Geekshow

Review: DC Animated Series

Captain Universe takes on the three most recent DC animated series.

Welcome back kiddies to the second of my four-part animated “catching up” series. Today I will be reviewing the last three DC Universe animated shows – Batman: Brave and the Bold, The Batman and Legion of Superheroes. So get on your pajamas, pour a bowl of your favorite sugar cereal, make pretend its Saturday morning and park your butt in front of the TV, its cartoon time!

Just like the animated features, my preferences tend to side towards DC when it comes to overall production. The stories, animation and voice actors all top the Marvel small screen versions on a daily basis, plus twice on Sunday. One would think that since Marvel is now doing everything in-house, this would not be the case.

Although Warner Bros. produces the DCU animated fare, I think it is evident that its not random WB people working on the television shows. You only have to go as far as Bruce Timm to see an overlying theme in all the productions. However, Timm has moved on to the animated movies, leaving an opportunity for a new vision – a vision in my opinion which does not disappoint.

The latest offering from the animated DCU is Batman: Brave and the Bold (which can be seen Fridays on Cartoon Network or downloaded on iTunes – my preferable mode). First, Brave and the Bold is definitely a kids cartoon with stories geared towards a family experience. However, there is no where else you can see so many B-List DC heroes at one time as Brave and the Bold is the ultimate in team-ups.

Each episode Batman partners with two new heroes. Before the title sequence, he will be seen already in-action with Kamandi, Guy Gardner, Fire or the Blue Beetle (the Jaime version). Then the story begins with another hero – Silver Age Green Arrow, Deadman, Wildcat, etc. The action always takes place outside of Gotham finding weird alien locales, the past or the JSA gymnasium.

The animation is different than what we have experienced before and the show’s music has a 60’s jazz feel to it that makes it even more fun. The stories are good, and should be able to hold the interest of any adult looking to enjoying themselves. Hardcore Batman animated fans will probably go into cardiac arrest with this one, especially after the just finished-The Batman series. But I say, give it a go. You will be surprised.

The only odd thing which after seven episodes still stands out to me is the decision to cast former Drew Carey Show alum Diedrich Bader as the Dark Knight. Each time I hear Batman speak, I am waiting for the neighbor in Office Space to bang on Peter’s wall to turn on the breast exam channel. It’s not a negative criticism of the show or him, but rather an observation. Still, Bader’s voice work is good and seems to be perfect for Brave and the Bold.

The next two series both ended last year. The Batman received five solid seasons and debuted right around the time of Batman Begins. Alan Burnett exec produced and Michael Goguen was a supervising producer with animation provided by former comic-artist Jeff Matsuda.

This one took a beating from the hardcore fans mentioned earlier (who many I don’t think even watched an episode) as this was the first-animated incarnation of the Bat not to have Kevin Conroy voicing the Dark Knight and not to refer to the hours of canon that came before in Batman TAS, Batman Beyond and Justice League. It is probably akin to Enterprise for Star Trek fans after over 700 hours of established Trek lore (although as a self-described Trek fan, I loved Enterprise).

I liken animated shows to college teams as you need to turn the core over every four years. For college teams, its about sustaining a winner, for animated shows, its about finding a new audience.

But don’t beat this show up too much, it told great stories with a new twist on Gotham’s rogue’s gallery. Plus, there was some A-List names doing voice work, including Gina Gershon as Catwoman (meow), Edward James Olmos, Adam West (is he the new animated-voice go-to guy now?), Ming-Na (ER, Final Fantasy) and many more.

The overall production was excellent and in later seasons they introduced Batgirl, Robin and the JLA (once again to the chagrin of those overseers). Still, if you can take it for what it was worth, it was a really fun 30 minutes each week.

Last but certainly not least was the Legion of Superheroes, which came to an end after only two seasons. Due to the continuing lawsuit over the rights to Superman, this was originally tabbed to be called Superboy and the Legion. But that is mostly a sidebar.

I had high hopes for this one, and while the first season stories (once again geared towards kids) seemed to sputter, overall the show was decent. The animation and voice work were all solid. And the only true noticeable absence in the first season was the omission of Cosmic Boy.

There must have been a lot of negative feedback after year one however because season two saw a new direction for the show, plus the introduction of Cosmic Boy (finally) and a future-cloned version of the Man of Steel (which was just weird). He was an angry version of the boy scout (must have been the clone thing) and if the WB thinks a “darker” Superman movie is going to succeed like the Dark Knight, they need only look as far as this disastrous move in LOSH.

Plus, for some reason they decided to try and make “some” of the characters older, giving Lighning Lad a chin-beard and changing Braniac 5’s haircut. I wonder how many meetings were had over these two decisions (should we cut Felicity’s hair?). Also, Saturn Girl seemed to take a backseat. If this show did not end after the second season, my viewing of it probably would as the stories grew increasingly uninteresting.

There was a couple of glimmers of hope in the second season with an origin story of the three original founding members that really stood out as fun. I felt as if the show had the same problem the current comic run does, trying to make the small “legion” of orginal fans happy who faithfully still read the book looking for the group from when they were kids. All the while trying to change things up and introduce the characters to a new audience; it’s just not clicking for them right now.

That’s all I have for today, I have rambled on far enough. In the end, each of these shows is a different and unique experience. Try them out, you just might find you missed or are missing something.

Next time, the Marvel animated ‘verse. Oh dear, hold onto your hats for that one as I am not all that impressed. Don’t forget to tip your hotel door man on the way out – Peace!

P.S. – There are a lot of DCU programs out there from the past and there is no way I can tackle them all in just one review. But one day I promise to “look back” at all of them (I am talking to you Batman TAS and Justice League).

And also, did you know that this year is the 15th anniversary of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm? And did you know that when it first came out, MOTP was released in the theaters (I should know, I saw it in one)? So nestle into your favorite chair this evening and throw the MOTP into the DVD player for old time sakes.

Captain Wednesday – Your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Dude