Rating:  -
When Warner Bros. ordered 24 new episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (BTAS) in the Fall of 1995, it was as if the prayers of one million heroine addicts were all at once answered. Creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm and our entire crew of suppliers were back on the streets. As much as that promised, however, The New Batman Adventures (TNBA) didn't prove the ultimate fix. What we got instead was two short seasons of a very mixed bag.
Now, I'd like to point out here that, invariably, within any artistic medium, things change. Sometimes the change comes from maturity and growth, and other times it comes from simply the need to be different. Since the original BTAS was, as a whole, near perfect; I have a fair bet that with TNBA, the change came out of the latter.
The biggest and most obvious change was the character modeling. Gone now were the rounded, asymetrical shapes reminiscent of traditional Art Decco traded in for a more angular and squeaky-clean approach. While some characters made the transition without too much tweaking (e.g. Harley Quinn, Commissioner Gordon and even Batman himself), others were completely re-designed. For some of the characters, this was an improvement. For others, it was a catastrophe which still makes me cringe.
Let's start with the successful make-overs. Catwoman looked great. Her new jet black outfit and ghost white eyes (like Batman's) made her more of a symbol rather than a thrill-seeker in a kitty suit. The new Selina Kyle looked great, too, and was modeled after the regular Batman comic continuity as a short-haired brunette. Poison Ivy worked just fine and was also made more true to her comic book persona with chlorophyll saturated skin and eyes. Batgirl, though not a drastic change, looked much better with a sleek new figure sans the baby fat (in fact, they made her a down right babe). Scarecrow, although I thought his second manifestation in BTAS was just right, was made even more frightening with more ghoulish features and a noose around his neck.
What didn't work? JOKER. Why in God's good name they did what they did to the Clown Prince, I'll never truly know. They basically took a wonderfully complex and expressive character model and turned it into a bad cartoon. In fact, the lipless, beady-eyed, three-color shadow of his former self never looked worse, on ANY medium. I'd even take the vintage model of the Joker featured on "Legends of the Dark Knight" over the TNBA version. My God, man... I'm getting worked up just writing about it. If Bruce Timm's goal was to simply make the Joker easier to draw and animate (perhaps to sacrifice quality for consistency) then he surely succeeded. And not even Mark Hamill's brilliance could overshadow this sad fact. Luckily, since most of the Joker episodes were bad anyway, nothing huge was lost... with the possible exception being "Mad Love". Now, with that said, it seemed a lot of fans were able to get over the Joker's new design. I simply could not. And the fact that the Joker's model was changed again for the Batman Beyond movie is testatment that Dini and Timm knew they had made a mistake (see my brief mention of ROTJ below). Freeze and Penguin were other failures, and don't even get me started on the Riddler. I would, however, like to mention Scarface, another model that suffered a terrible transformation (not so much the Ventriliquist as the puppet itself). Once again, all previous animated brilliance was traded in for a block character I could practically draw myself. As with the Joker, however, no big loss considereing how sacharrine and stupid was the one Scarface episode.
So let's talk about some episodes. Right at the outset I'd like to say that half of the episodes aren't even worth mentioning. The rest have varying degrees of good and fall into two categories: those with heart and those with a fast enough pace to thoroughly entertain. Are there a few awesome five star episodes? Yes, but only a few. "Over the Edge", "Old Wounds", and "Growing Pains" are excellent. "Mean Seasons" also comes to mind with a great one-off villian. "Mad Love" would also qualify if it weren't for the half-ass Joker. Those episodes all have true heart and are delivered with the fervent zeal we came to expect from BTAS. The best of the rest would be the well animated and action-packed episodes like "Holiday Knights", "Cult of the Cat", "You Scratch My Back" and "Girls Night Out" (a surprisingly fun team-up of Batgirl and Supergirl versus Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Livewire).
TNBA did cover some new ground and the first thing you'll notice watching just about any episode is that Batman himself is colder and darker than in BTAS. This serves as both a blessing and a curse. It's cool that Dini and Timm were able to explore a Dark Knight more in line with that of Frank Miller or Jeph Loeb. And on that note, episodes like "Never Fear" and "Old Wounds" go about as far as they could go in an animated network TV show. On the downside, however, is the fact that this leaves the supporting cast of characters -- namely Batgirl, Robin and Nightwing -- to make up for all that lack of heart. Nevertheless, I have to say it works only because Batman would, in truth, harden over time.
