So somehow or another I happen to come across this Youtube video about Batman the Animated Series. I had completely forgotten about this show until seeing this video. Watching all those clips sure brings back a lot of memories. I used to watch it religiously when I was a kid. I think, for me, this is the definitive version of Batman.
What would you say was the best episode of the series (including the sequel series)? To make it easy I’ll list the 11 episodes from the video as poll choices. If you don’t agree then tell us what you think.
By sequel series I’m referring to iirc The New Adventures of Batman and Robin. I don’t remember that one to clearly other then seeing Robin and Batwoman as supporting characters.
Batwoman was not a supporting character in The New Batman Adventures (The Adventures of Batman and Robin was the title of the third season of TAS) - she only appeared in Mystery of the Batwoman, several years after TNBA ended.* (Though it kept the same character designs and general design aesthetic.)
And Robin and Batgirl were already supporting characters in TAS (though a different Robin - by TNBA, Dick had graduated to Nightwing).
As to the best episode of TAS…of the ones you listed, Birds of A Feather.
Others that deserve a nod, IMO: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich (Riddler’s first appearance), Legends of the Dark Knight (From TNBA), Harley & Ivy, POV, and Tyger, Tyger.
Also, she is technically a they. There’s 3 women in the suit.
The one where the girls are trying to kill The Joker and Bats has to speed away Mr. J’s unconscious body in the Batmobile. Did I mention that I have the original cel of the explosion over that scene. Yeah baby.
It is the best incarnation of Batman in the last 25 years and a fine example of how well a 30 minute drama can work. I don’t read comics a whole lot any more but when I read Batman it’s Kevin Conroy’s voice I imagine as Bats and Mark Hamill as the Joker.
My wife bought me the DVDs while I was recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed. I’m hard pressed to name the best episode. Instead I’m going to name the worst episode. The last season when Batman tangled with the farmer who was genetically altering animals.
Funny, I saw this thread on my phone and came downstairs to contribute because I wanted to write more than a few words. My original lede was “I don’t know about best-best, but The Gray Ghost has persisted in my memories the most strongly.” I was tickled to see it in the poll and in the #1 slot. It may not be best as a standout Batman adventure, but the bittersweet note of Adam West playing a down-and-out fictional hero, and the way Bruce/Bats treated him, was so damned well done.
I never saw the show, but this past summer I took my brother (who is much more into comic books than I am) down to San Diego during the weekend of Comic-Con. We didn’t have Con tickets, but it was our understanding that there would be plenty of cool stuff happening outside the convention center.
One of the “cool stuff happening” was a live interview: Kevin Smith interviewing Bruce Timm, creator of Batman: The Animated Series. It was pretty damn cool- and I say that without ever having been a Timmverse fan (oh, yeah, I learned the word “Timmverse”). The interview lasted about an hour, so it was very in depth. Timm seemed like a pretty amazing guy with strong vision.
I see there are episodes available to view for free on The WB website. I’ll have to sit back and watch a few episodes sometime.
I used to watch it every afternoon and loved it; I’m pleased to see that it’s still well-received now that we’re all adults. The episode that stuck with me was Heart Of Ice. Boy was the movie Mr. Freeze a disappointment.