Batman: The Brave and The Bold Episode 45 - "Emperor Joker!"

Written by: Steven Melching

Directed by: Ben Jones

Original Airdate: October 9, 2010

Synopsis: The episode begins with a teaser entitled "The Rainbow Batman" (in color) under the banner of Batman's Greatest Cases. Batman is seen putting on a red (pink) Batman costume and, when questioned by Robin, tells him that he must wear a different colored costume every night. The show then cuts to the gold depository where Firefly is breaking into a vault, only to find the Dynamic Duo already inside. When he fires a red beam from his belt at the pair, Batman is able to deflect due to his costume being the same color. Not ready to come quietly, Firefly activates all of the colors on his belt and creates a rainbow creature. The creature has different colored beams each with their own power, using one of them to turn Robin into a two-dimensional state. Batman presses a button on his belt, transforming his suit into a rainbow one. Now impervious to the creature's beams, he punches it into little more than light and knocks out Firefly soon after.

The main story begins with the Ten-Eyed Man about to rob a jewelery store, when Batman speaks from above him. The fight barely begins when Bat-Mite pops into reality, advising Batman about the Ten-Eyed Man using Who's Who #23. Batman reminds him about his promise to stay in his own reality and then picks his fight back up, leaving Bat-Mite to continue reading the Who's Who entry. Bat-Mite eventually helps his hero by creating a cactus, which Batman throws at the Ten-Eyed Man, who catches it with predictably painful results. After Bat-Mite expresses wanting to see Batman in a fight worthy of the Caped Crusader, he takes Batman to his shrine of all of Batman's greatest battles with his arch-enemy The Joker. When Batman says he won't be battling the Clown Prince of Crime since he's in Arkham, Bat-Mite uses his powers to allow The Joker to escape.

Batman brings Bat-Mite along to stop Joker from robbing Gotham's Comedy Museum, albeit on the condition that the imp not use his powers. Bat-Mite agrees and gets the fight he was wanting, as Batman not only has to face off against The Joker, but Harley Quinn and four of The Joker's goons (with appearances that resemble silent film comedians). During the course of the fight, Bat-Mite becomes smitten with Harley Quinn, perhaps because they both feel that Batman and The Joker bring out the best in each other. Eventually, an exploding hand allows The Joker and his henchmen to gang up on Batman. While keeping his promise to Batman, Bat-Mite finds a loophole to help his hero by giving his powers to the Caped Crusader. Unfortunately, the transfer misses Batman and hits The Joker instead. While The Joker uses his newfound powers to subdue Batman with a giant boxing glove and force lightning from a joy buzzer, Bat-Mite is left to deal with a Joker-Mite created just for him.

After an impromptu musical number of The Joker celebrating the power he has gained, he sets off the equivalent of a "Mouse Trap" that appears to kill Batman. While The Joker at first mourns the death of his adversary, he brings Batman back to life so that he can kill him again and again, utilizing a giant beaker of acid, flamethrowers, sharks, and other scenarios. As for Bat-Mite, he has been reduced to a court jester thanks to Harley Quinn intervening on his behalf. Batman appears to beg for The Joker to stop killing him and take away his sanity instead, an idea that The Joker delights in and plans to go into Batman's head to do it himself. When he does, Batman outsmarts him by placing him in a world where Batman does not exist and therefore The Joker has nobody to match wits with and ceases to be who he is. Meanwhile, Bat-Mite and Harley Quinn team-up to take down Joker-Mite and the rest of Joker's gang. The episode ends with Bat-Mite returning the world to normal, The Joker left drooling from his encounter with Batman's mind, and Bat-Mite having his own arch-nemesis in the form of Joker-Mite.

Thoughts: Before I talk about the main story, I have to touch on the teaser segment. You can tell how aware the crew behind the show are when they turn the infamous "Rainbow Batman" cover into a cartoon. While it does not follow the plot of the story behind the cover, they created a new, more fantastical story that fits into the Silver Age mold. They even bring in other fifties era stories, as Firefly and his light belt debuted in Detective Comics #184 and the Rainbow Creature appeared in Batman #134. Even before the real story has begun, the episode has woven three stories together into a fun wink at the fans who know about them.

