~ by Rebecca Fisher

Introduction:

Every Saturday morning my sister and I would get up early to creep down the hall and watch an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. And it’s a good thing the show did air in the mornings, because absorbing what it had to offer right before bedtime probably would have resulted in a lot of bad dreams. As it was, I had a nightly ritual for a number of years in which I had to check the end of the bed for Scarecrow.

Running from 1992 to 1995, Batman embraced a film noir atmosphere with appropriately themed Gothic architecture and 1950s-era clothing and vehicles. Elements like police blimps and black-and-white televisions existed alongside high-tech gadgets and computer systems, creating a unique visual style.

The “dark deco” skyline of Gotham City

It was this tone more than anything else that suggested the show was targeted toward an older audience, and though there have been several cartoons since that have garnered a similar amount of acclaim (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gargoyles) I like to think that it all started with Batman. If nothing else, it was this show that kick-started DC’s successful cartoon franchise, followed by several animated films (Mask of the Phantasm, Mystery of the Batwoman) and superhero spin-offs (Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Batman Beyond).

The show was exciting, suspenseful, insightful and surprisingly dark at times, and the writing team was unafraid to end any given episode on a poignant – even tragic, note.

Premise:

Surely you know it by now. Bruce Wayne is a wealthy philanthropist by day and a masked vigilante by night, inspired by the death of his parents to stamp out crime in Gotham City. In fact, the show’s opening sequence perfectly encapsulates the show’s premise: Batman’s wealth and agility, his use of fear tactics and high-tech gadgets, his disdain for guns and his respect to the law by leaving the police to find the criminals he has just overpowered.

Along the way he’s assisted by the trustworthy Commissionaire Gordon and his loyal butler Alfred, and eventually joined by Dick Greyson (Robin/Nightwing), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) and Tim Drake (the second Robin), all donning their own cowls and capes to dispense justice alongside him.

Batgirl, Batman, Robin and Nightwing

But of course, it’s only half a Batman show without its Rogue’s Gallery, and this is where the show really excelled. Far from being a collection of oddly-themed criminals, the writers ensured that almost all of them had clearly defined motivation and an explanatory backstory. From Harvey Dent (Two-Face) to Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy) to Matt Hagen (Clayface), each one is established as a person first and a villain second.

But despite adding some level of sympathy to each one, whether thwarted love, substance abuse, misguided activism or psychological breakdowns, the show doesn’t stint on how dangerous they all are. Most of them are nursing personal vendettas against Batman as well as anything from petty crime to attempts at world domination.

Story:

Each episode dealt with Batman fighting a particular crook. It sounds simple enough, but the formula was often played with by telling the story from the point-of-view of a sidekick, bystander, or even one of the villains.

Some of the villains in the Rogue’s Gallery

But what surprised me most during my rewatch was how many of the villains weren’t particularly flashy at all. A lot of the time Batman has to deal with the likes of crime lords like Rupert Thorne, corrupt corporate executives like Roland Dagget, sadistic security guards like Lyle Bolton, or convicts like Lloyd Ventrix, a man who’s gotten his hands on an invisibility suit and plans to use it to kidnap his daughter from his ex-wife.

None of them are “supervillains” in any sense of the word; instead they’re ordinary people misusing whatever amount of power or responsibility they possess. It’s a theme that fits in nicely with a superhero who doesn’t have any preternatural powers, and who uses his significant wealth and privilege to make the streets safer for their most vulnerable citizens.

Characters:

The show is full of iconic characters and voice actors, from the dark and brooding Batman (Kevin Conway) to the slinky and amoral Catwoman (Adrienne Barbeau) to the totally unhinged Joker (Mark Hamill). Most of these characters are faithful adaptations of their comic book incarnations, but this show made two noteworthy contributions to the Batman mythos.

The first was the creation of Harley Quinn, a bright and perky henchman (er, woman) to the Joker, caught in a sadomasochistic relationship that she just couldn’t break free from. Oddly tragic and cheery at the same time, she proved so popular with audiences that she eventually got her own comic book series.

Mr Freeze remembers his wife

The second was Mr Freeze, previously characterized as a gimmick with a freeze gun, reimagined here as a scientist called Victor Fries whose wife is cryogenically frozen due to a debilitating illness. After a laboratory accident (these things happen a lot in comics), he is forced to don a freeze suit to keep him in sub-zero temperatures. Out for both revenge and a cure for his wife, the audience is painfully aware that even if she is brought back to health, he can never truly be with her again.

The closing shot of him sitting in his cold jail cell, staring at a revolving ballet dancer on a music box is among the show’s most haunting scenes, emblematic of Batman’s edgy tone.

Conclusion:

Batman holds a lot of fond memories for me, and probably for my sister as well (thanks to this show, it was about three years before she stopped answering “Catwoman” to the question of what she wanted to be when she grew up).

But as a child I was unable to appreciate many finer details, such as the fact it was the first cartoon to have a realistic depiction of guns, or some of the genuinely disturbing animation (Clayface’s transformations or the Scarecrow’s drug-induced nightmares are things you probably wouldn’t get away with putting on a children’s show these days).

Filled with so many classic episodes that it would take too long to list them all, Batman is one of the most important animated shows out there, one which set the tone for many more to follow in its footsteps.

Next Time: Dr Who

It’s time to tackle one of the big kahunas. Currently on its eighth season (though technically it’s been running since 1963) Doctor Who is one of the biggest science-fiction franchises out there – so big in fact that I’m going to restrict my overview to the first season of 2005 reboot, starring Christopher Eccleston as the titular Doctor.
.

About The Reviewer:

Rebecca Fisher is a graduate of the University of Canterbury with a Masters degree in English Literature, mainly, she claims, because she was able to get away with writing her thesis on C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. She is a reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com, a large website that specializes in fantasy and science-fiction novels, as well as posting reviews to Amazon.com and her They’re All Fictional blog.

To read Rebecca’s detailed introduction of both herself and the series, as well as preceding reviews, click on:

Big Worlds On Small Screens