"ANIMATED" BAT-TOYS OF THE PAST: REVIEW
(by Kevin Smith)
"BATMAN: THE ANIMATED FIGURES"
Ok, so if you are like me, you love anything having to do with BTAS! And
if you are even more like me, you love to collect the action figures based
on the show. That is what this article is on, my rantings and opinions on
the relevant figures made in the "animated" style. I'm not going to deal
with all of those asinine Batman and Robin repaints and variations like
Triwing Batman, who looks like a mutant satellite dish. Who bought those P.O.S. anyway? Also, I'll be covering them in the order that I acquired
them, which is in the order in which they were released, more or less. Any
corrections to the timeline of the waves are welcomed.
First up in Wave One, we have the Penguin, which is the hardest-to-find
BTAS figure right now. The figure, I thought, was great. I liked the cloth
coat, and the fingers were correct too. It looked more like the Penguin
from "Batman returns" than the Super Powers rehash Penguin that they
released under that line. My only gripe was his Hypno-Spin Umbrella
Launcher. I mean, I can understand making something kewl for the kids, but
I would have appreciated a closed umbrella, with maybe a blade that came
out at the end in addition to the Hypno-Spin crap. The card art was ok. I
liked the shadowing on the Penguin, how his hand creates a shadow on his
body, and the Gotham City art was great.
The next addition to my collection was Two-Face. The sculpt of this
figure was beautiful, however, this is a(nother) case where the pictured
prototype on the package was better than what was in the package.
Two-Face's white side ended up being a very light cyan colour, which was
odd, but acceptable. The painting on the head, however, was excellent. The
hair was white, the skin was the right color, and it was even detailed with
pink blisters against the sea-green/blue skin. He came with a little coin
on a chain around his neck. While I would have preferred it to have been
scarred or something (It was completely plain) I appreciated the change
from the huge life size coin version on Toy Biz's Two-Face. His Firing
Roulette Wheel Gun was another stupid weapon for the kiddies, but this one
was even dumber than the Penguin's. The card art for his figure was one of
the worst ever. Not only did it suck, but it swallowed too.
Next is Robin. Once again, Kenner lifts its lazy-ass hand, only to
release a half-hearted effort. The only thing animated about this figure is
the head, and then the hair isn't quite right. The body of this figure is a
repainted Robin's body from Kenner's "Batman Returns" line. (How did Robin
get into the "Returns" line anyhow???) His accompanying Turbo-Glider and
Drop Missiles are kind of kewl, though only for the fact that it's intended
for the Returns figure, as evidenced by the comic style Robin insignia
engraven on the armor attached to the glider. They tried to cover this up
with an animated Robin symbol on the hang glider. Yeah. Nice try. The card
was mediocre. The shadowing was nice, but Robin's face looks like a teenage
Frankenstein's monster with a grin.
The Riddler with Question Mark Launcher, is still one my favorites.
Disregarding the stupid question mark thing, which was reissued with a
"Batman Forever" Riddler, this was one of the better of the first wave. He
came with the same cane that he had in the show, and the pose was
excellent. I have mine displayed with him jauntily holding his cane and his
other hand with the finger pointed up, as a perfect homage to Frank Gorshin
saying "Riddle me this, Batman!" The card art was ok, but I would have
preferred the absence of the stupid Question Mark Launcher.
Combat Belt Batman with Firing Grappling hook and Missile. He was a
plain Batman - a great figure with a cloth cape. He came with weapon
accessories that hooked onto his big ol' belt, like handcuffs, and a big
iron think to fire out of the grappling hook gun. The only complaint I
have is that the inside of his cape isn't blue, and his cowl doesn't have
the blue highlights. The pose is classic. His head is ever so slightly
tilted upwards giving him a noble air. The card art was good too.
Also released with this wave, was the forgettable Turbojet Batman that
came with this jetpack that had a helmet that looked like a clear Rockateer
helmet.
And that, my readers, is a review of the first wave of BTAS figures...next
issue, WAVE TWO!!!!
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OTHER BATMAN RELATED NEWS
Movie News
-Look for BATMAN & ROBIN to air later this month or next on HBO (what a
waste of commercial time!)
-It looks like Batman 5 will hit theatres no earlier than Summer of 2000.
The budget and crew is undetermined at this time but WB is expected to make
an announcement in August about the film.
-Sadly, Joel Schmacher is still tied to the project as director, but
promises a darker, less flamboyant movie with a smaller, more centralized
cast. (Of course, compared to "Batman & Robin", "Batman Forever"
fits all
those characteristics).
-Plus: WB is planning on shooting scenes in Vancouver and London to get
the spooky 'X-files' type shots in the next movie. Upon visualizing Batman
and Robin chasing the Scarecrow through the dark woods (a la X-Files), it
looks pretty awesome to me.
-But now George Clooney is saying that WB is pulling out of BATMAN 5 so
what the hell is going on?
-Still no news on whether the Kurt Russel rumors are plausible.
-"Ain't It Cool News" has reported that Joel Schumacher (who is still tied
to the movie), is in talks with WB about the fifth film, and is hoping to
show the world what a genius Frank Miller is by making a movie based on the critcally-acclaimed "Year One" story (Batman #404-407).
-One thing is for sure - when this movie is released, it will not be as
disappointing as "Batman & Robin" turned out to be.
Comic News
-The Batman creative teams for late 1998-99 have yet to be officially
released but so far there's quite a list:
Neal Adams
J. Scott Campbell
Kurt Busiek
Mike Deodato Jr.
