Batman-Online.com

Thirty years later. Time flies.

The first episode I ever watched was Mad as a Hatter, back in 1993. Great introduction to the show, from the Gothic and 40s-esque scenary and atmosphere, from Batman's detective work to watching the Mad Hatter being one of many tragic, sympathetic characters who would become prominent identities among Batman's rogues' gallery. The first time I heard of the music and Elfman's theme inspiring it cemented it in my mind even further.

Everyone talks about the art style of the show, but what I loved about Mad Hatter's character design is how his toothy grin seemed very similar to the Cheshire Cat, another Alice in Wonderland character. Whether or not that was intentional, it's yet another comical little detail that made the show stand out from all the other cartoons, even to this very day.

The TV channel that I used to watch it on aired episodes out of sequence, so the following week I saw Christmas with the Joker, the Two-Face episodes and I've Got Batman in My Basement. It didn't matter to me, I was hooked on this show for every Saturday morning. Lots of laughs and lots of scares, from Joker's shenanigans to Two-Face and Scarecrow's terrifying moments. Not many cartoons like this had this appeal to all ages.

When TNBA debuted in 1997, I must admit to not giving it much of a chance. I was too stubborn in my mind to ever see another Robin that's not Dick Grayson, or Dick moving on to become Nightwing. Perhaps the very best of BTAS and its atmosphere worked too well for me, to the point it took me years to give TNBA a proper chance. Ultimately, TNBA has its own strong moments, but the first couple of seasons BTAS still holds very dear to me.

That's enough of me babbling on. Which was the very first episode you remembered watching thirty or so years ago?

I keep hearing stories about how BTAS was a "slow burn" for most people, it crept up on them and they were gradually drawn into the series. That's... just not my experience at all.

Rather, I was an early adopter of the show and was a fan from the jump. My first episode was the first one broadcast on Fox on Saturday morning: The Cat and the Claw: Part 1. September 05, 1992, according to Wikipedia.

I enjoyed it. But then as now, I didn't believe it was the best episode of the series. Not even close. On Leather Wings came on Sunday, September 06 in primetime and THAT was totally my jam. I loved Man-Bat even tho I didn't know much about him. Always thought he was a great villain.

When the afternoon broadcasts began on September 07, it was with Heart Of Ice and I loved that one from the start too because of Freeze's new, more sympathetic backstory. Between OLW and HOI, it became clear that The Cat and the Claw: Part 1 was probably chosen to lead off the series because of Catwoman (hot off Batman Returns from the summer) and because it's a two-parter rather than genuine merit.

Interestingly, HBO Max has BTAS in mostly original broadcast order. That main exception, of course, is The Cat and the Claw, both parts of which are adjacent to each other. Otherwise, that's the broadcast order. And at the time, it was powerful to see Harvey Dent's glory days followed by the Two-Face two-parter.

The more times goes by, the more legit BTAS looks all the time.

Yeah, my first was the Cat and the Claw. I also remember seeing the promo for it before it released. It was pretty similar to the opening that we all know, but it was a tiny bit different.

The first memory I have of BTAS is the opening title sequence. That left a big imprint on my brain and quite honestly even if I didn't watch one episode that brief introduction would've been enough to cement Batman as my favorite hero. It has just about everything that makes the character great distilled into a short period of time - the cave, the Batmobile, the way he intimidates people, his fighting ability, theatricality and mystery. And it wouldn't have the same effect if it wasn't for the music. One of the best openings to any cartoon of all time.

Check out these killer electric guitar covers of the intro music and The Last Laugh theme.

https://youtu.be/kKxoaVSsgnQ

https://youtu.be/ZWi2XCUVKkk

A look back at how Arleen Sorkin's character from Days of our Lives gave Paul Dini the inspiration for Harley Quinn.

Quote
In 1987, Sorkin was a regular on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, playing the show's comic relief: the ditzy, leggy, Noo Yawk–accented Calliope Jones. But unlike her flighty character, Sorkin was a skilled and experienced comedy writer. "I could never just come in and run my lines," she told Vulture. "I was forever suggesting stuff, probably out of boredom!" So when she went to a screening of the faux-medieval The Princess Bride, an idea struck her: Why not do a fairy-tale dream sequence on Days? The producers were into it and aired an episode in which Calliope acts as a court jester, roller-skating into a throne room and doing some hackneyed borscht belt gags for a royal family.


(Writer Paul) Dini and Sorkin were college friends, and one day, she gave him a VHS tape of her favorite Days moments — including her jester bit. The tape sat idle for years. But in mid 1991, Dini was sick as a dog and popped the tape into his VCR. He was a budding television writer at the time, cranking out freelance scripts for the as-yet-unaired Batman: The Animated Series. He'd been struggling to come up with a female character to use as a one-off in an episode about Batman's archnemesis, the Joker.

