Batman: The Brave and the Bold Episodes 5,6,7

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Episode 5 - Opens with Batman and Guy Gardner at Green Lantern central(Kilowog also appears). Guy is being a jerk and unleashes a big bad guy that kicks some Green Lantern butt before being taken back down to size. The main story centers on Batman and old-school costume, clean-shaven Green Arrow being zapped back to the dark days of camelot and facing off against Morgan Le Fey. It also features the Demon Etrigan in his original time. The story has a running joke/theme in it that Batman and Green Arrow keep a running tally of the bad guys they defeat as though it is a sort of macho contest between them.

Episode 6 - Opens with B'wana Beast and Batman going after Black Manta in a giant tri-pod robot machine. It's pretty funny, and in the course of the intro he fuses a spider and a horse, as well as a pelican and a shark. Batman is a bit freaked out by his partner's power. In the main story Batman teams up with the ever-aging Wildcat in a story that I liked a lot despite the cliche'd generational battle. It was done really well. A teenage version of the Outsiders (Katana, Metamorpho & Black Lightning) are the badguys in this, although the real badguy is Slug, the mastermind that has been using the kids to carry out his own agenda. The neat part and the funniest in my opinion, is how Wildcat and the outsiders actually agree on a bunch of things (like hating shopping malls). I think wildcat is portrayed as just a guy in a suit here, but it is a little ambiguous to some degree. I have always really liked the character, as well as the outsiders that showed up in this.

Episode 7 - Opens with Batman and Kamandi running from ratmen and trying to get an antidote for some horrible something that is plaguing Batman's time period. They have to get to the time portal (on the torch of the mostly submerged and askew Statue of Liberty. Batman tells Kamandi to look in the statues nostril before jumping through the portal, and claerly goes back to the past and hooks Kamandi up with a sweet Kirby-style blaster device. In the main story Batman teams up with Boston 'Deadman' Brand, as well as old style Green Arrow and non-addicted Speedy to take on Gentleman Ghost. My only issue is that Batman uses meditation to astral project, and in doing so he is able to fight with the ghost, etc. I just don't think it would work that way... Ok... now that that is out of the way... I enjoyed this. It was fun, and I always liked deadman, even though I never had a great deal of use for him. (My issue isn't that Batman used meditation and projected himself out of body... It's just that i don't think he could hit a ghost that way).

I really like this show. It is fun, and shows a bright blue suited Batman who seems like he has some amount of fun fighting crime and has friends that he jokes with while he does it. There is a lot of little voice over narration by him that gives us further insight. It's great. I am glad there is a show like this. I am glad there is an outlet for this sort of storytelling about this character. I had thought that maybe I should have lead with something about Batman dying, but he was never really dead in that episode.

I don't have a problem with grittier batman stories. I really think that Batman is a character that benefits from different perspectives. I think his nature and his history beg the creation of these different incarnations. While I like this one a lot... I really wish we still had a show along the lines of the Animated Series or Justice League or Justice League Unlimited. I actually think we could all really use the JLU series to never end... Stories could be told as long as they wanted to tell them, new characters introduced and showcased... I guess it isn't my decision. I Liked the newer Batman cartoon with it's sort of 'Ultimate batman universe' feel to the villains. There were a number of things that show did right, but it just wasn't the same either.

I like the short intro bits and the main stories. It feels like a comic with a backup story in it, and maximizes the situations and matchups and pairings we get to see. I think the voice acting is pretty decent as well for the most part.