Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of January 10 - January 15/16, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "IT'S AN HONOUR JUST TO BE
NOMINATED...oh, screw that, I'M HERE TO WIN!"
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
The results are in! After a week's extension on voting, the votes for the second annual GOLDEN OVAL AWARDS (yeah, it's no longer just known as the BTAN POLL AWARDS any more) have been tabulated. Scroll down just below the episode review section to read the results!
-Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
editor
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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in the near future...
'TERRY'S FRIEND DATES A ROBOT'
Batman Beyond #26
Air date: January 15, 2000
One of Terry's friends - Howard Groote - tries to impress the in crowd by dating a beautiful girl who is actually an extremely advanced robot. Things get out of hand when her programming goes haywire and she trashes his house before Batman can finally shut her down.
'EYEWITNESS'
Batman Beyond #27
Air date: January 22, 2000
Because Commissioner Gordon thinks he sees Batman involved with the untimely death of Mad Stan, Batman must run from the law. Fortunately, Bruce uncovers the truth and proves Batman to be innocent: the murder was a hallucination, engineered by Spellbinder.
'LEGACY (Pt. 1 & 2)'
Superman #44, 48
Air date: February sweeps, 2000?
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.
For synopses of all other upcoming second season BATMAN BETOND episodes, check out of BTAN at this address:
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan
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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 Saturday; BATMAN BEYOND also airs on these days. Check local listings each day for what show is on at what time.
http://www.batman-superman.com/batman/cmp/episodes.html
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/
http://www.ktla.com/backstage/programming/kids_framed.frm
THIS WEEK:
Mon 01-10-00: Superman #51 Superman's Pal
B-BEYOND #12 Disappearing Inque
Tue 01-11-00: Batman #93 Growing Pains
Superman #36 Warrior Queen
Wed 01-12-00: Superman #22 Speed Demons
Batman #72 Harlequinade
Thu 01-13-00: Batman #94 Love is a Croc
Superman #54 A Fish Story
Fri 01-14-00: Superman #42 Where There's Smoke
B-BEYOND #19 Hidden Agenda
Sat 01-15-00: Superman #53 Unity
B-BEYOND #26 Terry's Friend Dates a Robot ---------> 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 and BATMAN BEYOND 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 or 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 BATMAN BEYOND will air at 2:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. YTV has the rights to show all 109 BTAS episodes. They also have the rights to air the first 26 episodes of BATMAN BEYOND (all of season 1 and the first half of season 2).
THIS WEEK:
Mon 01-10-00: BTAS #85 Batgirl Returns
Tue 01-11-00: BTAS #87 Sins of the Father
Wed 01-12-00: NO EPISODE
Thu 01-13-00: BTAS #88 Cold Comfort
Fri 01-14-00: BTAS #89 Double Talk
Sat 01-15-00: BEYOND #06 Shriek
Sun 01-16-00: BEYOND #10 Dead Man's Hand
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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 either of these sites for the schedule:
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/batman-cn.html
http://homes.acmecity.com/animation/saturday/352/schedule.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: ALRIGHT! I've been messing up WHO is writing WHAT for this column for too long now. If you wanna see who's writing each review, just go to the bottom - they all sign it there. Sorry Zanna and Justin! I feel so foolish...agh...*HALF OF MY FACE BLUSHES*
NOTE: Since there are no new episodes to cover, I went back and inserted a copy of my review of YOU SCRATCH MY BACK from 1997. No real reason for it, aside from the fact that I've never reviewed it in this newsletter
until now.
-Tim
<BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES>
YOU SCRATCH MY BACK
Written by Hilary J. Bader
Directed by Butch Lukic
Animation by Dong Yang
Original air date: November 15, 1997
My rating: ***
This episode features the debut of the new character designs of two major staples in the Batman universe: Catwoman and Nightwing. Let me start off first by saying that I'm disappointed that Nightwing's origin episode came MUCH LATER than this episode (in "Old Wounds") - and there's still a lot to be covered. Oh well...you can't win them all. Joker and Penguin still don't have origin stories, either.