Of course, the main attraction is Bat-Mite in his second appearance in the series and it is another great one. As Bat-Mite is Batman's biggest fan, Melching takes that concept and applies it through the lens of the 21st century comic book fan. Not only does Bat-Mite read the Ten-Eyed Man's Who's Who entry, but he bags the comic and puts it into a longbox. He comments about how much he loves Batman's show, which refers to both that Batman: The Brave and The Bold is a cartoon and that Bat-Mite's observing Batman is like watching television for the imp. In his shrine to the Batman/Joker fights, he has replicas for the fifties story "The Joker's Utility Belt," as well as the more modern stories "The Laughing Fish" and "A Death in the Family." For the latter, Bat-Mite even asks Batman how he thinks Bat-Mite voted, calling back to the fan vote over whether Jason Todd would live or die. This playing up of the fanboy aspect of Bat-Mite is not a cruel jab, but rather gives comic fans an opportunity to laugh along with the show. But Bat-Mite's fanboyism is not the only interesting aspect of the character in the episode. I have to imagine that Bat-Mite's crush on Harley Quinn is a call back to Bat-Mite's crush on Batwoman in "Batwoman's Publicity Agent" from Batman #133. Bat-Mite's attempt at transferring his powers to Batman keeps the Bat-Mite story element of the imp's attempts at help causing Batman more trouble, while showing he respects his hero's wishes (even though Bat-Mite transferring his powers to Batman is a use of his powers). The Joker-Mite is a fitting concept that one would expect to see out of a Silver Age comic and Bat-Mite's defeat of him without his powers mirrors Batman taking down supervillains without being superpowered.

In contrast to the fun Bat-Mite elements are the darker Joker elements. In the series, the more harmless Silver Age Joker incarnation has been played up more than the homicidal clown. This episode, however, brings out the more murderous side of the character. While Batman is not shown dying, the episode leaves little to the imagination. When Batman is smashed by a giant hammer and crushed by a pair of walls on camera, and when he is beheaded by a guillotine off camera, there is no blood, but the sound effects emphasize what is happening. When Batman is drowned in the acid beaker, his skeleton floats toward Joker and a distraught Bat-Mite. While cartoony (down to a transparent angel Batman floating upward after his first death), the montage of Batman deaths shows how sadistic The Joker is and is pretty macabre for what is seen as a children's cartoon. Not that I am complaining mind you, as it is what Joker would do if he had potentially unlimited power (and did in the original comic storyline, albeit with Mr. Mxyzptlk's powers). Keeping with The Joker's character, touches of humor are added to the deaths. In the initial "Mouse Trap" death, Batman gets out of the spike filled coffin that will supposedly kill him, only for the trap to continue and the hammer to crush him. When Batman is about to be dropped in the beaker of acid, he starts to give an encouraging speech to Bat-Mite when The Joker cuts the rope before he can finish. The experience also shows that Batman's mind is so well disciplined that not only could he focus enough to come up with a plan, not only could his mind create a world that would show how The Joker's existence would have no meaning if Batman was gone, but that he could come out of dying multiple times still in possession of his sanity. By mixing the amusingly self-aware element of Bat-Mite with the morbid element of The Joker, the episode strikes a balance that allows Bat-Mite to shine and Batman's mental prowess to be examined.

Batman: The Brave and The Bold Episode 35 - "The Super-Batman of Planet X!"

Written by: Adam Beechen

Directed by: Michael Goguen

Original Airdate: March 26, 2010

Synopsis: Like the rest of the episodes, this one begins with a short teaser. Batman and Dr. Will Magnus are undercover (with Batman as Matches Malone), making an intergalactic weapons deal with Kanjar Ro. Their cover is blown, and Ro and his two goons start firing lasers, when Magnus makes a joke about a planet having moons when it in fact doesn't have any. Magnus throws his briefcase at their opponents, which turns into Iron and Platina who dispatch the goons. Magnus is then saved from laser fire by Lead acting as a pogo stick and Tin serving as a parachute. The battle continues with Lead knocking one goon over as a giant bowling ball, Gold (who served as gold teeth) punching another, and the previous goon slipping and trapped by Mercury. Kanjar Ro holds Magnus at gunpoint, but a well aimed batarang causes his gun to explode. The teaser ends with Magnus asking when they'll do it again, Batman responding with a resigned, "I'll be in touch."

The episode proper begins with Batman and Green Arrow in pursuit of space pirates who have stolen a valuable emerald. After a space battle between the heroes and aliens, the combination of one of the aliens' lasers and the Bat-Rocket's energy shield creates a wormhole. Batman is sucked in and crash lands on another planet with a futuristic city. He hears a scream from nearby, where a family is being robbed by a mugger in an alley. He throws a batarang at the mugger, which fortunately misses as judged by the large hole it creates in the nearby wall. He dodges the laser response by the mugger, but the criminal is stopped by a combination of martial arts and Bat-Radia waves by the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. The two Batmen meet and the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh welcomes his counterpart to the city of Gothtropolis. The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh receives a transmission from Chancellor Gorzon informing him that is arch-nemesis Rhotul and his robot army are attacking downtown, leading the two Batman to team-up to stop him.

