Batman: The Brave and the Bold

All these, and more...

It's a well-known fact that Marvel has it over DC in terms of the movies these days, thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but ten years ago comics adaptations were all about the DC Animated Universe, a series of interlinked cartoon series which began with the nigh-perfect Batman the Animated Series.

After the end of the DCAU at the close of Justice League Unlimited, this must have placed a pretty hefty burden on anyone looking to make the next Batman cartoon. That series was actually The Batman, a far more conventional series, with toy-oriented gadgets and a less distinctive art style. It was not unsuccessful, but it was no Batman the Animated Series.

What followed the end of The Batman was something very different. Batman: The Brave and the Bold is usually described as a love letter to the Silver Age, a 'team-up' series characterised by four-colour heroics, an upbeat tone and a general air of silliness (with many plots, as well as characters, lifted directly from the pages of Silver Age comics.) It thumbed its nose at chronology, freely featuring Batman fighting Nazis in WWII, and made frequent use of time travel and alternate dimensions. It was wacky, it was joyful, it was a whole heap of fun.

Oh yeah; that happened. And then...

Halfway through season 2 came Chill of the Night, in which Batman is tempted to choose between justice and vengeance in confronting his parents' killer.

Dark and thoughtful, it was probably the shark jump of the series in the original sense (the shark jump is not the cause of decline in a show, but the high point to which it never ascends again). It was closely followed by The Siege of Starro and The Last Patrol, neither of which was short on dramatic punch. While it continued to be an excellent show, it certainly never matched this standard.

Season 3 was admittedly weaker, with aspects of the series becoming almost self-parody (barely an episode goes by without Batman referring to his fists as 'the hammers of justice'), and after only to and a half series the show wrapped up, to give way to Beware the Batman, a return to a more serious tone.

In its short run, BTBATB brought a real zip back to the Caped Crusader's mythos, and made Aquaman awesome again in the first time since... forever (which isn't entirely fair; the dude rules 2/3 of the planet and is stronger than pretty much anyone but Superman and Wonder Woman, but he gets treated like he's the Man from Atlantis.) It swiftly became one of my favourite things and looks set to remain so.