The show opens on the docks, where Nightwing is perched atop a building watching a shipment come in...much like how Batman would. You can instantly see the similaritiesbetween Nightwing and his mentor here. Batman and Batgirl show up, willing to lend a hand; Nightwing shuns them and es, and Batman actually lets a criminal get away, saying to
Nightwing, "He's all yours," in a sarcastic tone.
Nightwing has the same body structure as Batman, but no cape...an cyan-coloured eagle-type emblem is imprinted
on his chest, vaguely similar to Robin's symbol in *SHUDDER* Batman & Robin. He has a small pair of "wings" at the back of his costume which allow him to glide through the air. The only thing I don't like about this costume is his mask...it's just a V- shape piece of fabric which, when worn, make it look like he has no nose.
Instantly, we see Dick Grayson as an adult...as Jay Leno once said, "not Boy Wonder, but Guy Wonder", which he is...he has a grimmer tone of voice, yet still maintains the youthful edge he is famous for.
Following a lead, Nightwing arrives at the penthouse of Ricky "The Hook", (a Brazilian mobster, a Captain Hook wannabe) where he runs into Catwoman, who was also at the dock. Catwoman instantly becomes Nightwing's partner (even though she didn't talk it over with him) and they raid the penthouse, looking for the shipping schedules - because Nightwing knows that something major is coming into port soon.
Catwoman has changed a lot...she looks a lot like her
Batman Returns counterpart. In the old BTAS, Catwoman was tall and quite muscular...now, she appears to be very small (even smaller than Harley!) and slim (much like Michelle Pfeiffer), with a pale white skin complexion and no pupils in her eyes (like with Batman, Robin, and Nightwing's costumes). As for Selina Kyle, her hair is now black (the true Catwoman colour in the comics) and short (kind of like Mercy Grave's hairdo from the Superman cartoon), her eyes are darker, and her language and body motions are much more...seductive. She teases Nightwing on several occasions, and provides the viewer with a lot of subtle sexual stuff (much like Poison Ivy in Pretty Poison).
After they get the information they are looking for, Ricky's men find them and attack...'Wing and the Cat jump out the window and seek refuge in a swimming pool, before leaving. Batman is on their heels.
Batman then arrives at Selina Kyle's apartment, telling her to stay away from Nightwing. Selina argues that Nightwing is a big boy now, and he can do what he wants...then Nightwing comes in, and reitterates that fact. Batman is left out in the cold...or is he?
Nightwing and Catwoman arrive at the dock on the appointed night of the shipment from Brazil. They sneak onto the boat and search through the crates,
which contain priceless artifacts from Brazil. It was Ricky's plan to sell out his home country by stealing their heritage and making money off of it for personal gain. We soon see Catwoman smashing all the artifacts...
to find the Cat's Eye emerald...
Catwoman had placed the emerald inside one of the statues while in Brazil, to sneak it out of the country when she stole it...which is why she was so interested in the shipment the whole time...for HER personal glory...she was playing Nightwing for a sap the whole time. But then Batman and Batgirl arrive, and
Catwoman, feeling that Nightwing had let them go, does not understand how they got there...that's because HE set HER up. See? Tough to explain, but fun to watch. Then Ricky comes into things, and an all-out-brawl begins.
This episode ends far too quickly, which is a problem I've noticed with ALL the new BTAS shows...
but the relationships between Nightwing and Batman, Catwoman, and Batgirl are developed nicely. The dialogue is good, and Nightwing is a welcome addition to the BTAS family. Even Ricky "the Hook" had some cool stuff going for him...I wonder if he'll return? I also liked how Catwoman finally is a full-fledged criminal again, much unlike the majority of her roles in the previous BTAS episodes. The animation is great, too - the final act on the boat is given a hazy look to show the mist over the river...looks really cool! It's a fun show. Gotta see it!
