics with a live video or animation storyline. The Adventures of Batman and Robin game, released in 1995, features almost 17 minutes of new animation. This is not some knock- off from people who know nothing about Batman, but from the masters themselves: Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. All of the same people who worked on the series do the voice work and the storyboarding. In my opinion, the animation is some of the best ever, but, because of the game system limitations, the resolution is not very sharp.
The story itself is action packed, interrupted at each level by a poor driving game. All levels of the game consist of driving the Batmobile through environments related to the villain Batman is fighting. In the last level, though, you are piloting the Batplane. SPOILER WARNING: If you want to check out this game and see the story for yourself, read no further.
Again, you would have to find an old system and the game to do so (I’d suggest an auction site like eBay).
The story starts with Batman in the Batcave. He responds to an alarm at a bank, somewhat similar to the opening of the animated series. There’s a little tip of the hat to the sixties Batman series as Batman gets into the Batmobile.
After a level of the driving game, Batman meets up with Poison Ivy. The fight between the two becomes quite vicious with Batman dispatching one of her plant monsters in a graphically gruesome way. This Poison Ivy is the more sexually provocative one of the early episodes.
Ivy tips off Batman to the kidnapped Commissioner Gordon’s location. Upon arrival, Batman falls into a trap set by the Riddler, putting him in a virtual reality driving game, reminiscent of the episode “What is Reality.”
Batman escapes, captures the Riddler, and frees Commissioner Gordon to find out the location of the also held hostage Robin. Batman arrives at an abandoned carnival and encounters Joker and Harley Quinn. After a long battle and freeing Robin from a very different bird costume, they learn that apparently Rupert Thorne has been orchestrating all of these events.
Batman and Robin locate Thorne’s yacht out in the ocean with the Batplane. Upon confronting Thorne, they witness his transformation into Clayface. Batman and Robin’s fight with Clayface this time around contains what I thought was one of the most shocking acts by Batman in animated continuity. Clayface escapes to a helicopter and the ensuing air battle results with the apparent demise of Clayface.
I would consider this a “lost episode,” one that contains some great action and animation (with some obvious anime influences). It’s too bad that so few Batman fans will get a chance to see this. With extras being the standard now on the release of DVDs, perhaps when someday the episodes are released in this format, all the fans will get a chance to see it.
Kevin King
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COMIC REVIEWS
(BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)
(BATMAN BEYOND by Tim Wan)
(SUPERMAN ADVENTURES by Dick Grayson)
We’re doing something a little different from herein. While this is still predominantly a BATMAN newsletter, we’ll be fitting in reviews of SUPERMAN ADVENTURES whenever time permits. This review was submitted by co-editor Dick Grayson. Enjoy!
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
ISSUE “22 Stories In A Single Bound” (#41)
WRITTEN BY: Mark Millar
ART BY: Ty Templteton, Rick Burchett, Min S. Ku, Aluir Almancio, more…
INKED BY: Terry Beatty
COLORIST: Marie Severin & Zylonol
Cover Date: March 2000
Rating: (out of 5): ****
Synopsis: It’s pretty hard to do a synopsis (becuase there’s 22 stories), so I’ll just breifly do a synopsis of my favorite 5 stories:
“A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF LOIS LANE”
This title is pretty self-explanitory, but this short story is absolutely hilarious. We see Lois getting rescued Monday up to Thursday by Superman. Then on Friday, she’s getting mugged without no one to help her out. She’s mad that Superman doesn’t show up so she slugs her assaliant in the face and walks off upset. Hilarious!
“JIMMY OLSEN in MR. ACTION!”
Jimmy takes a short cut through a dangerous alley. He starts to get harrassed by thugs becuase he’s SUPERMAN’S PAL. (Remember that awful episode?) He threatens to crooks but it doesn’t work the way he thought. He closes his eyes and takes a swing at the leader and supposedly knocks them all down. We then realize that Superman took them all out while Jimmy had his eyes closed.
