THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "THANK YOU TO RIDDLERWB FOR SAVING US FROM THE WRATH OF THE POKEMON!"
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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: The WB is 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.

 'JOYRIDE'
Batman Beyond #15?
Air date: October 2, 1999
   Anyone have any idea what this is gonna be about?

 'ONCE BURNED'
Batman Beyond #17?
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?

 'LEGACY (Pt. 1 & 2)'
Superman #44, 48
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. This is being touted as the FINAL Superman episode EVER. However, I must say that I've read a synopsis of the episode, and it's a doozie.
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WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS site)

 THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES airs Mondays thru Fridays beginning at 4pm (ET). It also airs every weekend at 8am (ET). BATMAN BEYOND airs on the occasional weekday at 4pm (ET), sharing the time slot with THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. BATMAN BEYOND also airs every weekend at 9am (ET). Check your local listings for time and station in your area. If this newsletter section is not updated in time, please refer to either of these two links for schedule information:

 http://www.batman-superman.com/batman/cmp/episodes.html
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/

 THIS WEEK:
Mon 9-27-99: Batman #108  Beware the Creeper
   B-BEYOND #10 Dead Man's Hand

 Tue 9-28-99: Superman #24 Solar Power
   Batman #87   Sins of the Father

 Wed 9-29-99: Batman #94   Love is a Croc
   Superman #28 Father's Day

 Thu 9-30-99: Superman #33 Apokalips...Now! (Pt. 1)
   Superman #35 Apokalips...Now! (Pt. 2)

 Fri 10-1-99: B-BEYOND #06 Shriek

 Sat 10-2-99: Superman #47 Obsession
   B-BEYOND #?? Joyride   -----------NEW!!!

 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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CANADIAN EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BTAS/BEYOND on YTV)
(courtesy of our friends at YTV)

 -To find the episode guide and airing schedule of BATMAN on YTV then please go to http://www.ytv.com and click on the YTV GUIDE icon at the bottom of the screen. To check out the schedule then click on BATMAN in the time grid and it will have the schedule for the current week.
-To find the episode guide and airing schedule of BATMAN BEYOND on YTV then please go to this http://www.ytv.com and click on the YTV GUIDE icon at the bottom of the screen. To check out the schedule then click on BATMAN BEYOND in the time grid and it will have the schedule for the current week.

 BTAS will air at 7:30am on weekday mornings (in all time zones), and BEYOND will air at 2:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. YTV has the rights to show all 109 BTAS episodes; it is still unclear as to whether they'll be showing any of the new STAS or BEYOND episodes as of yet, but we'll keep you posted!

 THIS WEEK:
Mon 9-27-99: BTAS   #09 Be a Clown

 Tue 9-28-99: BTAS   #26 Appointment in Crime Alley

 Wed 9-29-99: BTAS   #07 P.O.V.

 Thu 9-30-99: BTAS   #25 The Clock King

 Fri 10-1-99: BTAS   #04 The Last Laugh

 Sat 10-2-99: BEYOND #07 Meltdown

 Sun 10-3-99: BEYOND #08 Heroes

 NOTE: It would appear that the YTV schedules are following the order in which new episodes aired on the FOX network back in 1992. Sometimes it will be impossible to get the YTV schedules in time for the delivery of this newsletter. We will notify you if  this is the case; just follow example set by FOX. I shall put up a page at my website to show the order in which these episodes aired, as a rough guide to follow.
  It would appear that BATMAN BEYOND is following the same order, too.
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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:

 http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/batman-cn.html

 To see the 52 episodes that the CARTOON NETWORK does show, go to this link:

 http://www.toonzone.net/brian/eplists/batman-cn.html

 NOTE: The schedules at Brian Cruz' site are currently unavailable; if anyone knows of any other place where people can get listings for BTAS on the Cartoon Network, please e-mail us!
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EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)

 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":

 MAIN PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BTAS PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFaceText/bats.html

 NOTE: Due to the loss of the WGN, editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton has been unable to review any new episodes. Until he can once again, we'll be having someone substituting for him.  Thank you to Justin Chen, aka "The Overseer" for this review!

