BATMAN:THE ANIMATED TRIVIA
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
This is one of my favourite sections, where I get to boggle the minds of all our
readers! *EVIL LAUGH* This trivia is all animated-related in some form, and can deal with
ANY aspect of the show or comics. Some are easy, some are not. Now have fun - let's see
how well you do! Answers are provided beneath the "Animated Batman/Superman
Sites" section.
I figured that with the premiere "Batman Beyond" looming in our midst, this
would be a good time to take note of some of the more important pieces of info you should
know prior to watching the series.
61. In the animated series continuity, how many times has the Joker apparently
"died"?
A: ONE
B: TWO
C: THREE
D: NONE
E: FOUR OR MORE
62. Which of the following characters has NEVER been shown with blood on them at any
point in the BTAS continuity?
A: BANE
B: BATGIRL
C: THE JOKER
D: HARLEY QUINN
E: BATMAN
63. In the earliest episodes of the series, the Batcomputer actually had a voice
(Richard Moll (Two-Face)). In one episode, Batman was in the Batmobile and the Batcomputer
was assisting him in finding a certain criminal - which villain was he hunting for?
A: THE JOKER
B: MAN-BAT
C: POISON IVY
D: TWO-FACE
E: THE SCARECROW
64. On the old BTAS series (1992-1995), it was extremely rare to see any blood on
screen. However, the blood of two people still managed to get through. Whose blood was it?
A: BATMAN
B: THE JOKER
C: KILLER CROC
D: THE MAD HATTER
E: RUPERT THORNE
65. Which of the following people ever accused Batman of killing children?
A: ALFRED
B: COMMISSIONER GORDON
C: THE SCARECROW
D: BANE
E: HARVEY BULLOCK
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LITTLE FACTS
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
Here is a section that just points out various little facts that we have noticed while
watching BTAS and STAS countless times. If you have anything to contribute, feel free to
do so! Enjoy!
CONBTRIBUTED BY STAFF:
1) Anyone notice that in "Batman Beyond", Terry McGinnis' high school is
named after the current Gotham mayor, Hamilton Hill?
2) In the opening scenes of "Rebirth" (BEYOND), one of Ricky the Hook's thugs
from "You Scratch My Back" makes an appearance. Can you find which one?
3) Everyone knows this one, already, but I might as well add it...the "May the
floss be with you" line in "Mad Love" was in direct reference to Star Wars,
whom Mark Hamill was in (obviously). Mark Hamill also provides the voice of the Joker.
4) The man licking the glass in "Mad Love" is none-other than Harley-creator
Paul Dini.
5) Summer Gleeson is back in "Mad Love"! Oddly enough, she doesn't sound the
same...weird?
CONTRIBUTED OTHERS:
Jim Apitz
6) In "Beware the Creeper", when the Creeper is looking for a costume, he
goes into Ditko's vintage clothing. Steve Ditko is a DC comics writer. This last point I'm
not sure of, but he definitely does work for DC on Superman.
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ANIMATED NEWS AND RUMORS GENERAL
MEN IN BLACK and BATMAN BEYOND now have their own official message boards. Check them
out here:
http://wbboards.warnerbros.com
MOVIES
-"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" will likely air on Kids WB sometime this
season - but this is mere speculation.
"CURRENT" ANIMATED SERIES'
- There is some rumor of a "Lost Years" episode featuring how the Scarecrow's
new design came about, to air sometime after "Mad Love" and "Rise of the
Demon".
- An internet interview with Kevin Conroy is approaching. Keep your eyes and ears
peeled!
- Be sure to check out The Bruce Timm Artwork Archive's news section for pics of Green
Lantern from this season's 'IN BRIGHTEST LIGHT' Superman episode.
http://www.aiusa.com/chip/timm/news/news.htm
-"Rise of the Demon" may be indefinately postponed - not cancelled, just
shelved for the time being.
-At the end of this month, the 1999-2000 schedule for the WB will be released.
Batman/Superman, Batman Beyond, and MIB are all going to be there FOR SURE.
-"Legacy" will be the two-part season finale for Superman, featuring his
final showdown against Darksied.
BATMAN BEYOND
-For all of you wondering what villians we'll get to see in the next month of so on
BATMAN BEYOND here's a list. After the two-part premiere wraps up on the 23rd, we'll see
Inque in "Black Out" on Jan. 30th. This will be followed by 4 new episodes in a
row which features these characters as villians:
(Feb. 06) Royal Flush Gang
(Feb. 13) SpellBinder
(Feb. 20) Blight (with Mr. Freeze)
(Feb. 27) and a suprise!