"I thought, Maybe there should be a girl there," he said. "And I thought, Should the girl be like a tough street thug? Or like a hench-person or something? And then suddenly the idea of someone funny kind of struck me." When he saw Sorkin in clown makeup, the pieces fell into place, and he came up with a silly little sidekick. He gave her the comic-book-y name of Harley Quinn, sketched out an idea for her look, and brought the sketch to the cartoon's lead artist, Bruce Timm.

https://youtu.be/5e1uFAEcR4A

https://boingboing.net/2019/09/17/watch-the-soap-opera-inspirati.html


I never knew that Paul Dini and Arleen Sorkin were friends at college. That explains her going out of her way to give Dini emotional support while he was recovering from a violent robbery, according to his autobiographical comic book Dark Night: A True Batman Story.

Here is a rare picture of some of the cast members I found online.

(https://i.imgur.com/PBcCe2V.jpg)

https://youtu.be/ZQXpJEOPp2c

So the book, Batman: The Animated Series: The Phantom City Creative Collection, is on sale at Amazon for $35. Normally it's $60, so I picked it up today. It's hardcover. Check it out, it looks really good.

https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Animated-Phantom-Creative-Collection/dp/1683839641/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1VH3VEGNQ5TQU&keywords=batman+the+animated+series&qid=1697765188&sprefix=batman+the+%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-9 (https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Animated-Phantom-Creative-Collection/dp/1683839641/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1VH3VEGNQ5TQU&keywords=batman+the+animated+series&qid=1697765188&sprefix=batman+the+%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-9)

I love this fan art. It reminds me of the Almost Got 'Im episode.

(https://i.imgur.com/XdxdD88.jpg)

I'd like to know who made this, great poster.

(https://i.imgur.com/Ty0wfqu.png)

Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Thu,  1 Feb  2024, 10:43I'd like to know who made this, great poster.

(https://i.imgur.com/Ty0wfqu.png)

Connor MacGregor is the artist. It's part of a series of 8.

https://www.connormacgregorart.com/product-page/8-piece-batman-collection

Thanks for sharing! Connor did a great job on the TNBA version too. Same poses, but I'm glad he used the BB: ROTJ version for Joker. As he should've appeared in the revamp of the show.

(https://i.imgur.com/aOFmvUI.jpg)

I found these Wizard Magazine scans previewing BTAS before the show was about to debut on TV.

(https://i.imgur.com/zt6Hf0E.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/kgrbPEI.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/BkSZiaq.png)

There is another picture of title cards for some of the characters too.

(https://i.imgur.com/JEOysmq.png)

https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1927396

When I first heard about BTAS when I was 11 or so, I went into it with the assumption that it was going to be a very Filmation or Hanna-Barbera type of thing. And honestly, I was totally okay with that.

But this feature from Comics Scene is the first inkling I ever got that BTAS aspired to be a LOT more than a 20 some odd minute toy commercial with Good Moral Lessons at the end of each episode. I was already excited about the show. But this feature made me a BTAS True Believer very early on.

Also, this is a very Batman-oriented issue of Comics Scene. There are features about BTAS, an interview with Michael Keaton about Batman Returns and an interview with Kelley Jones where he discusses (among other things) Red Rain.

Very enjoyable issue of an underrated comics industry trade publication. I like Wizard as much as the next guy. But Comics Scene had some very high quality interviews and features too.

Nice scans, TLF, Colors.

The first time I recall ever hearing about BTAS, was from some magazine (definitely not Wizard or Comics Scene lol) at a doctor's waiting room due to being sick and having to be absent from school that day.

From memory, there were not many images within the article, but just enough to get excited about (i vaguely seem to remember seeing what Batman and the Joker were going to look like, and wondering if the Joker was going to sound like Nicholson or not? lol). I remember thinking it was cool just to have a Batman cartoon, period. As I don't remember the Filmation cartoon EVER being re-run on television (same with Superfriends and/or Super Powers). So, for me, there was something of a novelty in seeing a then-current Batman in animated form finally with BTAS.

I find it amusing that the first mention of Harley that I can ever recall seeing is so lowkey. "Also, the Joker will have a girlfriend called Harley Quinn". From such humble beginnings, she became a real force in the Batman mythos.

https://youtu.be/jdDYg_HuN1M

Looking back at these commercials, I owned some of these toys. I had the original Batman with the grapple and a Bruce Wayne figure with Batsuit armour accessories you put on his body to become Batman. I even owned Two-Face, Robin and Catwoman - her cat Iris came as a plastic accessory so you could put her around Catwoman's neck.

The Bruce Wayne Batsuit armour must've been inspired by a similar toy in the Kenner Burton Batman toyline. Except this toy must've been inspired by The Dark Knight Returns. If a BTAS/TNBA revival were made today and did another take on the Legends of the Dark Knight episode, I've no doubt the animators would've drawn Batman wearing this suit to fight Superman.

(https://www.2ndchildhoodtoys.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240219_055327-scaled.jpg)