Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Small Screen Specials, Series and Direct-To-Video
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GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » January 15th, 2010, 8:44 pm

Good news and bad news...

Entire episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold can be seen on the Cartoon Network website... http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/ ... index.html

If you have a decent broadband speed, it's not bad...

Unfortunately, a re-airing of the JSA episode hasn't been scheduled yet... but it will be re-aired and I'm sure eventually posted to the Batman:TBB section of the CN website.

On-site, they have the full-length cuts of "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure" and "Revenge of the Reach" to watch in Flash Video format. You can also download these episodes in 5 parts each if you have Safari (web browser) or a proper download program for FLV format.

"Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure" and "Death Race to Oblivion" (featuring a multitude of superheroes forced to race for their lives by Mongul) air this Saturday on CN between 1 and 2 PM EST.

Why the JSA episode wasn't scheduled to re-air this weekend, I have no idea, but it'll show up again. It was definitely one of the best episodes so far... "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure" is also one of the funniest of the series, too!

GeorgeC

Re: Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Post by GeorgeC » July 11th, 2010, 7:57 am

Batman: The Brave and the Bold is finally getting a proper Season set release! (August 17th, DVD-only.)

The bad news -- it's one of those half-season sets.

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Brave-Bold ... 773&sr=1-1



Also, new episodes of the series are not airing until fall. For the meantime, we have a summer of repeats airing ONE day per week!

Hopefully, the show gets more repeats than that when new episodes start airing again. A few of Season 2's episodes have already aired in Britain.

One future episode to look forward to is a Flash-centric episode featuring the main 3 Flashes: Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Barry Allen! The villain -- Professor Zoom aka Eobard Thawne aka The Reverse Flash. Guest voice? John Wesley Shipp (The Flash TV series, "Barry Allen") as Professor Zoom!

Between his psychological manipulations and unbridled ruthlessness and cunning, Zoom is more than enough for 3 speedster...

Jay Garrick has already been featured in two episodes in a speaking role and had a non-speaking cameo in another. Likewise, Barry Allen was seen in a flashback cameo in the episode featuring the Teen Titans.

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Post by Randall » July 11th, 2010, 2:06 pm

This show rocks pretty hard, in my opinion. And, even thought the new DVD set is only a Volume One affair, it is still two discs; keep in mind that the first season was actually quite lengthy, so a half-season of B:TBaTB is equal to a full season of The Batman or Teen Titans.

BTW, anyone wanting to stock up on the DC animated DVDs should look for sales on now. I just picked up Plastic Man and Ruby-Spears Superman for under $20, and each volume of Legion for under $10 at Future Shop. Other stores will be having similar promotions for DC's 75th Anniversary.

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » July 11th, 2010, 2:32 pm

The Flash episode is the one I'm really looking forward to.

Question is whether Wally IS a Flash in this one or still Kid Flash. I just hope we don't see another "Barry is dead" storyline or something like that.

There are times they should mimic current continuity and this is one of those times.

Nice to see they're bringing Shipp back for a guest-shot!

**********

As for the other non-DCUA shows, I dunno.

I saw Plastic Man back on Cartoon Network a few years ago and it wasn't so good. A definitive Plastic Man series has yet to be done... I'm not holding my breath because they don't get him right in comics now! The Spears Superman is one I have fond memories of and is tempting to buy.

I'm very likely to get the WB Fleischer Superman set even though I do have the two-disc sets of Superman I and II with the shorts on them. Those shorts are still by far the best animated version of Superman.

As simple as the stories were, they're really a better treatment of Superman by far than 90% of the comics that have been written with the character!


************

The Brave and the Bold is one of those shows that is so under-rated. It's really a great team-up/DC Universe primer in the disguise of a Batman show even though I like how Batman is treated in the series, too.

(Thank goodness this series has a sense of humor that doesn't get too campy!)

Bader's pleasantly surprised me as Batman and I for one love all the artistic and story homages to the Golden and Silver Ages of comics. It's probably the closest we'll ever see to a production Golden Age Batman series... (which would be neat in my opinion but given the narrow-mindedness of most fans I've encountered ain't gonna happen).

Eye candy doesn't get much better than this!

GeorgeC

Re: Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Post by GeorgeC » July 28th, 2010, 2:07 am

UPDATE on the Show --

A) A summer of reruns -- hardly anybody knows the show's still in production because it's either in reruns on Friday/Saturday or gets pre-empted by a special(!).

It's been criminally mismanaged by Cartoon Network since after the first 13 episodes aired;

B) The final 13 episodes are in production now. 52 will cap off this show... First Half-Season set debuts in August...

C) Lots of good info about the show and videos with two of the lead voice actors (Bader and DiMaggio aka "Bender") and the series executive producer, James Tucker...

The exchange between Bader ("Batman") and DiMaggio ("Aquaman") is very funny! Well worth enduring 15 seconds of commercial to see these guys discuss "show biz in the Cave"!

