Customer Reviews

The Batman - The Complete Second Season (DC Comics Kids Collection)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The second season of KidsWB's new The Batman series is much improved over the first season. The show seems more confident of its identity now, and knows how to deliver exciting, fun, stories with less emphasis on outright pandering to the kiddie demographic. Notable episodes include the introduction of the Riddler, Hugo Strange, and a new take on the Solomon Grundy legend. Patrick Warburton makes a fun guest appearance as Yin's new partner, and Joker even dons the cape and cowl to fight crime for an episode. Ragdoll and Spellbinder's appearances make best use of the show's visual energy, and the season finale marks the introduction of a classic Batman supporting character and the setup for season 3. Best of all, there is a dramatic Clayface story that really makes viewers feel for this tragic villain in the vein of the old B:TAS series.

Among other fixes: The new Joker finally comes into his own, and Alfred ditches his nagging, season 1 attitude. Yin has more to do as Batman's partner, and the overall acting is much better from everyone. Penguin and Freeze still do nothing for me, but even they seem slightly improved from their season 1 offerings.

Season 2 of The Batman works for me. It's still not a deep show, but there's finally enough right here that I can enjoy the episodes without constantly making the B:TAS comparisons. Try this set, and you might find yourself having fun too. Recommended.

The first season of The Batman is a very good example of what happens when a new team arrives, finally taking over from the twelve to fifteen year era of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Ted Blackman, and Eric Randoski, and find themselves struggling with the dubious task of living up to the legacy of Batman: The Animated Series.

Their early efforts were met with more than a large dose of criticism, the first season led to The Batman being considered one of the most blatantly childish toy commercials ever produced, a Joker that seemed to resemble Goku addicted to Brand X and with a lousy Mark Hamil impersonator, a bland Year One attempt at The Batman's early life, complete with his being pursued by the GPD and the relentless Ellen Yin and her partner Bennet (an ally of The Batman) which seemingly never came close to living up to the standards of GPD/Batman battles seen in Year One or The Dark Knight Returns, and lousy throwbacks to the classic Tim Burton movie designs of Catwoman and Penguin just when the New Batman Adventures had finally liberated those characters from those constraints.

Fortunatly, salvation came in the first season finale, which shook up the series' status quoe in a major way, paving the way clear for what would become The Batman's finest season so far. A little more experianced, and with a few great writers such as Greg Wiesman (creator of Gargoyles) helping out, the second season goes forward with a darker edge, and even improved vastly on some of Batman's rouges gallery.

The epsiodes included on this DVD include "Meltdown", an emotional and action ridden epilouge to the season one finale that sees Batman's close freind Bennet finally decide on where his career as Clayface will take him as his thirst for vengeance against The Joker drives him to near murder.

The dark tone of the show continues with "Riddled", which reinterprets and redefines the character of The Riddler, transforming him from a small, bowler hatted puzzle meister into a Marilon Manson-inspired gothic master of mysterious metaphores, whose ambitious attempts to unmask Batman threaten Gotham City with destruction whenever Batman and Yin are forced to solve his riddles and get closer to him. The Riddler is immediatly elevated here from B-level villain to a nemesis worthy of The Batman's attention, and he plays a large role in the second season finale.

The Joker's deranged personality is given a look at in the brooding "Strange Minds", featuring the late Frank Goz as Professor Hugo Strange, another old school Batman enemy who will become more important in the third season. The episode is as close as the show's ever gotten to emulating the tone of the Bruce Timm series and is highly recommended. The season ends with "Night and the City", which again shakes up the staus quoe and introduces Commisioner Gordon to the series. Given I'm not the biggest fan of season three, I can only caution you folks to relish as much screen time as Gordon gets here...its' the only time he's done justice so far in this series.

As an action peice, the episode paces itself tremendously, and there's a few twists and turns that unfold as Batman battles The Joker, The Penguin, and The Riddler as they seek to unmask him and take Gotham City itself prisoner. It's a finale worthy of a Bruce Timm product

The flaws regarding the second season are as obvious as the first...Yin practically goes from being a potentially interesting nemesis for Bruce with utterly squandered potential to an ally for The Batman with utterly squandered potential, she takes more of a back seat and becomes a "damsel in distress" in several episodes, sometimes in a fitting way, sometimes in ways that insult her previous track record.

Another flaw is the tremendous amount of Joker based episodes, the character was overused in the first season and he suffers here also, fortunatly this time he has two classic episodes ("Strange Minds" and "The Laughing Bat") that truley captures the roots of the character for the first time since the series began.

That aside, The Penguin and Catwoman have not improved, in fact their characters suffer from being general wallpaper with nothing of note to bounce off on, "Ragdolls to Riches" is a poor example of this, as Selina plays second fiddle to Ragdoll and nothing is made of Selina's visit to Wayne Manor, neither is an attempt to follow up on some of the subtle moments between Selina and Bruce, once more The Batman's self-contained nature betrays it's potential.

