The Batman

The Batman follows Bruce Wayne who's in his third year of his career as masked crimefighter "The Batman" whose public presence is that of an urban legend. As we follow a relatively green Batman in his early days we see his first encounters with noted villains, the development of his relationship with the Gotham Police force from public enemy number one to alliance and even witness the origins of his partnerships with Batgirl and Robin.

Running from 2004 to 2008, The Batman was in a unique situation as it was the first Batman related show to be made that would not be related to the DC animated universe or the Kevin Conroy portrayal of Batman that had been the standard since his debut in 1992. The show featured a radical departure in art design with Jeff Matsuda of Jackie Chan adventures forgoing the traditional noir-ish art deco approach in favor of a more "Americanime" design that had been popularized through shows such as Jackie Chan Adventures and Cartoon Network's Teen Titans series. Needless to say The Batman sparked the ire of many fans who didn't appreciate the departure from the previous decade's standards established for the Dark Knight (ignoring the artistic departures in Batman TAS season 4, but I digress) and the show has something of a mixed reputation because of that. While I don't think the show is worthy of most of the derision it's received, I do acknowledge it has flaws that have a tendency to make themselves noticed.

As the show begins in its first season, it's very much a reintroduction to the characters and lore. As opposed to the Batman of Batman TAS who already had a Robin sidekick who was late high school or early college aged, the Batman of The Batman is relatively new to the world of crimefighting often having to work around the police instead of with them and avoiding media and public attention when possible. The reintroductions of various villains are where the series begins to stumble. Because the show now focuses on Bruce/Batman's ongoing growth in conjunction with typical "villain of the week" stories, The Batman has a tendency to truncate villain introductions and arcs for single episode storylines. Some villains don't even get an introduction such as a rather overdesigned character called Gearhead, and others seem to have undergone change simply for the sake of change. Easily the biggest downgrade of the series is the character of Mr. Freeze who in TAS was a tragic figure who spoke eloquently and conveyed a mixture of rage and despair that made him one of the most rich characters on the show. Mr. Freeze in The Batman is now a generic thuggish bankrobber who makes ice puns in a deep gravely voice and dresses like a pro wrestler. This results in Mr. Freeze being one of the most boring characters on the show and feels like it was done solely for the sake of not inviting comparisons to TAS. On the one hand I understand why they did this, but on the other they took a well-constructed character archetype and replaced it with nothing. I'm not opposed to different interpretations of the Character of Mr. Freeze. George Sander's humorous interpretation of the character from the 60s Batman show was silly but still had a level of class that made the character engaging. Here Mr. Freeze felt like one of the generic goons from the show given a voice and ice powers. Kevin Michael Richardson's Joker was also a sticking point for me (but for other reasons I'll get to). Not only do I not like the design, but Richardson's heavy voice doesn't feel like it fits with Joker's madcap delivery style and feels grating. But even taking aside my dislike for the show's interpretation of Joker, the series used Joker way too much. Of the 65 episodes made of The Batman, a little over 20 of them feature Joker or are related to Joker. In comparison TAS consisted of 85 episodes and used Joker 15 times. Joker is a good villain, but when you over rely on one particular villain it ends up leaving your show feeling very repetitive.

The visuals of the show are also rather mixed. While the color palette is more diverse going for a richer display of colors for Gotham than the red and black of the previous series, the show diverges from the more grounded aesthetic of TAS in favor of more exaggerated character designs. For the most part the style works reasonably well and is unintrusive, but there are notable missteps taken. Joker in The Batman doesn't have the style of the TAS Joker and instead of being a funhouse mirror interpretation of comedians like Jerry Lewis and Don Rickles, Joker in this series has an overdesigned "deranged" aesthetic of a straight jacket, long hair, an overly angular face, and bare feet. Riddler has a similar issue, while I like Robert Englund as the voice of Riddler his androgynous figure with a costume based heavily on Marilyn Manson just feels at odds with the voice and the character. It's not unthinkable that a Marilyn Manson inspired costume could work for some of Batman's Rogue's Gallery, but it would need to be someone like Scarecrow or Anarky who have a sense of theatricality to their characters. Riddler isn't "theatrical" he's a know it all who prides on "knowing it all" so the costuming choice doesn't mesh with the character.

