This Batman-based series must be an apology from Warner Brothers’ animation division because I hated the last one (The Batman), mainly for having the same design/style as the boring Jackie Chan cartoon. I never could get past the pilot and I continue to change the channel whenever it appears on Boomerang.
Justice League remains my favorite, even when it had the horrible Eighties-style Metal-esque theme song during the Unlimited period. Its abrupt ending was pretty annoying too but this show (and the one-shot New Frontier DVD) compensates, especially in the voice acting, more on this later.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold centers around Batman (obviously) as he fights various villains who are normally the traditional enemies of other superheroes (Gorilla Grodd, Gentleman Ghost, Dr. Polaris, Morgan le Fey: Quick, whoever comments and correctly identifies these four baddies’ regular opponents will get a prize from me. I already know the answers yet I’m open to debate on two). This is a nice touch since I feel the 1992 series covered Batman’s traditional foes (The Joker, Two-Face, Catwoman, etc.) thoroughly and the 2004 series flogged a dead horse by “reinventing” everything. Having the Dark Knight wrangle some new enemies is a nice twist to keep most people from growing bored with the character; the big Summer movie was impressive yet I think it’ll turn into a liability for the franchise as the crappy 1989 movie did.
The other major episodic component of Brave is the guest superheroes Batman encounters or recruits to assist him. Some are easily recognized: Green Arrow, Plastic Man and Aquaman; Others are obscure to the general public: Blue Beetle (all three versions), Bronze Tiger, Deadman and Jonah Hex. The fanboy in me was elated to see Bronze Tiger finally appear as an animated character. The team-up element is also a nod to the original comic book which gives the show its name.
Voice acting is where it shines. Diedrich Bader is perfect as Batman. He has a naturally low voice and has appeared in numerous cartoons over the years (The Simpsons, Baby Blues, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy). When he does the gravelly, baritone of Batman it sounds natural, unforced and authoritative while Christian Bale comes off as comical because he’s trying be menacing; personally I think Bale’s Batman needs a lozenge or a cup of hot tea. Besides Bader there’s other great voice actors appearing: Tom Kenny (Spongebob) as Plastic Man, James Arnold Taylor (Ratchet) as Green Arrow and John DiMaggio (Bender) as Aquaman/Gorilla Grodd. And the clincher is the theme song composed by Andy Sturmer who was the lead singer/drummer of Jellyfish.
If there is a downside to Brave, it’s the overuse of flashbacks in the stories. They’re rather frequent so it can make the show feel a bit formulaic and the event shown tend to eliminate the continuity from the past series I enjoyed.
Still, I stand by this cartoon 100 percent and I’m looking forward to buying it on DVD when a first season set appears in the near future.
Contest Clarification: This contest is only open to people I know. If you’re a complete stranger to me putting spam in the comments, you won’t be considered.
March 8 Update: What a bummer! Not one post or even attempt on answering my little trivia question for an iTunes card worth at least $10 (depending upon the budget). Either no one’s reading my site, filing my RSS feeds into the Junk section or the request came off as intimidating. Here are the answers: Gorilla Grodd = The Flash (both Barry Allen and Wally West), Gentleman Ghost = Hawkman, Dr. Polaris = Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Morgan le Fey = The Demon/Etrigan/Jason Blood.
We’re going to see Watchmen tomorrow night. I’ll try again. This time I will announce the prize ahead of time and say it’s $20 worth of iTunes or an equivalent.