Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of May 22 – June 3/4, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some “low-key coarse language and occasional griping”
THIS ISSUE’S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: “‘RETURN OF THE JOKER’ PROMOTIONAL ITEMS ARE NOW BEING UNVEILED AROUND THE GLOBE. LET THE TEASING BEGIN.”
________________
HOOORAYY!!!
About a week after was delivered, our subscription list surpassed 1800 subscribers. Thank you to everyone for subscribing!
-Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
________________
EAGERLY ANTICIPATING…
New episodes are on the horizon! Here’s what we can expect in the near future…
THERE ARE NO KNOWN EPISODES ON THE HORIZON. AGH.
_______________
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 05-15-00: Batman #80 Second Chance
Superman #43 The New Kids in Town
Tue 05-16-00: Superman #15 Ghost in the Machine
Batman #69 Avatar
Wed 05-17-00: Batman #68 Trial
Superman #42 Where There’s Smoke
Thu 05-18-00: Superman #13 Two’s a Crowd
Batman #103 The Demon Within
Fri 05-19-00: Batman #86 Holiday Knights
Sat 05-20-00: B-BEYOND #22 Rats
B-BEYOND #29 The Last Resort
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.
_________________
CANADIAN EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BATMAN, SUPERMAN, and 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 has just got the rights to air episodes #27 – 52 of BATMAN BEYOND. It’s unknwon when these episode to air, but expect fall 2000. YTV may air all the episodes through in ONE run, unlike the first 26 episodes.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 05-15-00: BTAS #72 Harlequinade
Tue 05-16-00: BTAS #73 Time Out Of Joint
Wed 05-17-00: BTAS #74 Catwalk
Thu 05-18-00: BTAS #75 Bane
Fri 05-19-00: BTAS #76 Baby-Doll
Sat 05-20-00: BEYOND #03 Black Out
Sun 05-21-00: BEYOND #04 Golem
_________________
THE CARTOON NETWORK
BATMAN IS BACK ON THE CARTOON NETWORK!!!!
Thanx to CNX: Toonami Revolution – Batman: The Animated Series is getting more airtime on Cartoon Network; more accuratly, on Toonami. Toonami has a weekend block called Rising Sun which airs shows in morning hours. airing from 9 AM to Noon EST/PST. Rising Sun will be changed this weekend. Not only will Ronin Warriors be dropped from the lineup, but also, the second airing of Gundam Wing is dropped as well.
So technically, Rising Sun is missing an hour. Surely they’re not going to give that mutt an extra hour, so they’ve but in a American flavor to the block, one a familiar Midnight Run standby while the other is making its debut to Toonami (finally). Batman: The Animated Series airs on Rising Sun at 11 AM EST/PST while Powerpuff Girls ends Toonami at 11:30 AM EST/PST. This is the new Rising Sun. Check it out! Now you’l have something to watch besides Pokemon!
The lineup, as of May 13, is:
9am-Thundercats (One Hour)
10am-Dragon Ball Z (The Garlic Jr. Saga)
10:30am-Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
11am-Batman: The Animated Series
11:30am-Powerpuff Girls
(all times in Eastern Time)
_________________
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
The creative “team” for this column alternates between Zanna and Justin Chen, two loyal subscribers and great friends of ours here. Any other reviews printed here are written by editor Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton. Enjoy!
PAYBACK
Written by Robert Goodman
Directed by Kyoung-Won Lim
Animation by Koko Enterprise Co., Ltd. and Dong
Yang Animation Co., Ltd.
Original airdate: May 13, 2000
My rating: **1/2 (Out of five stars)
Gotham’s futuristic Batman tangles with a black suited, laser whip wielding vigilante called Payback. This new “defender” specializes in terrorizing the people who bully or abuse teenagers. Based on information that Bruce pulls together from Payback’s previous attacks, Bruce theorizes that someone from the Gotham Youth Counseling Center is involved. Terry joins a teenage support group at the center to investigate.
This episode, like many of the recent episodes, dealt with troubled youth and not the homicidal, larger-than-life villains of BTAS or TNBA. There was no clever or twisted master crime or colorful criminal character. The villain’s only claim to fame was a dark costume and a laser whip. Though the laser whip was an interesting weapon, it lost some of its impact when it was shown to be only a sculptor’s tool being used by the vigilante.
