NEWS AND RUMORS

ALL-ENCOMPASSING/OTHER
-Another "World's Finest" tape may be coming to video stores! A tape collecting the 3 episodes, "Knight Time", "Girls Night Out", and "Demon Reborn", apparently titled "World's Finest: Further Adventures of Batman and Superman" may be compiled and sold in stores. This would be a good move by the WB!

"CURRENT" ANIMATED SERIES'
-The current animated series has only about 5 more Superman episodes (one of which being a Batman crossover), all of which will air by May. After that, BTAS/STAS will not return until Sept. of 2000 at the earliest.
-The OFFICIAL episode synopsis for the final five episodes are up at the official Batman/Superman site episode guide section as well as the Superman: The Animated Message Board:
http://www.batman-superman.com
http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb158314

BATMAN BEYOND
-You wanna see some real awesome pics of Terry McGinnis in the Bat-Suit as well as some of his enemies? Well go no furthur then DC COMICS for Kids! Their coloring page features some pretty cool pics of our favorite futuristic hero!
http://www.dckids.com/coloring/coloring.htm

ANIMATED COMICS
-Not much has been known about who is joining Hilary J. Bader as the writer of the new ongoing BATMAN BEYOND but from whats been going around there's going to be no set artist, but a rotating sets of artists from the Batman stable. More news will be provided as it becomes available.
-Lock-Up will be appearing in "Gotham Adventures" sometime after .

OTHER COMICS
-Greg Rucka discusses his plans for the future of DC's huge hit: Batman's No Man's Land as well as some other goodies. Just follow the link below: http://www.mania.com/comics/interviews/gregrucka.html
-The NO MAN'S LAND novelization won't be here for a while but you want a sneek peek on what you can expect from Greg Rucka? Well then take THIS link! http://www.mania.com/comics/features/nmlnovel.html
-For more, see the "Road Through No Man's Land" section below.

MOVIES
-More rumours of Schumacher wanting to make a "Year One" film, with the earliest release date being 2001. Nothing significantly new.
-The much-oppposed "Batman Beyond" movie will be written by Paul Dini and produced by Bruce Timm.

TOYS & MERCHANDISE
-The video game based on the animated incarnation of Superman will be released this spring. The N64 version will be on May 11, and the Playstation version will be sometime in June.
-Check out "Two-Face's Trading Post" if you're interested in purchasing figures...lists provided below.
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THE ROAD THROUGH NO MAN'S LAND
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)

Yes, I know this isn't really an animated topic, but I thought, hey, it's Batman's 60th anniversary, and this is the big event that celebrates it, so I should have a section dedicated to this year-long crossover. Besides, so far it's been excellent in every issue. We have this section split up into two parts - the first saying what has already happened, the second previewing what's to come. Enjoy!

UP UNTIL NOW...
After 100 days of absence, Batman has returned, and took down the Ventriloquist and Scarface; Rhino no runs that sector of town under Batman's control. The GCPD have eliminated the "lesser" gangs in Gotham by starting up a bloody turf war. Batgirl has appeared here and there, and has also encountered Batman himself.
The Scarecrow took up refuge in the "Faith Sector" of town, and tries to get them to get into a major gang-war with the Penguin and Black Mask. The Huntress is the only hope once Father Chris agrees to store Penguin's weapons at the church in exchange for food. Batman and Huntress eventually take the Scarecrow down - but he's still on the loose. It is then revealed that Batman is not working out of the Batcave anymore, but Arkham Asylum.
Then we see a flashback of Rene Montoya in Downtown Gotham, where she runs into good-Samaritan Two-Face, who is helping the people there, due to the luck of the coin.
In earlier March, Batman confronts the Penguin in the Iceberg Lounge - and he wins a small victory, and the Penguin loses some of his power in Gotham; the word of Batman's re-appearance spreads like wildfire. Gordon makes a deal with the devil - but who is he? Many think it is Two-Face (there are some hints), but no one knows for sure at this point.
Later in March, mob boss/cult-leader Black Mask, attacks the GCPD sector, putting Oracle in grave danger; she is just about to kill him, but Batgirl gets in the way. Batgirl captures Black Mask; Oracle is infuriated and has a type of emotional breakdown, seeing another person in HER costume. And the answer for where Batman deposits the criminals he captures has been solved; Lock-Up and KGBeast are in charge of a prison which now holds Black Mask, Tally Man, and various others. It is hinted that Black Mask is killed.
The most recent issue shows Alfred telling a story to a bunch of homeless people, which parrallels what has happened to him since NO MAN'S LAND began. We see Alfred living solo for 100 days, and then how Batman returns to save his life. At the end of the comic, we see Batman preparing to take on Two-Face, which happens next month.