 <BATMAN BEYOND>
EARTH MOVER
Story By Alan Burnett & Stan Berkowitz
Written By Stan Berkowitz
Directed By Dan Riba
Animation By Dong Yang
Original air date: September 25, 1999
My Rating: *** (out of five stars)

 The second episode out of the much awaited new season of Batman Beyond comes off more or less as an average, but still enjoyable viewing experience.

 As the episode opens Terry and Dana are doing homework at a girl named Jackie's home. Jackie's heart isn't into math though, and the pair ask what's wrong. Jackie has a feeling that someone's been following her recently, but she can't put her finger on who it is. A man, who we assume is her father, arrives to encourage the kids to be a bit louder...seems he can't concentrate on his work when it's too quiet. Oddly, Jackie calls the man Bill, rather than Dad, which raises questions from Dana that Jackie dismisses as "a long story".

 Meanwhile, Terry notices someone watching from outside their window, and leaps outside in pursuit. As Terry catches up, he spins the figure around, only to find a dark faceless mass. He knocks Terry backwards, but soon the hero is back on him again. He tackles the giant and they fall onto the road, where a car slams into the mysterious figure. When Terry recovers, all he finds is a pile of dirt.

 Bruce has little to say about the sample Terry picks off the road. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Terry says after Bruce examines it. Of course he seems to be, since the sample is ordinary soil. Terry decides to keep an eye on Jackie anyway, and the  next day after school, he questions as to who the mysterious intruder was after. In the course of their discussions, we learn that Bill is not Jackie's real father, which is why she calls him by his first name.

 Bill gives Terry and Dana a lift home from school, but stop by a vacant plot of land, where Bill, who is revealed to be an industrialist, plans to build his latest factory. Suddenly, earthquakes shake the land, as multiple earthen figures just like the one who trespassed the night before erupt from the ground. But that's not all, chemicals bubble out of cracks in the earth. The kids are shocked and confused, but Bill knows very well not to touch them. In the chaos, Terry manages to become Batman, and fights off the monsters. Bill pulls Jackie into their car and speed off.

 Throughout the rest of the episode, we learn about Bill's shady past and his suspicious relationship with Jackie's biological father. It seems that Bill cut corners to become one of Gotham's leading industrial tycoons, and Jackie's father got shortchanged in a very bad way.  Batman forces the truth out of Bill, but then, the earth swallows Bill, Jackie, and their home in a quick and terrifying moment, leaving Terry on the surface. Terry must go underground in Gotham's massive subterrainean river system to rescue them.

 From then on, we learn many secrets as to who the Earth Mover really is, why he's after Jackie, and his major problem with Bill. It's not really a big mystery, and most people should be able to figure out the solutions to these questions before they are answered in the show.

 The action in "Earth Mover" lacks the intensity found in some of the Season One episodes, but that's understandable. (He's fighting dirt after all! ).  And as with many BB episodes, the ending feels quite rushed. Frankly, I was kind of surprised at Jackie's reaction at the end, given the revelations she learns about Bill, who she has trusted as her surrogate father for years.  However, the most important thing in this episode is Terry's overshadowing of Bruce. That's right, Bruce only appears in about a couple short scenes, and his voice a few times elsewhere. But over 90 percent I'd say is purely Terry's time. I'm aware that this new season is promising a more independent Terry, and this seems to be where it starts off. The dark appearance of Terry actually scares someone in this episode, something we haven't really seen in BB.

 Overall, "Earth Mover" came off as one of the middle of the pack episodes, which is still above the best of most other animated shows. It had nothing particularly grating about it, and even was a bit saddening at times. I'm still waiting for a truly groundbreaking  episode to occur, but eps like Earth Mover will keep me watching until that happens.