The saving element of this episode was that a bit more time was spent showing more of the Bruce-Terry relationship and showing a bit more insight into some of Terry’s detective training. There was some good dialogue exchanges between Bruce and Terry.
For instance, when Bruce is patching up Terry’s head after Terry is attacked at the center, Bruce asks, “Why weren’t you watching your back?
Terry responds defensively, “I was too busy watching my front. Am I supposed to have eyes everywhere?”
“Only if you want to live to a ripe, old age,” Bruce answers.
Sarcastically, Terry says, “You don’t make it sound too inviting.”
Later, in the last scene, when Bruce asks Payback what he is, Payback answers, “Your worst nightmare.”
Bruce replies, “You have no idea what my nightmares are like.”
The last time the words “Your worst nightmare” are spoken in a Batman episode, the impression was menacing. This time, spoken TO Bruce, the words evoke little terror, but since the words are directed at Bruce, they had a different, but significant impact.
Of some trivia interest, the actor that provided the voice for the store manager in the opening scene was Curtis Armstrong, currently seen in the OnStar Batman commercials as the Joker. (He also played Booger in the Revenge of the Nerd movies and Herbert Viola in the Moonlighting TV series.)
While this episode is not one of this season’s strongest episodes, I enjoyed the interaction between Terry and Bruce, which gave the story more interest.
Reviewed by Zanna
(Zanna_Z@NOSPAMyahoo.com remove NOSPAM to email)
* * * * *
WHERE’S TERRY?
Written by Stan Berkowitz
Directed by Kyoung-Won Lim
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original Air Date: May 27, 2000
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5
———————————————————–
EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Bruce and Max team up to find Terry, who has mysteriously disappeared.
HIGHS: Decent plot, some funny lines, Bruce plays a big role, and Max is NOT welcomed into the Bat “family”.
LOWS: Lack of action (which may or may not be a problem), the “Where’s Terry” aspect isn’t all that used, Max is still annoying as usual.
OVERALL: Excuse the dumbed down title, this ep’s not bad.
After seeing a movie one night with Dana, Howard Groote, and Max, Terry heads to the subway station home. He spots a cloaked figure walking around the tracks, and decides to follow him. He trails the man into one of the tunnels, and then disappears.
Later, Bruce wonders where Terry is, and visits Max’s house to ask if she knows. Max doesn’t, but insists on following Bruce to help him find out. Terry’s whereabouts aren’t really a secret, he’s in a caved section of the subway system. There he meets a runaway kid named “Dak”, who looked kinda old for a little boy (but that’s just me). It also happens that Shriek and his assistant are hiding in the tunnels too and what they want is no secret either.
So the episode mainly consists of Bruce and Max looking for Terry, and Terry trying to escape his underground prison. The characters aren’t bad, so I’ll start there. The little kid Terry meets thinks he’s real tough because he’s living on his own. His name “sounds like a throat lozenge” according to Terry. Dak looks up to villains like Blight and Spellbinder and is always there to throw in little remarks about Terry’s actions. But by the end, he finds new respect for the Batman.
Shriek isn’t a huge part of this episode, but he’s obviously got a real vendetta against Terry and wants to kill him at any cost. He exhibits a new “echo” ability and can bounce his sound waves off walls to attack hidden targets. Max Gibson is annoying like she usually is, and constantly pesters Bruce about how she deserves to be looking for Terry too. She does do one thing important by distracting a group of “T” gang members for Bruce.
Obviously though, the spotlight is on old man Wayne. He’s strong and determined to find Terry without Max, but tolerates her presence. He displays his cleverness by tricking Max into being a decoy for some subway workers. Bruce is still a great fighter, as he beats the crap out of several T’s. At one point, he asks for a moment alone to interrogate a T gangster, and comes out saying he’s quite sure he’s telling the truth. It’s not hard to imagine what Bruce did. Bruce handles Shriek easily as well, as the villain stands over Terry gloating at the end, he mumbles “Why do they always talk so much?”, before giving Shriek a couple whacks on the head.