That's 14 issues of NML so far. For a complete list, e-mail us.

WHAT'S TO COME...
-Rest of April: Four self-contained stories. One focusing on Alfred, one on Superman's arrival in Gotham, and one on a nameless civilian just trying to survive.
-May: "Claim-Jumping" (2 parts). The GCPD confront the Penguin, and Batman confronts Two-Face. The Penguin and Two-Face stories are said to be two of the most important segments in the battle in No Man's Land.
-June: Batgirl's identity is revealed. Then, Batman and Robin battle Clayface for the life of Poison Ivy in "Fruit of the Earth" (3 parts).
-Francine Langstrom comes to the Penguin for help, which results in Man-Bat returning to Gotham.
-Batgirl's identity will be revealed in June, in "Legends of the Dark Knight" #120! But rumor is that there will be ANOTHER Batgirl after that.
-See more below.

AS FOR THE OTHER HEROES:
-Robin and Nightwing return to Gotham in June!
-Robin's first duty is to aid Batman in saving Poison Ivy from Clayface.
-Nightwing tries to bring order back to Blackgate prison.
-The Spoiler gives birth in Robin #65.
-Superman arrives in Gotham this April in Batman #566 (the explanation as to why the JLA hasn't helped Batman out in his darkest hour), and will later return in October.
-Catwoman's not really a hero, but I'll include her here anyhow. She's still searching the world for more pretty things. Paris didn't satisfy her - but will New York? She will eventually return to Gotham.
-Azrael will confront the Joker in April.
-And it seems that new GCPD officer Petit, who has a thirst for blood, gains control of most of the GCPD, leaving Gordon in the cold. I bet Bullock still sticks with 'im, though.
-Speaking of which, a one-shot focussing on how Bullock is handling No Man's Land is also due out.

AND AS FOR THE REMAINING VILLAINS...
-Lock-Up and KGBeast now run the prison in which all criminals are kept.
-Two-Face has seized control of the political and financial districts in Downtown Gotham, and has a unique tie to Rene Montoya of the GCPD. In the first major turf war of NO MAN'S LAND, the GCPD confronts the Penguin, Batman tries to take Two-Face down but fails in his first attempt. Two-Face then releases the Russian assassin "Echo" from Blackgate Prison, who goes on a killing spree, with a bounty on Batgirl's head.
-Poison Ivy has sought refuge in the Robinson Park and turned it into a Garden-of-Eden paradise. But then Clayface appears and turns this Eden into a Hell for Ivy.
-Mr. Freeze seizes control of the power plant to stay alive - and to have something valuable to trade with the rest of society. His story involves - a plumber?
-Bane tries to gain control of the city - again - but has to break in from the outside - across the river filled with land mines. This is in Detective Comics #736, in July.
-Man-Bat appears, thanks to the Penguin
-The Joker doesn't appear as a major player until close to the end, along with the new, improved Harley Quinn - whom will appear with the Joker AND Poison Ivy in August.
-The Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, Mr. Zsasz, and various other "lesser" villains have their own chunks of Gotham to rule as well.
-Ra's Al Ghul, meanwhile, is in Washington D.C. battling Anarky in his new ongoing series.
_______________________________
TWO-FACE'S TRADING POST
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)

I know that there are many people out there that collect Batman OR Superman items - like
myself. I only started a year ago and, believe me, finding some of these items (like action figures) that were released a couple years ago is pretty tough! So, I decided to start up a
little section in the newsletter to help out our fellow Bat-fans. I can only personally guarantee that my entries are 100% true, for I saw these items with my own eyes. So we're working on the honour system here. Sound fair?

ALSO if you are LOOKING for something, e-mail me and I can put your request in the "WANT TO BUY" section. There is the possibility that a fellow subscriber is willing to sell what you're looking for!

IMPORTANT QUERY: Many fans have been unable to see any of the new-style BTAS episodes, and any of the STAS or BATMAN BEYOND episodes. Can someone who is in the know point out a website that tells the copyright laws regarding taping episodes off the TV and selling them to people who want 'em? I'm not saying we're doing this - but I know it would help many out. So if anyone has any official info on this (or, better yet, if someone from the WB network contact us), that'd be great. In the meantime, we won't be selling or trading any home-recorded BTAS episodes here.

Well, here we go! I hope this helps out someone out there!