 -Justin Chen, aka The Overseer
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EDITORAL #1
(by Laura Hysert, aka "Phoenix")

 Breaking news: We've just gotten word that Ms. Hysert is trapped down a well. Fear not, we've already sent out our brigade of collies to find her. Nevertheless, she's still unable to submit an article for this issue...let's hope our entourage of Lassies find her quickly...
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EDITORIAL #2
(by Kelly Tindall)

 The Gotham Adventures: Can the Bat-Team Carry On?

 Long dismissed as a byproduct of Warner Bros. TV Animation department, the comic-book series based on Batman and Superman have nevertheless found their voice and their fans in the world of comic books.  The stories and art are uniformly strong, and the characters are easy-to-digest variations on those that have been with generations of readers.  But how stable are the books without a regular infusion of new material?

 One of the more recent stories in Batman's Gotham Adventures dealt with perennial fan-favorite villain Man-Bat.  The story was a well-constructed, well-thought-out mystery that had its set-up, its confrontation, and its conclusion.  What was wrong with it?

 Perhaps it's heart.  Long-time animated-style writer Ty Templeton has left the book after a distinguished run.  In his years crafting Batman tales, he was usually respectful to what the producers of the television show had done.  His stories were disposable enough that they would not interfere with the often life-changing events of the cartoon...If Mr. Freeze were free at the conclusion of "Cold Comfort", then he'd be free at the end of his comic story.  The stories seldom conflicted.

 In my opinion, Templeton did an excellent job moving the comics past the conventions of the show.  His most recent Riddler tale managed the impossible; it was complicated and wildly entertaining, but showed a human side to a misused baddie who had long been regarded by those in TV as a simple 'gimmick villain'.  When using a character whose character is his mystery, such as the Scarecrow, Templeton showed the strength of will of Batman's greatest fan, a ten-year old boy.  The David vs. Goliath story was charming, and Scarecrow lost none of his cadaverous menace.

 The quality of the book, however, has been slipping in the last few months.  Rick Burchett, longtime animated-style artist, was obviously hungry for a new challenge.  His work was wonderful, particularly in the new style, but he had been pigeonholed and no creative person ever desires that.  He has since left.  The lack in distinction of the last while, I found, was not necessarily in the art but the design...many of his own designs for characters were simply unsatisfying.

 To Burchett's credit, his successors have not achieved his level.  Not only was Horace Pack, the true villain of "Bat Outta Gotham" a poorly realized and unthreatening little ogre, but the fight scenes with Man-Bat carried little punch.  It has always been interesting to see an artist do a set-piece action segment in one page, while animators have several minutes.  The best action in the book was the gimmicky but welcome two-page spread that opened the story, and ManBat's throwing Batman BACK through a window they'd both just exited.

 Will the Bat-Team carry on, or will we be stuck with simple stories that always feature two heroes and a villain?  It remains to be seen if the current writer and artist can match Ty and Rick...but judging from Ty's final Harley script, they don't have much of a challenge.  And that's too bad.

 So, with Poison Ivy on the horizon and the mysterious Lion Man and Prairie Girl on their way, the future is up in the air.  Now, don't 'Lion Man' and 'Prairie Girl' sound like aliases for other villains, a la Two-Face/the Judge?  Now, THAT would be a story...Killer Croc and Baby Doll return, only as nutty heroes...Ah, the good old days.

 Kelly Tindall
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AND THAT'S THE FACTS
(by "Reliable Source")

 (Yes, I understand that the title is grammatically incorrect. So sue us.  Actually, nix that. Don't sue us.)

 (DISCLAIMER:  For those of you who are not yet familiar, Reliable Source is an anonymous character who first surfaced on Batman: The Animated Message Boards, spewing forth ridiculous predictions about the future of Batman Beyond under the guise of spoiler warnings.  His controversial posts created quite a buzz, and have now landed him, at least at this moment, a temporary column with this newsletter.  The thoughts and ideas expressed by this character are in no way officially connected to Kids WB, Batman Beyond, this newsletter, or anything that is decent or holy.)