The ep ends with Shriek in custody (which means he’ll probably be back), Max being forcefully escorted away, Dak on his way home, and the two Batmans watching over. It’s kinda funny watching Max being dragged off, to be honest. She is not allowed to officially join the Bat group, although the little kid…he did get a look at Bruce, perhaps even Shriek did? We’ll see what comes out of it.
Compared to some of the latter eps of season 2, this one’s pretty good. I still long for some eps as good as the first batch, but that’s not likely to occur. Maybe next time…
-Justin Chen, aka the Overseer
t_overseer@yahoo.com
_______________
SPECIAL IN THIS ISSUE
INTERVIEW WITH TIM LEVINS
(by Dick Grayson)
I was able to have a quick Q & A with BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES artist Tim Levins before he got bogged down with even more deadlines. Read on and enjoy…
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER #1. Since many readers may not be familiar with your background, please enlighten us.
TIM LEVINS #1. Well, I studied both fine arts and animation in college (in Ontario, Canada, where I currently live), but I had always hoped to work in comics. My first step into the business was in 1996, when my friend, J. Torres, and I created THE COPYBOOK TALES, a slice-of-life, humour series for Slave Labor Graphics. It was well-received, but sadly wasn’t very commercially successful. In 1998, J. and I did a three-issue mini-series for Image Comics called SIREN, which focused on a female P.I. working on paranormal cases. Again, the series got favourable reviews, but sales were low and we ended up losing money. After wrapping up SIREN, I decided to move away from comics and pursue a career in animation. I had been looking for a job for about a month when I received a call from then-editor of GOTHAM ADVENTURES, Darren Vincenzo, asking me to do a fill-in issue. Needless to say, I accepted, and I’ve been lucky enough to stay on the book for over a year now.
BTAN#2. When you first broke into comics, did you ever think you would make the jump from indie comics to a major publisher, or drawing Batman?
TIM#2.While I was working on COPYBOOK and SIREN, I was regularly sending out art samples to editors at major publishers in the hopes of getting assignments. I loved working on those two series, but it wasn’t the most financially stable lifestyle. So, like most people trying to “make it” in this business, I kept trying to find work that would actually allow me to make a decent living. After a few years of mailing out samples to various editors and getting rejection letters in return, I finally lucked out with BGA. Darren Vincenzo had been looking at a copy of SIREN that I had sent him, happened to like my work, and offered me the fill-in issue. Now I’m fortunate enough to be able to make a “decent living”, and, to top it all off, I get to draw Batman! BATMAN!!
BTAN#3. How do you compare you style on The Copybook Tales to your current work on BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES? Why?
TIM#3. Working on COPYBOOK was a much different experience. COPYBOOK was a humour book, BGA is more action/adventure. For example, I had never drawn anyone hitting another person before I started on BGA – there really wasn’t much call for violence in COPYBOOK – but now I draw people fighting all the time. Personally, I think I have more of a knack for comedic stuff than for action scenes, and I’ve been lucky enough to have Scott Peterson (BGA’s writer extraordinaire) throw in some really fun things for me to draw. As for the evolution of my style from COPYBOOK to BATMAN, it’s actually kinda the same style if you look closely. Artists who work on the animated books have to conform to the “animated look”, but our individual traits show through. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch for me to have Jamie and Thatcher from COPYBOOK strolling through Gotham City. My skills as an artist may have been honed over the years (thankfully), but the basic style is pretty much the same.
BTAN#4. Do you ever plan to return to indie books? Why?
TIM#4. If I could make money working on things like COPYBOOK or SIREN, I’d love to, but at this point in my life I can’t afford to spend my time on projects that don’t pay. It’s unfortunate, especially in the case of COPYBOOK, which I loved doing, but that’s life.
BTAN#5. What did you think when DC first approached you to do some work on GOTHAM ADVENTURES?
TIM#5. I was amazed that I was being given such a fantastic opportunity. Like I said earlier, I was about to leave the comic business altogether when I got the break. I’ve been reading comics since I was a kid, and the chance to work for DC on Batman is literally a childhood dream come true!
BTAN#6. Did your few fill-ins lead to the full-time assignment, or were you asked to be the new permenant penciller once the old creative team left?