Which brings me to the now infamous flashback sequence in the Batman Beyond movie, The Return of the Joker. For those of you not familiar with the Batman Beyond animated series (or if you just never cared to give it a go like me... until recently), it makes no difference. Halfway into the movie, TNBA fans (and BTAS fans, for that matter) get a special treat. Dini and Timm decided they'd show us the final battle between Batman and the Joker in the regular timeline. And, man... is it AWESOME. Remember my rant earlier about how bad the new Joker model looked? Well, guess what? They got it right! If this had been the Joker that was featured in TNBA, I would have shed tears of joy. Suffice to say, you just have to see it. But make sure to see the UNCUT version of the film. The studio version is not at all the same and was toned way down for the kiddies.
I've included a very brief episode guide. (You can see more of my reviews at IGN under the username Lendell Prime.)
Season 1
"Holiday Knights"
Though more of a novelty, a lot of effort went into this episode. The Harley and Ivy segment alone is worth it.
"Sins Of The Father"
Not a lot of effort went into this Two Face episode.
"Cold Comfort"
The name says it all. A perfect example of when you run a character concept right into the snowdrift.
"Never Fear"
A unique romp into Frank Miller territory. I guarantee Dini and Timm had fun with this one.
"You Scratch My Back"
Some great Nightwing and Catwoman ass-kicking here. Cool episode overall.
"Double Talk"
Just a thousand shades of aweful, especially compared to the excellent couple of Scareface episodes in BTAS.
"Joker's Millions"
If you're into old school fie-diddly-dee Joker (like pre-Killing Joke) then you might like this episode based on a vintage Joker tale. Otherwise, Joker's Millions is ridiculous and has no place in the current Batman continuity (sorry, all you old school purists ;-)
"Growing Pains"
One of the few TNBA stories with real heart and a great Tim Drake episode.
"Mean Seasons"
Deliciously dark, this episode has the kind of substance we came to expect from the original BTAS.
"The Demon Within"
Let's just say... interesting. I actually dug the shapeshifting werecat (if only Catwoman could fight like that!)
"Over The Edge"
Awesome. Bane fans will have an added treat.
"Torch Song"
Uh... next.
"Love Is A Croc"
This episode is a crock.
Season 2
"The Ultimate Thrill"
I was thrilled to hit STOP halfway through.
"Critters"
So terrible that Timm and Dini thought they'd do a commentary to redeem themselves. What a waste of a special feature.
"Cult Of The Cat"
Another good Catwoman episode. She's two for two in TNBA.
"Animal Act"
Not bad. Some good Batman/Nightwing stuff here.
"Old Wounds"
My second favorite episode next to "Over The Edge". Tells the story of Dick Grayson's departure from Batman. Good stuff...
"Legends Of The Dark Knight"
Just some old campy fun (if you're into that sort of thing).
"Girls' Nite Out"
I really enjoyed this episode. And I'm actually glad that TNBA relegated Ms. Quinn back to her subservient origins. After "Harley's Holiday" in BTAS, there was really nowhere left for her character to go (she sort of fulfilled her autonymous arc). Let's face it, Harl, you work best as either the Joker's hench wench or as Ivy's girl toy.
"Chemistry"
This wasn't such a bad episode. Ivy's ploy turns out to be quite clever. Oddly enough, the only thing that really doesn't work here is Kevin Conroy's voice acting. Bruce Wayne is way too cold in this episode. But check this out... it's only one of two episodes ever where a supervillian may have actually met her maker. In the finale, Poison Ivy is swept out to sea during a massive explosion, Batman is unable to rescue her, and there is absolutely no reason or indication to make the audience think she survived from potentially drowning.
"Judgment Day"
Ahh... so we do get one good Two Face episode! And this is the other episode where a supervillain gets it!
"Beware The Creeper"
I can't understand why so many Batman fans embraced this one. It's completely ridiculous. And, yet again, the Joker is about as menacing as his Three Stooges henchmen. The most enjoyable thing about this episode is watching Harley continuously reject the advances of a man who's actually crazy about her.
"Mad Love"
If the new Joker doesn't bother you , there's a lot to like here. Hamill does some of his best work and Sorkin is much more understated than usual (though not really to my liking). As brilliant as the graphic novel was, and as faithful as this adaptation tries to be, it never quite gels. Still, some great stuff, and I especially dig the scene between Harley and Batman over the fish tank.
Rating:  -
This volume isn't as good as the first three, but at least it ends the original series. There are a few changes that I can't really say I like.
The graphics are considerably different, they seem to be cheaper. The original Robin is a new hero, but there is still a Robin who fights alongside Batman. Bottom line, it's not all that bad.
Rating: -
Batman: The Animated Series is a great show in its own right. The New Batman Adventures (Volume 4) is good, but not really that spectacular.
