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Most of you have probably heard about this already, but DC is launching a new comic featuring the B:TAS iteration of Batman. It's essentially a continuation of The Batman Adventures comics many of us read back in the nineties. The first issue launched digitally on April 1st and Kevin Conroy will be performing a live reading of it on Instagram later today. This is scheduled for 10am PT/1pm ET, which is 6pm for those of us in the UK.


I thoroughly enjoyed the Twin Peaks Watch Party yesterday, and this looks like it could be an equally fun way for fans to come together and pass the time celebrating something they love. If you want to read along, you can purchase a digital copy of #1 here: https://www.dccomics.com/comics/batman-the-adventures-continue-2020/batman-the-adventures-continue-1

If you'd rather just listen, you can tune in to the live performance on DC's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/dccomics/

I rather enjoyed this issue but Templeton's art was sort of coloring booky at first. He'd settled into a more comfortable groove near the end of the issue but those first few pages are just wonky.

I suppose I'm okay with the series returning via comics, but to be honest it's been so long I'm not sure how it'll turn out. Or even if I will personally consider it canon. The recent Harley Quinn animated movie was mediocre. This particular comic was okay I guess, but short. I didn't think much of their use of Bane. He was never intended to be a simplistic grunt. He is often used that way because it's easy. Bane is a tactical genius who forged himself in isolation. Show us that more often please, DC.

The new arc features the Court of Owls, and I love the Court of Owls. But they have no place in the BTAS universe. None. From my point of view, if characters couldn't appear during the original run because they hadn't been invented yet that disqualifies them from being used. They may as well start afresh with something brand new rather than forcing a replication that is impossible to feel authentic. For this reason Batman: Caped Crusader has my full endorsement.

I opted to read it spoiler free once the collected edition hit my comic book shop. Entertaining for sure, but simply associating with the BTAS mythos immediately gives it huge shoes to fill. Any new series could be passably good, but living up to TAS needs to be outstanding.

The first couple of stories felt pretty faithful, and could have been adapted as episodes of TNBA. Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, and Mr. Freeze stories all made decent self-contained stories. The overarching plot of Jason Todd was something pretty unique to the comic though, since the TV series is a much more serialized format.

Honestly, I probably have the most issue with Jason Todd, since the comic had the uphill battle of defending his presence in this universe, despite all previous interpretations going against this. The oft-repeated story was that there was no Jason because Tim Drake became an amalgamation of him and his comic book counterpart. Which is apparent when his backstory, while modified, is still very similar to Tim's. To the point where Tim makes a meta comment that Jason just has his backstory.

There's also a lot of villains, but very few meaningful interactions. Favorites like Bane, Mad Hatter, Ventriloquist, Penguin, Lock-Up, Killer Croc, and Clock King are only used as throwaways; what would have otherwise been nameless goons for very short fights with Batman and co. Ironically, they mattered much more in the show where their featured episodes put them in the spotlight and gave them the brilliant characterization we came to love. Here, they exist just to get beat up over a few panels.

I was never a fan of the Jason Todd revival story, so naturally I wasn't big on this story. Plus, his Robin overpowering foes that Batman struggled with alone is further insult to these villains.

The tone is pretty far off from the show, it's a lot more depressing and gruesome. Maybe ratings were to blame, but the original show struck the perfect balance. The presence of graphic violence and swearing doesn't add anything to the stories, it just makes it feel like a different world than the show. I felt the same way when Batman & Harley Quinn dealt with not having any content limitations.

The art is a strong part of the comic; it's very much in line with Batman Adventures where it's the same drawing style as BTAS, but with more detail allowed by the medium. I liked a lot of the TNBA redesigns, so seeing them in the more detailed drawing style was nice. There's plenty of nods to continuity where Batman even dons his old suit when it's the appropriate time period.

Quote from: The Dark Knight on Thu,  3 Jun  2021, 13:32
The new arc features the Court of Owls, and I love the Court of Owls. But they have no place in the BTAS universe. None. From my point of view, if characters couldn't appear during the original run because they hadn't been invented yet that disqualifies them from being used.