When Batman leaves the futuristic Batmobile with his jetpack, Rhotul summons more robots to keep the Batmen busy. After stopping several robots with cables and batarangs, Batman discovers he has super-speed and super-strength when saving the reporter Vilsi. With his newfound powers, he easily dispatches the rest of the robots and stops the robot escaping with Rhotul with freeze vision. The two Batmen return to the Batcave of Zur-En-Arrh, when they discover through scientific testing that Batman has acquired super-powers do to an element in Zur-En-Arrh's atmosphere not found on Earth, rodon. The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh has to leave for his day job, which is (if you haven't guessed) as a reporter for the paper. While he's at the paper, Batman uses his super-powers to foil a bank robbery, punch an incoming asteroid to pieces, and defeat a giant alien monster.

While pacing around his cell, Rhotul deduces that Batman must be from Earth and that he does in fact have a weakness. Using a transmitter hidden on a tooth, he summons one of his robots to break him out. Back at the Batcave of Zur-En-Arrh, the two Batmen are discussing that there are still unknown aspects of Batman's powers when they receive an alert of Rhotul's robots attacking the city. Batman confronts Rhotul, but is sapped of his strength by a combination of rodon and quartz. Batman is about to be crushed, when the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh arrives in his spaceship to fight back. After crashing his spaceship, the two team-up to dismantle the rest of the robots. When Rhotul captures Vilsi, the combination of the batarang and Bat-Radia are enough to finish off the final robot. After the battle, Green Arrow arrives after figuring out how to create another wormhole and he and Batman return to Earth.

Thoughts: As "Batman - The Superman of Planet X!" is one of my all time favorite 1950s Batman stories, I was very excited when this episode was announced. At the same time, I wondered how they would expand upon the original story to translate it to a half-hour cartoon. While the episode does alter the original story, Beechen was able to stay true to it while also having the episode serve a secondary purpose. In the scene with the mugger, the family that is being held up consists of a father, mother, and son, in effect allowing the Batmen to to face a criminal resembling the one who killed their parents and prevent the creation of yet another Batman. The design of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is straight from the comic and a close-up shot on the Bat-Radia recalls a similar panel. The brief appearance of added character Chancellor Gorzon pays tribute to the artist of the original story by having him drawn in the style of Dick Sprang's Commissioner Gordon. Rhotul's robots, at first grey and then red, are also a perfect recreation of the threat in the comic, albeit with the addition of a mad scientist. We get to see more of the Batcave of Zur-En-Arrh, complete with alien parallels to the original's trophies and even a robot Alfred. The bank robbing aliens during the montage of Batman's super-heroics and the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh's rocket are taken from the story. In a final nod to Batman, the Caped Crusader is shielded from the equivalent of Zur-En-Arrh kryptonite by a spray from a can, recalling the shark repellent bat-spray from the 1966 Batman movie. As far as the Batman element goes, the original story was done pitch-perfect justice, with a few added touches.

As you could probably tell from the summary, the major change in the adaptation is to make the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh a combination of Batman and Superman without the superpowers. On one hand, the Superman elements could be seen as too on the nose, but they make sense with when the episode was produced. At the time, the show did not have the rights to use Superman, so making the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh also that planet's version of Superman to an extent allowed them to use facsimiles of the Superman characters. It also allowed for them to add a bit to the character of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. While the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is shown to be a little jealous at the attention Batman is receiving, it doesn't lead to anything petty; he keeps a cool head and proves his heroism when it is needed. It also raises questions about the Batman-Superman relationship; if Batman is at times jealous of Superman's powers and the great amount of good they can do. Batman's over-reliance, not corruption, on the powers also highlights how easy it is for someone to get caught up in having super powers and the control Superman has. The Superman angle is given another layer through the casting of voice actors from the DC Animated Universe cartoons. Kevin Conroy, most well known for providing distinct voices for both Bruce Wayne and Batman, plays the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, essentially having him play Batman and Clark Kent. Clancy Brown was Rhotul, a mad scientist in the vein of the Silver Age Lex Luthor in contrast with the businessman Lex Luthor he played in the DCAU. Rhotul adds an entertainingly over the top mad scientist element, giving personality to the robot threat. Dana Delany voiced the Lois Lane counterpart, perhaps the weakest part of the episode not due to Delany's voice acting, but because there was a bit too much emphasis on her as a lovestruck damsel in distress. While the addition of the Superman angle could have been too much, it was on the whole an effective addition to the original story.

Batman: The Brave and The Bold Episode 19 - "Legends of the Dark Mite!"

