Due to demand by some of our subscribers, we've
decided to give a "Letters to the Editor" section a shot. Feel free to submit
something you'd like to say to us, and each issue we'll choose one to post and then reply
to. (NOTE: It can be completely uncensored, positive OR negative, though any coarse
language will be bleeped out. We want this to be a no-holds-barred column!)
Let's face it, the new Justice League animated
cartoon will be the biggest hit Cartoon Network has to date, and I'm sure will go on for
many years. And with the sucess of Justice League will come a new era that finally
showcases all of DC Comics other classic superheroes that have only been featured on
Superfriends. I don't doubt that the sudden popularity of DC superheroes other then Batman
or Superman will cause WB to start finally giving such characters as the Green Lantern or
the Flash their due by giving them their own cartoons. I guess my question is, where do we
concievably go from after Justice League, or is it the only DC Comics cartoon we'll ever
need. And as for Batman, whose story is the most compelling and loved of the group, how
will the Justice League affect the chances of Batman ever having his own show again?
TWO-FACE'S SIDE OF THE COIN
I wish Bruce Timm and the rest of the JUSTICE
LEAGUE staff the very best with their show this fall. I wish I got the CARTOON NETWORK
just so I could see it! However, though I feel the show will be a smash success (like
BATMAN BEYOND and SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES), to me, nothing still compares to BATMAN:
THE ANIMATED SERIES. None of the other shows these same crews have been of that quality;
Superman and Batman Beyond were primarily action shows (albeit good ones), but Batman
looked at character far more than its followers did. Never before that time had an
animated TV show geared towards children and family-viewing look at the dark side of
humanity in such a fashion before. However, the rules have changed and, just as we saw the
Batman movie franchise change over the years, drifting from a character-driven property to
one that thrived greatly on action sequence upon action sequence, so has the animated
Bat-world.
No, I'm not comparing the animated crews to Joel
Schumacher and his band of hacks that couldn't ever understand Batman if it bit them in
the...yeah. We can always trust the animated crews to produce a quality product. However,
with this shift in gears towards more of an action-oriented superhero outlook, rather than
a primarily character-driven one, I would assume that, as far as BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES is concerned, it's not coming back to network TV - only, perhaps, in more
direct-to-video movies. And in GOTHAM ADVENTURES, of course.
Then again, it's far too early to tell. The
Justice League series doesn't debut for two more months yet and it's quite evident that
Bruce Timm and company are intent on making this property make the very difficult
transition from comic book pages to a TV series as seamless as possible. (Fans have been
dying for this series for years now, and the creators were scared to touch it simply
because it was just too grandiose. This is probably why they tested the waters with
various team-ups on the SUPERMAN series - and after they got that down pat, they decided
to go all out.)
Chances are that this new series will be
spectacular. As it's on the CARTOON NETWORK and not the Pokemon-dominated KidsWB, if it
keeps up a quality output, I think the network executives (and fans) will continue to
support it and it might, MIGHT just have a run equally impressive as that of BATMAN: THE
ANIMATED SERIES.
Heck, us Bat-fans should be lucky. The WB has
provided us with 161 Bat-centric episodes (BTAS and BATMAN BEYOND, not including Superman
crossovers) and only 54 episodes to Superman's name. It's quite evident that, of all the
members of the JLA, Batman has the biggest fan-base and that, even if the JLA cartoon
DOESN'T live up to its promise of greatness (which it definately should - just think of
the merchandising!), Batman will be around in animated form - in SOME type of animated
form - for quite a while to come.
Wow, did Kevin Conroy luck out or what, huh?
;-Y
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED TRIVIA
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
This is one of my favourite sections, where I
get to boggle the minds of all our readers! (Mwuhahaha!) This trivia is all
animated-related in some form, and can deal with ANY aspect of the show or comics based on
the show. Remember, answer the questions WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE ANIMATED CONTINUITY.
Now have fun - let's see how well you do! Answers are provided below.
Match the character with the "thing"
in this list that is most closely associated with him/her!
A: 10/6
B: Tight-Rope
C: Secret Service
D: Badge
E: Rocks
F: Terrorism
G: CEO
H: Japanese Tang (fish)
I: Silver Dollar
J: Suspended Animation
K: Psychiatry
L: Donuts
M: Lillian
N: Isis
O: Street-kid
596. Batman
597. Killer Croc
598. The Mad Hatter
599. Nightwing/Robin (Dick Grayson)
600. Two-Face
601. The Joker
602. Alfred
603. Catwoman
604. Harvey Bullock
605. Ra's Al Ghul
606. Robin (Tim Drake)
607. Poison Ivy
608. Nora Fries
609. Commissioner Gordon
610. Harley Quinn
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AND THESE ARE OUR FINAL ANSWERS (to the trivia)
Answer to #596: G
Answer to #597: E
Answer to #598: A
Answer to #599: B
Answer to #600: I
Answer to #601: H
Answer to #602: C
Answer to #603: N
Answer to #604: L
Answer to #605: F
Answer to #606: O
Answer to #607: M
Answer to #608: J
Answer to #609: D
Answer to #610: K
_____________________________________________________________________
LITTLE FACTS AND BLOOPERS
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
Here is a section that just points out various
little facts and bloopers that we have noticed while watching BTAS, STAS and BEYOND
countless times. If you have anything to contribute, feel free to do so! Enjoy!
CONTRIBUTED BY STAFF:
Gone fishin'.
CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
(by Kathi Heckenlively)
1) This is regarding THE TERRIBLE TRIO episode. Apparently the voiceover director couldn't
coordinate with the artist about just who actor Peter Scolari was doing the voice for
which character. If you listen carefully, all throughout the episode his voice keeps
switching from the blond haired robber wearing the shark head to the brunette haired guy
in the bird head. This happened when they were in character wearing the masks and when
they were not in the masks, like when they were talking to Bruce. It made it very
confusing to keep track of the characters.
(by Robyn Johnson)
2) In OFF BALANCE Batman and Talia wind up in a "cell" of sorts after the sonic
disrupter is used to blast a whole underneath them. When Batman wakes up and finds
that his mask has been removed, he exclaims, "My mask! What have you done with
it?" Seconds later he reaches behind his head and pulls it over his face.
Uhm...hello??? Why ask what Talia did with the mask when he knew it was lying at the
nape of his neck??
____________________________________________________________________
FIGURE THIS OUT!
(by Marc Rosenzweig)
Welcome back all Gothamites!
This week I am in the middle of researching the
new release of 9 Jack in the Box action figures based on an limited time offer of the
animated DC Super Heroes. I am awaiting information from my sources at the Warner
Bro's Studio offices in Burbank. Once I have received my information, I will be
passing the juicy tid-bits on for your reading pleasures.
Until next issue, remember the 1966 Batman
series will be airing on the Sci Fi network this coming Monday 7/23/01, from 11:00 until
4:00pm(ish). Dont forget to set those VCRs!
Same Bat-Time
Same Bat-Channel!
____________________________________________________________________
FEATURED BATMAN INTERNET ENDEAVOURS FOR THIS ISSUE
(feel free to submit something for our consideration)
THE ANIMATED BATMAN: AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
The Animated Batman: An Unofficial Guide (now an
affiliate of World's Finest) has been redesigned and relaunched and with new
features. It contains a complete episode guide/companion to BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES and BATMAN BEYOND, with complete cast credits, plot summaries and reviews, and
filmographies for quick reference. Screengrabs (provided with the courtesy of
World's Finest and Batman: Tomorrow and Beyond) now complement each episode entry, and an
Actor's Index provides information on regular cast members and guest stars alike.
Meahwhile, quick links take you to other great Batman sites, and to on-line interviews and
profiles of the producers.
Wow, our links section has grown so big that
we've had to eliminate it from the newsletter! Fear not, you can still find all these
links at the WORLD'S FINEST NEWSPAGE, if you follow this link...that's hypocracy for ya!
If you have any questions, problems, links do
not work, or anything else, then please e-mail this address with your problems and we'll
try to fix them as soon as possible. Also if you'd like to send any fan-mail then please
send it to this address:
As for submissions, feel free to submit an
article or opinion on anything pertaining to BTAS. Keep in mind that as the editors, we
have the right to edit your submissions if we deem it necessary. Such instances would
include problems with length, grammar, and language. If we do feel we must edit
something, however, we will do our utmost to ensure that the opinion and the basic message
of the submission does not change, as that is the most important part of any article, and
everyone is entitled to it. And if you do submit something, please don't just submit a
basic review of an episode or a comic or something (because we have people writing for
those purposes already) - write about an issue you'd like to discuss.
____________________________________________________________________
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED ARCHIVES
The very kind people at TOONZONE were nice
enough to give us our own little section of their huge and diverse website. The archive
contains past newsletters and is semi-regularly updated with the latest one. To check it
out go here:
TOONZONE's BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER
ARCHIVES
http://www.toonzone.net/news/btan
____________________________________________________________________
LIKE WHAT YA SEE? WANNA SUBSCRIBE? HERE'S HOW!!!
For those of you who are seeing this at the WBC
HOMEPAGE BTAN ARCHIVES section and want to subscribe, just follow these simple
instructions:
To subscribe email juno@dccnet.com, put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line, and
put the e-mail address you'd like the newsletter to be sent to in the body of the message.
For more information about the newsletter just
email juno@dccnet.com
Thank you for your time, and thanks for reading! Tell your friends!
-Tim TWO-FACE Leighton and Dick Grayson, editors
____________________________________________________________________
TO ALL GOOD THINGS...
...there must be an end. We would like to thank the endless amount of contributors for
contributing their editorials, columns, news, reviews and other articles. We hope you've
all enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed making it! Thank you for reading! See ya next
time!
CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER
EDITOR AT COLLEGE, & WORKING, TOO!: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
CO-EDITOR AT COLLEGE, ALSO WORKIN': "Dick Grayson"
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Toonzone, Kids'WB!, and YTV
EPISODE REVIEWS: Zanna/Justin Chen, and occasionally Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
EDITORIAL: Help Wanted!!!
COMIC REVIEWS: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton, Dick Grayson
'RETURN OF THE JOKER' GIVEAWAY: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
FIGURE THIS OUT: Marc Rosenzweig
"BTAN ARCHIVES" MODERATOR: Eileen Delgadillo
TRIVIA: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
PROMOTIONS, JUST GETTIN' THE WORD OUT: Dick Grayson, Eileen Delgadillo, Brian Cruz,
Brian Davis
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-Y Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
DELIVERY: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
E-MAIL RECEPTION HANDLING: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
THE CREATION OF THIS NEWSLETTER INSPIRED BY: Alan J. Porter
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane & Bill Finger (who else?)
Batman and all related indicia are trademarks of DC Comics, Copyright c 2001.
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Put simply, TERRORISM SUCKS.
