Episode Title: “Night of the Huntress!”

Original Air Date: May 8, 2009

Last week we were “treated” to a Sherlock Holmes story, this week we are taken on a brief foray into Camp. Camp has been a solid part of the Batman mythos ever since Adam West donned the cowl in 1966, this week we get to see what kind of camp The Brave and the Bold’s Batman can serve up (one would hope with a side of cheese)

The teaser has Black Canary teaming up with Gotham favorite son to take down the undead Solomon Grundy, who appears to have taken on a gangster persona. Black Canary primarily uses Grundy’s own dimwittedness as a weapon against him, with a little help from her distinctive canary cry.

The story proper begins with proper begins with Jaime Reyes and his obnoxious pal Paco on the Campus of Gotham University for a tour. The teenage pair reveal that they are far more interested in the ladies of Gotham than education when their tour guide, Helena Bertinelli (the alter ego of the Huntress), arrives. Just a few minutes into the tour a notification of a prison escape flashes across a nearby television screen, and Bertinelli and Reyes both excusee themselves to become the Huntress and Blue Beetle (unbeknownst to one another). At Blackgate Prison the ridiculous criminals Babyface and Mrs. Manface are breaking out their old gang members Polecat Perkins, Hammertoes, Skeleton Keyes, and Tweedledum & Tweedledee. Batman arrives to thwart the escape, but is overcome by the villains’ superior numbers when Huntress and Blue Beetle arrive to help even the odds. In the ensuing melee the trio of heroes manage to restore order to the prison, but fail to prevent Babyface and his crew from escaping. Beetle is immediately smitten with, as well as distracted by, the beauty of Huntress, but our trio of heroes press on to investigate exactly what Babyface’s shenanigans are all about. An interrogation of the basement dwelling criminal the Calculator reveals that the nefarious gang of escapees are planning to steal a secret cache of impounded super weapons in order to become Gotham’s pre-eminent crime family. The heroes confront the bad guys just after they have stolen various mechanized battle suits, and powered up combat ensues. In the fracas Blue Beetle has to be bailed out of repeated jams because he is too busy leering at Huntress to pay attention to the fight going on around him. Ultimately Beetle’s inattention leads to the protagonists capture and placement in a giant hourglass themed death trap. Just like Adam West did before him, Batman manages to escape the tedious yet lethal conundrum. As Babyface and company crash the annual summit of Gotham’s crime families, Batman and his fellow heroes show up for a third round of battle with the criminals. Batman reveals that the Batmobile transforms into a mecha-bot and he takes on Babyface directly. Blue Beetle resolves to stop acting like a lovesick puppy and activates his suit into battle-mode. Eventually our heroes are victorious, and Huntress teasingly tells Beetle to call her in 5 years. Blue Beetle wonders if she’s sincere, but Batman warns he’s got no chance.

I am a big fan of campy stories, shows and movies, but camp can be difficult to do well, and particularly difficult to do intentionally. For the most part, this episode does a pretty effective job. The villains are made up of a rogues gallery that would be right at home in an old Dick Tracy strip, with quite literal names that describe their ludicrous deformities that only sometimes enhance their effectiveness as criminals. Huntress is a good character to pair with Batman as well, a fierce anti-heroine with roots in the criminal world who works well as a slightly more noble surrogate for Catwoman. The biggest flaw of the episode to me is Jaime Reyes, he seems to be showing up entirely too often in the series as if the creators are going to force the viewers to like him regardless of their natural inclination. Taking a character that I already am not particularly fond of and portraying him as a drooling, lecherous bag of hormones only succeeds in persuading me to like him even less. There is plenty of opportunity for humor in an episode with bad guys named Babyface and Mrs. Manface without throwing in an enamored teenager, and honestly objectification of women isn’t a particularly noble source of laughs in any situation. Overall, there was enough fun in this episode to make it worth watching, but I would only consider it slightly north of the middle of the road.

Featured Characters: Black Canary (Kanigher & Infantino, 1947), Solomon Grundy (Bester & Reinman, 1941), Blue Beetle (Giffen, Rogers & Hamner, 2006) and Huntress (Cavalieri & Staton, 1989)

Episode Title: “Menace of the Conqueror Caveman!”

Original Airdate: May 15, 2009

There was a time in comics when post-modern, self aware heroes were very popular, and one of the best of them was Booster Gold. This episode gives us a nice big dose of Booster with a good mix of humor, action and morality. Does it work well in this series? Read on to find out.

The teaser begins with Batman calling in the elder street hero Wildcat to help apprehend a bad Guy. Wildcat initially chides Batman for bothering him during his evening exercise routine for such a skinny perp, but the diminutive villain reveals himself to be Bane with a shot of venom that causes him to grow to an imposing size. The two heroes have their hands full with the Latin American menace, and just as he has Batman suspended over his head, seemingly intent on delivering a back breaking blow, Wildcat takes him out with some golden age vigilante justice.

The story proper opens with the time traveling,corporate minded superhero Booster Gold pitching a line of toys in his likeness (along with the help of his computerized companion, Skeets) to a room of toy company executives. The execs take a pass on the pitch, and tell Booster that in order to be more marketable, he needs to first team up with an A-list hero. As Batman is stopping the ridiculous criminals Punch and Jewlee from robbing a bank, Gold decides to horn in on the action and become Batman’s (largely unnecessary) partner. The Dark Knight rebukes the corporate shill’s attempt, and leaves Booster high and dry. Booster finds the bat cave thanks to his knowledge of the future and finds Batman tracking a stolen lutonic meteorite from Greenland and realizes it’s connected to Kru’ll the Eternal, an immortal caveman. Batman tries to once again brush off Booster, but Booster convinces Bats that he battled the caveman in the future (which is not even remotely true). Batman still doesn’t have much interest in Gold, but Skeets can track lutonic energy because of its lutonium power cell so Batman agrees to take them as Booster starts to line up a book deal and a movie. Bats and Booster confront the caveman in his lab where he is attempting to access the power of the meteorite (which happens to be the source of Kr’ull’s immortality). Kr’ull defeats our heroes and proceeds to use skeets’ battery to power the meteorite, appearing to sacrifice Skeets in the process. The caveman uses his new contraption to convert three of his servants into immortal beast-men as he comes under attack by our pair of heroes once again. Kr’ull’s monstrous henchmen subdue the good guys and place them in a guillotine built for two. As the fearsome blade falls, Gold uses one of his prototype toys to jam the apparatus. The heroes commence to battle their foes for a third time. As the heroes appear to be overwhelmed yet again, Booster and Skeets collaborate on a plan to destroy the meteorite by dumping Skkets’ entire charge into it. As the space rock explodes, the beastly servants return to human form and Batman and Booster easily save the day. As the police take Kru’ll away, Batman notes there’s a valuable lesson to be learned about ignoring the glory and fighting for principals but Booster is too busy calling his agent to listen. Kru’ll vows to defeat Booster when they next meet. In the epilogue in the far future, a museum guard bumps into Kru’ll at a museum and reminds him of someone.

Dan Jurgen’s creation Booster Gold, is one of the most fun characters in DC’s comics lineup. Originally part of the Justice League International and best friends with fellow goofball Blue Beetle, he later matured and had truly important duties for which he could never receive credit. This episode does a truly admirable job of encapsulating this complex character into a short story. I definitely appreciate the value of that accomplishment. Of late I have been losing some of my enthusiasm for the show, but this episode did a good job of rejuvenating my interest. It was also nice seeing neo-classic Batman villain Bane in the teaser along side the oldest of old school vigilantes, Wildcat. I certainly hope the creators can keep this mojo going through the final episodes of the first season, and have me looking forward to the second one rather than lumbering into it as a high school homework assignment. Overall, this episode is solid, on par with the great Plastic man and Aquaman adventures.

Featured Characters: Wildcat (Finger & Hasen, 1942), Bane (Dixon, Moench & Nolan, 1993), Booster Gold (Dan Jurgens, 1986), Kr’ull the Eternal (Binder & Beck, 1951)

To learn more about Booster Gold check out Heroes and Villains ep. 101

Episode Title: “The Color of Revenge!”

Original Air Date: May 22, 2009

The phrase “Dynamic Duo” is as firmly entrenched in Batman lore as “the Dark Knight”, and of course it takes two to form a duo. In this episode we finally get to meet Robin (Dick Grayson), the second part to that duo, and in at least some people’s opinion, perhaps Batman’s better half.

The teaser has batman and a young (perhaps early teen years) Robin tracking colorful criminal Crazy Quilt to an art museum. Crazy quilt attacks the duo with a lethal light based weapon. The quick thinking Robin uses a mirror to reflect the attack back at Quilt, and the light strikes his eyes, apparently permanently impairing his vision.