Written By: Paul Dini

Directed By: Ben Jones

Original Airdate: May 29, 2009

Synopsis: As with the other episodes of "Brave and The Bold," this one begins with a teaser seperate from the main story. Catman is seen in a jungle auctioning off a rare tiger in front of hunters, poachers, and a criminal chef. The bidding gets up to four million dollars when Batman swings down from a tree, knocking Catman to the ground. He quickly dispatches the assembled crooks and then finds himself having to deal with the tiger, released by Catman. With a whistle, Batman summons Ace The Bat-Hound from the jungle. Ace fends off the tiger, sending the once ferocious animal retreating to its cage, before barking Catman up a tree. Catman tells Batman to call him off, which Batman does, before giving Ace a bat shaped dog treat.

After the opening, the main story begins with Batman foiling a robbery at the bank. The two criminals give up as soon as they see Batman, when a voice tells them they're doing it wrong. The criminals are then animated to come at Batman with bags of money, then are joined by more criminals out of thin air with machine guns, and then all of the criminals become ninjas. Batman defeats all of these attackers before asking the voice narrating the whole time to show himself. Batman is teleported to another part of the city and the narrator reveals himself to be Batman's number one fan...Bat-Mite. After explaining more about himself and trying to change Batman's costmue, Bat-Mite tries to decide on a villain for him to fight and Batman tricks the Mite into choosing Calendar Man. Bat-Mite sees through Batman asking Calendar Man to take a fall and transforms him into Calendar King, who can summon armies of holiday themed characters.

Bat-Mite thinks Calendar King is going a bit too far with mutant Easter Bunnies and freezes everything to convene a Batman panel at a convention in the 5th Dimension over the validity of the mutant bunnies. One fan speaks up about how his Batman is a dark crime detective and this is not his Batman. The panel (composed of crew members from the show) agrees upon a reply for Bat-Mite to read, which says thus:

"Batman's rich history allows him to be interpreted in a multitude of ways. To be sure, this is a lighter incarnation, but it's certainly no less valid and true to the character's roots as the tortured avenger crying out for mommy and daddy."

After that, and agreement from the audience that the mutant bunnies are pretty scary, the fight continues, culminating in Batman decking Calendar King back into Calendar Man. Bat-Mite is about to decide what fun to have next when Batman convinces him to save his abilities for real crimes, with the help of an autographed batarang.

Batman returns to the Batcave and tells Ace about the pest he had to deal with. The appearance of a second Ace causes Batman to realize he's been talking to a transformed Bat-Mite, who transports Batman away to an alien planet intending to force him to be his plaything. Batman refuses to do so and sits on an otherworldly toadstool instead of fighting the various alien menaces Bat-Mite has thought up. Batman then eases Bat-Mite into the idea of a role reversal, with Bat-Mite acting as Batman and Batman narrating what happens to him. After defeating Gorilla Grodd, Bat-Mite finds himself in a scene paying tribute to the Looney Tunes classic "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery," with both well known and obscure villains chasing after him. Overwhelmed, he asks for Batman's help, who takes out the villains after playfully chiding Bat-Mite a little. Bat-Mite apologizes to Batman and returns him to his cave, who checks to make sure Ace is the real Ace before he relaxes.

Thoughts: I'm a fan of the Dark Knight as much as the next guy, but I'm also a fan of the lighter Caped Crusader as this blog attests. After the steady stream of darker media, it's nice to have a Batman cartoon that's just plain fun. One of the reasons I'm such a big fan of "Brave and The Bold" is because of how much it embraces its characters' Silver Age roots. Instead of playing them as parody, they're played straight with fun fully their intention. There are references peppered throughout the show, such as the use of the 1950's Batmobile in a flashback or Professor Carter Nichols when time travel's needed, but this episode is one for the fans from beginning to end.

Before I get to the easter eggs, let me give some thoughts on the episode itself. In a nutshell, this is the best episode of the show yet. Now I may be a little bias, but seriously, this episode has it all: Bat-Mite, lots of villains, fan easter eggs, and that fantastic convention scene. I was looking forward to this episode as it was featuring Bat-Mite, but then you have Catman and Ace The Bat-Hound in the teaser? Sold twice over. I had my doubts about Paul Reubens voicing Bat-Mite leading up to the episode's airing, but he was a great choice for the role. He put the perfect amount of fanboyism into the character and was able to shift Bat-Mite's emotions when needed. And speaking of Bat-Mite: easily the best modern interpretation of the character, considering the minor updates. It seems odd to hear Bat-Mite say "awesome sauce," but it works. Even Bat-Mite looking to make Batman his plaything fits, taking his wanting to see his hero in action to the extreme true, but it still fits. At his core, Bat-Mite in "Brave and The Bold" is Batman's biggest fan as he's always been. The convention in the 5th Dimension was a highlight simply for

PaulDini's breaking of the fourth wall to give a message to those decrying "Brave and The Bold" for its lightheartdness. And to top everything off, the "Great Piggy Bank Robbery" homage at the end is simply brilliant.

