Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Week of July
5 - July 17/18, 1999
Volume 2,
Rated: PG for some "low-key
coarse language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "BATMAN: THE
ANIMATED NEWSLETTER. OVER 1000 SUBSCRIBERS CAN'T BE
WRONG."
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SPECIAL
ANNOUNCEMENT
Wow...as of one week from today it'll be the one
year anniversary of "Batman: The Animated Newsletter"! A year has gone by
already? That sure went quickly, didn't it? I remember last July when we
started, our first issue had 50 to MAYBE 100 subscribers at the most. Now, a
year - or thirty-two issues later - we have 1055! Thank you to all our
contributors, subscribers, and those who promoted our newsletter around the
world by any means. This means a great deal to us, for without our subscribers,
we wouldn't have a reason to MAKE a newsletter, now, would we?
Well, one year is now behind us - who knows what we'll have in store over the
next twelve months. Take care - and thank you for your continuing
support!
PS - Happy Canada Day (July 1st) and
Independence Day (July 4th) to all our subscribers! (NOTE: Our segregated editor
doesn't know of any other national holidays that happen in July, or any other
time of the year, so don't get medieval on his hiney if he has overlooked your
country's national holiday...K? We wish you a happy holiday as well!
:-)
OK, I'm rambling now...so, without further
adieu, THE NEWSLETTER!
-Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton,
editor.
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to another issue of "Batman: The Animated Newsletter".
Enjoy!
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NEW EPISODE(S)
This section will just basically give an insight into what
the new episodes are about and hopefully a synopsis of the episode. This section
will feature both new Superman and new Batman episodes.
THE LOSS OF THE WB ON WGN: Beginning this fall,
the WB will no longer be carried on WGN-TV’s national feed to avoid conflicts
with other WB affiliates. WGN-TV will continue carrying the prime time WB in the
Chicago area. If you’re outside the Chicago area and know of no other way to
pick up the WB, you may call them at (818)977-5000 for more information. This is
taken from the info section of the WGN website,
http://www.wgn.com . Thank you for Peter Destructo
for pointing this out.
KidsWB will soon be shown on a new channel
called "WeB" - I know little about this - but if you can get that channel, I'm
pretty sure the WB shows would be on.
'ONCE BURNED'
Batman Beyond #14?
Air Date:
1999-2000 season
Ten returns to rekindle her love for Terry, and
the Royal Flush Gang returns to once again kill Batman - but then again, is
there more than meets the eye this time?
'THE DEMON REBORN'
Superman #44?
Air date:
Fall of 1999
BATMAN'S FINAL CURRENT-DAY ANIMATED APPEARANCE!
This episode features Batman and Superman teaming up to take down Ra's Al Ghul,
who has plans to send the world back to its natural, pre-human state. WOOHOO!
THE BAT IS BACK! Airs in May or September.
'LEGACY (Pt. 1 & 2)'
Superman #48,
49?
Air date: Fall of 1999
This two-parter features the final
showdown between Superman and Darksied in which he strips Superman of his memory
and adopts him as a son in an effort to take over Earth. Now it seems this won't
air until September! Argh!
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WB
ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS
site)
This section of the newsletter highlights the
schedule and times that WB airs The New Batman/Superman Adventures. For most
affiliates it airs Monday - Friday at 4pm (ET) and Saturdays beginning at 8am
(ET). WGN airs Batman/Superman Monday - Friday at 10am (ET) and Sundays
beginning at 8am (ET). There's a chance that your local WB channel airs it at a
differant time. To find out when, we recommend you follow this URL (provided by Toonzone):
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/stations/index.html
PS - Remember that "Batman Beyond" airs 30
minutes AFTER "Batman/Superman" is over, because "Men In Black" has been
squeezed in between.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 7-05-99: Batman
#74
Catwalk
Superman #15 Ghost in the Machine
Tue 7-06-99: Superman #16 Action
Figures
Batman #85 Batgirl Returns
Wed 7-07-99: Batman #67 A Bullet for
Bullock
Superman #30 Bizarro's World
Thu 7-08-99: Superman #07 Feeding
Time
Batman #93 Growing Pains
Fri 7-09-99: Superman #37 Little Girl Lost (Pt.
1)
Superman #38 Little Girl Lost (Pt. 2)
Sat 7-10-99: Superman #52 Little Big Head
Man
Batman #108 Beware the Creeper
B-BEYOND #03 Black
Out
NEXT WEEK:
Episode schedules for the week of
July 12 to July 18 were unavailable at the delivery date of this
newsletter. For current schedules, go to Brian Cruz' site, via the link
provided above.
All episodes #86 and onward of BATMAN are
considered THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES while the original 85 are considered
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS)
episodes.
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CARTOON
NETWORK WB ANIMATION SCHEDULE:
"Yabba Dabba Doom"
(courtesy of Brian
Cruz)
THE CARTOON NETWORK was able to get the
exclusive rights to 52 episodes of the classic BTAS, as well as both animated
movies. BTAS airs Monday-Friday at 6pm (ET) and then repeated again at midnight.
