Batman the Animated Series

A coworker loaned me his set of Batman the Animated Series DVDs. Unfortunately season 1 was missing...

Partly it's still good, partly it doesn't seem as deep as I remembered. I think I conflated it too much with the movie Mask of the Phantasm. Though now and then an ep or two surprises me.

Also, it's more comic-booky than I recalled it being (again, Mask of the Phantasm, I think). Too many weird biochemicals and ultra-advanced electronics. The latter is funny, because as yet they 've shown not a single cell phone or the internet :)

But eps like "The Man Who Killed Batman," "Almost Got Him," "Heart of Steel," and "Shadow of the Bat,"are still great. Mark Hamill's portrayal of the Joker remains the best there ever was. It's amazing how he goes from whimsical jokester to psychotic killer in the blink of an eye.

I finished it, pending the first seasons still.

There were several eps I'd missed on the first go-round in the 90s, especially in the last season. For that one the visual style was radically altered, with simplified art and brighter colors. Also there were a few less serious episodes. But there was one that was absolutely amazing.

It's called "Over the Edge," and it opens with Jim Gordon, along with police in body armor and carrying automatic rifles, chasing Batman in the Bat Cave. Gordon also calls Batman "Wayne."

Of course at once you figure it has to be a dream, hallucination, simulation, or perhaps a parallel universe. And of course it is. But it's very well done, providing plenty of justification, both in plot and characterization, for such changes. Best of all, it puts Batman in a situation here he can neither give up nor fight back.