The story proper opens in Bludhaven, where Solomon Grundy is attempting to abscond from a building with a large safe on his shoulder. When the police call for back up, it is an older (let’s say twenty something) Robin that arrives and defeats Grundy. Apparently in the years that have passed since the teaser, Robin has ceased to be a sidekick, and become the protector of Bludhaven in order to become a hero in his own right. While riding his motorcycle through the streets after the Grundy affair, Batman rides up beside him and informs him that Crazy Quilt has escaped Arkham and come to Bludhaven to exact revenge on the Boy Wonder who blinded him years ago. Robin displays outward signs of dissatisfaction that Batman is showing up in his city and giving him orders as if he were still a sidekick. The pair travel to and abandoned disco in search of Crazy Quilt, and are showered in red, cut out paper fish when they enter. Crazy Quilt reveals himself in a doorway and Robin charges at him against Batman’s warnings. But the figure Robin charged turns out to be a mannequin decoy. As Batman helps him up, Crazy Quilt transmits an image of himself, seals the chamber, and the room turns into a giant kaleidoscope that will crush them with centrifugal force. The two independently manage to escape from the death trap, and head to their motorcycles only to find that Robin’s bike has been destroyed. In a moment of desperation, Robin is once again reduced to riding in Batman’s side car. Robin deduces that Crazy Quilt is at S.T.A.R. Labs, and showing that he ignored Robins comments, Batman declares that Crazy Quilt must be at STAR Labs. They arrive at S.T.A.R. Labs and find that Crazy Quilt is going for a light emitter weapon, thanks to a guard that ignores Robin and looks to Batman for help. Crazy Quilt reveals that he plans to wire the weapon into his optic nerves, which will simultaneously turn him into a living weapon and restore his sight. Crazy Quilt uses his new weapon to capture Batman and escape the lab, Telling Robin that he plans to weave the dynamic duo together into a rug that he can walk on every day. Robin tracks Crazy Quilt to the Bludhaven Textile factory where Batman is strung up on an industrial loom. Robin takes out Quilt’s henchman and goes in to rescue Bats, but first takes a moment to tell Batman that he is an independent hero now, and not a sidekick, Crazy Quilt bursts in with his newly integrated weapon, and Batman instructs Robin to handle. Robin relies on the acrobat skills he learned as part of the Flying Graysons to defeat Quilt, and in the epilogue Batman asks Robin if he wants to tag along in an adventure in Gotham, to which Robin enthusiastically agrees.

Just two episodes ago I was lamenting the fact that a character like Crazy Quilt had been reduced to a cameo appearance, but here he is featured in the entire episode (including teaser). It was also quite the treat to hear Jeffrey Tambor’s voice emanating from the villain in what seems to me to be top notch casting. I suppose we were passed due to have Robin addressed in the series, but when he first appeared I was curious just which Robin it would be, or if he would be portrayed as sort of a composite of a few of the Robins, but by the end this episode makes it clear that we a watching Dick Grayson. I never picture Dick Grayson as having angst about his relationship with Batman (that is more the territory of Damian Wayne and Jason Todd), but rather being comfortable with his role and by far the most well adjusted of the Robins. I do suppose during his time with the Teen Titans, Dick did eventually struggle with his hero identity, and thus ascended from Robin to Nightwing. I also thought it would have been nice to have him as Robin in the teaser and Nightwing in the story proper, but perhaps the creators were concerned that this may have caused confusion for some viewers. Overall, I think this story of a boy emerging from the chrysalis of adolescence to metamorphose and spread his wings as an adult hero is one of the better efforts thus far.

Featured Characters: Robin (Kane, Finger & Robinson, 1940), Crazy Quilt (Jack Kirby, 1946)

To learn more about Dick Grayson listen to Heroes & Villains ep. 21

Episode Title: “Legends of the Dark Mite!”

Original Air Date: May 29, 2009

It’s quite the unplanned coincidence that the same week that Bat-Mite #1 is released by the new DC You, I review the first appearance of Bat-Mite in Brave and the Bold. This imp from the 5th dimension has a ton of potential for this series, but the question is will he be used to his fullest, or seem like a gimmick.

In the Teaser, the somewhat under appreciated villain Catman is auctioning off a rare Sumatran Tiger to group of people who apparently eat rare Sumatran tigers. Batman shows up in the jungle to stop the illicit auction and Catman releases the tiger on our hero. Luckily for the caped crusader, his trusty animal companion, Ace the Bat-Hound is present to combat the tiger and save the day.

The story proper opens with Batman stopping some street level gangsters from robbing a bank, when a mysterious voice declares that it is too easy and not exciting enough. Magically more thugs appear as well as machine guns. Batman successfully subdues the upgraded threat, when the bad guys are mysteriously transformed into ninjas and a katana battle ensues. The disembodied voice reveals his identity by transporting Batman to a roof top where he is greeted by the diminutive Bat-Mite. Batman, unimpressed, swings away but finds himself unable to lose the imp. Bat-Mite explains he’s from the fifth dimension and is there to ensure Batman takes his place as the one true hero. Bat-Mite uses his magic to trigger a string of costume changes for the Dark Knight (include the nipple enhanced Schumaker costume) before returning him to his typical appearance. Bat-Mite decides to give Batman a true challenge and summons Gorilla Grodd, but then transforms him into Solomon Grundy, and Shaggy Man. At Batman’s suggestion, Bat-Mite turns Shaggy Man into Calendar Man, who Batman convinces to take a dive. Bat-Mite becomes convinced that the ensuing action is over the top, so he travels to the 5th dimension equivalent of San Diego Comic Con to poll the Bat fans in attendance about the situation. Batman suggests that Bat-Mite go back to his home dimension and let him fight in peace so he doesn’t waste his abilities in pointless battle. He offers an autographed Batarang to clinch the deal and Bat-Mite disappears. Returning to the Batcave, he commiserates with Ace about having to deal with the weird little creep. However, Bat-Mite reveals he’s Ace in disguise. Offended, he teleports Batman to an alien landscape where flying saucers, monsters, and robots, attack. Batman tells Bat-Mite to stop but Bat-Mite decides that Batman will be his toy. Batman refuses to play and tells the imp to be Batman if he thinks it’s so easy. Bat-Mite is soon overwhelmed and admits his imagination is running away with him. Batman leaps into battle and takes out the villains. Inspired by his hero’s example, Bat-Mite concentrates and defeats the remaining villains and restores everything to normal. He apologizes to Batman, admitting he’s a failure in a playsuit. Batman tells him he should be proud of his powers and Bat-Mite thanks him. He departs and Batman finds himself back in the Batcave. In the epilogue we see that Bat-Mite has now become infatuated with Green Arrow, and as the episode ends we see the classic Looney Tunes closing logo with Bat-Mite taking the spot normally occupied by Porky Pig and exclaiming “ That’s all folks!”

There are a couple of behind the scenes things to mention with this episode. I think the first thing I would like to address is the voice of Bat-Mite, Paul Reubens. I really like Reubens, and I think the actor best known by his character Pee Wee Herman was a great choice for the imp, but I think it took some courage on behalf of Warner Bros. to cast him in a (sort of) children’s show given the legal problems he’s had in the past (none of which are exactly wholesome). The choice paid off, the character was performed expertly, and became an important part of the future of the series. I was also excited to see that this episode was written by Paul Dini, the most important and accomplished writer of the DCU. This is the first episode he has written for this series, and though it does stand out from the previous episodes, I don’t think it had any of the magic he routinely conjured for Batman the Animated Series or Justice league unlimited. I understand that this episode wanted to call on the WB heritage of the Looney Tunes, but I think it was just a little too looney for my taste. Overall, though I did appreciate the introduction of one of my two favorite 5th dimension imps into the Brave and the Bold universe I ultimately feel like this episode could be best described as a disappointment. Don’t worry Bat-Mite fans, he will return, and the result will be superior.

Featured Characters: Catman (Finger & Mooney, 1963), Batmite (Kane, Finger & Moldoff, 1959)

To learn more about Bat-Mite, listen to Heroes & Villains ep. 49

Episode Title: “Hail the Tornado Tyrant!”

Original Air Dance: June 5, 2009

When I saw the title for this episode I thought we were going to see some kind of computer glitch cause Red Tornado to take a “heel turn”, but that isn’t quite what happened. Though there were a lot of liberties taken, this episode did pay quite a bit of homage to Red Tornado’s, strange, interesting and somewhat confusing history.

In the teaser we get Batman and Green Arrow in their typical game of one upsmanship while chasing the Joker through Gotham. They simultaneously stop the Joker, when Catwoman interrupts them by robbing a bank. Both heroes’ vehicles convert into planes and Batman and Green Arrow are off to compete once again as Batman realizes their competition will never end.

The story proper opens in Red Tornado’s lab, where the android hero is creating another version of himself,  a “son” named Tornado champion, and he wants Batman to verify his results. Tornado reveals that Champion will have an upgrade – emotions. Batman warns that creating life in a laboratory is dangerous, but Red Tornado explains he put in a failsafe that can shut down his “son.” Emotions don’t seem present initially in the new android, but he and Tornado work as team mates while the father patiently waits for their appearance. The weather controlling villain, Major Disaster, summons a storm to attack the Gotham docks. While Red Tornado and Tornado Champion are stopping the villain a bolt of lightening strikes Champion, and his emotional abilities finally manifest. Eventually after the arrival of emotions, Tornado Champion begins to think himself above humanity, and begins to behave in a threatening manner. At Batman’s urging, Red Tornado decides to utilize the failsafe and de-activate Tornado Champion. The pair of heroes are unaware that Tornado Champion secretly removed the failsafe. He activates the laboratory equipment and upgrades his android body. He stands revealed as the Tornado Tyrant, and vows to destroy humanity. Batman and Red Tornado confront the new Tornado Tyrant with a device that can scramble his core programming. The Tyrant has upgraded his capabilities so that his power is now superior to Red Tornado’s. As Red Tornado appears to be at the precipice of defeat, Batman smashes the scrambler into the Tyrant’s forehead. Red Tornado delivers the final blow as his son calls him “father” one last time. In the epilogue Red Tornado sheds a tear as he melts down the metal that once was his “son”.

