Batman – The Brave and the Bold: Season One; Part
Two (Warner Animation/DC Comics/DVD
Set)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: D Episodes: B
Whereas I
am a huge fan of continuity and huge story arches when it comes to comics,
somehow I don’t mind Batman: The Brave
and the Bold’s once and done adventure style. The series delivers plenty of interesting
takes on classic rivalries, as it concurrently floods the audience with a host
of familiar and not so familiar superheroes.
Batman isn’t exactly here at his darkest with The Brave and the Bold but dances the line between Batman: The Animated Series (reviewed
elsewhere on this site) and the campy Adam West Batman live action series.
Batman – The Brave and the Bold:
Season One; Part Two
picks up where Part One left off, but the writers have really hit the mark this
time around. Whereas the first half of Season One seemed like the cast/crew
did not know where they wanted the series to go, Part Two has Batman in his full glory. If you are looking for the Dark Knight here you will be heavily
let down, as the writers have been steadfast in not wavering from their
intended goal of simple superhero team-ups.
As mentioned in my previous review of the series Brave and the Bold seems to be catering more to a younger audience
as well as hardcore comic fans.
Casual
Batman fans may find the series too light and airy, as it dismisses continuity
and deep, dark mythos; but hardcore comic enthusiast will be salivating as
Brave and the Bold acts as the frustrated DC animators’ outlet for resurrecting
long forgotten heroes. In this second
half we are treated to lesser known heroes/villains like Dr. Fate, Blue Beetle,
Black Canary, Big Barda, Demon, Kamandi, Huntress, Catwoman, Bat-Mite (Paul
Reubens), and Jonah Hex. In the end it
is all quite astonishing what the writers put together in 13 short
episodes. Each adventure is bursting at
its latex suited seams with heroes and villains; and even as huge story arches
are absent the single episode adventures pan out quite well.
For a
look back at Batman - The Brave and the
Bold: Season One; Part One please refer to the link below:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10346/Batman:+Brave+&+The+Bold+%E2%
The
technical features on this 2 disc set again are in line with other newer WB
animated releases, being of a high quality, though not necessarily the
best. The picture once again is presented in a ‘matted’ widescreen format
to preserve the aspect ratio of its original airing. The set seems to have been
produced at the same time as Part One,
just merely split. The series retains vibrant
colors as the characters seem to be brighter than those found in prior Batman
series and are framed nicely with the use of deep, inky blacks. The image
is crisp, clean and clear only showing that the series will transfer amazingly
to Blu-ray. The sound is oddly again a Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Stereo
that mostly comes from the front, but in the heavier action sequences the
surrounds do kick in to give a more immersive feel; though I would have
preferred for a more immersive presentation, especially as the series kicks
into high gear.
Again
there are no extras to be found, but it should be noted that Warner has
continued to give buyers a cardboard slipcase with this 13 episode set, giving
it that extra something for your DVD shelf that not all comic series have been
granted.
- Michael P. Dougherty II