"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Appointment in Crime Alley" and "Mad as a Hatter"

Batman: The Animated Series

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas! Sorry for the delay. I'm planning on getting back on a more regular schedule after the new year. I hope you enjoy this last B: TAS blog post of 2017!!

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Fear of Victory" and "The Clock King"

Batman: The Animated Series

This is another post where I don't really have anything deep and profound to say. I will say that we are reaching the end of the first volume of B: TAS DVD's, so that is pretty exciting. I also want to thank everyone for taking time out to read these. It means a lot and I hope you're enjoying them. Here we go.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Joker's Favor" and "Vendetta"

Batman: The Animated Series

Today is the perfect day to talk about the most lasting impact that B: TAS has had on the Batman mythos. I'm talking about Dr. Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn. Harley was first introduced in the first episode we are going to be talking about in this post: "Joker's Favor." I don't think that Paul Dini and Bruce Timm had any idea that Harley would become as popular as she has. People around the world idolize Harley and she has gone on a pretty incredible journey. She went from being Joker's girlfriend to leading her own solo series multiple times. Her current series is routinely one of the best selling comics out there, not just for DC but overall. She is also heavily featured in "Suicide Squad" and she has become a tentpole figure in the burgeoning DC Cinematic Universe. That incarnation of Harley, portrayed by Margot Robbie, has proved so popular that four upcoming movies feature her prominently. Well done, Harley.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Prophecy of Doom" and "Feat of Clay" Parts 1 & 2

Batman: The Animated Series

I briefly mentioned the 1966 "Batman" television series last post due to Adam West's voice role in "Beware the Gray Ghost," but as we chat about another two-parter it seems like a good time to bring it up again. These definitely feel like homages to that classic show. The majority of those were two-parters with the Dynamic Duo being in some sort of danger at the end of part one. The B: TAS two-parters veered away from this, instead focusing on deeper character studies of some iconic Bat villains. Is that the case with the two-parter we are looking at this post? We'll find out. But first...

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "See No Evil" and "Beware the Gray Ghost"

Batman: The Animated Series

I don't have a lot to say when it comes to the two episodes that are covered in this blog post. I don't have any pithy observations of the show itself. So, I guess I'll just say that these are two pretty great episodes and it was a treat to re-watch them. 

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Heart of Ice" and "The Cat and the Claw" Parts 1 & 2

Batman: The Animated Series

Before we dive into the next exceptional episodes of B: TAS, there was one thing I wanted to mention. I noticed it when watching "Two-Face". I even put it in my notes, but for some reason forgot to bring it up. Then, it appeared again in "Heart of Ice." B: TAS does these painted scenes, where the main figure is still, but there is motion somewhere else. In "Two-Face" there was a close up shot of Two-Face's face while he read, his eyes following the lines on the page the only movement. In "Heart of Ice," there is a close up of Freeze's face, his glowing red eyes blinking. It is a cool touch and it is something that really hearkens back to the old Max Fleischer "Superman" cartoons.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "It's Never Too Late" and "I've Got Batman In My Basement"

Batman: The Animated Series

Another thing that differentiated B: TAS from other animated series of the time was that it wasn't afraid to use guns firing real bullets. Other animated series of the time like X-Men and Spider-Man didn't use actual guns with bullets. The guards, police, etc used blasters. The fact that the thugs and gangsters that Batman is encountering on a nightly basis are firing on him with actual guns upped the ante and really reinforced the dangers that he was facing. This helped push the series to the next level.