The Red Tornado’s comic book origins begin with an enemy of Adam Strange called Ulthoon, the Tornado Tyrant that was actually a sentient tornado. After being defeated by Adam Strange, the tyrant contemplates the nature of good and evil and changes his name to the Tornado Champion. When the thinking tornado finds his way to Earth, he enters an android body (originally intended to be evil) created by nefarious roboticist T. O. Morrow and becomes the Red Tornado (once again after some adjusting to good and evil, with good coming out on top). This episode sort of approaches that history in reverse, Starting with Red Tornado, who creates the Tornado Champion that eventually becomes Tornado Tyrant. I really enjoyed this sort of reverse take on my favorite androids story. There is also a nice Pinocchio as well as Frankenstein vibe woven into this episode that held my interest well. My favorite part of the episode was in the first half when Red Tornado is coldly narrating the early adventures with Champion in his monotone robot voice with very sterile background music. It gave an eerie and ominous feel that is not often seen in this mostly light hearted series. Overall, I really enjoyed this episode, much like the Christmas episode which was Tornado’s first appearance. For some reason I’m drawn to this confused, strange detached character, if only I were in touch with my emotions enough to understand why…

Featured Characters: Catwoman (Kane & Finger, 1940), Red Tornado (Fox & Dillin, 1968), and Major Disaster (Fox & G. Kane,1966)

Episode Title: “Duel of the Double Crossers!”

Original Air Date: June 12, 2009

A time traveling cowboy walks into a galactic saloon. That’s not the setup to a corny joke, that’s the setup to the adventure we have this episode. Throw in a gladiatorial arena, sibling rivalry and a slew of new gods and what do you get? Read on to find out.

The teaser begins with Batman’s rebellious heroes in the making, the Outsiders, battling Despero in the center of the city. The teens struggle to combat Despero at first, but tap into their abilities to eventually defeat the super villain. Rather than congratulate them, Batman admonishes them for all of the collateral damage they caused in the process. Bats then proceeds to push a button on a controller revealing that it was all a holographic training simulation and tells the teens they will keep doing it until they get it right, as the scenario begins anew.

The story proper opens with Old West antihero Jonah hex walking into to a sci-fi saloon filled with rough looking alien “Cowboys” playing cards. Hex approaches a red cyclops telling him the he’s “on his list”. A melee ensues, that eventually spills into the dusty road in front of the saloon where Jonah’s robot horse intervenes and helps subdue the cyclops. With the target in hand, Hex requests a teleport from a device that sends all involved parties to Mongul’s War World. It is revealed that Mongul has abducted Hex from his natural place and time to use him as a bounty hunter that obtains gladiators for Mongul to pit in fights in the arena against representatives of his sister Mongal. Hex is given the promise of a return to his home if he will capture one more fighter, The Dark Knight. Hex is sent to Gotham where, after an intense skirmish, he is successful in bringing Bats back to War World. Mongul reneges on his promise to free Hex from servitude, leaving the cowboy understandably perturbed with Mongul. Batman is pitted against the extremely powerful new god, Steppenwolf, and with a little help from Hex, manages to defeat the powerful foe and escape the arena. Hex and Batman free all the captured gladiators who turn their ire against Mongul and his sister, forcing the siblings to flee. As Batman prepares to return to Gotham, Hex decides to stay and explore War World and rides of into the sunset (with a new girlfriend).

I was initially annoyed when Jonah Hex appeared to be portrayed as a “space cowboy” rather than beingg faithful to his western comic roots, but I quickly became more accepting of the depiction when it was revealed that he had been displaced by Mongul, and the creators weren’t attempting to bastardize the source material. Jonah Hex is one of the classic antiheroes from DC comics, and probably the most recognizable western character in all of comics, and naturally his grittiness had to be diluted by a few degrees to make him acceptable for the sensibilities of this series. I felt the character design did an acceptable job of communicating the core of the character, and the voice actor (Phil Morris) seemed a good fit. Hex’s dialogue was a little uninspired with liberal use of cowboy cliches, which made hime seem to be less like a cowboy and more like someone pretending to be a cowboy (which is essentially what was happening I suppose). The combination of Mongul and the new gods seemed like a natural fit, as Mongul is essentially a second degree imitation of Darkseid, and Darkseid is a little too dark to fit in this series. Steppenwolf was featured prominently, but no discussion of who or what he is was offered, and I suspect the phrase “New Gods” was purposely avoided by the creators. Mongal’s enforcers, the Furies, are also denizens of Jack Kirby’s fourth world (the corner of the comic book universe that gave rise to the new gods) but I think the idea that they were similar in power and history to Steppenwolf was adequately implied without any overt exposition. The story was a fairly simple tale with plenty of action packed in from beginning to end, but likely want lead to lasting fond memories of the episode. Overall, this was another middle of the road episode that used extensive artistic license with the source material and could lead to a bit of confusion to some viewers.

Featured Characters: Despero (Fox & Sekowsky, 1960), Jonah Hex (Albano & DeZuniga, 1972), Mongul (Wein & Starlin, 1980), Steppenwolf (Jack Kirby, 1972), Mongal (Johns & Ferreira, 2006)

Episode Title: “Last Bat on Earth!”

Original Air Date: June 19, 2009

So we have time travel again. I don’t mind an occasional time travel story, but I do get annoyed when it is used too liberally or in an undisciplined manner. This is at least the fifth incidence of time travel so far this season, but I guess it’s an unavoidable necessity in order to showcase the many crevices of the DCU.

The teaser drops us into an elaborate death trap in the form of a lethal roller coaster ride (literally, not metaphorically) with Batman and Fourth World stalwart Mister Miracle bound to the car. As our passengers approach standard bond villain devise such as laser, buzz saws and flame throwers, the heroes manage to do their best Houdini’s and escape their bonds and evade the lethal obstacles. At the end of the harrowing ordeal it is revealed that it was not a criminal mastermind behind the event, but rather a charity event in which the heroes were performing to help the children.

The story proper opens with an army of Tiger-men engage in conflict with a band of talking Gorillas. Both sides are utilizing meek, enslaved humans. A blond hair youth named Komandi conspires with his humanoid talking dog, Dr. Canus ,and Tiger-man ally, Tuftan, to rescue to captive humans. Events don’t go as planned for the trio, and Tuftan shows his more savage side. The Gorillas retreat, and the human slaves of both armies remain in captivity. Back in Gotham, Batman realizes that Gorilla Grodd has travelled to the distant future for unknown sinister reasons. Batman pursues Grodd through time to Komandi’s world. In the Future Grodd approaches the ape army, and challenges the leader to combat for the right to command the troops. Grade easily wins, and declares that the time of the apes has arrived and plans an attack on the Tiger-Men and their leader Ceaser. Meanwhile The tiger-men are gathering slaves and Kamandi, Tuftan, and Canus attack them. The humans are freed but don’t run. As Komandi and co. are captured, the Dark Knight shows up to rescue them but winds up in a cage as well. The Apes attack the Tigers, and Grodd uses a sonic cannon to subdue the cats. Batman frees himself and the other prisoners and the four of them escape into the city. Batman takes Canus and Kamandi to the Batcave of the future. The equipment still functions, but the cave is occupied by man-bats. Grodd and his army march across the land, only to discover that Tuftan has mobilized the other animal-men against him. Grodd is unimpressed and fires the sonic cannon. However, Batman, Kamandi, and Canus fly-in in the Batplane and take out the sonic cannon with missiles. The heroes ultimately defeat Grodd and his forces,the human slaves freed, and Batman departs with Grodd as the story ends.

I’ve always enjoyed seeing modern takes on Kirby creations, as I have a significant respect for the genius of Kirby, but I have never been very interested in Komandi. This episode really changed that, as I had a lot of fun watching it. The story is fairly straight forward, but it was very good a causing me to think about a variety of other properties that I feel nostalgic about. I know it isn’t considered strong form for story telling to rely heavily on allusions, but I don’t think all of it was intentional, and honestly the source material was around before many of the properties that I was lead to feel nostalgic about. First off, I will never, ever, ever stop calling Dr. Canus “McGruff the crime dog” because to me that is exactly what he looks like, and it makes me chuckle to picture McGruff in a post apocalyptic future. The imagery and design of Komandi’s world also causes me to reflect on long passed Saturday mornings spent watching Thundarr the Barbarian. It makes sense that this episode would feel like Thundarr because Jack Kirby did work as a production designer on that series, I’m sure the animation and story telling holds up better for Brave and the Bold than it does in the older Filmation series, but nostalgia is a perception altering drug. This story also bears some strong similarities to Planet of the apes (the Charlton Heston one) with armed, talking apes and human slaves, time travel to a decimated future Earth (I guess that’s kind of a spoiler for a ridiculously old movie) and one rebellious human trying to change things. So yeah, I don’t like too much time travel in a show other than Quantum Leap, but this time it worked out OK.

Featured Characters: Mister Miracle (Jack Kirby, 1971), Komandi (Jack Kirby, 1972) and Gorilla Grodd (Broome & Infantino, 1959)

Episode Title:  “When OMAC Attacks!”

Original Air Date: October 16, 2009

So, at this point I had forgotten that this season had a (sort of) over arching story centered around a (sort of) original, mysterious villain. Just as we go into the final few episodes of the season we get a nice invigorating shot in the arm from the character with much yet to be discovered, Equinox. I had reached a point where I was just trying to grind out the season, but now I am actually curious about what will happen next.

The teaser has Batman teamed up with DC odd couple Hawk & Dove attempting to broker a peace accord with some nondescript alien warring factions. The peace loving Dove and man of action Hawk disagree with the best means by which to attain that end. Thank goodness Batman is there so a peace treaty can be signed bringing an end to the alien conflict, though it appears the conflict between Hawk and Dove may rage eternally.