“NINETY DAYS LATER…”
Batman and Superman are trying to find out where Livewire and Catwoman have fled to. While interogating a crook, Mr. Mxyzptlk pops up and starts to bug Batman and Superman. Batman (in a priceless, show stealing scene), annoyed by Mxy, gives him an icy stare and threatens to stop him. Mxy, scared out of his mind, vanishes in fear.
“LIFE ACCORDING TO DARKSEID”
In a great story that is a great lead-in to LEGACY, as well as his obsessions, we see the universe, and Earth, through Darkseid’s eye. In this story, Darkseid views all his accomplishments as nothing. The last panel provides the best insight into Darksied – obsessed with Earth and Superman.
“THE SCOOP OF THE CENTURY”
In this story, Jimmy is just day dreaming about being s star reporter and starts doodling on a picture of Superman. He is encased in his daydreaming to realize that he has drawn a pair of glasses on Superman’s face – making him look exactly like Clark.
This comic will be known for years to come as THE way to end one’s run on a comic book. Millar doesn’t go out with a wimper, but with 22 stories. These stories range from comedic to action packed, to serious, all the way back to comedic. While only a couple stories lack any substance, there are 20 great reads in this book. These stories provides insights into characters in ways that would be impossible on the show.
ALl the stories have their moments. Batman manages to steal the show in “NINETY DAYS LATER…”,
in which he scares Mxy back to his own dimension. Millar made Batman downright scary, something that Peterson is having a bit of trouble on in BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES. It’s hard to review this comic simply becuase of the 22 short stories.
This book is completely enjoyable becuase you need not know of any of the history of SUPERMAN for this to work. It enhances the book if you do know, but you really don’t need to. The various artists angle on this books works great, and the various styles are controlled perfectly by inker Terry Austin. When this book is funny, you laugh. Simple as that. It’s rare the comedy works in a book, but this book pulls it off great. I can’t see how anyone can go wrong with this book. For $2 dollars ($3.25 Canadian) you can get 20 great stories, and 2 mediocre ones.
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COMIC SCHEDULES & COVERING THE BASICS
This section gives a little bit more in-depth look into each monthly issue of BATMAN: GOTHAM
ADVENTURES, BATMAN BEYOND, and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. Below each comic listing is a link to the cover of that comic. TALK ABOUT SERVICE!
The price for any of these issues, unless otherwise posted, is $1.99 in the US and…grrrrr…a whopping $3.25 in Canada. (Both our editors and many subscribers are Canadian, hence the “grrr”.)
If we are unsure of the exact date of when an issue is being released, just check out “DIRECT CURRENTS” at http://www.dccomics.com for details.
BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #24
March 1st
Synopsis: Members of the Bat-team are being kidnapped one-by-one. But who is behind it all?
Cover: Unavailable
FOLLOWING MONTH:
Synopsis: A team-up between Batman and the Flash.
Cover: http://comicscontinuum.com/stories/0001/25/bmgothadvent25.jpg
BATMAN BEYOND #6 (ongoing)
February 23rd
Synopsis: When Terry McGinnis and his friends try to go on a quiet camping trip to a river island near Gotham, they enter a lost world of genetically altered creatures kept prisoner there for the amusement of the world’s most dangerous gamehunter: Stalker! It’s up to Batman to keep himself and his friends alive, if he can outrun, outwit and outfight the half- dinosaur/half-jungle animals populating the island!
Cover: http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/covers/bmb6.jpg
FOLLOWING MONTH: Issue #7.
Synopsis: The return of another popular BEYOND villain (we’re not telling WHO) makes Terry’s
life a living hell.
Cover: Unavailable
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #43
March 8th
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable
FOLLWOING MONTH:
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable
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NEWS AND RUMORS
ALL-ENCOMPASSING/OTHER
-Kids’WB! is expected to announce the premiere date of the new CGI series MAX STEEL, and whether or not it will bump BATMAN/SUPERMAN from the weekend line-up, which it is expected NOT to. (Whew!) Kids’WB! is already airing teasers for the show during POKEMON and BATMAN BEYOND.