Thanx to Chip once again fore the news!
COMICS/BOOKS
Re: NO MAN'S LAND (LOTSA SPOILERS)
- Well, three issues into the story and we've seen Oracle show us where all the
villains (but the Joker) have claimed territory in devastated Gotham. We have seen
dealings with the Penguin and Ventriloquist, and a cameo by the Joker. The new Batgirl has
appeared - but no significant members of Gotham society know this. (The new Batgirl's
debut was in "Shadow of the Bat #83" - it sold out immediately at my store - get
it if you can!) Then, in the most recent issue, Batman has FINALLY returned (along with
Alfred), 100 days after the bridges were blown up - but his absence was not explained. The
GCPD have reclaimed the LoBoyz and Demonz territory of Gotham, threatening to kill anyone
if they come back. Batman also has his first encounter with the new Batgirl.
"NO MAN'S LAND" BACK-STORY AND OTHER COMICS NEWS:
- Batman and Alfred return after 3 months of absense, running into the new Batgirl.
After a time in Bludhaven, Superman and Nightwing come to Gotham to assist the Bat; ditto
for Robin. The GCPD gets medieval on everybody's hiney. Azrael also becomes a more
intricate part of the team. Huntress is also stickin' around. Alfred most likely stays,
too. The JLA won't appear, and we're going to see why. As for Spoiler...hmmm?
- Villains aplenty:
-Riddler leaves, only to be persued by Robin and the Flash.
-Catwoman returns to Gotham about half-way through after New York proves to be a waste
of her time.
-The Ventriloquist rules a large chunk of Gotham with an iron fist.
-Mr. Freeze seizes control of the power plant to stay alive - and to have something
valuable to trade with the rest of society.
-The Scarecrow has a field day tormenting Huntress in the religious sector of town.
-Bane tries to gain control of the city - again - but has to break in from the outside.
-Poison Ivy seeks refuge in the "Central Park" in Gotham.
-Penguin seems to have the only access to points of the world OUTSIDE of Gotham, and
basically rules the city.
-Two-Face has seized control of the political and financial districts of town.
-The Joker doesn't appear as a major player until close to the end, along with the new,
improved Harley Quinn - whom will appear in civilian form mid-way through the crossover.
-The Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, Mr. Zsasz, and various other "lesser" villains
have their own chunks of Gotham to rule as well.
-Other villain heavyweights like Firefly and Ra's Al Ghul will have roles as well, most
likely, but no details have been given for them yet.
- Lots of new NO MAN'S LAND info can be found at this site now: http://www.mania.com
- For all Superman fans, read this: The January issue of Cinescape includes a review of
Les Daniels and Chip Kidd's Superman: The Complete History, reviewer Frank Kurtz called it
"A beautifully designed book that would do any coffee table proud", and
"even seasoned comics enthusiasts may find themselves surprised by the depth of the
material."
Re: ANIMATED COMICS
- It looks like Kelly Puckett and Scott Peterson, writer and editor of "Batman
Adventures" (1992-1995) well at least write two issues of "Batman: Gotham
Adventures" after Ty Templeton's departure following .
- Rumor has it that if the "Batman Beyond" series and comic series are
popular enough, it will become a continuing series, instead of just a six-issue
mini-series as currently planned. The same happened with "The Batman Adventures"
many moons ago.
- Joe Staton has been pegged as the artist for the BATMAN BEYOND comic series, while
Terry Beatty is inker and Hilary J. Bader is writer.
- All five "Lost Years" comics will be sold together in "The Lost
Years" Tradepaperback this month.
- Another current comic character will be making an appearance in BATMAN BEYOND! In
Issue #4 of the comic series based on the TV show, Jason Blood/Etrigan will appear. Cool
huh?
-Dini & Timm tell a wee bit about the upcoming Harley & Ivy mini-series:
"Three issues of fun...and showers," said Dini.
"There's a shower scene in every issue..." Timm said, "Tell your
friends."
-Sometime after , Bane will make an appearance in GOTHAM ADVENTURES.
TOYS & MERCHANDISE
-As for the regular animated line, a wave featuring the new-style Mr. Freeze and three
Batman variants is due sometime in 1999 - some have said this "MISSION MASTERS"
assortment has been sighted in stores right now! I have seen pics of the Mr. Freeze figure
and it looks really good, just like his original figure - it even has the detachable head
and spider legs!