The story proper opens with Batman meeting with two faceless representatives of the mysterious Global Peace Agency (abbreviated GPA), where Batman is introduced to their top agent, a clumsy, unimpressive Janitor named Buddy Blank. Batman is confused by this at first, but when activated by the satellite known as Brother Eye, Buddy becomes that powerful OMAC (one man army corps). Batman and OMAC are tasked with apprehending the terrorist Kafka, who reveals his own ability to transform into the metallic super villain Shrapnel. as OMAC quite literally jumps into battle with Shrapnel, Equinox (remember episode 14?) emerges from the shadows to speak to the Dark Knight. The villain explains that he answers to a higher order and functions to maintain balance in the world. Batman tries to attack Equinox, but is entirely ineffectual against the seeming omnipotence of the man in black and white. OMAC gains the upper hand in his battle against Kafka and is preparing to unleash a lethal blast at the villain when Batman intervenes and prevents Kafka’s death. Batman insists that they were supposed to take Kafka alive but OMAC disagrees. Shrapnel releases a burst of liquid metal shards, striking OMAC in the chest at his power center and knocking him back. Batman throws a smoke grenade and runs to his ally only to discover he’s transformed back into Buddy. Batman gets him away just in time. The GPA confront Batman and accuse him of failing again. Batman warns them that Equinox intervened but they don’t believe him and insist that their weapon malfunctioned. The Caped Crusader insists that Buddy is a person, not just a weapon, and OMAC could benefit from some of Buddy’s spirit. The building shakes as Shrapnel attacks and Brother Eye transforms Buddy back into OMAC. Batman suggests to OMAC that he try using a softer touch in his battle with Shrapnel this time. Equinox confronts Batman again and explains that their goals of balancing the scales are similar, and alludes to the destruction of a city being required to balance out the destruction of a village. Batman quickly goes to an opening in the wall of the building to view smoke rising from the local nuclear power plant. Shrapnel smashes OMAC down and explains that the GPA destroyed an innocent village when they came to his country, and he survived to get revenge. The battle makes it’s way to the power plant’s control room where the plant’s cooling mechanism is damaged and a melt down seems imminent. OMAC has a revelation and decides to stop fighting back against shrapnel, and simply relies on his own shields. Batman tries to stop the melt down, but Equinox shows up and battles him. Shrapnel runs out of energy, and is subdued by OMAC as Brother Eye loses power and OMAC reverts to Buddy. Buddy goes to the power plant and tackles an unsuspecting Equinox, allowing Batman a chance to stop the impending disaster. The meltdown is averted but Batman collapses, on the verge of death. Equinox enters and says that he can’t allow Batman to die. Batman insists hit’s his life to sacrifice but Equinox heals him with a touch and then teleports away. Buddy, with his new found confidence, assists Batman, but Batman worries that more of Equinox is yet to come.

I suppose I risk sounding redundantly repetitive (I meant to do that) by saying yet again that I really love Jack Kirby characters, but the series has seriously been using them at a high frequency lately. I guess Kirby was called the King for a reason, but I worry they are going to lean on him too heavily in this first season, then we may not get to see his world again in the later seasons. Buddy Blank / OMAC has always had a serious Billy Batson/ Shazam dynamic, though with a technological source of power rather than a mystical one. Despite how interesting Kirby’s OMAC may be, the real source of joy in this episode is Equinox. I am really curious about this character because, though he does resemble Libra from Final Crisis, he is original enough that his motivations are not known and how his story will resolve is completely unknown to me (quite the feat given the amount of minutia I have picked up about the DCU over the years). Overall, I can honestly say that this is the first time the season I honestly can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode (“The Fate of Equinox”). Even as a stand alone episode this is a very enjoyable story, but in the context of the season, I can say that this is the best episode yet!

Featured Characters: Hawk and Dove (Ditko & Skeates, 1968), Omac (Jack Kirby, 1974), Shrapnel (Erik Larsen, 1988), Equinox (as Libra, Wein & Dillin, 1974)

Episode Title: “Inside the Outsiders!”

Original Air Date: November 6, 2009

I suppose that I like Nightmare on Elmstreet as much as the next guy, and I guess the same goes for Inception, but I feel like stories featuring “dream warriors” are a bit formulaic. In this episode Batman and the Outsiders take a trip to Freddie Kreuger-land courtesy of Psycho Pirate. Will they avoid the typical story telling pitfalls? Read on to find out.

In the teaser Batman and Green Arrow are tied to a pole with some vicious jungle cats below them. We quickly see that the party responsible for their predicament is Catwoman, who has stolen some priceless cat statues from a local museum. As Green Arrow urges Batman to utilize one of his trademark gadgets to help them escape, he grows annoyed at Batman’s flirtatious banter with their feline female captor. Eventually Batman does spring them from the trap, but after a brief skirmish Catwoman gets away. However, all is not lost as Batman reveals to the audience that he did manage to score the shapely villains phone number.

The story proper opens with Batman traversing a maze filled with death traps, arriving at the central chamber to discover Psycho Pirate who has captured the teen team, the Outsiders. The villain explains that he’s feeding on their emotions and Batman goes to free them. Psycho Pirate warns that if the chambers are opened or the villain is removed from the circuit, their brains will fry. Batman realizes that he has no choice but to enter into their dreamscapes, and Psycho Pirate warns that if he dies in the dream, he’ll never wake up. Batman first enters the dream of Katana, which involves the death of her sensei at the hands of her brother Takeo. Batman tries to convince her that it’s not her fault, but she refuses to believe him. Katana attacks her brother, but Batman prevents her from delivering a death blow, and the Dark Knight and the Outsider move from this dream to that of Black Lightening. Black lightening has a reputation as a dark and disturbed character, so Batman fears what dark scenario they might encounter in his nightmare, but to a somewhat humorous effect they discover him becoming greatly enraged at mundane daily nuisances. Batman tries to calm him down and Katana goes to her comrade’s aid, but the Psycho Pirate appears and tries to goad her into losing her temper. Black Lightning manages to gain control of his rage and Psycho Pirate congratulates Batman before going to the dreams of Metamorpho. Black Lightning figures Metamorpho is too easygoing to provide any food for the villain, but they see their comrade’s angry face form in the clouds above. Batman realizes that Psycho Pirate has been keeping him busy with the other two and using Metamorpho as is primary food source. Psycho Pirate reminds Metamorpho of how the others can walk in public and view him as a freak. Katana appeals to Metamorpho, reminding him that they are a team and that she and Black Lightening truly value as well as genuinely care about him. The phase shifting Metamorpho calms down and shrinks to normal. Batman escapes the dreamworld but can only watch as Psycho Pirate kills the Outsiders, disintegrating them entirely. Batman realizes that now he and Psycho Pirate are in the caped crusader’s dream, and cleverly defeats the villain by thinking happy thoughts. After psycho Pirate is defeated, and our heroes have finally escaped the realm of dreams the Outsiders are left wondering exactly what Batman’s happy thoughts could possibly be (I think it’s Catwoman..meow!)

The episode get’s off to a good start with Katana’s dream, exploring the frequently dark and troubled origin stories of most comic book heroes, but it quickly abandons this once it moves on to the inner workings of the mind of Black Lightening.The attempt at humor with Black Lightening’s dream fell a little flat with me, I wanted to see the source of his angst as something more interesting than Jerry Seinfeld’s typical material. The twist with Metamorpho worked a little better for me, deciding to have the character who seemed happiest on the surface as the one harboring the most resentment of the group. The writers did seem to undermine their own accomplishment, however, by just how easily Metamorpho was calmed by his colleague. The final step was the Inception style dream within a dream, when Psycho Pirate and Batman entered Bat’s own dream with the muse of it being reality. I was easily to see what was happening and wasn’t really fooled. I guess Batman’s ultimate strategy in defeating Psycho Pirate by thinking happy thoughts worked well enough, but darned if I didn’t want to know what those thoughts were. Overall, I suppose this episode worked well enough, but it seemed to rely a little too much on tropes for my taste, and I honestly feel like it missed a couple of opportunities to be great.

Featured Characters: Green Arrow (Weisinger & Papp, 1941), Catwoman (Kane & Finger, 1940), Psycho Pirate (Fox & Anderson, 1965), The Outsiders (Barr & Aparo, 1983)

Episode Title: “Mayhem of the Music Meister!”

Original Air Date: October 23, 2009

Do you like musicals? Do you like West Side Story style Dance fights? Do you like Neil Patrick Harris? If you answered yes to any of these, today is your lucky day! This is the musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, probably the most highly praised episode of the series, smashingly premiered at San Diego Comic-Con and Emmy nominated. It has been called one of television’s best musicals (by Wikipedia). The question remains, did I enjoy it? Read on to find out.

In a rare turn for the series we have almost no teaser, we have an exceedingly brief clip of Music Meister preparing to conduct an orchestra, then the opening credits roll.

