75-51...
75. The Lion and the Unicorn
This episode has gotten the reputation as being one
of the series’ worst, but I think that’s a little unfair. The Red Claw is the
main villain this time out, and fares about as well as she did in her previous
appearance, but the episode surrounding her is a decent adventure of spies and
subterfuge. We get a look into Alfred’s background working in British
Intelligence, an aspect of the character that’s been little explored throughout
his seventy-plus year history. Plus, his old partner is a dead ringer for David
Niven, a nice touch on behalf of the classic film buff animators, who would
often base secondary characters’ looks on their favorite actors.
74. The Forgotten
Bruce Wayne battles amnesia as he’s kidnapped and
forced to work in an illegal mining operation with several other homeless men
taken from the streets of Gotham. It’s another episode that comes dangerously
close to veering into “message” territory, but is saved by an excellent dream
sequence in which Bruce Wayne remembers he is, in fact, Batman. There’s also a
great, darkened showdown in a mine shaft, some White Lightning-inspired cues on the soundtrack and a nice comedy
bit with Alfred attempting to fly the Batwing.
73. Cold Comfort
The reinvention of Mr. Freeze into a tragic villain
was one of the series’ masterstrokes, but the singularity of his motivation
meant it was hard to find justifiable reasons to bring the character back for
more adventures. Here, in the new look, redesign episodes, the creators once
again revise Mr. Freeze, having him succumb to a disease which erodes his body
and leaves nothing but his head behind. Tortured by this turn of events, the
cold-hearted villain gets a cybernetic body and decides to take out his
suffering on others, destroying what they value most. On the plus side, we get
awesome moments like the Mr. Freeze head on robotic spider-legs. On the minus:
Freeze’s new mini-skirted, Eskimo coat-wearing hench-girls, who are horribly
out of place.
72. Terror in the Sky
He was the first villain to appear in the very first
episode of the series, so it’s only fitting that the Man-Bat should make a
return appearance… although it’s not Kirk Langstrom making the turn this time,
but rather his wife, Francine, marking her debut as the She-Bat. It’s not
anywhere near the instant classic that was “On Leather Wings,” but it is a
decent follow-up adventure, and the climactic showdown on a commercial flight
is tense and excitingly-staged.
71. Night of the Ninja
This episode provides us with our first look at
Bruce Wayne’s “lost years,” the time in his life when he travelled the world
and learned the various disciplines that would later enable him to become
Batman. The sepia-toned flashbacks of Bruce’s martial arts training in Japan
are the highlight of the episode, while in the present day an old rival seeks
revenge on Wayne by stealing from his corporate holdings. The Ninja/Kyodai Ken
is played a bit too broad for my tastes, but he looks super cool zipping around
the Gotham rooftops, slicing up everything in sight with his katana. The final
showdown between a civilian-garbed Bruce Wayne and Ken is also a standout
action scene.
70. Fire from Olympus
Maxie Zeus feels like a villain that stepped right
out of the sixties TV show, although he didn’t make his Bat-debut until 1979. A
delusional businessman who fancies himself the Greek god Zeus, he could be a
silly character if not handled properly, but fortunately the animators find the
right approach in bringing him to life in the series. Maxie mistaking Batman
for Hades and the other Gotham rogues for others in the Greek pantheon is a fun
bit of business, and the music is suitably epic and bombastic to fit in with
the Olympian theme.
69. Pretty Poison
Poison Ivy makes her animated debut in this
mostly-solid episode, a good showcase for what the series did best when it was
at its best. Highlights include a nicely-edited bit of cross-cutting as Batman
is late for a dinner while bringing in some crooks, and the inclusion of a
pre-Two-Face Harvey Dent as Ivy’s unwitting boyfriend/victim--it was always
nice when the show set up characters and events to pay off in later episodes.
68. Nothing to Fear
The Scarecrow is wildly off-model and some of the
animation isn’t as strong as it is in other episodes, but the fear-based
Bat-villain’s debut is still an awful lot of fun. The hallucination scenes are
eerie and inventive, and the final showdown aboard a flaming zeppelin is one of
the most exciting set-pieces in the whole run of the series. This is also where
the iconic line “I am vengeance, I am the night… I am Batman!” comes from, so
extra points for that.
