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SPECIAL IN THIS ISSUE #1
INTERVIEW WITH ALAN BURNETT
(by Dick Grayson)
I recently had a chance to talk to Alan Burnett about his involvement in THE NEW
BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES and BATMAN BEYOND. It's nothing to in-depth or revealing, just a fun interview, but be warned, a few of the questions toward the end of the Q & A session may contain some spoilers. Sit
back, relax, and check out this fun Q & A session with the very awesome, and very cool Alan Burnett.
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER #1: In case readers don't know, tell us a bit about yourself, please.
ALAN BURNETT #1: I'm a producer-writer on the show. All the scripts go through me. Usually they begin in my office with writers discussing ideas for stories. I don't write as much as I re-write.
I'm a fairly quiet guy. When I appear on panels as I did at Comic Con last week, most people think I'm mute. Until I heard the speeches at the Iowa caucus I actually considered myself the least interesting man in
America. I live vicariously through Paul Dini, my fellow producer, who - when he's not getting chased by komodo dragons and Alaskan brown bears (I kid you not) - spends most of his free time dating heartless
actresses.
I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but lived most of my teenage years in Pompano Beach, Florida, where my parents bought and managed a motel. My bedroom was Room #3, which goes a long way to explaining my youthful passion
for television. I graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's in broadcast journalism and from U.S.C. with a master's in cinema production, but I credit my success, such as it is, to those four years of
truly intensive comic book reading between the ages of 9 and 13. The week I began working as a writer at Hanna-Barbera my son was born. He is now seventeen years old. His girlfriends like to polish his nails in odd
colors.
As I told Paul, they will all probably grow up to be actresses.
BTAN #2: How did you get involved with Batman: The Animated Series?
AB #2: My boss, the lovely Jean MacCurdy, hired me when the Batman show was around a half-dozen scripts into production. For reasons I'd rather not go into, the production had already gone into disarray. Nobody on staff
was talking to each other or to the network. Usually it takes at least a dozen scripts before that happens. The production needed a calming influence, and calm happens to be my specialty.
Jean also knew that I was a tremendous Batman fan. When we were at Hanna-Barbera together I had written a pilot for a Batman series, which was considered too hard-hitting for Saturday morning. ("Tele-tubies"
would've been too hard-hitting for that miserable era of children's programming.)
Anyway, Jean told me I could do the kind of Batman show I always wanted to do, so I signed the deal, put on my flak jacket, held up a flag that said "ARTIST-FRIENDLY" and zig-zagged my way to my office, where
I've been ever since.
BTAN #3: You wrote the TWO-FACE Part One. What was it like sort of doing 'your version' of the TWO-FACE origin?
AB #3: I wrote the outline to the first part, Randy wrote the script, and I edited. My take on Two-Face was that he was already a split personality before his face was destroyed. Andy Helfer had written a Two-Face story
for D.C. with the same idea in mind. I think Two Face is a beautiful creation. He belongs right up there with Joker, Luthor and Dr. Doom in that Golden Pantheon of Great Comic Book Villains. It was disheartening to see
him portrayed as Caesar Romero's Joker in the movies.
BTAN #4: Another villian you guy's sort of re-wrote was SCARFACE, what was that like?
AB #4: Joe Lansdale wrote that show, and the dialogue was magic. I love that episode. It's so dark and muted on the screen, it looks like a movie projected on black velvet. George Dzundza, who is one of my favorite
character actors, voiced both Scarface and the Ventriloquist. You can't imagine what a kick that was to record.
On the subject of villains in general, we basically look upon them as real people with real foibles. Their twisted natures are usually forged by a tragic turn of events, so there's always some sympathy for them, at least
in the beginning. We also think there's something about the water in Gotham that should be checked.
BTAN #5: What was it like seeing BATMAN jump from small screen TV to the big screen? Did the transition work, in your opinion?
AB #5: The transition could have been more satisfying. The animation was too limited. We had to cut ten minutes from the boards for budget, which hurt the flashback structure. But all that aside, I loved seeing it on the
big screen. There's nothing better than to watch an audience watch your movie and respond to it the way you intended. And I will forever hold a warm place in my heart for the late Gene Siskel, who apologized for not
reviewing the movie when it came out and gave it a big thumb's up in his video review.
BTAN #6: What do you consider some of your favorite BATMAN episodes from the entire run?
AB #6: My favorite was probably "Perchance to Dream," again scripted by Joe Lansdale. I'm a sucker for doppelganger stories. "Harley and Ivy," the second half of the Clayface story, and "Heart of
Ice" are also great shows. The Joker was our most resilient villain. Paul wrote most if not all the scripts starring him at that time. I sometimes think Paul Dini is the Joker.