For one thing, the animation has been changed, so that it looked similar to the Superman animated series that ran along with it. Some parts of the animation has improved, but the redesigns of the characters can't cut it. I hate the way the male and female anatomies are in stark contrast: the men are tall and muscular, and the women are short and skinny. In BTAS there were hardly any contrasts between men and women. Is it because boys these days prefer their girls shorter and skinnier than they are?
And it's not just the anatomy, it's the villains as well. I really don't like what they did to the Penguin. I mean, Burton's re-imagining of the character made him more interesting. I enjoyed his presence in BTAS. But here in TNBA, he's back to the traditional comic book look. I do respect the comics, but the Penguin now looks very dull. I prefer his more bird-like appearance. Next, there's the Mad Hatter. In BTAS, he was of average height. But here he's now a midget. I don't have anything against midgets really, but here the Mad Hatter now looks like a stereotype of the typical Disneyesque Mad Hatter we have in our minds. Catwoman here is shorter and skinnier, and her white eyes really ruin it. She looks more of a weakling here than in BTAS. The Riddler's green suit and bowler hat have been replaced with a green jumpsuit. Why? He looked way more intelligent when he had that business suit on. Why take it away from him? Oh, and let's not forget about the Joker. His red lips are gone, and his eyes are more cartoonish. He looks less threatening in "Joker's Millions" and "Beware the Creeper" than in "Joker's Favor" and "The Laughing Fish."
But not all redesigns are bad. Clayface, Two-Face, and Harley Quinn somewhat stay the same. Killer Croc looks and sounds more humane, while Bane still has that killer appearance. The Scarecrow is now more frightening than ever, though I do miss Dr. Jonathan Crane, who dons the mask in BTAS. Mr. Freeze is sorta . . . meh.
As for our heroes, they're not all bad, except when it comes to Batgirl. She's in too many of the episodes, and she's sometimes annoying. And so is Timothy Drake as Robin. The creators must've created him to appeal to younger folks. He won't work well with older viewers. I can tolerate the fairly cleaner appearances of Comissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock, and Officer Montoya, though Gordon looks a lot weaker here.
The episodes themselves are somewhat mixed. "Growing Pains" and "Never Fear" contain high suspense, while "Critters" and Love is a Croc" can't live up to BTAS episodes like "On Leather Wings" and "Mudslide". "Girl's Night Out" is just flat-out irritating. "Beware the Creeper" is rightfully entertaining as The Creeper falls for Harley Quinn. Episodes with Nightwing/Dick Grayson are great as well. "Over the Edge" ranks with the classics.
The New Batman Adventures really is a weak point in the animated series. But it's not as bad as the horrid new series called "The Batman."
Rating: -
I love Batman TAS but The New Batman Adventures is just not as good. So lets just get to the point. The new batman adventures takes place in the same continuity as Batman TAS so just think of it as a sequel to Batman TAS. There are 24 episodes in this volume. I only enjoyed 13 episodes out of the 24. The 11 eleven remaining not so much, because either they were disappointing or just plain awful. Some bad episodes are, Critters, Beware the Creeper, Mean seasons, and the list goes on.
I was really disappointed by some of the joker episodes. I'm sure they're good episodes but I just hate how the joker looks. Those stupid eyes that he has, what were they thinking? This is a Batman show, not Animaniacs. The fact that the joker looks stupid pretty much ruins most of the joker episodes for me. I just can't take him seriously, he looks like one of the animaniacs or something. BAD redesign.
There were too many joker episodes in this volume and just too many average episodes. There's no Riddler episodes which is a shame. They could of made two riddler episodes and replace some crappy episodes. Another catwoman episode wouldn't of hurt. More Nightwing would of been cool.
Anyways there is some GREAT episodes in the volume like , Legends of the Dark Knight, Over the Edge, Old Wounds, You scratch my back, Cult of the cat, and a few more.
So this box set is pretty much a mixed bag. You have your GREAT episodes but then you have a few god awful episodes, some average episodes and some descent ones. I still want to buy this volume, believe or not, simply because I really love some of the episodes included here, especially the ones with nightwing. I already own Batman TAS volume 1-3,and I'm willing to buy volume 4, but it will be for the right price.
Rating:  -
IVE SEEN DRAWING BY MONKEYS THAT HAD MORE DEPTH. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE DAYS OF REAL ANIMATION LIKE WICKED CITY GHOST IN THE SHELL 8MAN. HELL EVEN LOONEY TOONS .WHATS WITH ALL THIS SAMURI JACK STYLE????? IF YOU CANT DRAW SEMI PHOTO REALISIM THAN DONT BOTHER BECOMING AN ANIMATOR DO THE WORLD A FAVOR AND BECOME A PASTERY CHEF LIKE YOUR ANCESTORS.
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