Batman: The Animated Newsletter

Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of November 8 - November 13/14, 1999
Volume 2,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse language and occasional griping"

THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "WE WANT A BATMAN/SUPERMAN SCORE CD!"
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APOLOGY
Sorry about the delay in getting this issue out to all of you. Editor Tim "Two-Face" Leighton
was having computer problems AND an already-busy day on Sunday, November 7; we apologize for
any inconvenience this may have caused.
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SPECIAL PETITION
We all know that a BATMAN BEYOND score CD was released this past August. Fans were thrilled to be getting this, but were also peeved that the "regular" Batman/Superman shows have been overlooked. Who here would buy a BTAS/STAS CD set if one were ever made? Remember, the one BEYOND CD handled only 13 episodes in 40 minutes; BTAS has 109 episodes and STAS has 54 - that means it would be a multi-CD set, to be sure. Who would buy this? I DEFINATELY would!
Our friend RIDDLERWB has supplied us the following e-mail address. E-mail the people at RHINO RECORDS and demand a BATMAN and/or SUPERMAN score CD!

drrhino@rhino.com
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UPCOMING NEW EPISODES
This section will just basically give an insight into what the new episodes are about and hopefully a synopsis of the episode. This section will feature new episodes for BATMAN, SUPERMAN, and BATMAN BEYOND.

'HOOKED UP'
Batman Beyond #21
Air date: November 13, 1999
Batman has to come to Max's rescue when she becomes addicted to a virtual reality world that is controlled by Spellbinder.

'RATS'
Batman Beyond #22
Air date: November 20, 1999
Batman must protect Dana from a dangerous secret admirer...a lonely teenage outcast who lives underground with giant mutant rats as his only companions.

'LEGACY (Pt. 1 & 2)'
Superman #44, 48
Air date: Fall of 1999
This two-parter features the final showdown between Superman and Darksied in which he strips Superman of his memory and adopts him as a son in an effort to take over Earth. This is being touted as the FINAL Superman episode EVER. However, I must say that I've read a synopsis of the episode, and it's a doozie.

For synopses of all other upcoming second season BATMAN BEYOND episodes, check out of BTAN at this address:

http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan
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WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS site)

THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES airs Mondays thru Fridays beginning at 4pm (ET). It also airs every weekend at 8am (ET). BATMAN BEYOND airs on the occasional weekday at 4pm (ET), sharing the time slot with THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. BATMAN BEYOND also airs every weekend at 9am (ET). Check your local listings for time and station in your area. If this newsletter section is not updated in time, please refer to either of these three links for schedule information:

http://www.batman-superman.com/batman/cmp/episodes.html
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/
http://www.ktla.com/backstage/programming/kids_framed.frm

THIS WEEK:
Mon 11-08-99: Batman #103 The Demon Within
B-BEYOND #12 Disappearing Inque

Tue 11-09-99: Batman #94 Love is a Croc
NO SECOND EPISODE TODAY

Wed 11-10-99: Superman #19 Target
B-BEYOND #07 Meltdown

Thu 11-11-99: Batman #109 Judgement Day
NO SECOND EPISODE TODAY

Fri 11-12-99: Superman #44 Demon Reborn
B-BEYOND #19 Hidden Agenda

Sat 11-13-99: Batman #106 Mad Love
B-BEYOND #21 Hooked Up

All episodes #86 and onward of BATMAN are considered THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES while the original 85 are considered BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS) episodes.
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CANADIAN EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BTAS/BEYOND on YTV)
(courtesy of our friends at YTV)

-To find the episode guide and airing schedule of BATMAN and BATMAN BEYOND on YTV then please go to http://www.ytv.com and click on the YTV GUIDE icon at the bottom of the screen. To check out the schedule then click on BATMAN or BATMAN BEYOND in the time grid and it will have the schedule for the current week.

BTAS will air at 7:30am on weekday mornings (in all time zones), and BATMAN BEYOND will air at 2:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. YTV has the rights to show all 109 BTAS episodes. They also have the rights to air the first 26 episodes of BATMAN BEYOND (all of season 1 and the first half of season 2).

THIS WEEK:
Mon 11-08-99: BTAS #40 Joker's Wild

Tue 11-09-99: BTAS #60 His Silicon Soul

Wed 11-10-99: BTAS #50 Off Balance

Thu 11-11-99: BTAS #48 What is Reality?

