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EDITORIAL
(by Kelly Tindall)
Mr. Tindall was unable to submit an editorial for
this issue. Y2K problems? Perhaps. Either
way, we'll hear from him VERY soon. Be patient, my friends.
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AND THAT'S THE FACTS
(by "Reliable Source")
(Yes, I understand that the title is grammatically
incorrect. So sue us. Actually, nix that.
Don't sue us.)
(DISCLAIMER: For those of you who are not
yet familiar, Reliable Source is an anonymous
character who first surfaced on Batman: The Animated Message Boards, spewing
forth ridiculous
predictions about the future of Batman Beyond under the guise of spoiler
warnings. His
controversial posts created quite a buzz, and have landed him a temporary
column with this
newsletter. The thoughts and ideas expressed by this shady character are
in no way officially
connected to Kids WB, Batman Beyond, this newsletter, or anything that is
decent or holy. That
said, on with the show.)
First off I would just like to apologize for my
conspicuous absence from the last issue of the
newsletter. I was having some computer problems. I'd blame it on
Y2K, but apparently that was
just a lot of hot air anyway. Plus the fact that my computer is so old,
it's still having
ramifications from Y1K, for goodness sakes. Either way, I'm here now,
I'm back, and have I got
a scoop for you.
Many of you have heard rumors circulating about a
potential "Bruce Wayne" series for the WB.
This series would focus not on Batman, but on a young Bruce Wayne as he trains
for the role as
Gotham's Dark Knight. These rumors are false. The WB is
circulating them to throw the media
off track of the series that is actually in development, which is the exact
opposite. This
series will feature everyone BUT Bruce Wayne.
You see, WB has learned from its mistakes.
It seems just one actor can't handle the role of
Bruce Wayne, as we've seen the mantle go through Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney
in the past ten
years or so. Besides, every past Batman film has had one thing in
common: Batman is always
overshadowed by the villains. It's Nicholson, Pfieffer, DeVito, Carrey,
Schwarzenegger...
okay, well, maybe not Schwarzenegger, but those others, certainly, that are
the stars of the
show. That is why the WB is secretly developing "Arkham," a
series that is all about Batman's
arch foes, but Batman is not actually in!
Early casting has Jim Brewer of "Saturday
Night Live" as The Joker, Dennis Franz of "NYPD
Blue" as The Penguin, Julia Louis Dreyfus of "Seinfeld" as
Poison Ivy, Ed Norton of the movie
"Fight Club" as The Riddler, Max Wright from "ALF" as The
Ventriloquist, and Britney Spears as
Harley Quinn.
Mmmm... Britney in a tight clown costume... ahhh!
Gotta go!!!! Remember, you can write to me
at
Reliable_S@hotmail.com.
As always, more as I hear it!
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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 based on the show. Remember, answer the questions WITHIN
THE CONTEXT OF THE
ANIMATED CONTINUITY. Now have fun - let's see how well you do! Answers are
provided below.
Y2K, Y2K - it all turned out to be a bunch of hot
air, didn't it? Be that as it may, I decided
to focus this issue's trivia section on the use of computers and other
electrical equipment on BTAS.
241. What is route has the shortest distance on a
globe between Nome, Alaska, and Miami,
Florida?
A: Straight line
B: Curved line
C: Zig Zag line
D: Squiggly line
E: Texas line-dancing
242. Which voice actor provided the voice of the
Batcomputer on either BTAS or BATMAN BEYOND?
A: KEVIN CONROY
B: EFRAM ZIMBALIST, JR.
C: RICHARD MOLL
D: CARY ELWES
E: SHERMAN HOWARD
243. In which episode does Batman destroy a good
portion of his computer equipment, in the midst of a rage?
A: HEART OF STEEL (Pt. 1)
B: HEART OF STEEL (Pt. 2)
C: HIS SILICON SOUL
D: I AM THE NIGHT
E: LOST SOUL
244. Which villain was Terry McGinnis (in the
Batsuit) chasing when he wiped out and much of the Batsuit was torn to shreds,
revealing the electronic infrastructure underneath? (Big words, man, big
words...)
A: Robert Vance
B: Inque
C: Mr. Freeze
D: Blight
E: Spellbinder
245. In the only episode in which the Joker's
answering machine is heard, who is the one that actually picks up the phone?
A: The Joker
B: Harley Quinn
C: Rocco or Henshaw
D: Lar, Cur, or Moe
E: The phone is never picked up
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ANSWERS TO THE TRIVIA
Answer to #241: B
Answer to #242: C, E
Answer to #243: D
Answer to #244: E
Answer to #245: E
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LITTLE FACTS AND BLOOPERS
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
Here is a section that just points out various
little facts and bloopers 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) I looked ahead at the BATMAN BEYOND movie rumour news, and noticed that a
new pair of
villains...twin girls, actually...are named "Dee-Dee". Could
this be an in-joke referring to
their bra cup size? (Seriously, it could be - the WB animators seem to
stick with just one
body type for women ever since they went moved on to the "new style"
look of the series'.)
CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
(by "SSS 979")
2) In "Critters", when the cow was running through the streets of
Gotham, Batgirl stopped it by
throwing that thing to wrap up its back legs and it tripped. But when it
fell, you see its
front legs also wrapped with a separate rope.