1. JOKERZ LEADER. Mail editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton if you are interested in the Jokerz Leader figure from the new "Batman Beyond" line, in a near-mint package. Pic available. E-mail: juno@direct.ca

2. KILLER CROC. Editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton has a spare Killer Croc figure lying around, in a mint package. Pic available. E-mail juno@direct    if interested.

3. THE MAD HATTER. Yup! Editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton has one spare BTAS "Mad Hatter" figure (in a mint-condition package) in his possession that he is willing to get rid of. This is the only Mad Hatter figure in existance (to our collective knowledge), and is a wonderful figure besides! Sure, that was a shameless plug, but it IS a cool figure. Pic available. If interested, e-mail: juno@direct.ca

4. Wow! Look at all this! If you want any of the following, or are even interested, e-mail Craig at NextNexus@aol.com  -Scans are available for all the figures, too. All figures are MOC (mint, on card), and from the various BTAS lines.

Quick-change Bruce Wayne (red outfit)
Quick-change Bruce Wayne in yellow outfit = $35 RARE!
Turbojet Batman
Anti-Freeze Batman
Sky Dive Batman
Decoy Batman (orange "Mask of the Phantasm" card)
Total Armor Batman ("MotP" card)
Robin (w/Turbo Glider)
Dick Grayson/Robin
Ninja Robin
Joker, green face (w/"Laughing Gas" spray gun - original BTAS Joker fig.)
Jet Pack Joker, rare green face ("MotP" card)
Penguin MOC
Mr. Freeze (original deco)
Man-Bat
Clayface
Harley Quinn
Bane (original BTAS card)

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WANTS TO BUY

1. CLAYFACE. Anyone know where to get a "Legends of the Dark Knight" Clayface figure? I know it's not animated, but it still counts for this column...can anyone help? E-mail: juno@direct.ca

2. COMBAT BELT BATMAN, and BTAS BATMOBILE. If you know where to find these figures - or a BTAS Batwing (I'm pretty sure one was made) e-mail this address: cnwitkow@concentric.net
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FEATURED BAT-SITES FOR THIS ISSUE

"BATGIRL BEYOND"?
(fan-art, fan-fic)

Yep! This is a bit different from our usual site-of-the-week selection, isn't it? A friend of mine is tinkering with the idea of introducing a futuristic Batgirl to "Batman Beyond", and since she's studying to be an animation student, I thought this might be a nice way to show off her talent.

Note: Even though our recent newsletters appear to be completely against "Batman Beyond", they are not...they're just against the total Batman-Beyond-takeover of BTAS. That should clear up any ironies such an article might create. :-)

Here's your chance to see a design of a futuristic Batgirl, by an animation student, that someday hopes to work for WB or Disney.
Her name is Callista, and she would be a partner not a sidekick. I love the Batman Beyond series and have tons of ideas for it. I have even written a story on how she (Callista) becomes Batgirl.
Anyone that is interested please email me, understand that I have many characters and all are copyrighted; however, nothing would make me more happy than to show you my character designs. All the people that have seen them love her and I have had some say she was at a professional level, AND I'm just a student!!! WOW! I am currently on break from school but will be relocating to Los Angeles to go back to art school there. I was studying at The Art Institute of Dallas an affiliate of The Art Institute of Los Angeles. I am currently at home in IL with my parents until the next quarter starts.
I wish I could include a thumbnail or picture of some sort with this newsletter but as far as I know I can't. So if you are interested, even if you just want to see what she looks like or how I came up with her name, please email me. I also do commisions, if anyone wants a character drawn again just email me!
Thanks everyone for reading this and a special thanks to Tim "Two-Face" L. and Dick Grayson for letting me advertise her in this newsletter, as an animation student trying to get into this business and some feed back on her characters, it means worlds to me! Thanks again!

If anyone would like to see her just email me at mbarton@rnet.com

Melissa Barton... better known as Lissa. _____________________________
ANIMATED BATMAN/SUPERMAN SITES:

* - indicates a shameless plug for a site a certain double-faced editor created with his bare hands - in other words, a cheap advertising technique.

