Comic book fans are strange people. Give them an inch and they'll start blathering about "continuity," and how fictional characters like Superman and the Green Lantern would never do this or that, as if they're real people with unassailable convictions and behavioral patterns rather than the two-dimensional drawings on ink and paper that they are.
It's precisely people like that - you know, anal retentives - who hate The Batman, the Kids' WB animated series which launched in September of 2004. Undoubtedly looking for a fairly true-to-the-comics retelling of the Dark Knight legend, comparable to the beloved Batman: The Animated Series of the 1990s, the hardcore Batfans greeted this latest cartoon venture with a howling and gnashing of teeth that continues to resound on Internet message boards and fan reviews to this day.
"He solves all of the mysteries with brute force. What happened to the World's Greatest Detective?"
"Since when could the Penguin hold his own in a fight against Batman?"
"Why in God's name isn't the Joker wearing any shoes?"
But what these nitpicking criticisms left out was perhaps the most important element of any good comic book, or indeed any kind of quality fiction at all: the purpose of narrative books, movies, TV shows, and yes, comics, is to tell a compelling story and tell it well. It just so happens that The Batman tells one hell of a story - one of the most compelling, and enduring, stories of the last pop culture century - and it tells that story better than the hard-hearted gatekeepers of Comic Book Land have ever given it credit for.
Granted, The Long Halloween this ain't; as anybody who's witnessed paunchy Adam West doing the Batusi can attest, Batman and kid-friendly entertainment don't always mix, at least for those of us with a preference for the post-Frank Miller "Dark Knight" side of the character.
Article comments
1 - Mark Maselli
You just got to take it for what it is worth and as far as I'm concerned the show is a winner. I grew up with the Adam West Batman, so I am pretty easy to impress. As long as the show does not get corny wity Robin now in the fold.
2 - Robin Marchant
i agree with you completely.
although it's not the same as the old cartoons, i think in it's own ay it is better, as the villains look eviller(if thats a real word) and I think that this version is better as the animation is also a better quality(in my opinion)
so...i agree with nearly everything you've said.
From
Robin