Karl Kesel
Tom Grummet
More to be names at a later date. There is rumored to be 26 creators signed on so far.
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COMIC SCHEDULES
Release dates of BATMAN comics in August:
ANIMATED COMICS
August 5th
Batman:Gotham Adventures #5 (1.99)
August 12th
Superman Adventures #24 (1.99)
MAINSTREAM COMICS
These comics are based on the current continuity Batman. The current
storyline is now that Gotham is down for the count Gotham might get
kicked even harder.Can the heroes save it?
August 5th
BATMAN:I, JOKER (4.95)
BATMAN:THE KILLING JOKE-relist (4.95)
BATMAN:SHADOW OF THE BAT #79 (1.99)
JOKER MINI STATUE-relist (no price available)
MARTAIN MANHUNTER (Batman cameo) (1.99)
YOUNG JUSTICE (2.50)
August 12th
AZRAEL #46 (2.25)
BATMAN #559 (1.99)
JLA:YEAR ONE #10(of 12) (1.99)
NIGHTWING #25 (1.99)
August 19th
BATMAN:TWO FACE - CRIME AND PUNISHMENT-relist (4.95)
BATMAN VILLIANS Secret Files (4.95)
CATWOMAN/WILDCAT #3 (OF 4) (2.50)
DETECTIVE COMICS #726 (1.99)
JLA #23 (1.99)
NIGHTWING:A KNIGHT IN BLUDHAVEN (14.95)
NIGHTWING:TIES THAT BIND (12.95)
August 26th
BATMAN:LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #111 (1.99)
THE BATMAN CHRONICLES #14 (2.95)
CATWOMAN #62 (1.99)
JLA ANNUAL #2 (2.95)
ROBIN #58 (1.99)
Early solicitation
September 16th
BATMAN:GOTHAM ADVENTURES T-SHIRT (no price currently available)
September 23rd
BATMAN: ANIMATED (by Paul Dini, and Chip Kidd. The perfect gift for any Bat-fan.)
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Animated Batman/Superman sites:
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
http://www.batman-superman.com
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://www.batmantas.com
KIDSWB!
http://www.kidswb.com
http://www.wbanimation.com
THE ANIMATED BAT
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/7382/index.html
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED HOMEPAGE
http://www3.sympatico.ca/quartet/home.htm
SUB-ZERO
http://www.warnerbros.com/subzero
SUB-ZERO:THE DEFINTIE GUIDE
http://www.batman-subzero.com
TWO-FACE'S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND TERROR
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BRIAN'S BATMAN PAGE
http://members.aol.com/bdavis2613/main.html
RAVING TOY MANIAC
http://www.toymania.com
CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN
http://www.xse.com/leres/batman.html
THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN F.A.Q. SITE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/1216
HARLEY'S HAVEN OF HEDONISM
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/harlequinhideaway
These are some of the best BTAS sites on the web at this
time. Most sites are updated or have been recently and all are up and
running. Now...chances are if you've watched Batman on WB! There's also a
chance you've watched Superman:TAS and probably loved it! Well if so
here's a site that is the best Superman:TAS site on the web! (But it
hasn't been updated since the May 2nd weekend).
SUPERMAN:TAS
http://www.rain.org/~stas/
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SITE WORTH CHECKING OUT!
Wondering what episodes you haven't seen of Batman? Or possibly your missing that one SUPERMAN episode. Whatever the case is you should do yourself a favor and check out this site:
BRIAN CRUZ'S WB CARTOONS PAGE
http://pages.nyu.edu/~bpc200/index.html
This site contains some of the most up-to-date info on all WB animated
shows and to most up-to-date (its up before The official KIDS' WB!
schedule usually) schedule! You won't be sorry!
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ANSWERS TO THE TRIVIA
Answer to #3: 'B'
Answer to #4: 'D'
Answer to #5: 'C'
Answer to #6: 'A'
ANSWERS TO THE CLIPS TRIVIA
A - Heart Of Ice
B - World's Finest (Pt. 2)
C - P.O.V.
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CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:
BATMAN and all related property is a registered trademark of DC Comics. Visit DC Comics website at:
http://www.dccomics.com
DC Comics is owned and operated by Warner Brothers. Visit their website at:
http://www.warnerbros.com
Kids'WB! is a part of Warner Brothers. Visit the Kids' WB! site at:
http://www.kidswb.com
If I've left any out I'll probably be suee and homeless within a year
so please tell me.
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TO ALL GOOD THINGS...
...there must be an end. Well our newest installment of the newsletter
has now been completed. Tim and I would like to thank the endless
contributors for contributing their editorials, columns, news, and
reviews and other articles. We also hope you enjoyed all of the regualer
columns as well!
See ya next time!
CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER
CONCEPTIONISTS: James Grayson-Harvey and Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
EDITORS: James Grayson-Harvey and Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Brian Cruz
BTAS REVIEWS: Bob Evatt
EDITORIAL: Laura Hysert
COMIC REVIEWS: Aaron Maurer
THIS MONTH'S VOTING POLL: Brian Davis
TOY REVIEW: Kevin Smith
SOME OF THE "SCOOPS": Livio Ramondelli
PROMOTIONS AND JUST GETTIN' THE WORD AROUND: Brian Cruz, Brian Davis
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-P James Grayson-Harvey and
Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane (who else?)
SPECIAL THANKS to TY TEMPLETON for participating in our interview for this
issue!
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