Originally posted at the DL April 2015
So the show has been billed as basically the Silver Age with modern VA work. Far as I know they more or less deliver on that.
There are moments of just plain joyousness in this series. They do a good job of establishing them early and frequently. I mean in episode 1, in the teaser, literally the first thing of the show you can see, by the two or so minute mark Bats had more or less turned his utility belt into a lightsaber. That's fantastic.
The trouble I have is that the series suffers from occasionally trying to be a little too deadpan, such that is starts to be outright serious. And while you do need a certain level of seriousness for the other stuff to contrast with, it tends to feel stilted or forced most of the time. Not always. Two moments stand out; that little moment riiiiight before it clicks who the Red Hood is in Deep Cover for Batman!, and the tail end of Hail the Tornado Tyrant!. Or maybe I'm a sucker for those sorts of stories in the latter case. I remember kinda wishing the episode cut off at the second commercial break, but the actual ending was good too so hey what do I know I guess.
Anyway, the "just a liiiittle too serious" problem is moreso in the first half of the season, but even later I will say that in most episodes, though certainly not all, the teaser is actually better than the main episode. On the flip side! This means otherwise lame episodes have a good part at least.
More or less by nature of the show, the season on the whole doesn't leave a strong impression, but little moments or gags from individual episodes do. Paul Dini is the sort of bastard I can accept. Come back when you know your goddamned history whippersnappers! Paul Dini for President.
I'm not sure if I want to invest in the rest of the series or not. It's good, but mostly doesn't have huge staying power for me. Although I've read they have an adaptation of Emperor Joker and I really wanna see that.
Best Episode- Well, I'm of two minds here. I didn't mention above because it made more sense to talk about here, but another small issue with the series is that Batman himself is the straight man, with a very subtle and deeply sarcastic sense of humor. But a lot of times, there's not a foil for him in that regard. And "The World at Large" doesn't fit that bill. Probably one reason people really like Aquaman in this series (beyond, of course, John DiMaggio); his bombast gives Bats someone to straightman against. But my first major contender for best episode is The Color of Revenge!, and the main reason for that is because the correct foil for Batman is Robin. This must be the Dick Grayson people actually like, because even in his teenage weenie years where he talks like he's straight out of the Adam West show he's great. Batman is good at being sarcastic at villains, but Dick is outright mocking them and it works. This Batman makes sense when Robin is in the room. Buuuuuuuut... it doesn't really matter. We are all just slaves to this hypnotic patter. We have no choice except to
DO HIS EVIL BIDDING WHEN WE HEAR HIS BOOMING VOICE
HE'S THE MUSIC MEISTER
AND WE ARE ALL HIS PAWNS
He's the Music Meister and WE MUST BEWARE HIS WRATH
Weakest Episode- Mystery in Space! I find myself tempted to nod The Eyes of Despero! because I find Despero and his whole gimmick lame and then randomly having a thirty second Sinestro/Guy Gardener sideshow was really dumb. But oh my god Mystery in Space! is tedious. I don't care about this dude, or his planet, or the chucklefucks he is fighting, and to underscore all of that Aquaman is here specifically to BE really lame for contrast to himself and blah blah blah next episode please.
Grade- 7/10. Even the weakest episodes have something going for them, but aside from the two standouts there's not quite enough to hang your hat on so to speak and the ratio of eh to good is pretty shaky in the first half.
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