Batman: The Animated Series
Due to the versatility of it's villains and the talent of the writing staff, B: TAS could be a different show each week. One week it could be a straight up superhero romp, the next a gangster story, or maybe a hardboiled detective noir. It sometimes even dabbled in science fiction monsters, two of which we will be looking at in today's blog post.
"Tyger, tyger, burning bright, in the forests of the night. What immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
On her way to meet Bruce Wayne for dinner, Selina Kyle stops at the zoo to visit a tiger. She ends up being drugged and kidnapped by an ape man. When Selina doesn't show, Bruce ends up at the zoo and finds the dart. Batman enlists the aid of Kirk Langstrom aka Man-Bat to analyze the dart. This leads Batman to an island owned by mad scientist, Emile Dorian. Dorian was banished from Gotham's science community due to his genetic experiments. It turns out Dorian has injected Selina with a serum that has turned her into a literal cat woman. He plans to make her the mate of his cat man, Tygrus. Can Batman change Selina back before the transformation becomes permanent?
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| Of course my mutated cat form has pronounced boobs. |
After re-watching the second episode to feature Catwoman after her debut, I've come to the conclusion that the writers hate her. Maybe that's a little harsh. They may not hate her, but they certainly don't know what to do with her now that she's gone straight.
This is the second episode featuring her where Selina is a passenger in her story. She shows very little agency. She's a pawn. Things continuously happen to her. She's a damsel-in-distress. Watching this episode, I couldn't help but think back to "Batman Returns", possibly Catwoman's greatest live action incarnation, specifically the scene where Catwoman stops the mugger. Her line from that scene kept ringing in my ears. "You make it so easy, don't you? Always waiting for some BatMAN to save you." That Catwoman would be very disappointed in this one. Catwoman is an independent, intelligent bad ass and there is none of that on display in "Tyger, Tyger." I get that this is Batman's show, but multiple episodes have shown that he doesn't need to be the center of every show.
When you get down to brass tacks, this is just watered down "Island of Dr. Moreau/Frankenstein" mash up. It doesn't bring anything new to the party or say anything that hasn't been said before. It's horribly heavy handed and I got the impression that the writers really did think they were being original and really saying something. Tygrus is another two-dimensional tortured monster that is never fully formed enough for you to care about.
Batman's over earnest recitation of the first line of Blake's famous poem is the eye-rolling exclamation point to cap off this maddeningly mediocre episode. Here's hoping that Selina gets the episode she deserves in her next appearance.
Grade: D
Grade: D
Next up, Kyodai Ken gets his revenge and the Man-Bat flies again... or does he?
I really thought these episodes were garbage. Rarely do I watch two bad episodes in a row, so here's hoping that the next two are decent. Does anyone really like these? I'm always curious to hear other opinions. Let me know in the comments.
When you get down to brass tacks, this is just watered down "Island of Dr. Moreau/Frankenstein" mash up. It doesn't bring anything new to the party or say anything that hasn't been said before. It's horribly heavy handed and I got the impression that the writers really did think they were being original and really saying something. Tygrus is another two-dimensional tortured monster that is never fully formed enough for you to care about.
Batman's over earnest recitation of the first line of Blake's famous poem is the eye-rolling exclamation point to cap off this maddeningly mediocre episode. Here's hoping that Selina gets the episode she deserves in her next appearance.
Grade: D
"Well, let's just say I always wanted to check out Gotham's second best athlete first hand."
On his nightly patrol, Batman saves a security guard from a wolf man. Initially, he thinks it's just a guy in a rubber mask, but when he finds wolf hair on his costume, he's not so sure. The werewolf is Gotham Olympian, Anthony Romulus. He's being used by Professor Milo, who gave Romulus a steroid to help him win but that also gave him lycanthropy. Now, Milo is blackmailing Romulus and his next target is Batman. Romulus lures Batman to him by offering a $2.5 million charity donation, but only if the Dark Knight comes and accepts it. Can Batman stop Milo and the Wolf Man?
All I could think when I first saw the Wolf Man was how much it looked like Tygrus from the last episode. It's not a spitting image, but it's very similar. The Wolf Man face is a little longer, shaggier, but the difference isn't much. It's like they used Tygrus as a template because they couldn't be bothered to come up with an original design. The Wolf Man's appearance says a lot about this episode as a whole.
The episode was written by legendary comic book writer, Len Wein. Wein was huge in the '70's and '80's, not only writing for Batman but he also created a Swamp Thing. This is an adaptation of a story he wrote for Batman #255 illustrated by the magnificent Neal Adams. It was a fairly popular story, so it's understandable why B: TAS would choose to adapt it, but it just goes to show that something that works in the comics isn't always a good fit for B: TAS.
The episode is just kind of stupid with Batman acting out of character the whole time. I get the impression that Wein wasn't super familiar with the animated series so rather than write to that version of the character he just wrote him like he was still writing his version back in the '70's. Batman makes dumb quips and is kind of a condescending prick to Gordon. The most glaring misstep is when he goes to meet Romulus to get the charity donation completely unaware that the whole thing is a trap. Initially, I thought that he knew and he was going to pull let Romulus he knew the jig was up, but nope. He had zero idea and is super surprised when Romulus gasses him. Le sigh.
Romulus and Milo are awful villains. Romulus is a douche-y jock, I think we are supposed to have some sympathy for, but you don't and Milo was the worst in his last episode and hasn't gotten any better.
Romulus' fate is left up in the air at the end of the episode, but thankfully the series had the good sense to make him a one and done.
On his nightly patrol, Batman saves a security guard from a wolf man. Initially, he thinks it's just a guy in a rubber mask, but when he finds wolf hair on his costume, he's not so sure. The werewolf is Gotham Olympian, Anthony Romulus. He's being used by Professor Milo, who gave Romulus a steroid to help him win but that also gave him lycanthropy. Now, Milo is blackmailing Romulus and his next target is Batman. Romulus lures Batman to him by offering a $2.5 million charity donation, but only if the Dark Knight comes and accepts it. Can Batman stop Milo and the Wolf Man?
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| "I told you I'm not into furries!" |
The episode was written by legendary comic book writer, Len Wein. Wein was huge in the '70's and '80's, not only writing for Batman but he also created a Swamp Thing. This is an adaptation of a story he wrote for Batman #255 illustrated by the magnificent Neal Adams. It was a fairly popular story, so it's understandable why B: TAS would choose to adapt it, but it just goes to show that something that works in the comics isn't always a good fit for B: TAS.
The episode is just kind of stupid with Batman acting out of character the whole time. I get the impression that Wein wasn't super familiar with the animated series so rather than write to that version of the character he just wrote him like he was still writing his version back in the '70's. Batman makes dumb quips and is kind of a condescending prick to Gordon. The most glaring misstep is when he goes to meet Romulus to get the charity donation completely unaware that the whole thing is a trap. Initially, I thought that he knew and he was going to pull let Romulus he knew the jig was up, but nope. He had zero idea and is super surprised when Romulus gasses him. Le sigh.
Romulus and Milo are awful villains. Romulus is a douche-y jock, I think we are supposed to have some sympathy for, but you don't and Milo was the worst in his last episode and hasn't gotten any better.
Romulus' fate is left up in the air at the end of the episode, but thankfully the series had the good sense to make him a one and done.
Grade: D
Next up, Kyodai Ken gets his revenge and the Man-Bat flies again... or does he?
I really thought these episodes were garbage. Rarely do I watch two bad episodes in a row, so here's hoping that the next two are decent. Does anyone really like these? I'm always curious to hear other opinions. Let me know in the comments.
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