TIM#6. Well, as far as I know, Rick Burchett (who left me with far too big shoes to fill, by the way) wanted to pursue other work at DC. Luckily, editors Darren Vincenzo, Frank Berrios, and Bob Schreck were pleased enough with my work on the fill-in that I was eventually asked to stay with the book full-time.
BTAN#7. Are you able to incorporate ideas into Gotham Adventures?
TIM#7. Scott Peterson is very receptive to any ideas I have for stories. So far, though, my contributions have been mostly requests to draw various characters, rather than actual plots. I also deal with assistant editor Frank Berrios on a regular basis, and he’s very open to any suggestions I might have. Both he and Scott are great to work with.
BTAN#8. Did you have a difficult time on the title when you first jumped on, or did you just instantly mesh with the material and series?
TIM#8. My drawing style was already somewhat cartoony, so it wasn’t TOO difficult to get into the swing of things. Still, I’ve had a lot of support from the other people on the book when I need it. Inker Terry Beatty has been wonderful in giving me pointers and generally helping me feel more comfortable on the book.
BTAN#9. What can we expect in the future from ya? Any other comics aside from GOTHAM ADVENTURES?
TIM#9. I just finished pencilling and inking a six-page story for of the Vertigo anthology, FLINCH, which I believe is coming out in August. It’s quite a departure from the kind of stuff I’ve been doing on BGA. The style is still cartoony, but the subject matter is a little more…adult-oriented, shall we say. Aside from that, I think I’m going to be contributing the occasional cover for BGA, which is exciting for me, since I’ve never actually drawn a cover for this series before.
BTAN#10. What issue did you just complete in GOTHAM ADVENTURES? What can we expect in that title? Any big time villians coming?
TIM#10. I recently finished #30. We have a bunch of really cool stories coming up, and there are definitely some big name villains who will be on the loose in Gotham City in the next few months. Keep an eye out for the Riddler, Clayface, Maxie Zeus, the Scarecrow – oh, and there might be a visit from a certain alien with a penchant for wearing the nineteenth letter of the alphabet on his chest… 🙂
BTAN. Thanx a mill, Tim. It’s been great! (applause)
________________
EDITORIAL
Our regular editorialist, Kelly Tindall, will be unable to submit us any editorials over the summer. That said, we are looking for someone to fill in for him starting next issue (#68). If you are willing to do so, either as a one-time freelancer or a full-time writer, e-mail us with a sample article. Thank you!
________________
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.
“They’re called COMIC BOOKS for a reason…not TRAGIC books…”
-Joel Schumacher, director of the self-proclaimed “epic”, BATMAN & ROBIN
321. Which character is referred to as “Charlie Brown” in a BTAS episode?
Answer: _____________
322. In what episode is the Joker seen reading a comic book?
A: JOKER’S FAVOR
B: THE LAUGHING FISH
C: ALMOST GOT ‘IM
D: TRIAL
E: JOKER’S MILLIONS
323. Which of the following episodes did NOT directly adapt a story found in a Batman comic-book issue?
A: MAD LOVE
B: APPOINTMENT IN CRIME ALLEY
C: MOON OF THE WOLF
D: A BULLET FOR BULLOCK
E: TWO-FACE (Pts. 1 and 2)
324. To what two comic icons was the episode LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT dedicated to?
A: Frank Miller
B: Bob Kane
C: Dick Sprang
D: Denny O’Neil
E: Bill Finger
325. Which of the following writers of the animated Bat-books has NOT written a script for a TV episode or animated movie?
A: Paul Dini
B: Ty Templeton
C: Hilary J. Bader
D: Scott Peterson
E: Rich Fogel
__________________
AND THESE ARE OUR FINAL ANSWERS (to the trivia)
Answer to #321: Charlie Collins
Answer to #322: D
Answer to #323: E
Answer to #324: A, C
Answer to #325: B, D
__________________
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.
CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
(by “SSS 979”)
1) I don’t think it’s really a blooper, but it’s interesting to note. In “Perchance to Dream”, they make a big deal out of the fact that a person can’t die in their own dream. In fact, the whole resolution is based on that concept. So what happened in “Over the Edge”?…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Technically, OVER THE EDGE was a HALLUCINATION, and not a dream. I don’t know if that matters any, but I thought I should point that out. It’s still something interesting to think about, huh?