(Yes, there's plenty of implied sexual content there... Comic-Con is not for the weak of heart or people with young kids although the language doesn't dive in PG-13/R territory.)

Go to http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... /index.htm for the videos and highlights from Comic-Con.

D) Tucker confirms he's following up this series with yet another Batman animated series. Like we need another one of those???



And yes, Virginia, an All-Star Superman OVA is coming out next year in addition to an adaptation of Batman: Year One. Two very overrated stories IMHO.

Wouldda been nice to see something pre-1986 animated for a change!

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Post by eddievalient » July 30th, 2010, 9:10 pm

Personally, I'm waiting for an animated adaptation of The Long Halloween, my personal all time favorite Batman story. An adaptation of Kevin Smith's Green Arrow run would be nice too. So would Kingdom Come.
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GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » September 7th, 2010, 11:27 pm

New episodes of The Brave and the Bold return September 17th on Cartoon Network (USA) at 7:30 PM EST.

The show's been returned to the schedule but it's been reruns through the entire summer.

Expect some interesting team-ups (looking forward to the all-Flash episode)...

Scooby-Doo shows up later in one new episode.

No joke!

It's been a goofy show at times but still fun.

Something sorely lacking from most television now.

*********

Disappointed to hear the lack of extras on the Season 1, Pt 1 set of The Brave and the Bold but I'm not surprised. Should have done a mini-documentary or two, some kind of philosophy behind the series, and audio commentaries on a few episodes would have been nice...

I doubt this show and many others are going to show up on Blu ray any time soon.

Given the fact that it's a "thick-line" limited animation series I doubt hi-def would do much for it anyway.

I'm not too sore about the audio specs since most people don't even have 5.1 stereo sound. Unless it's built into TV sets, 90% of the people out there aren't going to buy it. Stereo is still effective most of the time when done right.

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Post by Randall » September 8th, 2010, 8:58 am

George is (I believe) referring to our recently-posted review:

http://animatedviews.com/2010/batman-th ... -part-one/

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » September 8th, 2010, 11:25 pm

Yeah,

The review is what I'm talking about in the second half of the post.

I had read somewhere else before not to expect extras on the set but to hear it confirmed is disappointing.

I also haven't seen the B & B set anywhere yet. I haven't gone as frequently as I used to for home videos but I'm surprised it hasn't popped even in casual snooping.

That's becoming more and more common with a lot of animation releases.

You can pretty much only count on Net stores for a bunch of DVDs now...

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » September 17th, 2010, 4:26 pm

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=28389


More on The Brave and the Bold series' upcoming finish.

28 more episodes to go starting with tonight's premiere at 7:30 PM EST, the first of a two-parter Starro Saga.

The producers of B&B discuss frankly how they snuck in some of the weirder DC characters and gave Aquaman a personality that wasn't a Sub-Mariner derivative.

It's sad the show has to end in 2012 but it's been a good run so far...

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » September 18th, 2010, 12:59 pm

MINOR correction for The Brave and the Bold...

Set your recorders to Fridays at 7PM EST this season.

CN moved the show a half-hour earlier for episode debuts.

The 7-9PM EST slot is all-action. Four different action/adventure shows, something in them for everyone...
Last edited by GeorgeC on September 18th, 2010, 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » September 27th, 2010, 10:01 pm

Holy Crisis, Batman! It doesn't look good for The Flash!

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... /index.htm

October 1st -- new episode, "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster"
Is he or ISN'T he ....? The other two speedsters, Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and Wally West/Kid Flash travel to the future to find Barry Allen.

October 8th -- The Doom Patrol and Batgirl guest-star in the opener. Glad to see my favorite DC redhead back in her classic black outfit!

October 15th -- Birds of Prey guest-star

October 22nd -- Bill and Ted's Most Dubious Adventure!
Err... Sorry, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle do the timewarp again!


October 29th -- The storyline, "Emperor Joker," gets adapted into an episode. Harley Quinn guest-stars.


There isn't an uninteresting episode in this bunch!

Definitely gonna tape the Flash episode and the rest.

Love the original Doom Patrol!

GeorgeC

Re: Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Post by GeorgeC » October 4th, 2010, 8:28 am

The Flash episode was great!

Not a single character was poorly cast. All of the Flashes were great, but Barry Allen and Professor Zoom/Reverse-Flash were particularly well cast.

IF an animated Flash film ever gets done, they have to bring back those voices.

It was really nice to hear John Wesley-Shipp as Reverse-Flash. He was very good in The Flash TV series 20 years ago but he really nailed Eobard Thawne (Zoom, R-Flash) in this episode. It was the right amount of menace and implied madness in the role. He wasn't a raving lunatic... just twisted evil and diabolically nasty. Perfectly in-sync with the latest comics portrayal of the character.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Zoom

(Read the following story arcs to get a handle on The Reverse-Flash -- Flash Vol. 3, issues 74-79, "The Return of Barry Allen"; Flash Vol. 3, issues 147-148, "Chain Lightning, Parts 3-4"; Flash: "Rebirth" limited series.)