With the criticisms out of the way, we can get to the real meat of the show which is the continuing plot threads. While Batman TAS was and remains a good show, it cannot be overlooked that the show was mainly designed in mind with the stories being (relatively) stand alone adventures that didn't require any particular viewing order. The Batman takes a different approach and while the episodes don't work as well as stand alones they do work as parts of a greater whole telling season and multi season long arcs that culminate in satisfying crescendos. Each season for the most part focuses on continuing characters and plot threads who see some level of development for a later payoff. This is where The Batman's strength lies as a TV show, it feels like there's movement of something bigger in the background even if the villain of the week doesn't lead to much satisfaction. We see Bruce/Batman grow in his relationships with his friend/mentor Alfred, see him develop relationships with members of the police during his time as a wanted fugitive laying the groundwork for cementing their partnership, and we see his taking on new partners and becoming less of a brooding figure of myth and more a symbol of un relenting justice for those who've lost hope of getting it. Even some villains (such as Clayface and Hugo Strange) are introduced better here than in TAS because they're established over several seasons worth of development which makes their payoff all the more satisfying. I think in a way this boils down to the main criticism of this show which I also think is it's biggest asset that sets it apart: The Batman is about what it says, The Batman and his growth as a person and hero and this means there's less time devoted to establishing the villains and giving them depth (at least in villain of the week format).

The Batman is a complicated show. It stumbles in many areas (especially in comparison to TAS), but it also succeeds in many other areas not previously explored by giving us an overarching narrative that felt like it was building characters and situations. The development wasn't always as smooth as it could've been, but the show did find a unique approach to the characters and lore that I do think makes it worth a viewing. Like pop cultures staples of James Bond, Godzilla, The Universal Monsters, and too many others to mention, with a historied character like Batman there have been many interpretations of the character and I'm sure there'll be many more to come. This isn't the "definitive" Batman, but it's still a unique approach that deserves to be looked at for what it is, a different approach to classic material.

One of the biggest disappointments to people is this show's animation and the radical looks of some villains (mostly Joker).

The animation was done very slick in a Japanese anime style to catch new audiences that are used to it these days. Let's be honest and remember that old DCAU shows changed their animation from "The New Adventures of Batman" to "Justice League" for the same reason.

The reason for more action is because of that stupid 65 episode rule. This gives limited time for story which I find disappointing, you can tell they were going for a story that would lead to a Dark Knight Returns kind of arc. The show seems campy at times(because of those damn rules child broadcasting has), but has more dark moments like it should. You can easily tell from the first two episodes that they had planned for a mob story-arc similar to Batman:Year One. Each season pretty much starts with a story that grows to a nice climax at the end(the same technique is done in Marvel's new series "The Spectacular Spiderman"). If you continue to watch the show, you can see how his detective skills grow over time. Remember we're watching a young Bruce growing into the Dark Knight the city needs him to be.

In BTAS he's been at it as Batman for a couple of years already, he's known as a detective, and is accepted by the police. This show has him on the vigilante side and Gordon doesn't come in until later. I love how we get to see more of Bruce having a social life and protecting his alter-ego, where in BTAS how do you not know he's Batman!? Kevin Conroy's awesome but his voice doesn't seem to change in and out of the cowl. The creators of the show took their own liberties to pay respect to BTAS and the shadow it will forever cast. The use of villains is good too, I like how they use the lesser known ones.

