Okay, so… what if Spider-Man… but BATMAN?
The anecdotes from Timm and Dini amount to them being asked to make Batman in high school, but no mistake, the concept is much closer to “what if Spidey but Bats”. Being the key creators of one of the most influential cartoons of all time and going on to make one of the only good shows of the early 00s (Batman: TAS and Justice League, ‘natch) you expect quality in the end of course, but I’m surprised at how thoroughly they embraced the idea.
There’s a push and pull the show has for me; it can pull off transcendental brilliance moments away from struggling through an obvious writer’s problem. While it’s strongest in the opening episode (because they had nooooooooo idea how to write Bruce genuinely bonding with Terry starting out) it’s certainly something I remember cropping up here and there throughout the entire show, not just the first season. I think it comes down to just how amazing the show is at creating its aesthetic even out of the gate. Screens everywhere, clothes that make a point of accenting, rather than blending, the functional parts, doing away with photorealism on TV in favor of shadow play news, background music that moves fluidly between piano strings and guitar riffs… those things can at any moment suddenly jive and immediately suck you in, but that means the natural pains of making a new show with largely original characters and trying to find their voices stand out all the more.
Simultaneously it has to be said that there’s a real reverence for what feels like old-school comic writing. One thing folks often lament about modern books is how thoroughly the decompressed style took over; that is, every story is a 5-6 issue thing written with the trade in mind, with no real natural jumping-on point books that tell one story well while giving the reader incentive to seek out other books. And that’s where this first season sticks out. Blight is the main villain throughout, but most episodes don’t feature him in a prominent role- just Rebirth, Meltdown, and Ascension. But he appears in a majority of the others, setting up other villains and reminding us that he’s a personal nemesis to both Terry and Bruce. We learn first thing that Barbara Gordon is the new commissioner, but y’know how long we go until she has the full picture? 10 episodes in, and then it’s a couple more before she gets a spotlight episode and we get her side of the intervening ~50 years.
It’s a neat transitional period for the DCAU as a whole, and in its own way I can see liking its style more than the rest. It’s definitely the most distinct show in the canon… well, unless Static Shock is really out there, I guess I’ve never seen that.
Unusually I kept thinking of oddball episode-specific comments as I went through, so we’ll start with the weakest, then end on the best before we wrap up.
Weakest Episode- The Winning Edge. Someone just told them to do a drug episode. Steroids powered by Bane-juice makes sense for the setting and all, but it doesn’t really add anything either and… well, it’s a stock episode concept to start with, y’know? It’s okay and all, but never really elevates itself either.
Golem should be required viewing in schools. 22 minutes for a concise, thorough exploration of what toxic masculinity is, how it perpetuates, and how just being bullied doesn’t suddenly mean you’re magically the one in the right at all times.
Shriek… fuckin’ showoffs. I think that’s the entire reason Shriek exists, the sound guys had an idea and wanted to show off. That said there’s some meat to this episode I wanted to highlight even though it’s middle of the road for the season. I mean the whole conceit of how much people underestimate sound and hearing is a fun concept to start with, and there’s the undercurrent of what people do in the quiet moments revealing who they are I’m digging.
And I mean… I can’t NOT take a second to highlight the final exchange.
“The voice kept calling me Bruce. In my mind, that’s not what I call myself”
“What do you call yourself?”
*glare*
“Oh, yeah, I suppose you would. But that’s my name now.”
Best Episode- Meltdown. Of course it’s the Mr. Freeze episode. But I mean, only one episode hit me in the feels. And I think I really only need one line:
“Believe me, you’re the only one that cares.”
Rating- 7/10. I gotta admit, the high points are real good, and the low points aren’t terribly low, but aside from Meltdown it never quite popped for me and I can’t quite say why. Buuuuut y’know me, I’m gonna go with that gut reaction.
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