The episode proper opens with Music Meister using his musical mind controlling magic to induce a collection of both heroes and villains (Black Canary, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Black Manta, Gorilla Grodd and Clock King) to hijack a United Nations communications satellite, launching it into space after they install a device for him. Batman witnesses this bizarre scene and deduces that Music Meister is using his music as mind control, and the Caped Crusader inserts his handy anti-musical mind control ear plugs that he never leaves home without. Batman jumps into the fray, and is attacked by some of the best choreographed dance moves ever witnessed in the DC Universe. In the kerfuffle Meister escapes and Batman shares his deductions about the mind control to the now clear thinking heroes, and dispenses spare anti-musical mind control ear plugs to the group (why leave home with only one pair when you could bring five?). A clearly smitten Black Canary insists on accompanying the dream Dark Knight in his dogged pursuit of the malicious maestro. We see the harmonic villain playing his organ for an audience of cardboard cutouts in what is clearly a reference to Phantom of the Opera as Batman finds him and pursues Meister across Gotham while a chorus of heroes and villains join him in singing about how Batman “Drives us Bats”. Some prison inmates are loosed upon Batman, and in an interesting romantic twist, we learn the Black Canary’s mellifluous melodies have lead the Meister to have unrequited love for the fishnet stocking clad heroine. Predictably Canary rejects the bad guys advances and continues to pine for Batman. With little transition or explanation, we see Batman and Black Canary in a very sinister death trap involving ropes, acid, lasers, walls closing in, and explosives. Batman uses his typical deus ex machine to escape and continue pursuing the villain. Music Meister hypnotizes the world with his music (with help of the satellite), and somehow manages to once again control Black Canaries mind. This leads to a sing off between Batman and Black Canary, where the caped crusader tricks his second favorite bird themed hero into unleashing her Canary cry onto the populace, breaking Music Meister’s control over theme (and his equipment in the process). Batman captures the chaotic conductor, and reveals that he only won the sing off by using what has to be the first ever documented occurrence of autotune in the DCU (eat your heart out Kanye). Black Canary asks Batman out on a date, he rejects her, and Green Arrow slides in to catch her on the rebound as credits roll.

Whether or not you like this episode, there is absolutely no argument that you will remember it in perpetuity. Most people are going to really enjoy this adventure, but I suspect that there is a contingent of folks who are turned off by musicals in general, and Batman themed musicals in particular, and for those folks this episode is a lost cause. I saw this episode before I had ever seen Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (which has some interesting parallels to this story, but that discussion is for another day), and before NPH had hosted the Tony’s (I think, in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I have never watched the Tony’s), so I had no idea that Doogie could sing. Sing he did, the break out star of the Harold and Kumar movies raised the guest actor bar in this series to unobtainable levels. The story itself if nothing exceptional, but who’s watching this episode for the story? This episode is all about the music (and dance fighting). If you like the music, the good news is that the sound track was realeased as a fun (if rather short) album you can purchase. If you don’t like the music, you can buy the album ironically to show you’re friends the new level of nerd that you have ascended to. The animators also appeared to have fun with this episode, working in a ludicrously large number of musical themed costumes for the villain including, but not limited to, a punk rocker, a marching band leader, an elvis jumpsuit and an 80’s new wave incarnation of Mozart. Overall, this episode is a blast, though I suspect somewhat disdained by a small community of anti-musical folks. But to be honest, I don’t really like musicals (excluding Grease), I’ve never actually seen the sound of music, I can’t sing or play any instrument, but I still loved this episode (it may help that the duration is 20 minutes, not sure I’d be interested in a 2 hour movie version). Harris’ enthusiasm and charisma are channelled through his voice acting, and the ever curmudgeonly Batman makes the perfect foil in such a farcical adventure.

Featured characters: Black Canary (Kanigher & Infantino, 1947), Music Meister (original creation)

Episode Title: “The Fate of Equinox!”

Original Air Date: November 13, 2009

So we have the season finale folks, are you excited? It’s time for Batman’s inaugural season of team up adventures to draw to a close, and it’s been a bumpy ride. We finally get to see a resolution to the Equinox story line, But will it end with a bang or fizzle out? Read on to find out.

The teaser features Batman pursuing Harvey Dent’s alter ego two face in a typical abandoned warehouse. As Two Face and Bats face off (sort of pun intended), Dent performs his characteristic coin toss to determine Batman’s fate. When the toss comes up heads, Dent’s henchmen decide to disobey the coin’s decision, leading Two Face and the Caped Crusader to team up and vanquish the henchmen before Batman clocks Harvey with a sucker punch and comes out on top, as always.

The story proper opens at some mystical Asian temple where Batman confronts the Equinox. Equinox feels comfortable that he can handle Batman, but the Dark Knight reveals that he didn’t come alone as Doctor Fate appears. A battle ensues involving snake/ gargoyle hybrids as Equinox talks about the giant gyroscope contained in the temple, and how one person in perfect balance must sacrifice another balanced individual to it in order to obtain absolute power. Batman side steps Equinox’s attack and tosses him into the gyroscope to his seeming demise. Later Fate and Bats discover that hideous ancient beasts are attacking heroes around the globe, and the two go to consult the lords of order about the situation. When our heroes meet with the lords of order the are told the long awaited origin of Equinox. The lords of order and chaos explain that they created a child, Equinox, to balance chaos and order, putting an end to their eternal struggle. However, Equinox cracked and believed he could do a better job without either side. Equinox appears and the united Lords of Order and Chaos try to repel him, but their might proves useless. He drains the energies from them all, and Nabu and Typhon teleport Fate and Batman away just in time. Back on Earth everything appears normal until a giant Equinox shows up clad in armor that is not unlike that of Galactus from Marvel comics.

Fate teleports most of Batman’s fellow heroes from around the globe, and channels all of their powers into the Dark Knight turning him into a giant sized ultra hero. The two titans battle in the spirit of Japanese kaiju, and as Batman recognizes all the collateral damage he’s takes the battle into space. As Batman determines he cannot when the fight, he surrenders and points out to Equinox that the chaos within him has taken over the order. This lead Equinox to have an existential crisis by realizing that he is not in perfect balance, Batman defeats him with a green power ring infused sucker punch.

So this is it, the end to the first season, the answer to the mystery of Equinox, and hopefully the fruit to make views eager for season two. With the combing of heroes to create a giant hero to battle and out of control beast created by celestial beings, it really felt a lot like a typical episode of the Power Rangers, all that was missing was an ultra magazord power sword to deliver the final blow. I guess with the intent of the show to grab younger viewers, this could have been intentional, but I’m not sure it was what I was looking for (please forgive the grammar). I did like the idea of using an orphan to create an Earthly power for chaos and order was a cool origin, it seemed to be glossed over too quickly in order to get to the fighting. Much like the music Meister episode, I feel this episode would have been better with less teaser and more story. To be honest, I don’t think this episode was initially envisioned to be the finale, but some post production shuffling led it to be so. Overall I feel that this story did answer my enthusiastic questions about Equinox, but I wish it had been executed with more character exploration and less sucker punches. I also kind of wish that Batman would have dealt with the threat of Equinox without becoming a super powered mega being, and rather dealt with the entire ordeal on more of a strategic and psychological level (the appeal of Batman has always been that he has no powers yet continues to stop all the megalomaniacs who threaten him). Next week I will share my overall impressions of the first season, and I honestly don’t yet know what the are, it will take some introspection to figure it out.

Featured characters: Two Face (Kane & Finger, 1942), Dr. Fate (Gardner Fox, 1940), Equinox (Wein & Dillin, 1974 – as Libra)

Season one impressions

Re-watching the entire first season of this show has left me a bit perplexed. I had memories of really liking this series, but over the past 26 weeks I have frequently found myself underwhelmed with what I thought was going to be a really fun exercise. I know that the appeal of this show for me has always been that it contains the largest and most diverse cast of DC comics characters of any show to date, but that appeal is somewhat of a novelty, and by definition, novelties are only novel when they’re new. So I guess I am just finding a really wordy way of saying that it didn’t hold up as well as expected.

There are some stand out episodes that are worth repeated viewing, the first appearances of Green Arrow, Plastic Man and Aquaman come to mind. I also think that watching the three Equinox episodes in succession would be fun, and it is widely accepted that the Music Meister episode is one of the best 20 or so minutes in all of animation. So seven solid entries in a season of 26 is better than many shows have, I just feel like something was missing.

This season had a really impressive voice cast, and quality animation, but sometimes it was the writing that let me down. The show heavily leaned on humor and action, but it needed some sort of overall narrative tying the season together. There was a half hearted effort to do that with Equinox, but he wasn’t used often enough to make it truly effective. I hope there is an added element of some sort in the second season to make the show a little more compelling.

One major positive about this first season, is that it truly is a family show and not just one for children. Much of the previous DC animation (at least in the Timm/ Dini era) seemed to be geared more towards older viewers and could be boring to younger children. The Brave and the Bold does seem to appeal to everyone in the family, and opens up ample teaching moments to discuss characters that children may have never seen before. I am definitely an advocate for opening up opportunities to discuss superheroes and villains.

From this point on, most of the episodes that I will be reviewing are episodes that I will be watching for the first time. I caught a lot of the first season when it originally aired, but by the time the second season debuted, some things had changed for me and I was able to catch them. I am eager to see how the series tone and execution changed during the hiatus. I am hoping that the creators began to develop a clear vision for the series once it experienced some success in the first season. For the second season reviews I am going to try to use a little less rigid format than I used with the first season. I am going to weave my commentary in along with the plot summary, hoping to craft reviews that are a little more fun to read as well as write. I’ll see everyone next week with a review of “Long Arm of the Law!”

Even though I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, the TV shows of the 50’s and 60’s were a big part of my childhood. Before we had cable TV, local UHF stations would fill their schedules with old shows now running in syndication. Every summer, one of the shows that would pop up on the schedule was the classic late 60’s series Batman. This was, and still is, one of my favorite shows of all time.

When I was a kid, we all took this show seriously. We didn’t realize that it was, at it’s heart, a comedy. That all changed in 1989. The series hit heavy rotation on TV, what with the Tim Burton film burning up the box office. Batman was everywhere that year, and with Burton’s darker version breaking box office records, we all started to see just how campy the 60’s series really was. It’s strange how now Burton’s film feels somewhat campy itself when compared to likes of The Dark Knight trilogy.

