Batman: The Brave and the Bold -- Fall of the Blue Beetle.

[strredwolf]

In my now rare viewing of Cartoon Network, I watched my first episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold with the voicework of Wil Wheaton as the Blue Beetle (assuming Ted Kord).

Some say this has mixes of Adam West and Frank Miller.  I didn't see that.  It has none of the campiness of the Adam West Batman and the only grittiness that highlights Frank Miller's work is the voice acting on Batman himself.

The storyline needed work, like there was something cut out.  It could of been an easy hour-long.  Only the Ted Kord Blue Beetle flashbacks were any good -- I want more of that and some better tweaking of the glue between them.  This is below the Paul Dini level animated series (or Batman: The Animated Series aka Batman TAS).

The artwork also needs improvement.  Batman's face isn't a flat LED screen! You should indicate depth, or never NEVER make him go face-on until you can.

And finally, I can only guess that since they're bringing everybody in the DC universe, this is a Justice League centered around Batman.

It's not an absolute failure, but it's got annoyances.  It's got flaws.  And unfortunately, those flaws make it fall below Batman TAS, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited; however, it's above Adam West's campy Batman.  Thankfully, it's got enough to float -- the previous attempt by Cartoon Network to do a Batman was the Jackie Chan Adventures style The Batman (which can be summerized as The Crapman).

Watchable?  Yeah.  Addictive?  No.  This hook's bait is half baked.

Edit, s/Cord/Kord/

Comments

[pegasus316.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll disagree with you on a few points.

It's an art style choice. How they depict him is closer to the 1950's Bob Kane version, but with a much grittier tone than the 50's version. I wouldn't say this is a Justice League version of Batman, though, as the League's never mentioned. It's just Batman Team-Up. And, it's a chance to bring to light characters that either haven't had much exposure, or have never had exposure at all. Blue Beetle's a good example of that.

I DO agree that the show's a bit stilted. But, let's face it, what show HASN'T had at least a LITTLE trouble getting off the ground? (You can't use either Justice League or JLA: Unlimited because they were already using several pre-established characters.) In my opinion, it at least deserves a second season. What's watchable now may very well BECOME addictive in it's second season. :)

As for the previous Batman series, with the Dani Miki character designs, I was definitely willing to give that one a shot, too. The first season was okay. But, like a lot of other Batman renditions, the villains were all very cliche the first time around. But, by the second season, things got interesting. It's too bad they took it off the air. (That wasn't a Cartoon Network series, though. It was Kids' WB first. ... At least it was around here.)

All of that aside... Friday nights at 8:00 are now officially "Wolverine and the X-Men" nights for me. Saw the first two episodes. And, while aspects seem a little slow in coming, they didn't even bother with any real exposition. They just went straight for the story. That's a plus in my book. ;)

Not to mention, Steve Blum does a GREAT job voicing Logan.

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

I can't really say it's close to the 1950's comic book style (which also conveyed some depth -- shouts out to scans_daily). It's just that 99% of Batman's face time showed him with a flat-monitor face.

Now, I can't say it needs another season or not given this is the first and most likely only time I'll see it. If they can refine it down and not look like the rough edges of Win Vista in comparison with Win 7, then give 'em another season. How many seasons did Batman TAS go for?

[pegasus316.livejournal.com]

It's tough to say with TAS, 'cuz it went through so many permutations from one season to the next. For a while it was "Batman: TAS:", then it was "Batman & Robin Adventures", then it was just "Batman", then "The Batman/Superman Hour". (Granted, that last one was treated more as a programing block, not a show in and of itself.)

I'm pretty sure it was at least 5 seasons, though. The whole series is out on DVD, though. Gonna be picking that one up eventually.

I know what you mean about how they render him in "Brave & the Bold". But, that's a style choice. You're right, it does look flat. But, it's definitely a throw-back to that McCarthy-era, sterilized Batman design. The difference being that this is probably what that Batman would have been if the Comics Code Authority hadn't been so strict in those days.

A lot of people didn't like the Max Fleischer-influenced style they used for TAS when it first came out, either. But, again, it all comes down to personal tastes. :)

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

Crouching Batman hidden campiness?

Thus my observation that this is very much like Batman TAS.

[xerhino.livejournal.com]

You're lucky you didn't see the Green Arrow episode. The action was good for a cartoon and the arrows were good (though an extra boxing glove arrow never killed anybody, hehe). The coloring and shading left something to be desired. Similar to your comment, many things seemed conspicuously 2 dimensional.

But the character development, that was terrible. Green Arrow has always been one of the more philosophical characters. Not this time, however, since his entire personality was "competes with Batman". Seriously, it was the Legolas-Gimli kill-point counting scene, but without the personality, though the entire episode. A taste would have been ok, to use it as the only character content was a bit like baking a cake using only salt.

Still, my kids seemed fine with it and are excited when it comes on (4 and 8 yrs old), so they've got a target group watching. I just wish they could have taken the extra time to make it interesting for both adults and children.