I'm tempted to agree with you that many of these arcs, while proving popular with fans haven't achieved the truly classic status that many BTAS adaptations have. But then I remember that TAS adapted a lot of 80s and even 90s stories as well that have since gone on to be classics (notably Bane). So if anything, this proves that the writers do have a good judge of Batman stories. On the other hand, there's still plenty of proven classics from 50 years ago still ripe for the picking. One of the pitfalls of leaning too much on modern comics is a lot can just seem gimmicky in hindsight.

This kind fits in with why I feel like putting Jason in was so many levels of off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13mVpRxkSBE

Absolutely; they wanted Red Hood, but couldn't do that naturally because it didn't fit in continuity. So they came in with the retcons.

Looking back, I didn't even have anything to say about Season 2 when it dropped. Season 1 may have been mediocre, but it was definitely memorable; I cannot say that same about Season 2, and haven't been compelled to re-read it. Will I still read Season 3 when it comes out? Definitely. But here's what I think would improve the stories; lay off of source material from the 2000s and beyond, and return back to more self-contained stories.

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu,  9 Apr  2020, 14:09
I rather enjoyed this issue but Templeton's art was sort of coloring booky at first. He'd settled into a more comfortable groove near the end of the issue but those first few pages are just wonky.

There was a time (I'll say circa 1993-1994) when the og Batman Adventures was a serious contender for best monthly Batman comic book. The entire creative team crafted something genuinely special month in and month out.

That's saying a lot for comic book aiming for a soft PG-rating. TBA's competition was stuff like Image, the more famous Marvel crossovers of the Nineties, DC's own bestselling comics, etc. With very toned down violence and other not-very-graphic content, BTAS somehow managed to stand out in a very crowded field. Most issues of TBA have just as much heart as the best episodes of BTAS.

BTAC proves that you can't go home again.

TBA was basically an extension of the show with a lot of the same talent. It's a testament to the storytelling that the studio-imposed censorship was never something an adult viewer actually considered. Though I will say TBA was more lax than the show because I remember it could show/refer to dying, and could show blood as well. I'm not sure if the same censorship applied to comic, or if that was just self-imposed to keep better continuity with the show. Regardless, the latter is result, and what may have been a pitfall with BTAC.

Okay, I picked up Season 3 out of obligation, owning the previous two volumes and all, and ended up really liking it.

To start, I was sad to hear the series was cancelled by DC. Most coverage now seems to infer that the series ran its course, but I recall Ty Templeton saying it was actively cancelled. The quality wasn't peak BTAS by any means, but there was still a lot of top talent that didn't deserve to have their work cut short (including Templeton).

This announcement came around the end of the original run, which was way too premature considering the TPB was a way from being released (and also my preferred medium). I picked it up as soon as I could, having to check two comic book stores: one was sold out, the other had one copy left. Hope these sales allow DC to reconsider.

Anyways, on with the story (spoilers ahead). The weakness of the previous volumes was that they were trying to play catch-up with the comics instead of continuing the story in a meaningful way; for instance, introducing Jason Todd convolutes the universe more and is antithetical to bridging the gap into Return of the Joker/Batman Beyond.

Old characters were used in more meaningful ways this time around. Lock-Up was great to see as a surprise villain during the first story, as was the continuation of Task Force X in Crack-Up! Deadshot was a favorite of mine that had a decent adaptation in JLU despite his limited screentime, so it was nice to see more of him. Professor Strange makes his grand re-appearance as well, and it feels perfectly natural. In the midst of all this, the prototype of the Batman Beyond suit is a concurrent plot point. The series really felt like it was winding down into the Batman Beyond era, and I hope the writers get the opportunity to complete their vision.

Quote from: Slash Man on Fri, 23 Feb  2024, 00:49they were trying to play catch-up with the comics

Quote from: Slash Man on Fri, 23 Feb  2024, 00:49introducing Jason Todd

These are my objections too. I don't need a BTAS-flavored variant of the mainstream comics. BTAS was always its own thing and nobody minded that back then.

I'd love to know whose brilliant idea it was to take this approach.

That honestly felt like a merchandising decision. Remember how there was DC Collectibles toy line tie-in? We got Red Hood and Azrael in BTAS figure style. I'm betting that was the starting point, and they just worked backwards to figure out a story. Fortunately, we didn't get a Batman Who Laughs... yet.