The series starred Adam West as Batman, and his alter ego, millionaire Bruce Wayne. West had appeared in a number of films and TV shows throughout the 60’s, including appearances on Perry Mason, The Rifleman, and The Outer Limits. However, Batman was his big break. Joining West was Burt Ward as Dick Grayson, aka the Boy Wonder…Robin. Ward was a mere 19 years of age when he auditioned for the role of Robin. Ward would detail his time on the show in a somewhat scandalous autobiography called Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights. Rounding out the regular cast were Alan Napier as Alfred, Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon, Stafford Repp as Chief O’Hara (a character created for the series) and Madge Blake as Aunt Harriet (Dick Grayson’s maternal aunt).

Perhaps one of the most memorable aspects of Batman, however, was its rogues gallery. An amazing array of celebrities appeared as the bizarre villains of Gotham City. Among them were Caesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Julie Newmar as Catwoman, Vincent Price as Egghead, and many more. Even film director Otto Preminger made and appearance as Mr. Freeze in season 2.

The show ran for three seasons. During seasons one and two it was unique in that it aired in prime time twice a week. Each story was a two-parter, with a cliffhanger ending separating the two. The narrator, portrayed by series producer William Dozier, would tell viewers to come back tomorrow… “same bat-time, same bat-channel.” The series was also known for it’s famous fight sequences featuring big comic-book style bursts featuring words like “POW!”, “BIFF!”, and “ZONK!”. Other famous elements included the caped crusaders scaling walls with a rope and often finding a celebrity guest star peering out a window. We also mustn’t forget Robin’s ever present exclamations of “Holy (insert word here)!”, not to mention the show’s famous, but lyrically simple, theme song.

In the years that followed the cancellation of the series, it’s legacy became clear. West and Ward would be called upon to voice the characters in animated versions of Batman. In recent years, DC comics has published a series of comics under the title Batman ’66, bringing the style of the series to comic book form.

I am so looking forward to revisiting this classic series. We’ll start next time with Season 1 Episode 1…which very appropriately introduces a villain whose status in the comics was minor until this series gave him new popularity. It’s Frank Gorshin’s first appearance in the role that would earn him an Emmy nomination, The Riddler, in Hi Diddle Riddle.

Episode Title: “Death Race to Oblivion!”

Original Air Date: November 20, 2009

So this episode gives us an homage to the Roger Corman produced Death Race 2000, seem like an odd choice for a family show, but it was a lot of fun just the same. I can say that I, for one, have always wanted to see a no holds barred vehicular race across a barren wasteland featuring Batman, the Joker, Green Arrow, Guy Gardner and Woozy Winks, so I’ve got that going for me.

The teaser is a back to the basics unrelated story that features Batman throttling a 12 year old boy in public just before said boy turns into an oversized brute. Keeping with the theme, tween Billy Batson transforms into Captain Marvel to help defeat the bad guy before giddily running of to look at dinosaur bones. If anyone is looking for a new profile pic for Twitter or Facebook, you could certainly do worse than a screen cap of Batman manhandling a child.

The main story kicks of with Mongul’s War World passing above Earth and using a laser beam to carve a race track into a piece of desert that would make any Hot Wheels aficionado jealous. Next he assembles a collection of heroes and villains together and informs them that they must race against his champion, Steppenwolf, with the Earth’s fate in the balance. Prior to the start of the race Batman seems to keep his cranky disposition from the teaser in tact as he seriously ignores pleas from Green Arrow to come up with a plan to work together and simply states he plans to win at all costs. As the race begins I am unequivocally rooting for Pastic Man’s ridiculous sidekick, Woozy Winks, to win the race. His race car, after all, is composed entirely of the most malleable hero in the DC universe. I think we all wish we had a friend who could turn into stuff we could ride on occasionally. I clearly run in the wrong social circles.

For some reason the Green Lantern Corps is represented by Guy Gardner and his ridiculous bowl cut, evoking memories of the Three Stooges own Moe Hoeard, and the fairer sex are represented by Huntress and Catwoman (who are perhaps racing for Batman’s heart as much as to save the world). As the cast of characters are run of the road one by one they are transported to and energy beam jail on War World, with the exception of the Huntress who dies horribly when her motorcycle runs off a cliff (and we totally believe she died, right? It could never be something misleading the audience until she triumphantly show up to save the day could it?). The only racers left in the contest are now Bats and Steppenwolf. During the final leg of the race, the heroes trapped on War World devise an escape thanks to some gizmo in Green Arrow’s shoe. As the final two racers near the finish line, it appears Steppenwolf just might win until unexpectedly Huntress shows up and gives Batman the assist to victory (I bet you totally didn’t see that coming).

Mongul congratulates Batman on beating his champion, then casts Steppenwolf aside. Mongul reveals that he is still going to destroy anyway, because that’s just the way he rolls. With the captive Heroes and Villains having escaped War World, Batman reveals that it had been sabotaged and it explodes in the cloudless desert sky as Mongul throws a good villain’s temper tantrum.

This episode was ludicrous, but fun. After the destruction of War World the Batmobile transform into a giant mech suit, because why not, and allows Batman to punch out Mongul. Due to his Jerk like behavior during the race Huntress informs him that she no longer finds him attractive, and there are some incongruous computer generated animation elements that seem to clash with the typical look of the show. I really hope the poor CG animation doesn’t continue to show up in other episodes of the second season, but I think I can get behind the knew cranky Batman. Overall, this episode was a nice tonal shift from the later part of season 1.

Episode Title: “Long Arm of the Law!”

Original Air Date: December 11, 2009

This episode is full of great stuff. We have a bumbling sidekick, a baby superhero, a ridiculous villain, and last but most definitely not least, Plastic Man. All of these elements combine in a celebration of just how much fun the more ridiculous side of comic books and comic book characters can be. So what circumstances lead to this confluence of characters? Read on to find out.

The teaser has Batman teamed up with Plastic Man to rescue a troop of boycotts who are being held captive by a bunch of Shaggymen (the DC equivalent of a sasquatch / bigfoot). Rather than confront the beasts directly, our heroes instead choose to use stealth, quietly rescuing the boys while the shaggy antagonists sleep. The pair narrowly avoid awakening the bad guys repeatedly during the rescue, but as the boys are finally free Plas lets out a celebratory yelp that wakes up the monstrous captors and results in a lot of punching to save the Day.

The story proper begins with Plastic Man formally initiating the inept Woozy Winks as his side kick. Woozy Winks is an interesting character from the early days of comics, designed to be akin to Lou Costello in his comedic sensibilities. The central conceit to his humor is that he once saved a wizard who granted him the protection of the “Natural Environment”, thus he has a knack for tripping and falling to avoid dangers that more competent heroes would simply dodge or duck. This initiation of Woozy also reveals that the episodes in season 2 were aired out of order, as Woozy was clearly Plastic Man’s established side kick in the previous Death Race episode. We see Plas introduce Woozy to his “Plastic Cave”, which is clearly just his garage, and a few other bits of humor to show just how amateurish this superhero duo really are.

After our introduction to Plas and Woozy’s environment, Ramona (Plastic Man’s wife) demands that the pair take the dog for a walk and the baby to the museum. When I saw the baby carriage I held my breath. Could they? Would they? Yes they did, Baby Plas is in this episode. If you are not familiar with Baby Plas, he is a character that was introduced in the late 70’s / early 80’s Plastic Man cartoon, and is a round infantile version of Plas, complete with matching costume, sunglasses, goofy hair and perpetual grin. I should not have to elaborate further for you to understand just how simultaneously ludicrous and awesome Baby Plas is.

At the museum Plas and company encounter oversized villain Rubberneck. Woozy and Plas struggle with the brute, but Batman shows up for an assist. As serendipity protects Woozy, Batman and Plas defeat Rubberneck, but little do they know this whole encounter was merely a setup to allow Plastic Man’s arch nemesis Kite Man to obtain a small fragment of the material from which Plastic Man is made.

Now we have Kite Man, another great flourish in an already excellent episode. Kite Man strives to be the greatest Kite related criminal in history, and has an unnatural obsession with the most famous kite flyer of all time, Benjamin Franklin. Kite Man’s origin is re-told in this episode, we see him as a young man trying to recreate Benjamin Franklin’s famous experiment by flying a kite in an electrical storm, while wearing extensive metal on his face thanks to some orthodontic head gear, and for no particular reason also standing in a tub of water. When lightening strikes the kite, the electrical charge transforms Kite Man into a pathologic criminal who believes Ben Franklin was a fraud.

Kite Man kidnaps Plas’ family, and in the finally showdown unveils his beta beam designed to turn Plastic Man into stone. With Plastic Man turned into a statue, Woozy and Batman fight the villains. Woozy’s random pounding on the beta beam’s control panel somehow “reverses the polarity” causing it to turn Kite Man and Batman into malleable men, while freeing Plas from his statuesque form. Eventually Kite man is thwarted, Plastic Man saves his family, and Woozy and Plastic Man laugh a little too long at one of their own jokes as Batman shakes his head in disgust and walks away. Like I said, it was great!

Episode Title: Smack in the Middle
Original Airdate: January 13, 1966

You may recall that at the end of our last episode Robin had been captured by the Riddler and the gang and is now unconscious and strapped to a surgical table. As for Batman, he was in a bit of a stupor after having been served some drugged orange juice at the What a Way to Go-Go. Now we pick up the story in part two of, Smack in the Middle.

It is now the next morning and Batman is desperately trying to find out Robin’s location. Meanwhile, the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and Molly (Jill St. John) have created a plaster mold of Robin’s face which they use to make a mask using “instant compound X.” The plan is for Molly to pose as Robin so that Batman will lead the baddies right to the mysterious Batcave. If you’ve seen any of the Mission: Impossible films, well this is Batman’s version of their face mask trick.

