Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of October 2 -
October 15, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse
language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "ARGH!!!! THE RELEASE DATE
FOR 'RETURN OF THE JOKER' HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK TO DECEMBER 12th!!!! (see NEWS
section for details.) THIS NEWS
SUCKS!!!"
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SPECIAL
NOTE
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THIS ISSUE'S EDITION OF 'NO MAN'S
ISLAND'!!!! WE NEED YOUR VOTES!!!!
(Ain't it great to be needed like that?
Don't you all feel so loved? Awwww...)
-Tim "Two-Face" Leighton
(too cuddly for his own
good)
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EAGERLY
ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in
the near future...
'OUT OF THE PAST'
BATMAN BEYOND
Airdate: October 7,
2000
Episode #??
Synopsis: Straight from the mouth of Stan Berkowitz, this
episode will prominently feature Bruce
Wayne.
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KIDS
WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS
site)
Kids'WB! currently airs BATMAN BEYOND five or six times a
week. Batman airs on weekday afternoons Monday-Friday, as well occasionally
Friday morning before Pokemon. Remember, Kids'WB! is notorious for switching
schedules around at the very last minutes. Batman Beyond currently airs at
11am (ET) on Saturdays and 4:30pm (ET) on weekdays. Check out these links if
our schedule is not 100% updated:
ANOTHER NOTE:
The KTLA website (where we get our KidsWB
schedules from) was NOT updated in time for this newsletter. We were able to
find what DAYS BATMAN BEYOND will air on, but not what episodes. Keep checking
back at their website over the weeks for updates!
THIS WEEK:
Mon 10-02-00:
NONE
Tue 10-03-00: B-BEYOND ??
Wed 10-04-00: B-BEYOND
??
Thu 10-05-00: B-BEYOND ??
Fri 10-06-00: B-BEYOND ??
Sat 10-07-00: B-BEYOND #?? Out of the Past
<-------NEW!!!
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 10-09-00:
NONE
Tue 10-10-00: B-BEYOND ??
Wed 10-11-00: B-BEYOND
??
Thu 10-12-00: B-BEYOND ??
Fri 10-13-00: B-BEYOND ??
Sat 10-14-00: B-BEYOND ??
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 and BEYOND on YTV)
(courtesy of our friends at
YTV)
YTV currently has the rights to air all 109 episodes of
Batman, as well as the current 52 episodes of Batman Beyond. YTV usually
airs these episodes in either chronological order, or in the original order
they aired on Kids'WB! and FOX. Batman Beyond airs Sunday at 2:30pm (ET). Batman now airs at 3:30am Monday - Friday. If our schedules are not updated
or are inaccurate, please use these links:
THIS WEEK:
Mon 10-02-00: BTAS #65 The
Worry Men
Tue 10-03-00: BTAS #53 Paging the Crime
Doctor
Wed 10-04-00: BTAS #66 Sideshow
Thu 10-05-00: BTAS #67 A Bullet for
Bullock
Fri 10-06-00: BTAS #68 Trial
Sun 10-08-00: BEYOND #30 Final Cut
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 10-09-00: BTAS #69
Avatar
Tue 10-10-00: BTAS #70 House and
Garden
Wed 10-11-00: BTAS #71 The Terrible
Trio
Thu 10-12-00: BTAS #72
Harlequinade
Fri 10-13-00: BTAS #73 Time Out Of
Joint
Sun 10-15-00: BEYOND #31 Sneek
Peek???
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THE
CARTOON NETWORK
Cartoon Network has the right to air all 109 Batman episodes,
as well as all 54 Superman episiodes. Come September, Cartoon Network will
begin airing these. Shows. Batman currently airs during the weekday Toonami
block at 6:30pm (ET). Superman will soon have a set airdate as well. Since
Cartoon Network is unpredictable with their schedules, we are unable to keep up with them. Please, use these links to find out the schedule information you
need:
http://www.geocities.com/worldsfinestpage/airdate.htm
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/TOONAMI/lineup/batman.html
_____________________________________________________________________
EPISODE
REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Justin Chen and/or Zanna)
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>
UNTOUCHABLE
Written by Hilary J.
Bader
Directed by Dan Riba
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original Air
Date: September 23, 2000
Rating: *** of 5
DESCRIPTION: A new villain appears in Gotham that literally
cannot be caught.
HIGHS: Neat visuals, good character interactions.
LOWS:
Predictable story, little villain characterization.
OVERALL: Okay, but not up
to "King's Ransom".
At a high security research lab, a strange masked man enters
to steal a strange new isotope. Bullets, electricity, and even Batman fail
to faze him. Bruce has an idea of what could be causing this, and he and
Terry go to a Wayne-Powers facility to find out. There we meet a friendly
researcher who shows off a gravity generating device, the grumpy old supervisor,
and a teenage girl who's lived in isolation her entire life.
That's basically the background for this episode. The whole
"invincible villain" plot has been seen before elsewhere. Given this, writer
Hilary Bader (ugh) tries to throw in some extra aspects to improve it. Does
it work? Read on to find out.
First I have to say this...the episode looked good. The
villain, who seems to be named "Repeller" according to the captions, didn't
look all that special. But he produces a cool glowing aura that sparkles
with energy and can be manipulated into various shapes and sizes. Also, the
backgrounds here return to mostly dark colors and the animation is once again
very fluid. No complaints on the visual part.
Also, the character interactions were good here, such as
Bruce's chat with the uptight supervisor.
Doc: "What makes you think you can rummage through my files
like you own the place?"
BW: "Because I do. Bruce Wayne."
When Terry takes a liking to the girl who lives in the
facility, Bruce comprehends the situation perfectly...and tells Terry women
used to throw themselves at his feet all the time. "I stepped over them," he
calmly explains. Dana acts like a real bitch about Terry's predicament--there's no other way to put it. She's intolerant and rude about
Terry's interest in Irene (that's the girl's name). She lives in a
bubble...does Dana really need to be that concerned? It still was
rather nice watching Terry and Irene have fun though, and from the looks of
it Terry must really have a thing for Asians.
Now for the negative side. The villain has very little
motivation for what he's doing. Apparently he's only stealing rare chemicals
because someone paid him to...we don't find out who actually needs the
stuff. Perhaps that will be addressed later on, but the Repeller's persona
remains thin. As an apparent one-timer, more personality ought to be given in
this only chance.
The story also plays out rather predictably...we get two new
male characters, one mean and one seemingly friendly. Who's it gonna be? The
"trick" might work on the kids, but most mature viewers could probably see
the true identity coming.
This episode was entertaining to watch mostly because of the
eye candy battles, not because the storyline was stellar. It's not up to the
level of King's Ransom, but then again that was a tough act to follow. As
far as one-shot villain eps go it's worth watching, but don't kick yourself
if you missed it. Still, here's hoping for an awesome INQUELING next time!
By J. Chen, aka The Overseer
overseer@pacificwest.com
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