Batman’s had a lot of different animated incarnations over the past 30-years, and while Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League are certainly iconic, one should not overlook Batman: The Brave & the Bold. Is it a bit campy? Yeah, but that’s what makes it so utterly charming. Follow along as we go through the all 3 seasons and experience a Batman that can be loved by all. Plus, feel free to comment down below and make this as interactive as possible, because Batman: The Brave & the Bold is first and foremost, fun. And now… “The Eyes of Despero!” & “Return of the Fearsome Fangs!”
1. The Cold Open
While “The Eyes of Despero!” has a perfectly fine teaser opening featuring Dr. Fate, the teaser in “Return of the Fearsome Fangs!” is one of the best so far. Holed up in the Old West, Batman helps Jonah Hex stop the Royal Flush Gang. Now, clearly under regular circumstances one would question the circumstances which brought Batman to the late 1800’s. The series though, doesn’t care. It offers no explanation. It just dumps Batman on a horse with a cowboy hat and lets the dice roll. I’ve mentioned this before but I really appreciate the liberties they take in the series. If you are going to target the episodes for younger audiences, then filling it with convoluted backstories and explanations would just bog it down. The way it was delivered is perfect for the tone of the series.
2. Spotlight on the Team-Up
“The Eyes of Despero!” features the first full introduction of the Green Lantern Corps. While the story is quite frankly just okay, it’s nice to see a full representation on the GL Corps. Beyond Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner and Sinestro, you get all sort of 3rd tier Green Lanterns. Even Mogo the Living Planet… Not being a big Green Lantern fan my appreciation of the appearance doesn’t hinge on its authenticity, but it felt like an honest sincere attempt to do right by Green Lantern fans. To this day the idea of the Green Lantern Corps has its attraction, but the way their power is translated is, more often than not, so damn silly. Silly or not, it works perfectly in the world of Batman: The Brave & the Bold.
3. Things you wouldn’t think Batman could do
Remember in “Dawn of the Dead Man!” we learned that Batman could project an astral projection to rival Dr. Strange? At that time I figured this ability would be one and done. Apparently, it would reappear just a few episodes later in “Return of the Fearsome Fangs!.” This time Batman is summoned into the astral plane by his old teacher from the Wudang Temple in China. I can’t really knock it too much though, as the ability had already been established. Funky and kind of cool, this episode would have been a lot better if Bronze Tiger weren’t such a jerk. Five minutes in and I wanted to see him get his but whooped. Also, the whole animal spirit transformations were a bit over the top.
4. And the Bad Guy is…?
Despero is clearly the main baddy from these two episodes, and as much as I congratulate the Brave & the Bold writers for taking bold choices, I could have done with a bit of backstory with Despero. He basically shows up and wipes out the entire Green Lantern Corps, but he does it how? I don’t know… There’s a lot of monologuing and power being manipulated, but it all seemed pretty “blue light in the sky” at the end of the day.
5. Give me the Bat-Humor
These two were kind of bereft of good humor. There’s clearly G’nort in the Green Lantern episode, but he’s more annoying than anything else. The spot where he can’t remember the oath was pretty good though. If anything Guy Gardner provides the best humor. He’s clearly a straight man, and full of himself, but that works with Batman. Actually, on second thought, that Green Lantern episode was pretty funny. It’s just those damn Despero monologues… They suck the life out of the whole thing.
That’s it for now, see you next week! We’ll have Bat’s travel to a parallel Earth in a 2-part episode and then DC royalty, Adam Strange!