The Batman is one of the most debated Batman animated series yet, it has it's fans, and it has it's haters, I count myself as not much of a fan of this series, but I am objective enough to know when a show is trying to improve, and this is one example of this. Just avoid the first and third seasons

O.K., I get that some people don't like this version of Batman. I also grew up watching Batman the Animated Series and I was elated when they became available on DVD.

So when I learned that the WB was going to start up a new Batman series, I was excited. I watched the series premiere with great anticipation and was, for the most part, ambivalent about it. I caught most of the episodes of the first season, and while I was glad that Batman was back on T.V., it didn't really evoke the same kind of feeling that BTAS had.

Then I saw the two part series finale of season 1, which focuses on the origin of the new Clayface. Here we finally got a glimpse of what this new creative team is capable of when they put some real effort into their storytelling. And this trend continued into season 2.

People will make their comparisons to the original series. Hey, that's only natrual. I've been interested in anything Batman since I was a kid. I'm old enough to have seen the campy T.V. series. I've read the comics throughout the years and even watched the some of the horrible movies they've put out there. But I think that some people fall into the trap of nostalgia when they compare this series to BTAS. People tend to gloss over the not so pretty parts and claim that everything was so much better way back when. Batman the animated series was great, no argument there.

But I also think that this new series really has it's place in the annuals of Batman. It offers a new take on old villans. One reviewer called it Ultimate Batman (for those of you who are familiar with Marvel comics' Ultimate line), and I think that's a pretty good way of looking at it. And, I'm sorry, but Strange Minds, and a few other episodes from season 2 stand up very nicely when compared to stuff from BTAS. Season 4 premiered with an episode about the origin of the new Robin which was excellent. While Batman is hunting down the criminals responsible for the death of Richard Grayson's parents he wipes out an entire bar full of baddies and tells the last one still conscious, "Tell him I'm coming for him, tell them all I coming for them." We see the guy hanging from the ceiling by his feet, as he is trembling at the sight of Batman's eyes through the dark, smoke-filled room. To my recollection, this might be the best moment in Batman's animated history.

Some people are going to disagree with me, but before you dismiss this series, I suggust that you give it a look and decide for yourself.

My son loves this show, and I love watching it with him! Season 1 set the pace for the program, but Season 2 has much more depth of character and more interesting story lines. This is a solid purchase, and with an entire season included for the price, you can't go wrong!

The second season of The Batman, a manga-ish attempt to showcase the early days of the Dark Knight, is far from perfect, but it is a big improvement over the first season. In the first season finale, Batman's (voiced by Rino Romano, and no, he's no Kevin Conroy) police officer ally Bennett was transformed into Clayface thanks to the Joker (by far the best episode of the series), and that storyline continues as Clayface comes to a cross roads and makes a choice on his future. Also, we see the debut of up and coming Detective James Gordon, who seeks to make Gotham City a safe place to live again, with Batman's help. The biggest complaint of the series has been the treatment of the villains, and while there is an improvement this season, you'll still find some amount of annoyment. I'm not too fond of the Riddler or the Penguin, but the Joker is much better in these episodes, and even Professor Strange (voiced by the late, great Harry Goz of Adult Swim's Sealab 2021) is here to boot. All in all, the second season of the much maligned The Batman isn't the same kind of greatness we got from the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm Batman animated series, but it is a vast improvement over what we've seen from the series before.

I'm 31 years old, and I have to say that this is my favorite Batman animated series. I've watched the origial that came out in the 90's, and as much as I enjoyed Batman Beyond, I love the artwork, stories and non-stop action that is the new Batman series.

The second season picks up where the first left off, with the same good storytelling and voice acting. For some reason, the Solomon Grundy episode sticks out in my mind as being one of the more interesting episodes I've watched.

I'm also a big fan of the Riddler and his modern gothic look. The stories that are weaved around him are fantastic. And while in some ways, it's not really fair to compare this version to the 90's one, I just think there are a lot of things it is getting right. It keeps me coming back, at least.

Second season highly recommended.

Wasn't sure I liked this new Batman. Am a long-time hard core Batman fan. But I agree with previous reviewers; it is an "Ultimate" Batman and it is starting to grow on me, especially this second season. I actually like that Bruce Wayne is a bit goofy, does silly stuff. He is a young Batman and shouldn't be as jaded as the Wayne and Batman of the BAS... his voice shouldn't be as deep as Conroy's.

Two episodes that really stand out; the new quadruple jointed raggedy doll villian (Ragdoll to Riches)....what an incredible piece of creativity and animation...an interesting twist that Catwoman was trying to steal a piece of rare cel animation as opposed to the typical cat statue with ruby eyes, and the episode inside of the Joker's mind (Strange Minds). I can't believe that Timm's group never came up with that episode!

Think of this Batman series as the Smallville of the Superman legacy. It is a bit quirky, has humor and should not be missed if you like Batman.

However, a few hours later I just happened to re watch "Mad Love" from BAS! Boy I miss the BAS, but then again, can that level of creativity, writing, animation be sustained? What a jewel of a series!!