Now wait, let’s just pause for a second here. First let me say that Jill St. John looks pretty dang fine in a Robin outfit…and actually, when not wearing her Robin mask she looks an awful lot like Carrie Kelley as Robin in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. However, it’s a bit of a stretch to expect us to believe that Miss St. John’s ample…uh…figure could ever pass for the body of flat-as-a-board Burt Ward. Just sayin’.

So, Riddler stages a car accident which Batman rescues his chum Robin (really Molly) from. He then takes him…er her…back to the Batcave. The Caped Crusader is hip to this jive, though. Spotting a flaw in the mask, Batman uses a Bat-laser to to burn off her gun’s firing pin (in a conveniently off-camera scene). Stupidly, Molly tries to escape by climbing the nuclear power source for the Batmobile and tumbles in (one of the series’ few actual deaths).

Batman soon finds Robin’s true location, but the Riddler escapes. Luckily, Robin overheard a series of riddles that leads them to Riddler’s ultimate plot. Once again, he plans to cause trouble at the World’s Fair (from the previous episode). The country of Moldavia has a Mammoth covered in jewels and stuffed with old postage stamps. Those stamps, of course, are now worth a fortune to collectors and Riddler wants them. Of course, our heroes show up to break things up with one of the show’s signature fight sequences.

I love the wonderfully convoluted nature of this episode. Somehow we go all the way from Mission: Impossible style face masks to an ancient mammoth stuffed with priceless postage stamps! It’s all so nuts I just can’t resist it. The bit with masks is the highlight of this episode for me. Burt Ward just eats up the opportunity to play Jill St. John playing him. The way he stands with his hand on his hip is just priceless. Speaking of masks, the final heist sequence has Gorshin’s Riddler donning a latex elephant mask. It’s actually kind of creepy and gives the character a bit more of a sinister edge while still delivering laughs.

Of course, another highlight of this episode is our first climactic group fight. The format of these is simple: two heroes, out numbered by the villain and his minions, they battle as an instrumental version of the theme music plays, and the whole thing is punctuated by words that flash on screen…such as Krunch, Klonk, Bam, and Kapow! This one sets the standard when it comes to the playful and somewhat goofy violence that these fight scenes are known for. This one is actually quite rare in that the villain manages to escape capture at the fight’s end.

This episode does have one very shocking aspect: a character actually dies. Now, sadly, Molly’s death can pretty much be chalked up to pure stupidity on her part. I mean there’s a big danger sign on that nuclear reactor! Don’t tell me she didn’t see it! Still, that this usually quite lighthearted show kills off its first leading lady is a big surprise. It does however provide a nice reflective moment for Bruce Wayne at the episode’s conclusion. “She’s merely someone I passed like a ship in the night, now vanished like a puff of smoke.”:

Overall, this first Bat-adventure was fantastic fun! Be sure to join us next time when another classic villain makes his debut on the show. It’s Burgess Meredith as the Penguin in Fine Feathered Finks. Same Bat-time…same Bat-channel (superhero).

Bat-Gadgets Used:
Emergency Bat-Turn Lever
Bat-Ray Proejctor
Bat Laser Beam
Bat-a-rang
Mobile Crime Computer
Laser Gun
Bat Rebreathers

Holy’s:
Holy Smoke
Holy Showcase

Episode Title: “Revenge of the Reach!”

Original Air Date: January 1, 2010

So ever since the first episode of the first season, I have not enjoyed episodes featuring the third Blue Beetle. Here we have another Jaime Reyes centered episode, so it is starting with one strike against it. I’m not sure why the creators are so determined to make me enjoy Reyes, but for some reason they just won’t quit shoving this petulant teen hero in my face. Will they finally get me to come around on the twerp? Read on to find out.

This teaser is awesome, it features the nearly forgotten team “Challengers of the Unknown”. The Challengers are a team of four adventurers that very strongly influenced Stan Lee’s creation of the Fantastic Four. Unlike the better known FF, the Challengers do not have any supernatural powers, but they do feature a test pilot, a scientist, a tough guy, and a young brash adventure seeker. They are firmly a product of the 1950’s era pop culture sci-fi movement, and they are good, old fashioned fun. This adventure has them investigating a mysterious meteor (are there really any other kind?) when Batman shows up and helps them battle a giant spider. After the spider is defeated and Batman leaves, the meteor opens up revealing that it is filled with Starro’s that attach the the Challengers’ faces and the words “to be continued…” show up on screen. This is far and away my favorite teaser to date, I love the way it feels like the “back up story” that many premier comics have contained for years. Perhaps the more appropriate comparison is to the adventure serials from a bygone cinematic era to which modern action, adventure and sci-fi properties owe so much. It case you haven’t figured it out yet, it was pretty good.

The story proper opens with my least favorite supporting character, Blue Beetle III, battling Evil Star in outer space. He’s arguing with his symbiotic suit (the Scarab) about how he knows he isn’t supposed to be on solo adventures yet, but he had no choice. Reyes quickly realizes that he is in over his head, and calls his ever present friend Paco for advice, posing his scenario as if he is playing a video game. Because Batman knows everything, he is observing the battle from his Bat-rocket, while Reyes uses Paco’s advice to defeat the villain. As Beetle rains down vicious blows on the already subdued bad guy, Batman intervenes to stop him, reminding Reyes “hey, we’re the good guys here!”.

Bats and Reyes take the captured criminal to Oa, where the Green Lanterns can put him away for safe keeping. When the GL’s see Beetle, they immediately place him under arrest (which he successfully resists). The following exposition reveals that the scarab is a weapon developed by and evil conquering race known as the Reach. The Reach send scarabs to planets to bond with a local host, making him appear to be a hero, before using him to destroy the planet. I’m not quite sure what the Reach gain from all of this, but sometimes bad people just got to be bad.

As expected, the scarab takes control of Reyes, and disables Oa’s defenses allowing the Reach to launch a full scale attack on the Green Lanterns. The Lanterns fight bravely, but appear on the verge of defeat. Reyes has an internal battle of wills with the scarab, and manages to regain control of the suit and save the day. After the invasion has been thwarted, the Guardians still demand that Reyes turn over the scarab before Guy Gardner and Bats stand up for him, leading the guardians to reverse their decision. To be honest, I’m with the Guardians here, and I would think that the events would have traumatized Jaime enough that he would want to be rid of the suit, but there is no place for logic here.

I am struggling to identify where the creators are falling short with Reyes in this show. I have tolerated Reyes well enough in the comics, and actually enjoyed his story arc in the second season of Young Justice, but something about the over simplification of the character in this show just turns me off. I have also confessed before that I just thin Ted Kord is so much a better fit for the tone and style of this series. Overall, the teaser is enough to lift this episode to the point of recommending it, but my most brutally honest recommendation would be to watch the teaser, then skip to the next episode. Yay, Challengers of the Unknown!

Episode Title: Fine Feathered Finks
Original Airdate: January 19, 1966

When I used to watch Batman as a kid, I was always anxious to find out what villain would be featured on today’s episode. After only a few seconds of this episode it becomes very obvious who our villain is. For, you see, the story opens with a group of people being given free umbrellas. Who else could it be but Burgess Meredith making his debut as that waddling criminal the Penguin in Fine Feathered Finks.

The previously mentioned umbrellas are distributed to the crowd shopping at the Ali Baba Jewelry Store. The umbrellas start spinning and sparking as if to cause a diversion for a holdup…yet nothing is stolen. Perhaps this is just a prank and the Penguin has actually been reformed before he was recently released from prison. Still, the caped crusaders decide to try and locate the criminal mastermind. They decide to look into umbrella factories in Gotham that have opened in the last three days. In fact, there are three new factories that have opened, one owned by a Mr. K. G. Bird. Get it? Cagey Bird.

Meanwhile, a report of free umbrellas being distributed at a bank comes in. The dynamic duo show up at the bank, but again nothing happens. The heroes head for the umbrella factory, but alas, they have no legitimate legal reason to haul the Penguin in. As they leave, Penguin’s henchmen launch a giant umbrella which lands in downtown Gotham. As Batman observes, “it looks like an ordinary umbrella except for its unusual size.” A smaller umbrella hangs from the handle, which Batman retrieves using his batarang.

The caped crusaders take the umbrella back to the Batcave, but their analysis uncovers no clues. They determine that they need to plant a bug (which looks like an actual bug) in the umbrella factory. The way to do that is to have Bruce Wayne go down to the factory for an umbrella repair job and plant the bug in the process. Penguin is too smart for that, however. His automated anti-bugging machine locates the device and he captures Bruce Wayne (figuring he’s rival umbrella company owner attempting industrial espionage). Now, Bruce is wrapped up in a net and placed on a conveyor belt for a one-way trip into a furnace heated to 10,000 degrees. Cue the cliffhanger narration…

Cliffhanger text:
The horror!
The flaming end of the Caped Crusader
Can Bruce possibly escape??
For Batman’s sake!
Keep your Bat Fingers crossed until tomorrow!
Same time!
Same channel!

I always find Burgess Meredith’s Penguin to be one of the craftier villains of this series. Other than his umbrellas, he doesn’t really have a gimmick and he’s not an intimidating figure by any stretch of the imagination. However, you can always see the wheels of his mind turning. He manages to outsmart Batman at one point in this episode, preventing his own arrest by knowing the law better than the cape wearing boy scouts do. I think a big part of what makes Meredith’s Penguin seem so sinister comes down to his voice and the way he grips his cigarette holder in his teeth. It gives him a truly menacing expression that is just wonderful. Add to it his iconic Penguin laugh and you’ve got a classic performance. Supposedly, Meredith developed the classic laugh to avoid coughing on the cigarettes he had to smoke. Meredith had quit smoking years before this series but endured it for the role.