Fri 11-12-99: BTAS #33 The Laughing Fish

Sat 11-13-99: BEYOND #17 Lost Soul (?)

Sun 11-14-99: BEYOND #18 Bloodsport (?)
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CARTOON NETWORK WB ANIMATION SCHEDULE:
"Yabba Dabba Doom"
(courtesy of Brian Cruz)

THE CARTOON NETWORK was able to get the exclusive rights to 52 episodes of the classic BTAS, as well as both animated movies. BTAS airs Monday-Friday at 6pm (ET) and then repeated again at midnight. If our schedule listings is not complete or up to date then please go to either of these sites for the schedule:

http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/batman-cn.html
http://homes.acmecity.com/animation/saturday/352/schedule.html

To see the 52 episodes that the CARTOON NETWORK does show, go to this link:

http://www.toonzone.net/brian/eplists/batman-cn.html

NOTE: The schedules at Brian Cruz' site are currently unavailable; if anyone knows of any other place where people can get listings for BTAS on the Cartoon Network, please e-mail us!
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EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)

All of Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton's reviews of the new-style BTAS episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links, which link to "Two-Face's Tower of Tranquility and Terror":

MAIN PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BTAS PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFaceText/bats.html

NOTE: Due to the loss of the WGN, editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton has been virtually unable to review any new episodes. Until he can once again, we'll be having someone substituting for him. Thank you to Justin Chen for this review!

<BATMAN BEYOND>
BLOODSPORT
Written by Rich Fogel
Directed by Dan Riba
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original air date: October 23, 1999
Rating: *** (out of 5)

For those of you out there who know a little something about literature, you've probably heard of "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. And if you don't, then what it basically describes is a lone man's battle on a remote jungle island against a deadly hunter who kills for the thrill of it. Replace the jungle with concrete and steel, and name the hero Terry, and you've got the premise for "Bloodsport".

At Gotham's fanciest hotel, a mysterious man is escorted by a bellhop into the penthouse suite. Expecting a tip, the bellhop is disappointed when the man doesn't give any. Asking him if there's anything else he needs, the answer is "Privacy". On the balcony, a mosquito lands on the man's hand, and begins to suck the blood out. The man notices, but doesn't attempt to swat it. As the insect flies away, he lifts a tiny blowgun from his shirt and blows. As the blood splatters, the man smiles.

Meanwhile at the Evergreen Recycling Center, Terry is keeping a close watch on men taking apart cars. Bruce informs him through the comm. link that the cars are stolen. Using that as his cues Terry unleashes himself on the car thieves. As the fights, Bruce informs him that Terry's mother asked him to pick up some milk on the way home. After a really intense battle, which is up to par with the last fight from "The Winning Edge", Terry emerges victorious.

The next morning, Terry's mother discovers that he never bought any milk. Terry apologizes, knowing that his mother is trying to obtain some type of certification to get a promotion at work. At the penthouse that night, the man has redecorated the room with hundreds of ceremonial artifacts as well as a fire in the center of the room. He is dressed in a loin cloth, with tattoos all over himself. A ragged scar runs down the length of his spine. On the floor is a drawing of various types of animals, and the bat is one of them. Grabbing a long staff, he vaults off the building into the cityscape below. He breaks a skylight on a building and enters.

Batman's on the scene soon enough. The place is some kind of museum, with ancient monuments and relics. Suddenly a pair of darts emerges from the shadows, narrowly missing Terry. The man vaults into Terry, knocking him over. Terry gets back up soon enough and starts pummeling his attacker. But the man doesn't go down, instead he catches Terry's punches and begins to grapple with him. Terry flips over and throws the man across the room, but cannot get to him because a gas grenade is tossed in his face. Once the smoke clears, the man is gone.

Terry must apologize once more to him mom as he comes home. She has to leave for the night, so Terry takes his brother Matt to Cheezy Dan's for dinner. A shadowy figure mysteriously watches Terry as he heads off. At the restaurant, Matt is busy playing video games when Terry looks through the skylight and sees the tattooed man. He asks Max (from "Hidden Agenda"), happens to be there to watch Matt. Terry then leads the man on a wild chase through the city. But no matter where he goes, his stalker is right on his tail. Hiding on a train, Bruce informs Terry that is man is really called "The Stalker", and he's wanted for poaching on three continents. Terry throws off his jacket to a homeless man on the train, and the Stalker pursues him for a while, allowing Terry to escape. Once back at Cheezy Dan's, Terry is shocked to discover that Matt is missing, and his clothing is stuck to the wall with a dagger.

