Celebrating Batman: The Animated Series 20 years later: As a parent, my least-favorite episodes became more valuable..

This week will be the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Batman: The Animated Series. In its weird way, the show actually had three 'premieres'. The first episode, "The Cat and the Claw part I", debuted on Saturday morning, September 5th, as a quasi-sneak preview of sorts. The next day saw the official premiere, in primetime no less (Sunday night at 7pm) where Fox debuted the official pilot episode, "On Leather Wings". Then came the first official weekday episode, Monday afternoon at 4:30pm, which was no less than "Heart of Ice", which to this day stands as not only one of the best episodes of the series run, but a shining testament to all that Batman: The Animated Series did right both in terms of the Batman mythos and the entire medium of childrens' action shows. This will be the third in a series of essays detailing the long-term legacy of the Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski's groundbreaking animated saga. Today we discuss the show as something I can share with my children, specifically my five-year old daughter.  I actually waited quite awhile to show her this series, purely because I wanted to absolutely make sure she was old enough to actually enjoy it.  The irony is that some of the very things and very episodes I didn't like when I was twelve years old are the things I now appreciate as a father.

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes looks to be the perfect Father's Day gift. Especially if Allison plays too...

This may be among the last video games I buy as an adult until my kids are old enough to actively play them with me.  I bought Lego Pirates of the Caribbean a few months ago for $20 and have played it only a few times since then.  I'm possibly getting to that 'old man' stage where I am consciously aware of what a waste of time it is to play video games even when the time does present itself (I've been tempted to pick up Max Payne 3, but will probably wait until it's cheap).  Of course, once Allison and/or Ethan are old enough to play along (Allison should be within the next year), then I'll have an alibi.  And I can't imagine Allison won't get a huge kick out of this one if it's not too difficult, as she's a pretty big superhero fan, something I didn't exactly force upon her but have certainly not discouraged.  She quite enjoys The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Young Justice and the only reason I haven't agreed to take her to see The Avengers is because its 140 minutes long.  So yeah, this looks like an obscene amount of fun.  And yes, I'll probably ask for this one for a Father's Day gift.  Because even if I don't have the time to dive headfirst into such a video game, Allison will be able and willing soon enough.  And when she and I are kicking ass across Gotham City as Batman and Wonder Woman respectively (or whomever she wants to be), it won't be a waste of time at all, will it?

Scott Mendelson      

The newly announced Before Watchmen is a prime example of what's killing DC Comics - Chasing the converted at the expense of new readers.

The big news this morning (really early this morning, like around 3:04am) is DC Comic's announcement of a seven-book prequel to Alan Moore's groundbreaking Watchmen series.  Titled Before Watchmen (covers) the mini-series will involve the likes of Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke, and  J. Michael Straczynski with each of the seven chapters concerning a specific major character.  I have no idea whether this project will be any good or not.  But it sits as a shining example of the fundamental flaw that exists in the comic industry, especially within DC Comics.  They spend most of their time chasing the readers that grew up with their iconic characters rather than attempting to attract new readers who are growing up right now.

The Dark Knight Rises gets a moody and refreshingly cryptic trailer. It stills seems to be pointing at Chris Nolan's version of The Dark Knight Returns.

There was absolutely no way that this trailer was going to excite me as much as the first glimpse of The Dark Knight four years ago.  As I've written before, that was basically THE Batman movie that we had been waiting our entire geek-lives to see, a street-level crime epic pitting Batman, Gordon, and Dent against The Joker for the moral soul of Gotham.  So what is this one exactly?  Well, Nolan is obviously going for a pretty grand-scale finale, and the scope is relatively impressive thus far.  I could carp that the attack on the football field is the kind of implausibly weird thing that happens in a C-rate episode of Justice League or in a Transformers movie, but oh well.  Football fanatics, does that still count as a legitimate touchdown?

First official photo of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. Not even Hathaway in black leather can make the Bat Pod look good...