OFFICIAL SITES
-----
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
http://www.batman-superman.com
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://www.batmantas.com
BATMAN BEYOND
http://www.batmanbeyond.com
SUB-ZERO: THE DEFINTIE GUIDE
http://www.batman-subzero.com
DC COMICS
http://www.dccomics.com
TOON ZONE
http://www.toonzone.net
RAVING TOY MANIAC
http://www.toymania.com
VOICE CHASERS
http://www.voicechasers.org

UNOFFICIAL SITES
-----
*TWO-FACE'S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND TERROR
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BRIAN CRUZ' WB CARTOON PAGE
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/index.html
BRIAN'S BATMAN PAGE
http://members.aol.com/bdavis2613/main.html
GOTHAM GAZETTE
http://members.aol.com/gothamajp
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED HOMEPAGE
http://www3.sympatico.ca/quartet/home.htm
RA'S AL GHUL'S THE LAZARUS PIT
http://www.aitnet.et/lazaruspit
ANIMANIA
http://hjem.get2net.dk/twt/home.htm
HARLEY'S HAVEN OF HEDONISM
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/harlequinhideaway
THE ANIMATED BAT
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/7382/index.html
BATMAN/SUPERMAN SNAP JUDGMENTS
http://www.snapjudgments.com/batsup.html
BATMAN BEYOND MULTIMEDIA
http://www.prophecysite.com/batman.htm
THE BATCOMPUTER
http://members.spree.com/batcomputer
BATMAN: FOREVER KNIGHT
http://batman.techv.net
WORLD'S FINEST
http://members.spree.com/sip/worldsfinest
CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN
http://www.xse.com/leres/batman.html
ARKHAM ASYLUM
http://animation.acmecity.com/saturday/352
JLA: THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://animation.acmecity.com/character/375
THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES: THE UNOFFICIAL SITE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/5158

MESSAGE BOARDS
-----
HEAVY DUTY DUBBAS DISCUSSION CENTER
http://members.spree.com/sip/hddboards
SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED MESSAGE BOARD
http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb158314

NEWSGROUPS
-----
news:alt.comics.batman
news:alt.animation.batman
news:alt.comics.superman
news:rec.arts.sf.superman
news:alt.tv.cartoon-network
news:rec.arts.animation
news:alt.animation.warner-bros
______________________________
QUESTIONS, SUBMISSIONS, AND FAN-MAIL

If you have any questions, problems, links do not work, or anything else then please e-mail this address with your problems and we'll try to fix them as soon as possible. Also if you'd like to send any fan-mail then please send it to this address:

juno@direct.ca

As for submissions, feel free to submit an article or opinion on anything pertaining to BTAS. Keep in mind that as the editors, we have the right to edit your submissions if we deem it necessary. Such instances would include problems with length, grammar, and language. If we do feel we must edit something, however, we will do our utmost to ensure that the opinion and the basic message of the submission does not change, as that is the most important part of any artcile, and everyone is entitled to it.
______________________________
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED ARCHIVES

The very kind people at TOONZONE were nice enough to give us our own little section of their huge and diverse website. The archives contain past newsletters and is semi-regularly updated with the latest one. To check it out go here:

TOONZONE's BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/btan
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LIKE WHAT YA SEE? WANNA SUBSCRIBE? HERE'S HOW!!!

For those of you who are seeing this at the WBC HOMEPAGE BTAN ARCHIVES section, and want to subscribe just follow these simple instructions:

To subscribe email juno@direct.ca  and put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

For more information the newsletter just email btaninfo@yahoo.com
Thank you for your time, and thanks for reading! Tell your friends!

-Tim TWO-FACE Leighton and Dick Grayson, editors
______________________________
TO ALL GOOD THINGS...
...there must be an end. We would like to thank the endless amount of contributors for contributing their editorials, columns, news, jokes, reviews and other articles. We hope you've all enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed making it! See ya next time!

CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER

EDITORS: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton and "Dick Grayson"
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Brian Cruz
BTAS REVIEWS: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
EDITORIAL #1: Laura Hysert
EDITORIAL #2: Michael Mandeville
BATMAN BEYOND COLUMN: Ed Wiser
COMIC REVIEWS: Aaron Maurer
TOY REVIEW: Kevin Smith
"BTAN ARCHIVES" MODERATOR: Eileen Delgadillo
TRIVIA: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
ROAD THROUGH NO MAN'S LAND: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
TWO-FACE'S TRADING POST: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
PROMOTIONS AND JUST GETTIN' THE WORD AROUND: Dick Grayson, Eileen Delgadillo, Brian Cruz, Brian Davis
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-P Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
DELIVERY: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
E-MAIL RECEPTION HANDLING: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane (who else?)

All elements in this newsletter have been copyrighted (copywritten?) by DC Comics, 1999.
_______________________________

A SPECIAL THANKS TO BOYD KIRKLAND FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS ISSUE! THANKS BOYD!!!