(by "Ultros")
3) In "Almost Got 'Im" Two-Face is telling a story about how he
almost got Batman. In this
flashback he takes away Batman's utility belt. Batman lunges at him,
except he's still wearing
his belt. Two utility belts in one frame? Sounds like the work of
Harvey Dent to me.
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MERCHANDISING: WHERE THE REAL BAT-CASH IS MADE
(by anyone that wants to contribute)
This article by:
STEVE NAUERT
BATMAN BEYOND=Y2K COMPLIANT ACTION FIGURES?
This line is of course related to the internet
based toy line division of Batman Beyond
entitled: BATMAN BEYOND: BATLINK! Batlink is a division of the toy line that
places Batman and
Robin (Don't worry I'll explain!) on the information super highway as they
battle a computer
virus styled Joker. There are fur figure for this new storyline, the figures
included are 2 Batmans, a variant of robin entitled Firewall Robin,, a spooky looking
"Virtual JOKER", and a
new Batmobile called the Netrunner rounds out he set! These figures come on
smaller cards and
retail at $4.95 at most stores, they are currently being found at wal marts
and Toys r us'
across the country! An interesting fact to note is that this was originally
inteneded to be a
seperate toyline until hasbro decided to put it under the popular Batman
Beyond banner! The
Robin was put in there for that reason only, but internet speculation leads
you to believe that
these toys may be connected to the straight to home video movie coming out
next year: BATMAN
BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER!
Of course this is just speculation, please do not
take it as fact. Rather there will be more
figures for this new toyline is not known at this time.
On a side note, I would like to remind that the
Batman Beyond Kids meal started at Burger King
January 3rd! Some of the toys include are several Batmans, a batmobile, a very
cool Inque, a
Blight/Powers that can change from human to nuclear waste and is wearng
clothes, and a J-Man
toy on his bike! Pictures are available on
www.FIGURES.com!
In a future issue I hope to review
each toy. Happy Holidays to all and I hope you had a Happy New Year!
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COMIC REVIEWS
(GOTHAM ADVENTURES by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
(BATMAN BEYOND by Tim Wan)
Welcome a new member to the newsletter staff,
everyone! Tim Wan (many will know him for his
great BATMAN BEYOND site - check out the links section for more) has hopped
aboard to help me
with the comic-reviewing duties. I will still be covering GOTHAM
ADVENTURES, but the OTHER Tim
will be covering all issues of the ongoing BATMAN BEYOND series. Let's
put our hands together
and welcome him to the newsletter!
BATMAN BEYOND (ongoing)
ISSUE: "Zoologically Speaking" (#3)
WRITTEN BY: Hilary J. Bader
PENCILLED BY: Craig Rousseau
INKED BY: Rob Leigh
ISSUED: November 24, 1999 (cover date, January 2000)
RATING (out of 5): ***1/2
First of all, an interesting tidbit, Batman Beyond
#3 was originally slated to cover the return
of the Terrific Trio, but was canceled when Marvel complained about their
similarity to the
Fantastic Four. Instead we get the return of another "dead" villain.
It’s unfortunate that the
Terrific Trio was ditched, as I thought they had potential but were definitely
written poorly
in their first episode.
Anyway, the comic titled "Zoologically
Speaking" marks the return of the Splicers. For those
that didn’t catch the season premiere of Batman Beyond, splicers are humans
that have combined
their human DNA with animal DNA to become creatures will human smarts and
logic, but animal
strength.
The comic opens with a dramatic battle between
Batman and an alligator splicer. Along the way,
a monkey splicer who can barely speak English helps the alligator escape. Both
of these new
splicers are far more "animal" than their predecessors from the
cartoon. Bruce and Terry can
only conclude that Dr. Cuvier has returned, and is attempting to improve the
splicer formula. I
don’t know if I can tell anymore without spoiling too much of the story, but
let’s just say
that Batman makes a new ally, Terry gets in a bar fight, and the ending is
touching (as
touching as comics can get anyway).
There are some down points to the issue as it
seems to try and cram too much into the pages,
and if there’s anything worse than a bad story it’s no story. Dr.
Cuvier’s resurrection is
never explained, since the last time we saw him he was merely a walking piece
of meat.
Overall the Batman Beyond comic line seems to have
rebounded from a poor sophomore effort, and
this issue is step in the right direction. It’s not better than the first
episode, and
certainly not better than the Batman vs. Batman story in Issue #1.
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COMIC SCHEDULES & COVERING THE BASICS
This section gives a little bit more
indepth look into each monthly issue of BATMAN: GOTHAM
ADVENTURES and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. Below each comic listing is a link to the
cover of that
comic. TALK ABOUT SERVICE!
The price is $1.99 in the US and...grrrrr...a whopping $3.25 in
Canada. (Both our editors
and many subscribers are Canadian, hence the "grrr".)
If we are unsure of the exact date of when an issue is being
released, just check out
"DIRECT CURRENTS" at
http://www.dccomics.com
for details.
BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #22
January 5th?
Synopsis: Commissioner Gordon and Batgirl are in the spotlight of the first
animated comic to
hit the shelves in 2000!
BATMAN BEYOND #4 (ongoing)
December 22nd?
Synopsis: The Royal Flush Gang returns.
Cover: Unavailable
FOLLOWING MONTH: Issue #4.
Synopsis: The Royal Flush Gang returns.
Cover: Unavailable
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #40
December 8th?
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable
NEXT MONTH:
Synopsis: Mark Millar's final issue of SUPERMAN ADVENTURES.
Cover: Unavailable