 Greetings, folks, it's your favourite reliable source, Reliable Source.  For those of you who took the time to read, you'll remember that last edition I offered some insight on the direction of the live action Batman franchise.  In light of that, I have been bombarded with questions from people who want to know, "what about the animated Batman Beyond movie?"  Well, don't worry, kiddies, that project is still definitely a go.  "So what can we look forward to seeing in it?"  I thought you'd never ask.  Here, at long last, are some answers.

 First of all, of course, everyone wants to know what happened to The Joker.  As it turns out, he and Harley Quinn did get married.  They had a daughter; she was named Melanie.  We will soon learn that this is Melanie from The Royal Flush Gang.  However, there will be a climactic scene in an upcoming episode where a geriatric Joker tells Terry, "Batman, I am your father."  That makes Terry and Ten brother and sister, which will lead to complications down the road.

 Joker eventually took his own life, when he realized he wasn't funny any more.  Harley then tried to settle down with The Riddler, who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic husband, and they quickly divorced.  Harley decided to try "Trick or Treating on the other side of the street," and found the forbidden "candy" of Poison Ivy to be much sweeter.  'Nuff said there, folks.  But because of the adult themes, this movie will be at least PG-13, if not R rated.

 Meanwhile, Blight returns, along with the much-anticipated ressurection of Mr. Fixx.  Since they were both sucked underwater and both exposed to the nerve gas, they bonded beneath the sea and are now two heads living on one body.  They call themself "Blixx."  Together they try to take over the world's dairy supply and ruin it with their horrible horrible hygiene.  There is one extremely disturbing scene where Blixx is swimming through a vat of milk, crying "this will do your body good, kiddies!"  Then one of the heads gets a milk mustache, and asks the other, "Hey, where's YOUR mustache?"

 Other surprises in store include what really happened to old favorites like Catwoman (she got a disease after getting a little TOO friendly with her cats and had to be put to sleep) and Penguin (he dropped the soap and was later beaten to death in prison).

 Our source also says not to be too surprised if some new characters show up.  "A lot of people really really really want to see a new Robin in the show," our informant said.  "We are listening, really.  We know the obvious choice is to have Bruce become Robin, but we think we will surprise people."

 In an unrelated bit of news, "Matty will be playing a much much larger role soon.  And it involves a costume with the letter R on it.  But that is all we are saying.  Don't read into it too much.  Maybe I said too much, can we have that last part stricken from the record?  Really, stop writing this down.  Hey.  Come on, stop.  I said stop, writing, you stupid..."  That was all we got, sorry.  I was then escorted off the premises.

 Next time, we'll discuss the wonders of the Hasbro toy lines based on our beloved Batman and B.B.  Questions?  Comments?  Concerns?  Send me e-mail at reliable_s@hotmail.com and tell me what's on your mind.  Stay tuned and, as always, more as I hear it.
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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.

 *YAWN* *BIG STRETCH* OK, I'm tired, forgive me. Here are some aimless ramblings of mine...have fun! Mwuhahahaha!

 176. Name the only two recurring characters on BTAS that have the same first name.

 177. Which villains that have appeared on BATMAN BEYOND have appeared outside of the "Batman Beyond" universe?

 178. Everyone knows that the BTAS version of Clayface is named Matt Hagen. Which of the six comic-book incarnations of this character has this name? The first? Second? third? etc?

 179. In which BTAS episode can an American flag be found?

 180. A character by the name "Germs" has appeared in a number of BTAS episodes; the voice actor for this character also provides the voice for another character on the series. Name this character.
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ANSWERS TO THE TRIVIA

 Answer to #176: HARVEY (Dent, Bullock)
Answer to #177: Mr. Freeze, Bane, the Royal Flush Gang
Answer to #178: The second mainstream-comic-book Clayface is named Matt Hagen. He's dead.
Answer to #179: House and Garden
Answer to #180: Charlie Collins
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