-Terry Beatty has been and will be selling Gotham Adventures and Batman Beyond original art on ebay. His Seller ID is: beatty@machlink.com Do yourself a favor and check out some great art!
-A number of sources say that the official BATMAN BEYOND site will get its long-overdue revamp in the near future.
-WIZARDWORLD has just conducted an interview with Paul Dini. To read it, go here:
http://www.wizardworld.com/news/dc/diniqna/dini.html
ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS, STAS, BEYOND)
-News on the third and final season of BATMAN BEYOND has been released. One of the tidbits is that SUPERMAN WILL appear in season three, but his appearance will have a sufficient effect on the series. To read the article, then click ont he URL Link below:
http://www.anotheruniverse.com/columns/animated/animated012100.html
-Wanna see a clip from BATMAN BEYOND where Terry fights Two-Face, the Riddler, and Killer Croc?
Download from here:
http://www.batman-superman.com/batman/dld/train.mov
-BATMAN BEYOND PRODUCTION HALTS. Read the article:
http://comicscontinuum.com/stories/0002/08/index.htm
-For words on BEYOND’s production halt directly from Paul Dini, go here:
http://www.wizardworld.com/news/dc/
bat_beyond_final_ep/bat_beyond_final_ep.html
ANIMATED COMICS
-The Flash will be appearing in the double sized BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #25. For a cover of this issue, go here:
http://comicscontinuum.com/stories/0001/25/bmgothadvent25.jpg
-BATMAN BEYOND #7 and #8 will be written by both Hilary J. Bader AND Rich Fogel. The cover to #8 can be found here:
http://comicscontinuum.com/stories/0001/25/bmbeyond8.jpg
-The Martian Manhunter will be appearing in SUPERMAN ADVENTURES in the coming months. No specific issue was given. Lobo is expected to return soon as well, possibly for .
OTHER COMICS
-The first issue of Greg Rucka’s BATMAN/HUNTRESS: CRY FOR BLOOD will hit the shelves on April
12, 2000.
-DETECTIVE COMICS #748 and 749 will be told from Commissioner Gordon’s POV.
-Word has it that Azrael will be getting his old costume back sometime soon.
-Calendar Man will be the featured villain in DARK VICTORY #7, due out in April.
-For these and all the other April DC solicitations, go here:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0001/25/index.htm
-The first ever 80 PAGE GIANTS for ROBIN and NIGHTWING will be released in the near future;
Chuck Dixon is attached as the writer for both of them.
MOVIES
-BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER (I really hope they give it a better title than that) now has a trailer available for downloading. Check it out here:
http://www.batman-superman.com/batman/dld/bb.mov -In RETURN OF THE JOKER, the Joker WILL in fact pop up in future Gotham, not just in the flashback episodes.
-It will be directed by Curt Geda.
-It’s been confirmed at BATMAN: DEFENDER OF GOTHAM and the WORLD’S FINEST NEWS PAGE that WB has brought the following URL:
http://www.batman-yearone.com
For the full story, please go to this URL:
http://www.geocities.com/bbeyond/news.html
LIVE ACTION TV
-Watch ER on NBC on Feb. 17th! During one of the commercial breaks, Batman and the Batmobile will appear on a commercial for a new car. The commercial will be live action and the actors portraying Batman and Alfred will be unknowns.
-GENRE: Action / Comics Adaptation MEDIUM: Television Series
STUDIO: Warner Brothers NWTWORK: Either WB or FOX
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Warner Brothers & ?
PHASE: Pre Production START DATE: NA
CAST: N/A
PRODUCTION CREDITS: Batman: TAS and Batman Beyond mainstay Paul Dini is said to be involved;
current pilot script written by “Iron Giant” screen writer Tim McCanlies
PREMISE: Young Bruce Wayne, alone in the world after the tragic murder of his parents, goes out into the world to become the Dark Knight of Gotham City, The Batman. Based on the Batman character created by Bob Kane.