The visuals are stunning in the fight and chase scenes(you can tell they were pulled right out of Batman comics), sound quality is top of the line for an animated show too. You have a sense of life from Gotham too. Where in previous DCAU shows there would be so many fights in the city you'd ask yourself "where are the people?". I personally think Clayface was done well, but nothing beats how Dr. Hugo Strange is portrayed. I personally think this incarnation of him is used best (even better than BTAS portrayal). The fact that the villains can stand a fighting chance to Batman was always cool to me, I like how each one has their own fighting style. As a Bat-fan I disliked how the villains would do nothing but plot and you knew in the back of your head that in the end of the episode all it's gonna take is one punch from Batman to end it. Joker is always a subject of debate among people who see this show. To me not liking this Joker is like hating Heath Ledger's portrayal(his Joker was so radical that his skin wasn't even bleached), they both do a great job nonetheless. Personally I think Mark Hamill forever nailed the role.

Everything else was because of legal issues really. Robin appearing after Batgirl(because of Teen Titans ending), Batman not having a square chin and Kevin Conroy not doing the voice(because Justice League was still on at the time, Rino Ramano did a good job as a young Batman though), Scarecrow, Two-Face, and Ra's Al Ghul not appearing(because of them being in the new movies).

In a time where good cartoons are hard to find these days the creators of this show worked with what they had and did a great job at it.

This was a brilliant show and I can't see why people don't talk about it more often. Great design, great music, great voice acting, etc. And possibly the best version of Batgirl so far! Definitely recommend

Batman is Batman - let's get that straight. Now for details - The Batman cartoon is a brand new animated incarnation of The Caped Crusader. The biggest difference between this take and Batman: The Animated Series from the 1990s is that this show relishes being a cartoon, and relies on action, while the previous Batman cartoons were heavy on story content, and wanted to be taken more seriously than the average cartoon.

People have a right to make comparisons, but this cartoon is great in its own right. Batman/Bruce Wayne is in his late twenties, and some of his foes are younger too. Wayne Manor looks like its in Gotham City and not on the outskirts. There's no Commissioner Gordon, but there is Chief Rojas. But all of the things that define Batman are present: the costume, the Batmobile, the Batcave, etc. This time around, Batman has his own operating system - The Batwave, that powers his headquarters and vehicles.

Rather than downing this version of Batman because its doesn't appeal to a mature crowd, take the time to see it for yourself. You might enjoy the show.

Argh, It's like so many people had done so much work for nothing.

Since the "Batman" TV show in the 60's, there has been an ongoing effort with comic book artists and even a couple of filmmakers to return the Dark Knight to his roots, rather than the "Pow!, Bam!" stereotype Howie Horwitz gave him and pretty much all comics. In such efforts, these people had brought up some of the finest pieces in fiction, the extraordinary stories by Dennis O Neal and Neal Adams, "The Dark Knight Returns" by Frank Miller, the first two Batman films by Tim Burton, and of course the fantastic "Batman: the Animated Series".

So now I look at the new "The Batman" on WB, with Adam West and Frank Gorshin as regular voices, all of the old voices and character designs thrown out in favor of the stylization from "The Jackie Chan Adventures" and ostentatious gadgets and vehicles that scream "Toys Toys Toys".

The methodical pace of "TAS"(The Animated Series) has been replaced by a rapid-fire quick change motif, suiting ever increasing attention spans, I'm sure. While in TAS, physical action might sometimes take a back seat to the stories,"The Batman" overflows with Kung Fu, Slow Motion, and Dramatic rapid-Fire Jump Cuts.

The Characters have been "Updated', Batman is no longer square jawed, but has a triangle for a head, Comissioner Gordon is gone. The Batcave has gone back in time about 35 years and is complete with Batpoles and the Apple-red support beams that were prevalent in the old Adam West TV show. The Joker now sports a colorful straight jacket and hair the size of Beachball rather than his stylish purple suit of years past.

While the 'Extreme' approach may appease those with no exposure to engaging storytelling, I prefer TAS, which had strong, character driven stories, a cinematic style complete with orchestrated music, references to the best of all the batman representations, not just Adam West, and most importantly, looked like an actual movie, not a toy commercial.

'The Batman' has flashy animation, color keys that don't variate, CGI, and a ton of flashy camera techniques. But I say that it's all frosting and no cake.