_________________
‘UNDER THE KNIFE’ – BATMAN BEYOND UK CUT REPORTS
-by Brian Davis
Batman Beyond is called Batman of the Future in the UK. It is shown on CITV Sundays at 9.25am and they make a lot of cuts !!!! Brian Davis uncovers these cuts and lets the public know how good BB episode are being butchered in the UK.
???
_________________
MERCHANDISING: WHERE THE REAL BAT-CASH IS MADE
(by anyone who wishes to contribute)
Come on…contribute…come ONNNN….
_________________
COMIC REVIEWS
(BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)
(BATMAN BEYOND by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)
(SUPERMAN ADVENTURES by Dick Grayson)
BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES
ISSUES: “In Arms” (#26)
WRITTEN BY: Scott Peterson
PENCILLED BY: Tim Levins
INKED BY: Terry Beatty
ISSUED: May 3, 2000 (cover date, July 2000)
RATING (out of 5): ***1/2
Batman is on the hunt for something called “Kristov” – something that all the different mafias and government agencies throughout the world are searching for. His search finally ends when he comes across a Kristov itself – a child whose DNA has been imprinted with missile launch codes.
As far-fetched as it MAY sound, it still is an interesting twist to the story. Once I found that this “Kristov” was a child, I figured he or she must be related to someone in power somewhere in the world, and would therefore be used for ransom; the launch codes provided an original change to this type of mafia story.
This issue made me wonder about a few things, though – and that’s a good thing. I recall that when BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES started up way back in 1992, one of the things they had to ABSOLUTELY stay away from was child endangerment; in this issue we see three consecutive pages of Batman fighting crime, rescuing people, and otherwise saving the day – all while Kristov is in his arms. Dangerous? Probably – but I think Peterson wrote the story this way to show not only how skilled and competent Batman is, but how much more he cares for children than anyone else. I suppose his excuse to NOT give it to Alfred back in the cave was reasonable, too; Ra’s Al Ghul just might come through, looking for the baby.
The scenes where Batman shows his incompetence of actually taking care of the baby were cute, too; Batman’s all heart, yes, but he knows nothing of raising infants, like feeding and diaper changing. Then again, Batman does have absolutely no experience here – all of his “kids” (i.e. Dick and Tim) were pre-teens when they entered his life.
To continue protecting the baby, Batman actually gives up his secret identity to the FBI (though they’re unaware of it); I won’t say HOW, because the way in which he does it makes sense. I just hope that Batman sometime gets into the DNA database and erases that information; he’s got to cover himself. That’s the only thing that could cause problems in this issue – but it also provides the story for a future issue.
Overall, I thought it was a great issue.
;-Y
____________
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 #27
June 7th
Synopsis: A popular college professor of law who teaches a class on organized crime is in jail for the murder of a known mob boss. Has the professor stepped over the line and become judge, jury and executioner? Or is he being framed by a new player on the mob scene in Gotham?
Cover: Unavailable
FOLLOWING MONTH:
Synopsis: The return of the Riddler.
Cover: Unavailable
BATMAN BEYOND #9
May 24th
Synopsis: Batman VS. Curare. Oh, and Bruce Wayne, too.
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0002/22/BatmanBeyondCvr9.jpg
FOLLOWING MONTH: .
Synopsis: A new, improved Golem returns to Gotham.
Cover: Unavailable
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #45
May 9th
Synopsis: The Commander, the manipulative malefactor with the power to force anyone to obey his orders, returns! And his only desire is to have all of Metropolis kill one man: Superman! How can the Man of Steel fight an entire city that has turned against him?
Cover: http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/
apr12/covers/down/dsupa44.jpg
FOLLWOING MONTH:
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable
___________________
NEWS AND RUMORS
ALL-ENCOMPASSING/OTHER
-The BATMAN CHALLENGE is now up and ready at OnStar.com. Go check it out!
-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!
-Craig Rousseau has been and will be selling Gotham Adventures and Batman Beyond original art on eBay. His Seller ID is: cerousseau@aol.com Feel free to check it out! You don’t wanna miss it!
ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS, STAS, BEYOND)
-YTV has just got the rights to air episodes #27 – 52 of BATMAN BEYOND. It’s unknwon when these episode to air, but expect fall 2000. YTV may air all the episodes through in ONE run, unlike the first 26 episodes.