RUMORS AND NEWS: [NL]With all of the movement going on in the world of the Bat-franchise, it was time to create a “Bruce Wayne” page.[NL]A source at the WB network emailed me this morning with a little news about the project and a possible FOX Network involvement:[NL]”Some of us here are circling the wagons around Bruce Wayne. FOX is pressing hard to pick up the series but we’d really like to have it. I mean, we built our whole network on brooding young adults and who broods better than Batman?”[NL]A move to FOX could hurt a new series like this one (the pilot script is said to be very dark and moody – I’d love to get a look at it if any of you guys have it!). FOX hasn’t been the best place to nurture new series, especially ones of the dark variety. If it hasn’t pulled stellar numbers out of the gate, it’s dead. Which makes on wonder, why does FOX keep buying odd shows like Tick and hopefully Buckaroo Banzai if they’re just going to can them in 13 weeks? More as it happens….[NL]Thanks to “Michigan J. Droogie” for the info
TOYS, BOOKS, AND OTHER MERCHANDISE
-THE BATMAN BEYOND INFO PAGE reports that there will be a softcover paperback book entitled THE BATMAN BEYOND FILES to be released in April. The book is said to have information on the upcoming movie as well as behind the scenes info and much more! There has been no price set yet, but AMAZON.COM has more information on the book.
-Thanks to THX1138 for the following!
GameSpot News has learned that Ubi Soft has some major plans for future titles based on the Batman license. The company currently has two lines of games in the works – one based on the Batman animated series, and one likely based on the Batman: The Dark Knight returns line. Both titles are currently headed for the PlayStation2 and could likely end up on others platforms, such as the Dreamcast or the Dolphin as well.
While Ubi Soft has been extremely quiet on both projects, we expect to hear new details leading up to this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Stay tuned.
By Sam Kennedy, videogames.com
SPECIAL NOTE
For more BATMAN, SUPERMAN, AND BEYOND news throughout the week, check out the WORLD’S FINEST NEWS PAGE at:
http://www.geocities.com/bbeyond/news.html
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FEATURED BAT-SITE FOR THIS ISSUE
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ANIMATED BATMAN/SUPERMAN SITES:
* – indicates a shameless plug for a site a certain double-faced editor created with his bare hands – in other words, a cheap advertising technique.
OFFICIAL SITES
—–
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
http://www.batman-superman.com
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://www.batmantas.com
BATMAN BEYOND
http://www.batmanbeyond.com
BATMAN BEYOND VIDEO SITE
http://www.batmanbeyondvideo.com
YTV’S BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES PAGE
http://www.ytv.com/shows/batman_animated/
YTV’s BATMAN BEYOND Page
http://www.ytv.com/shows/batman_beyond/
SUB-ZERO: THE DEFINTIVE GUIDE
http://www.batman-subzero.com
KID’S WB
http://www.kidswb.com
DC COMICS
http://www.dccomics.com
TOON ZONE
http://www.toonzone.net
PSYCOMICS
http://www.psycomics.com
RAVING TOY MANIAC
http://www.toymania.com
VOICE CHASERS
http://www.voicechasers.org
UNOFFICIAL SITES
—–
*TWO-FACE’S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND TERROR
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BATMAN, SUPERMAN, & BEYOND: THE WORLD’S FINEST DISCUSSION CENTER
http://welcome.to/worldsfinest
THE DISCUSSION CENTER (same as above)
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Taping/2928/boards.htm
BRIAN CRUZ’ WB CARTOON PAGE
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/index.html
BATMAN UK (BRIAN’S BATMAN PAGE)
http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk
RA’S AL GHUL’S THE LAZARUS PIT
http://zap.to/lazaruspit
THE DARK KNIGHT
http://www.darkknight.ca
BATMAN BEYOND: WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
http://www.batmanbeyond.net
TIM WAN’S BATMAN BEYOND
http://come.to/batmanbeyond
DCU ANIMATED
http://www.DCUAnimated.zzn.com
HARLEY’S HAVEN OF HEDONISM
http://www.harley-quinn.com
GOTHAM CITY LIMITS
http://www.batman.gexner.net
BATMAN: DEFENDER OF GOTHAM
http://www.fandom.com/batman
THE RIDDLER – EDWARD NYGMA’S PUZZLE WEBSITE
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/prospero.milan/nygma
THE BATMAN ACTION FIGURE PAGE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7659/
CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN
http://www.xse.com/leres/batman.html
ARKHAM ASYLUM
http://animation.acmecity.com/saturday/352
JOKERZ TERRITORY
http://members.xoom.com/Jokerz84/index.htm
THE BATZONE
http://www.batzone.cjb.net/
JLA: THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://animation.acmecity.com/character/375
ANIMATED TALES
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/2294/at
A TRIBUTE TO BATMAN
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/russkafin/batman.html
BATMAN CEL SITE
http://animation.acmecity.com/carbon/111
DARK JUSTICE
http://www.mania.com.au/~grahark/darkjustice/
THE BATMAN BEYOND INFO PAGE
http://www.rogue-spear.com/BB
THE VAULT
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Animation/Voice_Actors
NEWSGROUPS
—–
news:alt.comics.batman
news:alt.animation.batman
news:alt.comics.superman
news:rec.arts.sf.superman
news:alt.tv.cartoon-network
news:rec.arts.animation
news:alt.animation.warner-bros
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QUESTIONS, SUBMISSIONS, AND FAN-MAIL
If you have any questions, problems, links do not work, or anything else, then please e-mail this address with your problems and we’ll try to fix them as soon as possible. Also if you’d like to send any fan-mail then please send it to this address:
juno@direct.ca
As for submissions, feel free to submit an article or opinion on anything pertaining to BTAS.
Keep in mind that as the editors, we have the right to edit your submissions if we deem it necessary. Such instances would include problems with length, grammar, and language. If we do feel we must edit something, however, we will do our utmost to ensure that the opinion and the basic message of the submission does not change, as that is the most important part of any artcile, and everyone is entitled to it. And if you do submit something, please don’t just submit a basic review of an episode or a comic or something (because we have people writing for those purposes already) – write about an issue you’d like to discuss.
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED ARCHIVES
The very kind people at TOONZONE were nice enough to give us our own little section of their huge and diverse website. The archive contains past newsletters and is semi-regularly updated with the latest one. To check it out go here:
TOONZONE’s BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan
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LIKE WHAT YA SEE? WANNA SUBSCRIBE? HERE’S HOW!!!
For those of you who are seeing this at the WBC HOMEPAGE BTAN ARCHIVES section and want to subscribe, just follow these simple instructions:
To subscribe email juno@direct.ca, put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line, and put the e-mail address you’d like the newsletter to be sent to in the body of the message.
For more information about the newsletter just email juno@direct.ca
Thank you for your time, and thanks for reading! Tell your friends!
-Tim TWO-FACE Leighton and Dick Grayson, editors
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TO ALL GOOD THINGS…
…there must be an end. We would like to thank the endless amount of contributors for contributing their editorials, columns, news, jokes, reviews and other articles. We hope you’ve all enjoyed it as much as we’ve enjoyed making it! See ya next time!
CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER
EDITOR AT COLLEGE, NOT IN A DORM: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
EDITOR AT COLLEGE, BUT IN A DORM: “Dick Grayson”
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Brian Cruz, RiddlerWB (at the official BTAS/STAS site), and YTV.com
EPISODE REVIEWS: Zanna/Justin Chen, and occasionally Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
EDITORIAL: Kelly Tindall
COMIC REVIEWS: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton, Tim Wan
MERCHANDISE REVIEW: Various
“BTAN ARCHIVES” MODERATOR: Eileen Delgadillo
TRIVIA: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
PROMOTIONS AND JUST GETTIN’ THE WORD AROUND: Dick Grayson, Eileen Delgadillo, Brian Cruz, Brian Davis
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-Y Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
DELIVERY: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
E-MAIL RECEPTION HANDLING: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane & Bill Finger (who else?)
Batman and all related indicia are trademarks of DC Comics, Copyright c 2000.
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