From that point on, we learn much about what's been going on, including how the Stalker was able to get so close to Terry even if he was masked when they fought. We also learn about the Stalker's past in some very powerful scenes involving his old hunting expeditions and his "rebirth" as the greatest hunter of all. What does the Stalker really think of Batman? It's all answered right here. The final fight scene is amazing as well, with Batman trying to make his way through a trap rigged penthouse suite as he tries to rescue Matt. The episode ends with the Stalker badly injured, and he begins hallucinating, thinking Batman is some kind of devil. Vaulting off the balcony, he lands on a train track just as the nightly metro arrives. He's too scared to even move.

"Hunting season's over," says Bats.

So what's to like about this ep? Certainly the action is great and Terry's family actually plays more of a role in this one. Also, it's good how they at least attempted to explain the Stalker's past instead of just popping him in out of nowhere.

So then why the three star rating? Well, lack of originality for the most part. I know many initially thought that Batman Beyond was Spider Man-ish, and while Terry has certainly began to shed his Peter Parker likenesses, Stalker is little more than Kraven the Hunter for Batman, and there really just isn't anything to separate "Bloodsport" from anything else this season. Coming off of "Lost Soul" and "Hidden Agenda", perhaps I'm being a bit hard on this ep, but that's how I feel. This is by no means a bad episode, though. Remember that even a mediocre episode of Batman can give the best of any other show some real competition.

By Justin Chen, aka The Overseer
t_overseer@yahoo.com

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EDITORAL #1
(by Laura Hysert, aka "Phoenix")

Oh where, oh where has our Laurrrra gone? Oh where, or where can she beeeeee? Oh where, oh where has our Laurrrrra gone? I guess she'll no longer work for freeeeeee....
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EDITORIAL #2
(by Kelly Tindall)

THE ROAD FROM NO MAN'S LAND

The status quo has shifted...

What is to become of our Gotham City after it is rebuilt? What of its heroes? What of its villains?

I sincerely hope in my heart of hearts that the editors of the Bat-books are not so black-hearted as to return things to their previous status quo...villain is loose! Catch villain! Done...

It simply cannot be. Two-Face has now had a taste, indeed, a full BITE of the power the Penguin has commanded since his release from prison. He has been a leader, the terrible likes of which history has only rarely seen. Can we expect the bifurcated one to return to a mundane existence of Arkham 'rehab'? I think not!

Nor can we expect the average commonalities of the story to overtake the Joker. Indeed, history's finest cartoon villain has found a match and a possible mate in the desolation of No Man's Land. He himself hath proclaimed, "I shall MARRY Harley Quinn!" like a randy thirteen-year old. Can we expect him to be parted from a criminal catalyst such as the divine Ms. Quinn? Harley herself is due a few years of escape/recapture in the style of classic villains, but the Joker, well...interestingly, HE may be the one to demand something more from the psychopathic relationship.

Killer Croc? Scarface? Scarecrow? Ivy? They've all survived experiences to better themselves as people in the harsh climes of ravaged Gotham...Poison Ivy, after being a shepherd and de-facto mother to the children of the Park, cannot be expected to return to the shadows of Arkham! It is not hardly FAIR...she as much as anyone is responsible for the SURVIVAL of Gotham's spirit, hardly its degredation! Regardless of the coersion that forced her philanthropy, she has become more than what she was.

The answer, constant readers? My children, we need only to look to a rival...MARVEL. Their relaunch of Spider-Man, although a desperate and sad move, has nevertheless spawned that which the Bat-titles needed an EARTHQUAKE to create...citizenship of its villains. One needs only to look to the most recent Spider-Man issues...not one or two but SEVEN MAJOR VILLAINS walk away at the end, free as babies with their diapers hanging off. With Carnage on the horizon, no less! THIS is what I mean.

I'm all for dark evil and overblown super-plots...they make comics interesting. But after No Man's Land, can't the group editors ask themself if there is something more to the Batman Rogue's Gallery? One need only to look to "Arkham Asylum" or much of "Shadow of the Bat" to see that there IS, constant, there IS...but how much more has the earthquake wrought? HOW MUCH?