-The results for the Daytime Emmy Awards (in which BTAS, STAS, and BEYOND earned a combined 9 nominations) will be aired on May 19.
ANIMATED COMICS
-Chuck Dixon has written an upcoming issue of GOTHAM ADVENTURES, in which Batman is poisoned and has one hour to live; he enlists in Robin and Poison Ivy’s help to find the culprit. The Penguin and Harley Quinn also appear.
-Craig Rousseau will be penciling and Rob Leigh will be inking the comic adaption of RETURN OF THE JOKER, most likely due out Oct. 18 or 25.
-The first six issues of BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES will be collected in tradepaperback form, being released on May 17. These six issues feature great stories by Ty Templeton and great art by Rick Burchett and Terry Beatty; characters in the spotlight are Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Joker, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, the Riddler, Clayface, Deadman, and more. It will cost $9.95, and the cover will be the same as the cover of GOTHAM ADVENTURES #1.
-Terminal (villain in HIDDEN AGENDA) will return in BATMAN BEYOND #12
-BATMAN BEYOND #15 is being touted as nothing but a “WOW” issue. Wow!
-Min Ku may return to fill in for Rousseau on Issues #13 and #14.
OTHER COMICS
-DARK VICTORY #10: Mr. Freeze enters the mix as the Batman/Gordon/Two-Face/Mob war escalates.
-Devin Grayson will be revealing the narrator of the GOTHAM KNIGHTS series in a five issue story beginning in issue #8, this August.
MOVIES
-A teaser poster for RETURN OF THE JOKER can be found at this address:
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news6/p-bb.jpg
-A SPECIAL EDITION of the 1989 BATMAN film is in the making. It will feature two previously deleted scenes (the Joker at a radio station, for one), as well as the two preview trailers and commentaries by Tim Burton and Michael Keaton. This is due out in October.
-DARK HORIZONS reports that Julia Roberts was offered $20 Mill. to be involved with Batman 5. FORTUNATELY, she turned it down. (Thank God.)
LIVE ACTION TELEVISION
-For more info about the ONSTAR commercials, go to:
http://www.geocities.com/bbeyond/news.html
-Check out http://www.fandom.com/batman for downloadable versions of the ONSTAR commercials if the official ONSTAR site is not being cooperative with your PC. Two of the commercials can also be found at http://www.adcritic.com – just search for “Batman”.
-It appears a fourth ONSTAR commercial will now be made. The release date is currently unknown.
TOYS, BOOKS, AND OTHER MERCHANDISE
-For a preview on BATMAN VEHICLE ADVENTURE (a forthcoming Playstation game), check out this address:
http://www.gameinformer.com/previews/preview_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=4831
-For a preivew of the RETURN OF THE JOKER game for GAMEBOY COLOR, click here:
http://pocket.ign.com/previews/14819.html
-You can also find a preview of the N64 version here:
http://ign64.ign.com/previews/14845.html
-It looks like the fourth and fifth BATMAN BEYOND videos, SPELLBOUND and CRUSH, are available; I saw them on eBay not 5 minutes ago.
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
__________________
FEATURED BAT-SITE FOR THIS ISSUE
(feel free to submit your own for our consideration)
None whatsoever for this issue. Why am I not surprised? Sigh… ;-Y
__________________
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
KTLA KIDS WB SCHEDULES
http://www.ktla.com/backstage/programming/KIDSWB.htm
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
BRUCE TIMM ARCHIVE SITE
http://members.xoom.com/brucetimm
BATMAN ANIMATED: THE UNOFFICIAL FAN CLUB & FANZINE
http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk/club/
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
ANIMATED STYLE ARTWORK ARCHIVE
http://hjem.get2net.dk/twt/asaa/home.html
BATMAN CEL SITE
http://animation.acmecity.com/carbon/111
DARK JUSTICE
http://www.mania.com.au/~grahark/darkjustice/
ROGUE AVENUE, GOTHAM
http://www.ultros.com/rogue_avenue
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
__________________
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 article, 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.
__________________
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
__________________
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
__________________
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! Thank you for reading! 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, Dick Grayson
UNDER THE KNIFE: Brian Davis
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.
_________________