67. Judgment Day
A new vigilante has rolled into town, raining on
Batman’s parade and favoring a more lethal approach. The Judge is an
impressively-designed anti-hero, but the real delight lies in the climactic
reveal of his true identity. The only thing holding it back is its resemblance
to the earlier episode “Second Chances” (and, in a roundabout way, the feature Mask of the Phantasm), which more or
less had the same twist at the end.
66. His Silicon Soul
This sequel to the classic two-parter “Heart of
Steel” has a nifty gimmick, following the robot duplicate Batman as the
protagonist of the story. The leftover from the supercomputer HARDAC’s robot
takeover is convinced he’s the actual Batman, and will stop at
nothing--including altercations with the real Batman himself--to prove his
humanity. It deals in some pretty heavy stuff in the first half, but eventually
Robot Batman learns the truth and becomes a vessel for HARDAC’s rebirth via the
computer in the Batcave. It all leads to a disappointing action finale in an
episode that initially promised much more, but still a solid effort overall.
65. Joker’s Millions
It’s another light-hearted romp for the Joker this
time out, which sees everyone’s favorite Clown Prince of Crime inherit a
fortune from the death of an old rival. It’s a sharp left turn form some of the
Joker’s darker appearances in episodes like “The Laughing Fish” and “Mad Love,”
but a nice diversion nonetheless. It also helps that the script is genuinely
funny, with the “Fake Harley” scene being a standout. Many disapprove of the
Joker’s lipless, skull-like appearance in the redesigned TNBA episodes, but I
don’t mind it so much. It’s certainly distinctive, and animates well (which
wasn’t always the case for his original design).
64. Girls’ Night Out
The slight revamping of Batgirl was one of the
highlights of The New Batman Adventures,
so it’s exciting to see that character teaming up with the DCAU’s version of
Supergirl from Superman: The Animated
Series. And, if the two girls are teaming up, of course they would have to
take on the duo of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy--one of the best pairings to
come out of the entire series’ run. Unfortunately, the Superman villain
Livewire is also added to the mix, but never really gels with the indelible
team of Harley and Ivy. The chemistry between Batgirl and Supergirl makes up
for it, though, resulting in an episode that overcomes its flaws to become
quite enjoyable in the end.
63. Joker’s Wild
This episode hinges on a rather clever twist--after
a casino uses his likeness without his permission, the Joker plots to blow it
up to send a message to its owner. The only trouble being that said casino
owner planned it all from the beginning, in a last minute scheme to collect on
the insurance from the damage the Joker would inevitably incur and save himself
from bankruptcy. The animation isn’t great, but when the script is this good
(including a wonderful scene where Bruce Wayne screws with the Joker in his
civilian guise), it doesn’t matter so much.
62. Paging the Crime Doctor
The beautifully-pulpy title card might lead you to
believe this episode revolves around an evil doctor, but the show is far more
low-key and character centric than that. Rupert Thorne is in need of some
delicate brain surgery, and it just so happens that his brother Matthew is a
doctor. Not able to pull off the surgery on his own, Matthew kidnaps Leslie
Thompkins to assist, and of course Batman gets involved. What really makes the
episode distinct is the connection both Matthew and Leslis had with Dr. Thomas
Wayne when they were younger, making the stakes more personal for Batman, and
ending on perfect note as Bruce Wayne asks Matthew to tell him about his
father.
61. Sideshow
Killer Croc is the focus of this episode, as he
escapes from a prison transfer only to stumble upon a group of former circus
freaks who’ve created a sanctuary for themselves in a farmhouse in the middle
of the woods. The kindness they show to Croc ultimately backfires, so it’s a
good thing Batman shows up to put the man-gator back behind bars. The most
refreshing thing about this episode is the change of scenery, as Batman trades
running atop the skyscrapers of Gotham for the woodsy outdoors. Croc’s betrayal
of the circus folk also allows the episode a sense of poignancy, as the villain
seems incapable of responding to any form of kindness shown to him.
60. Birds of a Feather
Wealthy socialite Veronica Vreeland decides to spice
up her fancy get-togethers by inviting the Penguin along, so her and her awful
friends can laugh at the funny little birdman behind his back. The Penguin is
wooed by the promise of wealth and respect at first, but eventually figures out
he’s being played for a fool, and things play out pretty much as you’d expect
from there. This is easily the best Penguin-centric episode, another story of
lovelorn heartbreak that the series seems to excel at.