BTAN #7: When BTAS ended, you jumped to SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. What was the change like, going from Bats to Supes?
AB #7: We all needed the change. Four years in the Batcave is a long time. Of course, we've never vacated the cave for good, have we? The main difference between the two shows was the nature of the heroes. Superman is
what he is: a Boy Scout - but I learned to like him. I remember telling fellow producer Bruce Timm about halfway through the series that if I had to make a decision between going back to Bats or sticking with Supes, I'd
stay with Supes. That said, Batman is the more intriguing hero, and the one more appropriate for our times.
BTAN #8: In STAS, you made quite a few changes in Superman's origin. Do you think these changes worked overall?
AB #8: The major change was involving Brainiac in the planet's destruction. You can blame me for that idea [Note from BTAN: that idea rocked, Alan!]. I felt it gave Brainiac a major arc for the series and made his
battles with the Man of Steel all the more personal. It also added more drama to what is essentially an impersonal, "act of God" event: the destruction of Krypton. Clark also doesn't realize his alien background for
most of his childhood, but otherwise, we didn't stray far at all from the traditional origin.
BTAN #9: When BATMAN returned, you changed the look. Did you enjoy the new angular look Batman gained?
AB #9: Bruce Timm decided to do the makeover with the assistance of Glenn Murakami, who is now a co-producer on "Batman Beyond." Bruce wanted a more angular and graphic look. I liked it. I like the old look,
too. I like everything he does.
BTAN #10: For WORLD'S FINEST, did BATMAN (Kevin Conroy) and Tim Daly (Superman) get along better then their animated counterparts?
AB #10: Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy got along much better than Superman and Batman did. By the way, they were both up for the same role in "Wings." Tim won out, but I heard it took a couple of weeks for the
producers to finally decide between the two. So, they were well aware of each other before the recording.
The "World's Finest" three-parter was the hardest script we ever tackled. Batman and Superman are oil and vinegar. They don't even want to be in the same frame together. I asked a writer at D.C. how it was that
they could have written so many stories about these two heroes way back when. The writer said it was because all those old stories were lousy.
I consider this show our most difficult script and greatest achievement. I will be forever grateful to the master animators at TMS in Tokyo for care they brought to it. The acting is stellar.
BTAN #11: In the final full season of SUPERMAN, there were alot of team-ups.
Did these team-ups work, in your opinion?
AB #11: The team-up with Fate turned out surprisingly well. Flash was fun, too. Green Lantern and Aquaman were less interesting to me, but the fans seemed to eat it up. The Aquaman story was supposed to end with a big
tidal wave. I wanted to do a scene where a surfer (based on BTAS director Kevin Altieri) climbs to the top of the Daily Planet with this board and waits for the wave while everyone on the streets is in a panic. But Bruce
argued that it was too difficult to animate a tidal wave effectively, so Rich Fogel completely rewrote the third act, basically to save the show. I still think about that tidal wave...
The most successful team-up was Superman and Robin. It had the most personality going for it, and there wasn't the baggage of doing a big introduction or an origin like we had with Green Lantern.
BTAN #12: How did BATMAN BEYOND come about? Was it just an idea that was just thought up one day, or did KIDS'WB influence it?
AB #12: The KIDS' WB! wanted a new version of Batman with more youth appeal. The show's original title was "The Tomorrow Knight," but Marvel already had that name.
BTAN #13: BATMAN BEYOND was a success from the very beginning. What was the inital reaction to this all-new TOMORROW KNIGHT?
AB #13: The reaction to "Batman Beyond" was particularly gratifying, because we were in uncharted territory.
[*possible spoilers*]
BTAN #14: Is there any info I can squeeze outta you concering the final three SUPERMAN episodes: THE DEMON REBORN, LEGACY Parts 1 & 2?
AB #14: "Demon Reborn" is pretty straightforward. "Legacy" was actually an attempt to turn the series around and create a darker environment in which the populace no longer trusts Superman. The two-parter
was supposed to be the beginning episodes of the final season. Instead, they're the final episodes of "Superman", period. It's a strange note to end on, but that's where it ends. We produced 54 Superman
half-hours in all.
BTAN #15: Are there any suprises we cna look forward to in the upcoming all new season of BATMAN BEYOND?
AB #15: We will learn that Terry has a black mark in his past in order to explain why he keeps putting on the suit despite the fact that he's avenged his father. Terry's new ally is a girl at school, Maxine
("Max") Gibson, who is so brilliant, she figures out who Batman is. At least one more Rogue's Gallery villain will appear from Bruce's past. From the first season, expect to see Shriek, Spellbinder, the Royal
Flush Gang and the charming Curare again. Otherwise we have a ton of new villains, a few of which will be making multiple appearances. I am not one who hypes, so I will tell you quite matter-of-factly that the animation
we've seen on the shows
for next year has been consistently high. I think it's the best series we've done yet.