If our schedule listings is not complete or up to date then please go to
TOONZONE for the complete episode schedule at:
All of Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton's reviews of the
new-style BTAS episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links, which
link to "Two-Face's Tower of Tranquility and Terror":
<BATMAN BEYOND>
GOLEM
Written by
Hilary J. Bader
Directed by Butch Lukic
Animation by Dong Yang,
KOKO
Original air date: February 6, 1999
My rating: ****
Willy Watt, typical high-school nerd with his
nose in a book, glasses, greasy hair and gangly stance, has a crush on one of
his fellow classmates - who also happens to be the apple of the school bully's
eye. Nelson Nash, the afformentioned bully, gets fresh with the girl (was
her name "Blade" or something?), and she refuses to go for a "ride" with him (he
wasn't talkin' about his car, his prize-possession, either). To get back
at him, she goes to a school dance with the nerd - she doesn't care for him, but
only wants to hurt Nelson's ego. Ouch, on both accounts.
Nelson still doesn't stop tormenting Willy, so
Willy decides to do something about it. His father is a construction
worker, which uses large robots known as "Golems" to do the heavy-duty work.
(They look a lot like Lex Luthor's robot in "Last Son of Krypton (Pt.
3)".) Willy steals the robot from his father and spends the rest of the
episode tormenting Nelson with it, and eventually has to fight off Terry (as
Batman) with it in a giant amusement park.
As stereotypical as some may say this episode
is, I liked it. It's the first time in any Batman or Superman episode that the
school-life is depicted with such detail. It may be just a rehash of the usual
"nerd wants the girl, bully gets in the way, nerd defeats bully, gets girl" type
story, but it struck a chord with me - it made Willy the first sympathetic
villain to appear on "Beyond".
We also get to see Nelson's character develop a
bit. Before, all we knew was that he was a tough guy (as seen in
"Rebirth"), but here, we find out that he's a self-centred jerk that no one
wants to be around. He's a coward (granted, being attacked by a 50 ft.
robot is scary) because he didn't even care for his "girlfriend's" well-being -
he just made sure that he was out of harm's way.
As usual, the action scenes were very well
done. I've noticed that Butch Lukic is terrific at directing action
sequences in the episodes he does (on BTAS, "You Scratch My Back" and "Mad
Love").
Other cool observances were:
-Seeing the
Golem destroy Nelson's car. What a jerk.
-I liked how Willy's father was
nearly as much of a jerk as Nelson - after he was nearly killed and the
amusement park was destroyed, he said something along the lines of "At least my
son's not a wimp any more".
-Anyone sorta see the similarities between the
faces of Willy Watt and Victor Fries (i.e., the glowing glasses)?
-I just
figured out how this series alludes to "<i>The Simpsons</i>".
Terry is Bart, Nelson is...well...Nelson, and Willy is Milhouse.
-Willy seems
to have "electrical" powers, like Livewire.
So don't mock me for enjoying this episode.
Beyond the usual nerd/jock stereotypes, it's a good one, in my
books.
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EDITORAL
#1
(by Laura Hysert, aka "Phoenix")
Ms. Hysert was unable to submit an editorial in
time for delivery of this issue of "Batman: The Animated Newsletter". She
will return in the near
future.
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EDITORIAL
#2
(by Michael Mandeville)
batboym@wtp.net
Mr. Mandeville was unable to submit an editorial
in time for delivery of this issue of "Batman: The Animated Newsletter"...he'll
return
shortly.
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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! *EVIL LAUGH* 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.
As I type this, some TIME/LIFE commercial trying
to sell never-before-seen footage of WW2 is on the TV in the background, so that
inspired me to do a quiz ALL ABOUT WAR! Let's see how this works out,
K?
146. In which BATMAN BEYOND episode are various
war scenes shown?
A: MELTDOWN
B: REBIRTH (Pt. 1)
C:
SPELLBOUND
D: A TOUCH OF CURARE
E: ASCNESION
147. Which of the following BTAS characters has
a family member who works in the military?
A: Selina Kyle
B: Veronica Vreeland
C:
Dick Grayson
D: Leslie Thompkins
E: George Costanza
148. "This means war." Which BTAS
character says this at some point?
A: Batman
B: Robin (Tim Drake)
C:
Batgirl
D: Nightwing
E: No one
149. "P.O.W. - Prisoner of War." Which
entire BTAS episode title is just an abbreviation, a la the P.O.W. abbreviation
at the beginning of this question? (Does this question even make sense?
Don't answer that...)
Answer: _____________
150. OK, as you can tell, I'm running really low
on questions here...OK...here goes. In which episode does someone OTHER than the
Joker TOUCH one of his Joker-grenades?
A: TRIAL
B: WORLD'S FINEST (Pt. 1)
C:
RIDDLER'S REFORM
D: HARLEY'S HOLIDAY
E: BEWARE THE
CREEPER
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ANSWERS
TO THE TRIVIA
Answer to #146: C
Answer to #147: B
Answer
to #148: E
Answer to #149: P.O.V.
Answer to #150:
D
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LITTLE
FACTS
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
Here is a section that just points out various
little facts that we have noticed while watching BTAS and STAS countless times.
If you have anything to contribute, feel free to do so! Enjoy!
CONBTRIBUTED BY STAFF:
CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
("The Lady Amalthea")
1. In "Mask of the Phantasm", remember the "Jujitsu" scene?
In that scene Andrea is wearing a sleavless gown - but there are some shots
within that scene that show her in a gown WITH SLEAVES! What gives?
("Gpolieman")
2. In the scene of "Double Talk" where Arnold Wesker (Ventriloquist) is walking through the park, Lois and Clark are having a picnic in the background.
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