This episode does have some fun gimmicks, especially the giant umbrella. The icing on the cake for that scene is seeing Robin use a bullhorn to warn the bystanders of the danger. He’s so serious as he calls out, “Back everyone! Take cover! It could be explosive!” Yet the people walking by stay quite casual. A few move from a walk to a slow jog, but most of them don’t seem one bit perturbed by a giant orange umbrella have landed in the middle of the street.

I will say that this episode leaves a little bit to be desired as it feels like a lot of setup for what’s to come in part two. The Penguin’s actions in this amount to little more than pranks as no actual crimes have yet been committed. Well, unless you count tying up Bruce Wayne and trying to stuff him into a furnace. We’ll find out more about what Penguin is plotting next time in The Penguin’s a Jinx.

Bat-Gadget’s Used:
Emergency Bat-Turn Lever
Bat Rope
Hyper-Spectrographic Analyzer
Chemo Electric Secret Writing Detector
Electronic Bugging Devices

Holy’s:
Holy Haberdashery

Episode Title: The Penguin’s a Jinx
Original Airdate: January 20, 1966

You may recall that when we last left Gotham City, Batman had decided that he needed to plant a bug at the Penguin’s umbrella factory in order to get to the bottom of the villain’s latest plot. However, the way to achieve that was to head to the factory as Bruce Wayne to plant the bug. The Penguin detects the bug, however, and now has Bruce (who he figures is a rival umbrella manufacturer) tied up and on a conveyor belt headed for the furnace. Let’s see what happens in our latest episode, The Penguin’s a Jinx.

As he gets closer to the flames, the heat soon wakes Bruce up. Thinking quickly, he grabs his lighter, which has a lifetime supply of butane gas, and tosses it into the flames. This causes an explosion, knocking Bruce off the conveyor and allowing him to escape.

Upon returning to the Batcave, Batman and Robin go back to trying to find clues on the Bat-brella Penguin left for them. As they look at the different colors and features of the Bat-brella, they theorize what links they might have to Penguin’s plot. Thing is, he doesn’t have a plot. He is listening in on a bug of his own and planning his crimes according to what the Caped Crusaders say. When Robin says the colors of the umbrella look like a “beautiful dawn,” Batman realizes that the beautiful actress Dawn Robbins (Leslie Parrish) is in Gotham making a movie. Not only that…Dawn Robbins is working on a movie called The Mockingbird, produced by Ward Eagle, and she’s staying in the penthouse at the Pelican Arms. A perfect kidnapping for the Penguin. The Dynamic Duo even use their computers to lay out the details for the Penguin who is still listening.

Our heroes use a Batzooka to fire their Bat Ropes to Miss Robbins’ high balcony and scale up the wall. The bored starlet is quite thrilled when two superheroes bust into her room. Meanwhile, Penguin and his goons start to slide over to the balcony using their own rope and some special umbrellas. Batman and Robin are waiting of course, but the Penguin knew that…so he uses a Penguin-magnet to stick the heroes to the wall because of the metal items in their utility belts. The Penguin gets away with the actress and demands $200,000 in ransom. The drop off point for the money is to be a neutral location…Wayne Manor. Our heroes decide to hide in two suits of armor that are in hall of the mansion so they can nab the villain. Problem is Penguin is still listening in…he takes out the men in the armor with some of his special gas. Little does he know that Batman is on to his scheme and is actually waiting for the baddies to return to the umbrella factory. Those were just dummies in the armor. Cue the obligatory final fight sequence.

A big part of what makes this episode so much fun is that it is one that seems fully aware of just how absurd this series can get. Considering that, it’s a bit odd that this episode comes so early in the series’ run. Seeing the heroes pull crazy clues out of thin air when examining the umbrella is hilarious. But then, having the Penguin actually use these ideas to craft his crimes is just classic. This entire sequence seems to be saying to the audience, “yep, we know this is all really really silly, but just stick with us and you’ll have fun.”

It’s great to see the Penguin actually get his hands dirty a bit more this time than we saw in the previous episode. His special umbrellas that slide down a rope from one building to another are a lot of fun. For some reason he wears a bandit mask during the kidnapping…because the tuxedo, top hat, monocle, and waddling aren’t dead giveaways as to his identity. Even though the Penguin ends up getting outsmarted in the end (because Batman can’t ultimately lose), I still end up left with the impression that the Penguin is maybe just a wee bit smarter than the Caped Crusaders. You can’t say that of many other members of the rogue’s gallery…but this is one crafty bird.

We also get another welcome addition to the list of lovely ladies of Batman this time with Leslie Parrish. Parrish was a veteran of many movies and TV shows. On the big screen she played Daisy Mae in the feature film version of the musical Li’l Abner and also played Laurence Harvey’s ill-fated wife in The Manchurian Candidate. On the small screen she appeared on shows like The Wild Wild West, Surfside 6, Perry Mason, Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and tons more. Here I love her approach to the young starlet, Dawn Robbins. She has grown completely bored with being a celebrity…yawning her way through a photo shoot for Funboy Magazine. When Batman and Robin show up, well she’s ready to find out just what’s hidden behind those blue tights. Parish shows up again in future episodes, but as a different character.

In the end, this is another really fun Batman adventure. A bit silly but definitely fun. Well, we’ve seen Batman and Robin tackle two iconic villains so far in the Riddler and the Penguin…but the time has come to face the clown prince of crime. Cesar Romero debuts as the mustachioed Joker next time in The Joker’s Wild. See you then…same Bat-time same Bat-channel (superhero).

Bat-Gadgets Used:
Batzooka
Bat Rope
Bat-rebreathers

Holy’s:
Holy Load Stone
Holy Fly Paper

Episode Title: “Aquaman’s Outrageous Adventure!”

Original Air Date: January 8, 2010

So if you’ve ever wondered what National Lampoon’s Vacation would be like if Clark Griswold was the King of Atlantis, well today’s your day, because we’ve got it in this episode. We get to join Aquaman and his family on a farcical romp across America in a rented RV. This seems like a different type of episode, but in this series different has come to be expected.

The teaser has Batman back in WWI flying a bi-plane of some troops engaged in good old fashioned trench warfare. Some bad guy with tentacles coming out of his face (in the rich tradition of Cthulu) is firing a laser canon at what I assume are the good guys. While Batman is attempting to give some air support, he enters into a dogfight with the Enemy Ace. After a brief conversation with his adversary about how unsporting the laser canon is, the two join forces to take it out. No explanation is offered as to why Batman is a WWI era pilot, but that’s ok, I’l just go with it.

The main story starts with Aquaman, his wife Mera, and his son Arthur, Jr cruising the Western United States in a Winnebago. It’s established early on that this is Mera’s idea, because Aquaman is daydreaming about beating up villains while Arthur, Jr stares blankly at his underwater equivalent of a Nintendo DS. As soon as I see Jr. my mind immediately recalls how he meets his brutal demise in the comics at the hands of Black Manta before he ever gets to adulthood. Is that where this episode is going? The murder of a child before his parents eyes? Probably not, what’s wrong with me? Anyway, the first stop on the Atlanteans family tour is a diner in Star City. Aquaman encourages his family to try the apple pie while he sneaks out and phones Batman looking for a taste of adventure. The Dark Knight brushes off the underwater lord as he is more than a bit preoccupied with the Penguin and his henchmen.

Luckily for the Sea King, Star City’s own Green Arrow is stopping a bank robbery by the Clock King. The Aquatic hero joins the fight without an invitation and helps apprehend the punctual super villain. Green Arrow expresses some annoyance at the situation, but not as much as does Mera when he returns to the Diner.

The next stop is a Ghost Town near El Paso, Texas where Aquaman runs off the help the Blue Beetle battle the Planet Master. Unlike Green Arrow, Reyes is quite excited to be joined by the boisterous A-lister from the deep. After stopping the villain who uses representative powers of the planets in our solar system (Blue Beetle cleverly quips “you don’t want to see him use the power of Uranus”) Aquaman sneaks back with his family none the wiser, until the local news shows is battle on the television and he is busted by Mera. Now red faced and red handed, Aquaman vows to do no more super heroics on the family trip.

The group travel through all the fiction cities in DC’s America while Aquaman has to grin and bear it as he stumbles upon one super conflict after another. As the family finally make it to the east coast, Aquaman receives a call that alerts him that Batman has been captured by the Penguin, and desperately needs assistance. Aquaman detours his family to Gotham City under the guise of seeing it’s wonderful sites, which is innately hilarious because Gotham is nothing short of a cess pool. Arthur and his family get captured as well, before Mera finally give her husband the green light to be a hero again. Aquaman frees his Family and Batman, then Mera and Junior join in the butt kicking of penguin and his henchmen. After the situation is well in hand, Aquaman apologizes to his family and suggest they get back to vacation, but they decline admitting that they too prefer to beat up bad guys.

The family vacation has probably been a staple of family humor as long as families, humor and vacations have been a thing. As both a parent and allegedly a former child I have been on my fair share of bad vacations, but none of my bad vacations have been as entertaining as popular culture would suggest, that’s why I am currently a huge advocate of stay-cations. Next time you have a week off work, just stay home and watch this episode with your family. It’s really entertaining, and it did something that I thought was impossible, it made the Jamie Reyes version of the Blue Beetle interesting.