Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of May 15 - May 20/21, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "WOW! TWO INTERVIEWS IN A ROW!!!"
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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in the near future...
THERE ARE NO NEW EPISODES ON THE HORIZON AS OF THE PRINTING OF THIS NEWSLETTER.
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WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS site)
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 05-15-00: Batman #80 Second Chance
Superman #43 The New Kids in Town
Tue 05-16-00: Superman #15 Ghost in the Machine
Batman #69 Avatar
Wed 05-17-00: Batman #68 Trial
Superman #42 Where There's Smoke
Thu 05-18-00: Superman #13 Two's a Crowd
Batman #103 The Demon Within
Fri 05-19-00: Batman #86 Holiday Knights
Sat 05-20-00: B-BEYOND #22 Rats
B-BEYOND #29 The Last Resort
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 has just got the rights to air episodes #27 - 52 of BATMAN BEYOND. It's unknwon when these episode to air, but expect fall 2000. YTV may air all the episodes through in ONE run, unlike the first 26 episodes.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 05-15-00: BTAS #72 Harlequinade
Tue 05-16-00: BTAS #73 Time Out Of Joint
Wed 05-17-00: BTAS #74 Catwalk
Thu 05-18-00: BTAS #75 Bane
Fri 05-19-00: BTAS #76 Baby-Doll
Sat 05-20-00: BEYOND #03 Black Out
Sun 05-21-00: BEYOND #04 Golem
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THE CARTOON NETWORK
BATMAN IS BACK ON THE CARTOON NETWORK!!!!
Thanx to CNX: Toonami Revolution - Batman: The Animated Series is getting more airtime on Cartoon Network; more accuratly, on Toonami. Toonami has a weekend block called Rising Sun which airs shows in morning hours. airing from 9 AM to Noon EST/PST. Rising Sun will be
changed this weekend. Not only will Ronin Warriors be dropped from the lineup, but also, the second airing of Gundam Wing is dropped as well.
So technically, Rising Sun is missing an hour. Surely they're not going to give that mutt an extra hour, so they've but in a American flavor to the block, one a familiar Midnight Run standby while the other is making its debut to Toonami (finally). Batman: The Animated
Series airs on Rising Sun at 11 AM EST/PST while Powerpuff Girls ends Toonami at 11:30 AM EST/PST.
This is the new Rising Sun. Check it out! Now you'l have something to watch besides Pokemon!
The lineup, as of May 13, is:
9am-Thundercats (One Hour)
10am-Dragon Ball Z (The Garlic Jr. Saga)
10:30am-Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
11am-Batman: The Animated Series
11:30am-Powerpuff Girls
(all times in Eastern Time)
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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>
THE SENTRIES OF THE LAST COSMOS
Written by John Shirley and Rich Fogel
Directed by Dan Riba
Animation by Koko Enterprise Co., Ltd. and Dong
Yang Animation Co., Ltd.
Original airdate: May 6, 2000
My rating: *** (Out of five stars)
Terry, Max, and friend Corey Cavalieri are playing the VR video game, Sentries of the Last Cosmos. The trio is under enemy fire and though Terry and Max are unable to break free from the assault, Corey not only escapes but also destroys the enemy single-handedly.
The game ends and Corey is listed as the all time high scorer. Corey is obviously a major fan/player of the game with countless hours spent playing it. Unobserved by the three friends, someone dressed and equipped with a flying disc like a Sentry of the Last Cosmos is watching and taking a
picture of them. Later, at Hamilton Hill High School's computer lab, Corey receives an email from the creator of the Sentries game and is invited to Sentrycroft. Corey is thrilled and Max learns that Sentrycroft is the very private, secluded, estate of Simon Harper.
Corey is admitted to the estate by a robot camera at the front gate. He joins two other game champs and major fans and is amazed at the full size game paraphernalia on display inside. They meet with Simon Harper who explains that he monitors all the games by
computer and has selected them because they are the three highest scorers of the game. He invites them to join the next level. Harper explains that the game is really a simulation of a real conflict occurring out in deep space and that for many years the Wise Ones have used the
game to recruit capable sentries for the real battle. All three gamesters enthusiastically join the Sentries.