-There have been alot of rumors floating around that there is an Animated Batman game
in the works. Check out the full details at Brian's Batman Page (URL provided below in the
website section)
-TITUS has just announced that the N64/PLaystation video game based on Superman: The
Animated Series will be released on May 25th, 1999. The extra long delay is reportly due
to some control problems. (Remember, however, the "Batman & Robin"
Playstation came had an extended delay, too, only to make the game superb. Hopefully
SUPERMAN will be just as good!)
-More pictures of the "Batman Beyond" figures have been released! Follow this
link to see a figure of the Jokerz Leader!
http://www.aiusa.com/chip/timm/news/news.htm
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED FIGURES
(by Kevin Smith)
"THE BATS, THE CAT, THE CLOWN, AND THE CROW"
Since Mr. Smith was unable to provide a toy review for this newsletter, we have dug up
his earliest toy review from BTAN #04, discussing the first wave of "animated"
Bat-figures. Enjoy!
The second wave of figures of TAS line brought some nice surprises. We
got a Bruce Wayne figure with Snap-On Batman Armor. Ok, so Bruce Wayne's "racing
outfit" looks nothing like normal clothes. (No, I'm not a superhero in disguise!),
but I thought it was kewl that the Batman "cowl" looked just like the motorcycle
helmet he wears in episodes like
"Two-Face (Pt. 2)". The card art was nothing to scream about, yet not overtly
horrible at the same time.
The big surprise for me was the Man-Bat figure with Flapping Wings and Tow Cable. Never
did I expect this one! The sculpt is really close to the show, but very hard to balance. I
happen to have a shelf with a lip, so his wings fold over the lip, and his feet push
against the lip. That way he stands up "on his own." Or, one can try applying
putty to his feet to help him stand on his own. The tow cable - yeah, whatever. The wing
flapping action is kewl, and it's nice that he has bending elbow joints, but they get
loose easily, and he doesn't flap his wings so well. The card art is great, true to the
show's design.
Then there was the Joker. Like Two-Face, Kenner dropped something into the white paint,
and so we get, not the white color his face was in the show, but the bluish color his face
is in the new style. Yuck. Also, he was missing the black shadowing around his eyes, so he
doesn't look as sinister. He came with a smile gas mask (like in "The Last
Laugh") and "Laughing Gas" Spray Gun, which was just a stupid water
shooting orange thing - good for spraying younger siblings with! I liked the sculpt,
because it allowed me to pose him with his finger pointed (at my Batman) as if to say
"I got you!" The card art was mediocre, because the body was drawn well, but the
face and head totally sucked. It looked as if the style was changed.
Kenner released a Scarecrow figure as a late edition to the second wave.
The version released had red glowing eyes, two unpainted teeth, and yellow straw hair.
Personally, I always preferred the Scarecrow's look from the first episode, since it
looked the closest to the comic version, but at that point, I was happy to get any
incarnation of the Scarecrow! He came with a crow that could "sit" on his arm
and "Thrashing Sickle," which, with the help of a wheel on his back, could spin
around as he held it. Still, I thought it was a good figure, and he isn't terribly hard to
balance. The card art was ok, except the crow looked like it was done in a different
style, and the Scarecrow had odd wrinkles under his eyes.
Catwoman was also released with the late second wave. As usual, Kenner delayed putting
the female figure on the back of the card(ala Catwoman from Batman Returns line). I don't
know what Kenner was thinking when they sculpted her. Balance was definitely not one of
the top criteria on this one. She came with a whip,(from the Returns line, used in the
Legends line too) Whipping Arm Action, and Claw Hooks(Which are stupid, because they were
ridiculously huge, and useless to a cat burglar ). Also included, was a little rubber
Isis, (her cat) that sits around her neck and helps to cover up the fact that Catwoman's
neck is too short, and her shoulders are so square and tense, she looks like she's having
a panic attack. Also, like the Returns Catwoman, she's got a funky attack position, that's
hard to balance. Her feet are big flat paddle looking things. Plus, her eyes are painted
so that each eye looks to a different side. The card art is acceptable, except that the
cat around her neck looks nothing like Isis.
Also during this wave, vehicles like the Batmobile, and Batman on the Batcycle were
released. Included, were the Jokermobile, and stupid ones like the Hoverbat, and the
B.A.T.V. Later came the insipid Bat-signal jet, and the impossible to find Robin Dragster.
The stupid variation Batmans in this wave consisted of Skydive Batman, who was black and
orange (Criminals won't be able to spot you!), and Infrared Batman, who was black and red.
So, what's in the next issue? Hmmm...we'll keep ya posted!
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