BTAN: Thanx alot, Alan Burnett! Good luck!
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SPECIAL IN THIS ISSUE #2
A MINI-INTERVIEW WITH RICK BURCHETT
(by Dick Grayson)
Yes, this is just like a regular interview, in every way - just one eighth its size.
BTAN: Do you plan to return to BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES? What are you currently working on, and what does the future hold?
RICK BURCHETT:I took some time away from Gotham because I have been working almost exclusively in the animated style for nearly eight years and felt I was getting stale trying to be Bruce Timm every month (and failing
miserably). I didn't want the book to suffer. Also, I was becoming increasingly typecast as an artist who only works in the animated style and wanted to derail that notion.
As for upcoming projects: I did a No Man's Land story with Larry Hama that recently saw print in an issue of Legends of the Dark Knight (#121). Pencilled an isssue of Wonder Woman (#149) that's out about now. Next, I did
another issue of Legends (#125) with writer Greg Rucka that's the only story I've specifically asked to draw. It's a big deal in the No Man's Land saga and in the history of the Batman character and I was proud to have a
hand in it. Currently, I'm in the middle of a three issue mini-series for DC's Vertigo imprint. It's a science fiction private eye tale written by Howard Chaykin and the first time I've been allowed to design
something from the ground up. Great fun. Once that's done, I'll be starting a 6 issue mini-series starring the Huntress that focuses in great depth on her background, who she is, and what's next for her. That's written
by Greg Rucka, as well. And then,all things being equal, a possible return to Gotham. That's been the plan, and although I haven't heard from the editor in a few months, I assume it still is. In the meantime, the book
is in the more than capable hands of Tim Levins. He's doing a tremendous job. And somewhere along the line Greg and I have a character we've created that we'd like to build a mini-series around.
BTAN: Thanx alot, Rick!
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EDITORAL #1
(by Laura Hysert, aka "Phoenix")
We have guest-editorialist Lisa Blank filling in for Laura for this issue. Sit back and enjoy!
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Disclaimer: I send you this in the profound faith that thence forward you will NOT regard me as a science geek. I'm not, I promise. More of an all-around geek, but still, I'm not as dry and beignal (did I just make that
up?) as this letter makes me seem. I don't even know if you will be able to grasp any of this, but whatever. Feel free to skip over any dry scientific parts.
Laying in my pajamas at 9:00 Thursday morning I prepare to start another glorious summer weekday the only way an obsessed fan like me could - watching today's episode of Batman/Superman Adventures. As the plot to
"Love Is A Croc" progresses, low and behold, I find myself recalling a lesson from my Chemistry class this past Spring. Needless to say I was surprised to have learned anything from Chemistry (not the episode,
but the school subject), but that's beside the point. In the episode, as you may recall, a scorned Baby-Doll seeks to die like Romeo and Juliet with her beloved Killer Croc. To do this, she lures him into the local
Gotham nuclear facility with the promise of riches, and suddenly drains the reactors water cooling supplies after telling Croc that they will die together in a nuclear explosion
and take all of Gotham with them.
Oops - major plot flaw.
Unlike the nuclear facilities of places like Chernobyle (is that how it's spelled?), U.S.
reactors are not only cooled by water, they also cannot operate without it. It's a bit complicated, but in case you didn't know, nuclear reactions occur when free floating protons are slowed down by some substance (water
in the U.S. and carbon in Russia) so that they are able to strike the nucleus of Uranium or whatever it is, and break it apart to release vast amounts of energy. Still with me? I'll give you a few seconds to re-read
that..
..............................................................................................
..........................................................................................ok.
The released energy turns the water surrounding the Uranium (the same stuff that slowed down the protons, or were they alpha particles?) into REALLY hot radioactive steam. This steam then goes through a bunch of pipes
and the heat in it is transferred through the metal to water in pipes that run along side pipes iwth radioactive water. This would be so much easier if I could draw you a diagram. So, now that the radioactive water is
cooled, it is pumped back into the Uranium chamber to keep the reaction going. This cooling process also keeps the whole structure from melting down and releasing the radioactive steam and particles. Got it? I
know, I'm sorry, but I have to tell you all this so that you can understand. Re-read it. I'll wait......
...............................................................................................
...............................................................................................
.....Good?
Now, should Baby-Doll get rid of the cooling water, the reaction would go very quickly, get super hot, the heat would melt all the pipes, and the radioactive steam would escape. But don't worry Gotham City, it doesn't go
far. U.S. reactors are encased in concrete, steel-beamed silos to keep in the radioactive steam. Also, without the water to slow down the protons, the reaction stops. Therefore, all that is needed is for the steam to
cool, and clean-up crews to be assembled to collect the stuff for burial underground where it would only give the Gothamites cancer for the next 900 years.
