Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of February 14 - February 19/20, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "THANK YOU
FOR FINALLY AIRING 'LEGACY'!!!!"
____________________________
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
MAKE US LOOK LIKE FOOLS AND SEE YOUR NAME IN
PRINT!
Yeah, that's right. Over the past 55 issues, my
hasty editing procedures have always left not
just a few, but sometimes a whole horde of simple errors, grammatical
problems, untrue facts,
and whatnot. Just no typos - you've gotta be more creative than that! Here's
where YOU come in.
If you can find any mistakes in this issue (we're not purposely making
mistakes - any mistakes
you find will be ones we were too blind to see), we'll print your name in the
following issue
in a special column. Sound fun?
Come on. Make us look like idiots. We dare ya.
Grrrr.
-Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
the tremendously warped editor
____________________________
THOSE WHO POINTED OUT OUR FAULTS
RANDY MOISAN
EDDIE BEILES
KATHI HECKENLIVELY
SSS 979
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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in the near
future...
For synopses of all other upcoming second season
BATMAN BEYOND episodes, check out of
BTAN at this address:
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES air Mondays
thru Saturday; BATMAN BEYOND also airs on these
days. Check local listings each day for what show is on at what time.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 02-14-00:
Tue 02-15-00:
Wed 02-16-00:
Thu 02-17-00:
Fri 02-18-00:
Sat 02-19-00:
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 Noon on weekdays (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).
-YTV is moving BATMAN! BATMAN will no longer air
at 7:30am (ET). BATMAN will now air at 12 noon
(ET) Monday thru Friday. YTV is making their early morning shows all kid
oriented, and felt
that BATMAN did not suit that time slot.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 02-14-00: BTAS #22 Joker's Favor
Tue 02-15-00: BTAS #13 Cat and
the Claw (Pt. 1)
Wed 02-16-00: BTAS #16 Cat and
the Claw (Pt. 2)
Thu 02-17-00: BTAS #05 Pretty
Poison
Fri 02-18-00: BTAS #03 Nothing
to Fear
Sat 02-19-00: BEYOND #03 Black Out
Sun 02-20-00: BEYOND #04 Golem
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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:
To see the 52 episodes that the CARTOON NETWORK
does show, go to this link:
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!
_____________________________
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":
NOTE #1: 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 #2: You'll notice that in addition to our
usual review for BATMAN BEYOND, we have the
review of a SUPERMAN episode in this issue. Why? Well, LEGACY has been
anticipated for SO LONG
that we just thought we should cave in and give the Superman fans here a
moment in the sun.
Besides, we reviewed part one last issue, so it's only fitting that part two
is reviewed in
this one. Enjoy!
<BATMAN BEYOND>
FINAL CUT
Story by Hilary J. Bader, Alan Burnett
Teleplay by Hilary J. Bader
Directed by Butch Lukic
Animation by Koko, Dong Yang
Original airdate: February 5, 2000
My rating: ***1/2 (Out of five stars)
Curare returns with a vengeance. After
Batman stopped her from killing Sam Young (in A TOUCH
OF CURARE), the Society of Assassins demanded her death as her punishment.
She survived and
now hunts down the members of the Society of Assassins. The last one
goes to Gotham and plans
to get Batman's help to defeat Curare. But Curare is also after Batman.
This episode had plenty of action and a pretty
good storyline, too.
GOOD POINTS:
Curare is an exciting villain. She is
silent, strong, extremely agile, inventive, and deadly,
usually. In this episode, she outwits all of the other members of the
Society. Her final
weapon of choice is an effective mind-wiping capsule that explodes on contact.
The capsule
doesn't kill, but it renders the victim incapable of thought. It is
similar to a gas used in
the BTAS episode, "OFF BALANCE", where the Society of Shadows uses a
mind-wiping gas to prevent
its members from revealing the organization's secrets.
Tim Curry was an interesting villain as Mutro
Botho. It's too bad that Botho succumbed to the
mind-wipe.
It was a clever twist to the story to have a
member of the Society of Assassins to request
Batman's help in defeating Curare.
Since it was Bruce's secret, I was glad that Terry
did not have to tell Max who his "partner"
was. Max had already figured it out.
Max shows off her computer and investigational
skills.
Max's foray into Batman's world showed just how
unprepared she was, but she displayed the
occasional flash of talent that will undoubtedly result in her joining the
team officially.
Perhaps, she will ultimately serve in a capacity similar to Oracle in the DC
comics.
The final fight scene was thrilling and the use of
the museum artifacts added to the action.
Having a futuristic Batman defeat Curare using an old-fashioned catapult was
ironic and novel.
The final scene ended the story nicely.
Terry and Max make good partners.
The animation, writing, and acting all worked in
concert to provide tension and excitement in
this episode.
Bad Points:
Curare has apparently used the mind-wiping capsule
on other members of the Society of
Assassins, yet the last surviving members do not seem to be prepared for her
targeting them
with it, nor do they attempt to avoid being hit with the capsule. The
gas was very fast
acting, so perhaps no gas mask or antidote was feasible. But, why didn't
such athletically
capable men try to dodge the capsule? Curare only tossed it at them; she
did not shoot it from
any gun.
I can't imagine that with all of Bruce's money and
technology, he would ever be so completely
unreachable, no matter where he was. This is a Batman show; Bruce should
be in it.
Max hides behind a shower curtain to escape
Curare? I suppose that was meant to illustrate how
panicked she was, but it was still pretty foolish for such a clever young
woman. It's a minor
point, but she didn't even TRY to do anything after finding the window locked.
She could have
thrown shampoo in Curare's eyes and tried to get away, or pulled down the
curtain, thrown it
over Curare and then tried to get away. That cabinet under the sink
would probably have been
empty; she could have hidden there. Max was petrified with fear and any
action might have
caused Curare to kill her, so hiding in the tub works for the story. But
it makes an otherwise
strong character and possible costumed-partner look silly and helpless.
Terry lets Max do all the research for the
transmitter and bomb. She had to walk him through
simple mapping techniques to figure out where the bomb was. Surely,
Bruce would have taught
Terry this skill. She even had to explain why the Museum of Armaments
was a good place to hide
a bomb. Perhaps Terry was trying to make Max feel useful after messing
up his trap for Curare,
but it makes him appear somewhat stupid. Max could have acknowledged
that Terry was capable of
locating the bomb by himself, but he let her help so that she could make
amends for interfering
with his surveillance.
And, it's not really a bad point, just a question.
Curare's voice is credited to Melissa
Disney, but did she speak in the episode?
Reviewed by Zanna
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