I'm not going to give away all of the easter eggs, but there are a lot for fifties Batman fans:

-During the scene where Bat-Mite changes Batman's costume half a dozen times, it changes to both Bat-Hombre's from Batman #56 and that of the Zebra Batman from Detective Comics #275.

-The 5th Dimensional Comic-Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror...& Tiddlywinks Convention in the episode is the 267th, a reference to Bat-Mite's first appearance in Detective Comics #267.

-The Rainbow Creature from Batman #134 can be seen on the alien world, and I wouldn't be surprised if the other aliens are from Batman comics.

-Bat-Mite turns into a Bat-Ape momentarily when going up against Gorilla Grodd.

-A couple of villains that appear during the Looney Tunes tribute: Polka-Dot Man, Killer Moth, Mr. Zero (that's right folks, they don't call him Mr. Freeze, they call him Mr. Zero), and, of course, Zebra-Man.

If you only watch one episode of "Batman: The Brave and The Bold," though you should watch the whole series, make it this one. From beginning to end, it's a fun tribute to the Silver Age and to Batman in general. And don't forget to keep your eye out for easter eggs! That's all for now folks.

More Fifties Related "Brave and The Bold" News

I've posted before about how great the "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" cartoon is, and I'll be able to give you more concrete evidence when I review the Bat-Mite episode this Friday. Until then, I give you some news from Comic-Con that made the fifties Batman fan in me want to shake the crew's hands even more:

Tucker later told us that the episode would be an adaptation of a comic where Bruce Wayne discovered that his father had also worn a Batman costume at some time in the past, before telling us that the show will also be adapting the Batman of Zur En Arrh comic from the 1950s, but shying away from the revisionist retcon from last year's Batman RIP.

"Brave and The Bold" Bat-Mite News 2: Electric Boogaloo

In an interview with Newsarama, Diedrich Bader, who voices Batman on the "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" cartoon, revealed that the actor providing the voice for Bat-Mite in an upcoming episode is...Paul Ruebens.

One future episode will feature the latest incarnation of Bat-Mite, with Paul Ruebens voicing the role.

“He’s hilarious,” says Bader. “He’s so perfect as Bat-Mite. The fanboys of the show are just going to go out of their minds because we mess with reality in a way that just hasn’t been seen on our show. Both the script and the animation goes completely out there.”

According to informed sources, this episode features many other appearances by major players in the DC Animated Universe. As to who? The joke’s too good to waste. Suffice that they are names you will automatically recognize though.

I'm not sure how I feel about this casting. Right now all I can think about is a Bat-Mite sounding like Pee Wee Herman, but I really doubt that'll be the case. With Paul Dini writing the script and the quality of the show, I expect this to be excellent.

"Brave and The Bold" Bat-Mite News

As you may or may not know, Cartoon Network has been airing a new Batman cartoon entitled "Batman: The Brave and The Bold". As opposed to the darker take on Batman in cartoons since the 90s series (greatest cartoon ever by the way), this one has a more light hearted, Silver Age slant to it. In the tradition of its namesake, each episode sees Batman team up with another hero, or group of heroes, against a new foe. Since before the first episode of the show aired, Bat-Mite was mentioned to make an appearance. At the Batman panel during last summer's San Diego Comic Con, we got our first confirmation from Paul Dini:

He's also returning to his animation roots, having written an episode of the upcoming cartoon "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," which he said during the panel will feature Bat-Mite.

In today's Newsarama interview with the show's producer, we got a little more information about the episode:

NEWSARAMA: I was also informed Bat-Mite is coming in the future.

JT: Definitely. You know what? It’s going to be terrific. It’s going to be a fan favorite. I predict that already. It’s a great looking episode. I don’t know if I can talk about who’s voicing the Bat-Mite just yet. It will definitely be a surprise. Then again, when you hear him, everyone will go, ‘of course!’

As the first half of the first season is ending this week and next with a two parter, it looks like the second half of season one is when we'll see the episode. I for one, can't wait. If you haven't seen the cartoon yet, I highly recommend it. Each episode is just an absolute blast. And since I'm on the subject of the cartoon, the two part finale I spoke of will feature an appearance by The Joker. But not just any Joker.

That's right, the Dick Sprang Joker.