So why Chernobyle? Two important differences. In Russia the reaction would keep going after the cooling water had been drained because the carbon they use to slow down the protons wouldn't magically escape like our
steam.
Now you may say to me, "Lisa, Miss I'm-SO-SMART, what about Three Mile Island?" Three Mile Island was an American fluke. Inconsistancies in that reactor's silo caused it to crack and leak under the intense heat
and pressure. Thus, some of the steam escaped, and although most of it floated into the atmosphere and off to who-knows-where, some did affect the general populous. Oops.
Bottom line - Gotham wasn't really in jeopardy, so no big deal except that Croc, Baby-Doll, Batman, and Batgirl would have had a nasty sauna experience. So while I guess it's not REALLY a plot flaw, Baby-Doll may just
have not known this, I thought that you - editor-in-chief of BTAN- would like to know that although the Dark Knight was in peril, his beloved city would have survived.
P.S. Yes, I know it's just a cartoon, and I know the children wouldn't have understood if one of the characters would have said, "Don't worry, the super-heated radioactive stem won't penetrate the thick concrete
silo and endanger the city, but let's get out of here before the cooling pipes melt and we are all scalded to death." Ask me if I care.
P.P.S. Or maybe the writers thought Gotham was in the former Soviet Union when they made this episode, huh? Just a thought.
P.P.P.S. There have been other smaller flaws that I'm sure you've noticed too in other episodes. I just thought that this one deserved a bit more attention. Feel free th reprint the body of this e-mail, and even the
disclaimer if you really feel like it, in your fabulous news letter. Might as well be a famous columnist, right?
Chao.
-Lisa Blank
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EDITORIAL #2
(by Kelly Tindall)
We had an overwhelming response to Kelly Tindall's first guest-editorial, so we decided to let him do another! Simple enough? Hope so. Here goes!
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One thing about "The New Batman/Superman" adventures that casual viewers might have noticed is the recent abundance of guest stars. Everyone from The Flash to Etrigan the Demon has shown up over the last few
years. The question that comes up is immediately, "Why?"
It has a lot to do with the nature of the hero. Both Batman and Superman are both extremely iconic, the most recognizable superheroes on the planet. Batman, as we saw in "Batman: The Animated Series:", was
certainly capable of carrying a show. The simple hero vs. villain dynamic made for some great shows. Why, then, do we see other heroes eager for the limelight?
The easy answer is ratings. Robin became a staple of the early Batman adventures when it became clear that children responded to him. Moreso, of course, after his head-scratchingly bad portrayal in the third Bat-movie.
Of course, his presence was enough, and we didn't see the early versions of the Creeper and Etrigan that producer Bruce Timm was eager to show.
Nocturna's appearance was entirely scratched due to the fact she was a vampire. (It's a wonder the WB wouldn't be eager for Batman to fight vampires...it's worked for Buffy.)
Superman, however, has never been associated with a sidekick. The strongest man in the world wearing primary colors does NOT need somebody to make him look better. Superman is simply the best, and everybody excepts that
nobody is his match as a dyed-in-the-wool, All-American Super Hero.
Then why do we need a Supergirl?
The answer here is not just ratings.
It's stories.
Superman is nearly invincible, and no matter what the circumstance, it's pretty hard to believe there's a chance he'll be killed. The answer? Create a dynamic with ANOTHER hero.
Superman is a boy scout. It's a bland cliche. However, Lobo is a sexist moron with a lot of guns. The mix, "The Main Man", was absolutely brilliant. The simple idea of hero vs. villain became ego vs. ego, and
the storywriters broke the mold in adventure storytelling.
Superman has gone on to face The Flash (whose ego surpasses even that of Lobo), Supergirl (whose brashness and frank stupidity makes for a charming uncle/niece relationship), Aquaman (who is simply a righteous jerk), Green Lantern
(anybody got this one on tape?), and of course, the Batman. World's Finest was genius animation. Great script, fabulous animation, and incredibly good characterization. Superman not only had to engage Batman in a metaphorical
spitting contest for Lois' affections, but had to deal with the maniacal Joker, who outsmarted the big blue guy at least three times.
The mix is slight but simple. Take an archetype like Batman, and add the youthful exuberance of Robin, the sullen angst of Nightwing, the funky sexiness of Batgirl, or the brooding wiseacre cracks of Terry McGinnis, and
you've got yourself a show. The same goes for Superman, who suffered for years with a lame rogue's gallery and found his niche with a gallery of heroes.
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