Later, the Batman of this future Gotham is investigating a break-in at the Hall of Records when he discovers three Sentries of the Lost Cosmos about to destroy a large data bank. Though he manages to disarm two of them, the Sentries complete their mission and a large
part of the Hall of Records explodes. Batman must then discover the secret of the Sentries and stop them from any future mischief.
I enjoyed this episode. Like a few recent episodes, this too did not have a very dark theme, dramatic crime action, nor did it add to any new information about Bruce or Terry's training. It did however show a bit of Terry acting like a normal teenager --
enjoying some video games with his friends. The episode also displayed several representations of computer game, sci-fi movie (and gasp, comic book and cartoon super hero) die-hard fans. Writers John Shirley and Rich Fogel also placed many references to both the Star Wars
movies and its creator, George Lucas. In addition, this story had a plot device very similar to one that was used in the movie, "The Last Starfighter". Fans of those movies could easily point out the many references in this episode.
References to George Lucas and Star Wars stories included helmeted fighters looking like stormtroopers and Darth Vader, fire swords instead of light sabers, the enemy, the Dark Regent in place of the Dark Lord and the Emperor.
Other references were Sentrycroft, which looked like a futuristic Skywalker Ranch (see <
http://george.lucas.net/prologue.htm> for actual Ranch pictures and information) and Eldon Michaels, the game writer, who had
a red-haired, grossly overweight George Lucas look about him. Eldon Michaels and the villain were former associates, like Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader (okay, that's a bit of a reach, ;) ). The ending fight scene has the villain dressed in a dark hooded robe, seated on a futuristic
throne; in front of a large circular window showing the starlit sky. The hooded villain throws blue electrical energy at Batman, much like the Emperor threw at Luke in the "Return of the Jedi" movie. Even the background music resembled the Star Wars movie themes.
The dialogue, too, had a Star Wars theme in it. When Max asks Terry if there is a connection between Corey visiting Sentrycroft and the break-in at the Hall of Records, Terry asks if Jar-Jar is lame. The writer of the Sentries of the Last Cosmos tells the Sentries
to seek the center, which sounded very like seeking the force. When the fans question Eldon Michaels about various parts of the story, he tells them "It all started a long, long time ago, in a cosmos far from earth..."
The plot device used in the movie "The Last Starfighter" was that an alien military force created a video game to seek out individuals with the reflexes, piloting and fighting capabilities that would be required of an elite member of the Starfighter force.
These individuals were then contacted and persuaded to join the galactic militia. Sound familiar? For those interested and cable connected, the TNT channel will be airing "The Last Starfighter" on Saturday according to Yahoo TV li stings for the Baltimore Comcast
cable area. Perhaps other areas will receive the signal too.
Besides the many movie references, there were some other good lines in this story. When Batman arrives at the Hall of Records and finds a large cavity in the roof, he deadpans the following comment, " A big, smoking hole, could be a clue." When Bruce
fails to get any more information on Eldon Michaels besides an old address, Terry says, "Maybe he really is from outer space." Batman points to a mysterious object and asks Michaels if it is a word processor. Michaels angrily answers that it is a typewriter
owned by Philip K. Dick, the greatest writer that ever lived. After the ending fight scene, when Bruce and Terry are discussing the recent adventure, Terry asks why the villain would behave that way when he was already rich. Bruce responds "it isn't easy to give up being a
god." Terry responds, "I guess you'd know."
The "is Jar-Jar lame?" line that Terry uses sounds a bit dated for a futuristic setting unless you assume that the Star Wars movies themselves become classic icons as some memorable movies do and that the dialogue or characters become part of the real common
language. Everyone is familiar with references like "There's no place like home" or " This could be the start of a beautiful friendship" or "You need to be kissed, and often, by someone who knows how" or "We're on a mission from God" or "Have
you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" or many others.
When Batman asks Eldon Michaels if he is a writer and Michaels answers, "Well, duh", made me wonder if that expression would still be used in the future. Then again, the word cool has survived many years with the same meaning.
So this wasn't the dark, gritty story some fans prefer, but it was an interesting look at fan mania, Star Wars, and the Last Star Fighter.