59. Cult of the Cat
This is pretty much a nonstop chase episode, as
Catwoman runs afoul of a cult of cat-based thieves and assassins, and Batman of
course gets dragged into the mix--because when it comes to Catwoman, the Dark
Knight just can’t seem to help himself. I generally prefer the animal activist
characterization she had in the original run of B:TAS, as opposed to the more
outwardly villainous take found in the TNBA episodes, but this is a fun romp
all around, whether it’s Batman fighting a giant, mutant feline or the
episode’s clever reinvention of Thomas Blake/Catman as the leader of the cat
cult.
58. Sins of the Father
Tim Drake’s debut is a rushed affair, an episode
which attempts to jam as much story as it can into its twenty-two minute
runtime and doesn’t quite manage to make it all fit. It’s a story that perhaps
could have benefitted from a second-part, as Tim goes from street urchin to
wearing the Robin outfit in awfully-quick succession. But where the episode
works is in the characterization of Tim himself, and Batman realizing that if
he doesn’t do anything to help the young boy, he could be looking at a life of
crime otherwise. Also, it is kind of fun to see a kid Robin fighting alongside
Batman after years of the college-aged Dick Grayson.
57. Day of the Samurai
This episode rounds out the Kyodai Ken saga that begun
in “Night of the Ninja,” this time with Batman traveling to Japan to deal with
a former rival from his days as a martial arts student. It was always nice when
the series left Gotham City, and it’s an awful lot of fun to see Batman running
along the rooftops of Tokyo. The animation is really strange, taking on the
same rubbery, overly-busy style of “If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You
Rich?”(fitting, since both episodes where the only ones to be handled by Brazilian
studio Blue Pencil, S.I.), but when the episode ends with Batman fighting the
Ninja on an exploding volcano, it more than makes up for it.
56. Vendetta
Killer Croc makes his series debut, a nice,
down-and-dirty noir that sees the crocodile man taking his revenge on Harvey
Bullock by framing him for several crimes. It’s a nice, moody episode filled
with rain and fog, and the series’ version of Croc as a hard-boiled felon who’s
also a monster straight out of a horror movie shows just how much the animators
were willing to play around with genre.
55. See No Evil
This creepy episode is enhanced by some impressive
animation effects in creating the show’s invisible villain, Lloyd Ventrix.
Ventrix is a career criminal who’s been estranged from family, and uses a new,
experimental invisible fabric to sneak into his ex-wife’s house and pose as an
“imaginary friend” to his young daughter. It’s one of those episodes that’s
surprisingly chilling for a children’s cartoon, although it never crosses a
line or puts the daughter character in any real danger.
54. Baby Doll
Baby Doll is another original villain created
especially for the series, a former child star from a once-popular sitcom who
was cursed with a disease that prevented her from aging. Bitter at being rejected
by show business, Baby Doll decides to recapture her former glory by kidnapping
her old costars and force them to act out the show. She never attained the
popularity of other original characters like Harley Quinn, which is a
shame--although Baby Doll is the most cartoony of all the show’s designs, she
still has the tragic edge that the series brought to all of Batman’s rogues,
with a final scene that’s especially heart-breaking.
53. Blind as a Bat
Batman briefly turns into Daredevil for this
episode, as he temporarily loses his sight following an explosive accident.
Being that the Penguin has just stolen an experimental military gunship, Batman
(with the help of Leslie Thompkins) devises a special helmet that uses sonar to
allw him to “see” once more. It’s a story that hinges entirely on a gimmick,
but the episode is well done from top-to-bottom, especially the climactic scene
where Batman’s helmet begins malfunctioning and thus is forced to fight his
enemies in total darkness.
52. Deep Freeze
“Heart of Ice” is a hard act to follow, but Mr.
Freeze’s second appearance in the series is an enjoyable mix of everything from
classic James Bond plots to Walt Disney analogues. Aging billionaire Grant
Walker springs Freeze from prison, hoping to harness his cryo-freezing
technology to achieve immortality for him and his wealthy elite in his new
utopian city, Oceana. There’s a lot of fun scenes, and Mr. Freeze retains his
chilly, detached characterization, staying true to the masterful reinvention
presented in his animated debut.
51. Catwalk
Catwoman and the Ventriloquist & Scarface is
about as unlikely a villain team-up as there is, so already this episode gets
points for originality alone. The plot involving stolen taxidermy is about as
basic as it gets, but the episode really gets to shine in the way all the
characters bounce off of one another, not the least of which is the continuing
antagonistic flirtation between Batman and Catwoman. Top it off with some
beautiful animation, and you have a fine episode, indeed.
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