Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of March 27 - April 8/9, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "CONGRATS TO BATMAN, SUPERMAN, AND BEYOND ON THE EMMY AND PRISM AWARDS THEY'VE WON (and been nominated for)!"
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MAKE US LOOK LIKE FOOLS AND SEE YOUR NAME IN PRINT!
Yep, you heard right! Ever since the issue #1, my hasty editing procedures have always left not just a few, but sometimes a whole horde of simple errors, grammatical problems, untrue facts, and whatnot. Just no typos - you've gotta be more creative than that! Here's
where YOU come in. If you can find any mistakes in this issue (we're not purposely making mistakes - any mistakes you find will be ones we were too blind to see), we'll print your name in the following issue in a special column. Sound fun?
Come on. Make us look like idiots. We dare ya. Grrrr.
-Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
the tremendously warped editor
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THOSE WHO POINTED OUT OUR FAULTS
No one. HA! Does this mean our newsletter was flawless? Hardly...
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IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!
Due to forthcoming exams, essays, finals, and other damnable academic intrusions into the lives of both editors, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER will be taking yet another two-week break. See you all on April 10th!
Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
-editor extraordinaire
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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in the near future...
'EGGBABY'
Batman Beyond #34
Air date: April 1, 2000
Because of an assignment in Family Studies class, Batman must chase down a gang of thieves - Ma Mayhem and her sons - while caring for a computerized egg baby.
'ZETA'
Batman Beyond #28
Air date: April 8, 2000
Batman joins forces with the military to recover a robotic assassin, until he discovers that the robot has escaped the government's clutches because it no longer wants to be a killing machine. Batman jumps sides and helps the robot escape.
For synopses of all other upcoming second season BATMAN BEYOND episodes, check out of
BTAN at this address:
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES air Mondays thru Saturday; BATMAN BEYOND also airs on these
days. Check local listings each day for what show is on at what time.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 03-27-00: Superman #34 Heavy Metal
B-BEYOND #17 Lost Soul
Tue 03-28-00: Batman #67 A Bullet for Bullock
Superman #51 Superman's Pal
Wed 03-29-00: Superman #13 Two's A Crowd
Batman #109 Judgement Day
Thu 03-30-00: Batman #18 Beware the Grey Ghost
Superman #45 Knight Time
Fri 03-31-00: Superman #22 Speed Demons
B-BEYOND #19 Hidden Agenda
Sat 04-01-00: Superman #49 The Demon Reborn
B-BEYOND #34 The Eggbaby ------------> NEW!!!
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 04-02-00: Batman #100 Cult of the Cat
B-BEYOND #09 Spellbound
Tue 04-03-00: Batman #70 House and Garden
Superman #27 The Prometheon
Wed 04-04-00: Batman #76 Baby-Doll
Batman #94 Love is a Croc
Thu 04-05-00: Batman #96 The Ultimate Thrill
Superman #52 Little Big Head Man
Fri 04-06-00: Batman #107 Chemistry
B-BEYOND #14 Joyride
Sat 04-07-00: Superman #54 Fish Story
B-BEYOND #28 Zeta ---------------> NEW!!!
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
(BATMAN, SUPERMAN, and 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 Noon on weekdays (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).
YTV will be making some schedule alterations very soon. Thanx to WF's official newsman Mr. Eye, we were able to get a hold of some of them! And here they are...
THIS WEEK:
Mon 03-27-00: BTAS #42 Moon of the Wolf
Tue 03-28-00: BTAS #45 Terror in the Sky
Wed 03-29-00: BTAS #38 Heart of Steel (Pt. 1)
Thu 03-30-00: BTAS #44 Heart of Steel (Pt. 2)
Fri 03-31-00: BTAS #40 "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?"
Sat 04-01-00: BEYOND #15 Earth Mover
Sun 04-02-00: BEYOND #16 Splicers
NEXT WEEK:
Check out
http://www.ytv.com for updated schedules for this week!
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CARTOON NETWORK WB ANIMATION SCHEDULE:
(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:
To see the 52 episodes that the CARTOON NETWORK does show, go to this link:
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":
The creative "team" for this column alternates between Zanna and Justin Chen, two loyal subscribers and great friends of ours here. Any other reviews printed here are written by editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton. Enjoy!
<BATMAN BEYOND>
SNEAK PEEK
Story by Alan Burnett
Teleplay by Stan Berkowitz
Directed by Dan Riba
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original Air Date: March 25, 2000
Rating: **** (out of 5)
DESCRIPTION: A gossip reporter uses advanced technology to become incoporeal and walk through walls. He uses this to discover Batman's true identity and reveal it to the world.
HIGHS: Pretty interesting concept, Terry/Bruce interaction, good all-around dialogue, mob makes a (brief) return, and the peek scenes are hilarious!
LOWS: Somewhat abrupt ending, the secret identities part could've been played even more.
OVERALL: The good eps are back again!
Alright, the last couple of Batman Beyond eps haven't exactly been groundbreaking material. "Final Cut" was OK for action but not great, "Last Resort" was at best average, and "Armory"...ugh. (My opinions may differ from Zanna's shown
previously). Thankfully "Sneak Peek" makes up for all that with an ep that's got a cool plot, plenty of Bruce screentime, and a bit of humor to boot.
A boxing trainer caught with the champ's girlfriend. A rock star who's illegally spliced her genes. And Paxton Powers seen at a private party, where we can tell by the women he's not too interested in Batman. All of these stories are broadcast on "The Inside
Peek", a tabloid show hosted by gossip reporter Ian Peek. The stories are indeed hot material, and even Terry's hooked. How does he obtain all that up-close footage? By walking through walls.
By using some sort of strange device (which is explained later), Ian Peek can lose his solid state and go virtually anywhere. The first stories are mostly harmless small talk, but when he spies on a Tong (an Asian mob of some sort) member cutting a deal with D.A. Sam
Young, things get pretty serious. Batman catches Peek while escaping from the meeting, and is shocked to see his punches go right through. As long as Peek is incorporeal, Bats can't touch him, but Peek can certainly hit back. The reporter easily escapes Terry. When Terry sees the
Tong footage on the Web (that's their TV equivalent in BB time), he pays Peek a visit at the studio. The Tong bursts in to kill Peek, and Terry is forced to fight them off. Peek slips out, and notices the batmobile. Seeing the chance, he secretly places a video camera inside. We can
see where this leads very easily. Peek catches both Bruce and Terry in the act, and plans to broadcast it to the world. Unfortunately for him, the reporter's got bigger problems to worry about...
This ep was definitely better than the last few. Not only is the plot refreshingly new, but Bruce gets some real airtime in this one. All the characters here are given good lines as well. Bruce's relationship with Terry is made quite clear here. When Bruce gets
exposed, Terry flies into Peek's office to plead on his behalf.
Peek: "He was the original Batman, wasn't he? Wasn't he?"
Terry: "I don't care what you do to me, but he doesn't deserve this. He's done too much for this city to wind up in the middle of a media circus."
Peek: "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
Terry: "Yes...he does."
The broadcast part isn't all of the story...that takes a back seat in the end to a major problem of Peek's caused by overuse of the technology. This episode ties up the loose ends quite nicely before it closes, giving us some new insight into Peek's character. The
ending itself was rather sudden, and it causes me to think of Peek as a one-shot villain. In any case, this ep was probably the most enjoyable BB episode in a long time.