Back in my day, we had to wait for the first trailer to see what the new Bat-villains actually looked like!  There are other unofficial photos out there that basically show the same image from a sideways angle (with Hathaway's stunt woman), but I think I'll still with the legit stuff.  Anyway, today is day two of Warner Bros. tries to beat the paparazzi to the punch.  The costume is obviously a hybrid of the Dwayne Cooke/Ed Brubaker outfit (the tactical aspects, the goggles) along with a bit from the 1960s Batman show (the free-flowing hair which reaches just below the shoulders ala Julie Newmar).  I have no real commentary on the outfit.  It looks fine and it's obvious that Nolan and company were going for something that would actually make sense in battle than something that would make a pinup poster.  I will say that not even Anne Hathaway wrapped in tight black leather can make that Bat-Pod any less ridiculous looking.  I'm sorry, I've felt this way for three years, but that is an absolutely silly looking vehicle.  The fact that it was a central part of the ad campaign last time around is a near-joke.  Like the main theatrical one-sheet for The Dark Knight, the center of attention in this image is not the character being highlighted but a giant wheel.

First look at Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises? No, but this 2004 pic offers a preview of an Ed Brubaker/Darwyn Cooke-inspired design.

If the interview over at Hollywood Life is to be believed, it looks like Christopher Nolan is once again taking his cues from Ed Brubaker, at least visually.  Batman Begins took a healthy mix of Ed Brubaker (the overriding decency of Bruce Wayne), Greg Rucka (the police procedural viewpoint), and Frank Miller (the Batman/Gordon relationship from Batman: Year One), while The Dark Knight borrowed from pretty much the same sources, but more overtly using the work of Ed Brubaker (The Man Who Laughs) and the Ed Brubaker/Greg Rucka story "Soft Targets" from the Gotham Central book back in 2003.  Since Chris Nolan is including Selina Kyle this time around, it is only natural that he again use the template instigated by Ed Brubaker's relaunch of the character back in 2001.  The costume itself was designed by Darwyn Cooke.  As I've stated many times before, Brubaker's 37-issue run on Catwoman remains some of the best stuff DC Comics published over the last decade.  That Nolan may agree with this sentiment makes me that much more excited about whatever Nolan has in store for the series finale.

Scott Mendelson

Actual Batman 3 news! Warner Bros confirms: Anne Hathaway to play Selina Kyle, Tom Hardy to play Bane.

Well, chalk it up to one part 'duh', another part 'huh?'. After months of obnoxious speculation, Warner has onfirmed that Anne Hathaway will indeed be playing Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises. It's a pretty no-brainer casting decision, as she is one of the bigger and more respected stars of her generation, and she amongst the various alleged front-runners had the least amount of tentpole, genre film experience. Nolan had stated months ago that it was indeed his intent to have a female antagonist, and really there are only three major baddies to choose from: Catwoman, Talia Al Ghul, and Poison Ivy. Of those, Catwoman is by far the most recognizable and/or popular. Of course, the press release makes no mention of 'Catwoman', so it's completely possible that Hathaway will merely be playing Ms. Kyle with no appearance by her costumed alter-ego.

If The Dark Knight Rises ends up being based on 'Prey', which lucky leading lady will get this choice role?

Who should get this plum role? Anne Hathaway? Blake Lively? Rachel Weisz? Keira Knightly? Naomi Watts? Or how about Natalie Portman, fresh off her Oscar win for Black Swan? Her name is Catherine and she's the mayor's daughter. She has two or three scenes in the first two (of five) chapters of "Prey" where she engages in debate regarding the usefulness of Batman in Gotham City. Then she gets abducted in chapter three, as part of a plot by Hugo Strange to frame Batman and turn the city against him. Catherine spends literally the entire remainder of the five-part saga stripped to her bra and panties, gagged, and chained to a bed. Oh, and as for Catwoman, she's barely in it. And we wonder why it's so hard to get females to start reading mainstream superhero comic books...

Scott Mendelson