Seriously, it was one of the better casting choices for a villain. I thought he was as good as Michael Ironside (Darkseid) or Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor).

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » October 25th, 2010, 11:50 pm

The episodes this past month have all been homeruns.

Excellent adaptations of comic book storylines and emphases on characters that have not been stars in their own shows.

This is easily the best Batman series since the '92-'95 classic and perhaps the the second or third best DCUA show, period.

I have appreciated each show for its spotlight and the characters have all been done justice. My favorite is still The Flash episode but they're all good.

The Doom Patrol episode showed why the DP was ahead of its time in the 1960s and really the only DC series that in my opinion was written as well as Marvel's best during that time frame. These were easily the most humanly realized DC characters of the 1960s and a flash-forward of the best X-Men stories to come in the late 1970s and 1980s. What stinks about the episode is that the writer(s) chose to resolve the end with an adaptation of the final original Doom Patrol story (of the 1960s run). I won't spoil it for everybody by blurting out what it was but it was poignant... it does mean that further DP episodes would have to be flashbacks.

The next episode (October 15th) was actually rescheduled. Instead, the Booster Gold/Blue Beetle team-up was run. I liked seeing the classic Steve Ditko Ted Kord Blue Beetle. If anything, it demonstrates the mistake DC made in killing off this character. He just plays off really well in the B & B universe. A very fun character. Another poignant story where the ending is inevitable. A fond farewell to a character ill-used by DC...

The Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle (also featured in B & B) is a symptom of a well-intentioned but horribly executed policy by DC editorial/management to introduce ethnic characters at the expense of 30-40 year-old established characters. It's just a bad policy and no matter how well a new character is written, it's just not going to take out the bad taste left by offing old characters in sensationalized storylines. You would think after 10 years of bad GL storylines, the revitalized Hal Jordan character, and the messes made of Firestorm and the Charlton characters in general that DC would learn... but no, identity politics for a few disgruntled comic book fans at the expense of fans who loved the previous character incarnations. There is NO WAY the new Blue Beetle, new Firestorm, or new Question will replace the previous versions. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

************

October 22nd featured an adaptation of "Emperor Joker". For those familiar with the original comic storyline, this ain't it. For one thing, it's focused on Batman, NOT Superman. There's no Bizarro in this story. It's all about Batman, Joker, and Batmite. And it's probably much better written than the Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuinness storyline.

It also featured the introduction of Harley Quinn into the B & B universe. Here, she's dressed like a 1920s flapper with white and black make-up to match. Her skin and hair are white to match with black eyeliner and lipstick. She doesn't wear her traditional harlequin outfit at all in the episode. (Batmite gets forced to wear that outfit by Joker at one point.) Her voice actress is also someone new. Still, it's a better introduction than what she got in the mainstream DC Comics.

There are lots of visual references in this episode, too. Unlike the past '97-'99 Batman animated series where the Joker's goons were based off The Three Stooges, the new goons were based off of Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Oliver Hardy! Also, a "Joker-mite" was introduced in the episode who's a caricature of the 1989 Jack Nicholson Joker.

*******

Again, this is a fun series. It's criminal how it gets no promotion whatsoever from Cartoon Network anymore. There is no network support for the show in ads whatsoever. There are also no more reruns unless they run out of never-aired finished episodes to run!

It's easily better than most of what airs on CN during the week, still better than Clone Wars, Generator Rex, or Symbionic Titan IMHO.

Sure, there are toy tie-ins to this, but there's a lot of love poured into this series and it shows. There's hardly been a bad episode and the crazy characters featured are among the most fun to watch, too! It's also a rare animated series where I can honestly say I don't mind seeing Aquaman, either. He's the most fun he's been in decades and I don't feel like I'm watching a Marvel rip-off (Sub-Mariner) when he shows up.

GeorgeC

Re: Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Post by GeorgeC » November 12th, 2010, 8:41 am

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... /index.htm


"Cry Freedom Fighters!" (7 PM EST) is tonight's episode of The Brave and the Bold.

As the series continues into its final lap, the guest-star slots continue to be filled by classic characters featured in animation for the first time! Tonight, Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Doll Man, Black Condor, the Ray, and the Human Bomb team up with Batman and Plastic Man to stop an alien invasion of their Earth! Whether this means classic Earth-X or Batman's Earth I don't know, but the characters look great in the preview images!

The November 19th episode, "The Knights of Tomorrow," features Dick Grayson as Batman in a future where Bruce Wayne has retired and fathered a son, Damian, with Catwoman. Damian must decide whether to pursue his father's legacy (beginning as Robin?) or not when The Joker returns!

This show just isn't letting up yet... Great stuff for Golden and Silver Age DC fans!

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