Thats how i view this series. They are pretty much "revamping" Batman. That can be a bad thing, but this show has done a pretty good job! I have followed Batman since I could walk and this show impresses even me. Pretty much all of it walks outside the DC Comics. The names and places may be the same, but these charectors are not what I grew up with. And thank god for it. Don't get me wrong, I love the comics (maybe not some of the movies though), but The Batman is breathing new life into an old dog and it works! There may be a few missed opportunites, but it's a 30 minute cartoon, so please don't judge it too harshly or base everything on what you've seen before. Just my thoughts.

The second year of this series was a step in the right direction in some ways. But in others...

Animation wise, its still as great as the first season but one thing I forgot to mention last time. The sky in Gotham is on some kind of drug because its not the same color for two consecutive episodes, let alone within one. First its green, then purple, then red. I know in the fourth volume of Batman: TAS, the sky was red but it at least remained one consistent color. And when a character or building is set against the sky, it looks rather bland since there no clouds, reminding me of how cheap the third season of the Adam West series had been (cardboard cutouts in front of a stark black backdrop). But when there's a storm going on, the sky looks black, cloudy and relatively normal. The designs of the new villains are great, especially Killer Croc, who never seemed as menacing, to me anyway, in the original series. Lesser known villain Spellbinder, who was a villain in Batman Beyond, gets a great upgrade. From a rather silly, orange suited suit to a three eyed mystic. Like Joker, I was a off-put by the Riddler's new look, bringing singer Marilyn Manson to mind. The guy's so thin, he shouldn't be able to lift his cane. But, like the Clown Prince of Crime, the Prince of Puzzlers' look grew on me.

Again the voices are good and even Gina Gershon improves, though she was only good for one out of her two appearances this season. Steve Harris again gets a moment to shine in Meltdown, the sequel episode to last season's finale. How he changes from wanting revenge to embracing his criminal identity is moving (for this show anyway). While John Glover will probably remain my favorite voice of Riddler, Robert Englund (who everyone pretty much knows) was a great find, making the villain sound intelligent and cruel, even when spouting one of the show's trademark, eye-rolling puns. Ron Perlman (Clayface from B: TAS) does a great job with Killer Croc, infusing him with a Cajun accent and a sense of menace and intelligence that never felt captured in the original series. In that series, other than two episodes (not counting the one with Batman disguised as Croc), he became just a stupid, comic relief villain. Another 1960s Batman star, Frank Gorshin (the Riddler), voices Prof. Hugo Strange in one of his last roles before his death (which is unfortunate since Strange became one of the better villains on this show). One person who increasingly grew on my nerves was Jesse Corti's Chief Rojas. It's really more the writers' fault than the actor, but the character is never remotely likeable. All he does is yell at his force for the things they don't do instead of actually helping them find and trap the Batman.

Another thing I stupidly left out of my season 1 review was the music. My God is it bland. Even the opening theme is boring. I guess after the nineties ended, original music for cartoons (other than the DCAU) ended as well. It's all so unoriginal that its grating to hear the synth soundtrack. The only bit of music I do like is the Joker's leitmotif whenever he's around. It's quirkiness suits the character to a T.

The writers, who all seemed like hacks in season 1, really stepped up to make this season an improvement, though the season opener felt like it was written for a different hero/villain (actually it seemed like something Ra's al Ghul might've done though the Batman Returns feel of the three main characters helped a bit). The one thing the writers never really learned to do in the entire run of the show was balance the appearances of the villains. In these thirteen episodes alone, Joker appeared five times while Penguin has shown up four (and two of them featured Joker). While popular villains in their own right, the two were overexposed to the point that nobody ever really wanted to see them. While Joker's backstory will always remain a mystery and Penguin's backstory explained in his first appearance, no other villain received any amount of background (other than Clayface last season and Riddler in season 4). Heck, Catwoman and Riddler both got two episodes this season but nothing was really done with them. The theme of this season seemed to be that of partnerships. While Batman and Det. Ellen Yin formed theirs last season, the villains were teaming up out of the woodworks; from the slave-like partnership of Penguin and Man-Bat to the unlikely pairing of Mr. Freeze and Firefly (just go with it, that's what I did). Episodes that I liked include Riddled (Riddler's first appearance), Swamped (Killer Croc's first appearance along with the start of Batman's trophy room), Meltdown (wherein Ethan Bennett becomes a villain), The Butler Did It (where Alfred's intelligence is finally shown), Grundy's Night (just a fun Halloween episode) and Night and the City (where Batman faces the threat of Joker, Penguin and Riddler).

Season two was great though a few episodes were not up to standard.

Season Two of The Batman pitted Batman against the likes of: The Riddler, Ragdoll, Hugo Strange, Killer Croc, Spellbinder, Solomon Grundy among other notorious villans. During which, Commissioner Gordon comes into the show's setting, with the departure of Ellen Yin(whom you all should know as Ethan Bennett's partner on the force). The Batsignal is introduced, as well, which is especially cool since it is a part of the Batman mythos. The show is starting to pick up a little more steam as far as episodes are concerned and more villans are introduced. I must say, I really like the show alot. I plan on continuing getting every season that I can. Look back here at Amazon for more reviews from me.....Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel.... ;)