The Energon Pub

So anyone seen the new show yet? I just saw the first episode "Hunted", my thoughts on it. Minor spoilers, really minor ones I won't spoil the plot or anything though.
The bad (best to start with these, you'll see why):

• the animation while good and smooth half of the time, seems choppy for the rest of the time, as if frames were missing
• Batman's head desing, seriously his face and mask look FUGLY *Insert Plinkett joke here*
• The villains were weird (wtf, a guy in a pig's mask called Doctor Pig and a giant toad called MR Toad?)

The good:

• Literally everything ELSE!
• Go see it

Yea I liked it, I liked it a whole lot, which came as a welcome surprise to me after hating the last two (The Batman, and Brave and the Bold), this reminded me a whole lot of Batman TAS - in other words my Batman the one I grew up with and loved. It's not exactly the same, Alfred for instance is completely different from any version I've seen till now, from the design to function he reminds me a lot of Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond now that I think of it. He's a total badass and trained Bruce, keeps him fit plus is his bodyguard.
The animation is actually really nice, well the times that it's not choppy, style whise it looks a lot like TF Prime, seriously, if you where to splice the humans from this into TF Prime you'd think they where part of the same show. The animation isn't as good as TFPrime, but still pretty good.
The soundtrack sounded good, the stuff I did notice at least.
The writing seems top notch, the characterization is strong and well done, and the tone is very similar to that of TAS again a positive thing.

The villains are kinda out of left field here, now I remember that when this show was first announced they stated they wanted to use the more obscure and less known villains in order to not reuse the same old guys like Joker, Riddler and co. I'm not very sure that's a good thing, since you know those guys are probably used so often for a reason, other than being the most famous ones that is.
So the villains are
Doctor Pig, at first I thought he was an anthropomorphized pig, but just as I thought it would make more sense for the villains to actually be humans in costumes I noticed that the pig face was infact a mask.
And Mr Toad, as in a giant anthropomorphized toad (well he's small compared to fully grown humans but still) with a German accent, and shock wave screams. He's named after and modeled on Mr Toad form Wind in the Willows, they even drive around in an old timlely car modeled after the one in the old WitW claymation film/ series, and he's the driver. Other than that he shares nothing with the WitW character, I wish he'd have partaken in road rage on the level of the original character though complete with "poop poop!". That would have made him.
The villains are actually well executed and threatening, even if they seem super ridicules, Mr Toad is the weirdest though, since he's an actual toad while the other one is a guy in a mask. There is one thing that bothered me about the writing though, the episode references the Wind in the Willows and states both characters are from the story, well Mr Toad is, but I don't remember any Doctor Pig being in it Toad's German accent, while pretty good (it's more realistic and not as comedic as they tend to be) is odd, considering the origins of the character.

But damn does this show have potential and man am I looking forward to the next episode.

Anyone else seen it and want to share his/ her thoughts?

I'm not usually the kind of guy who gets turned off from something just based on pre-release stuff, but I'm super not interested in this show. Call me when they bring in the Joker, then we'll talk.

Oh no, try out the first episode, I was surprised at how much I liked it.

Shadowman wrote:I'm not usually the kind of guy who gets turned off from something just based on pre-release stuff, but I'm super not interested in this show. Call me when they bring in the Joker, then we'll talk.

I felt the same as you going into the show. I've only watched the first couple of episodes but this is the closest "feel" we've gotten to The Animated Series. The episode with Magpie certainly felt like it could've come from that series.

I'm looking forward to where this goes.

I like it but knowing CN it will last at least three seasons and they will kill it.
I loved Green Lantern and they gave that an early death

I like the show so far. No major criticisms at this time.

It seems like there are some obvious inspirations from modern Batman branches of fiction such as Earth One and the Nolan Batman trilogy, especially this iteration of Alfred, which is my favourite character of the show.

I like how this Batman isn't as angst ridden as is the norm for the character. Yes, Batman is a "dark" character but the DCAU Batman as well as the Nolan Batman are scenery chewing in their grim and grimacing ways.

I also like how we aren't revisiting the common members of Batman's rogue's gallery. It's nice to see some other villains that still possess the zany elements that most Batman villains have.

Last episode was good again, the one with the Anarchy hood guy was pretty weak if you ask me. He was basically what if Carnage played chess, was boring, weak and pretentious.

But so far it seems to be building up a pretty interesting universe, it looks like Season one will be used to open plot threads, establish the universe and pave the way for more complex and interesting stuff to happen in season 2. So far Batman has failed to beat and capture all villains, well save for Magpie, and most of them seem to have pretty elaborate plans in the making.

Well save for what ever this Rex monster from last episode calls itself.

Dead Metal wrote:Last episode was good again, the one with the Anarchy hood guy was pretty weak if you ask me. He was basically what if Carnage played chess, was boring, weak and pretentious.

And he's supposed to be the main antagonist. This is what they wanted to use instead of the Joker.

Dead Metal wrote:Well save for what ever this Rex monster from last episode calls itself.

Looking at the Wikipedia blurbs for the show, it's Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho. He has a couple episodes of Justice League dedicated to him. He's actually a hero, and he was part of the same team (The Outsiders) that introduced Katana.

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Last episode was good again, the one with the Anarchy hood guy was pretty weak if you ask me. He was basically what if Carnage played chess, was boring, weak and pretentious.

And he's supposed to be the main antagonist. This is what they wanted to use instead of the Joker.

lol, so far the best candidate for main villain would be that Pig guy from the first episode. The Hood guy can be a good main villain, he just needs better execution because the way he was presented and the stuff he said, well that wasn't as good as it could have been. I mean I get what they where trying to do there, but he was so very cliche and bland.
Rest was still good though.

Dead Metal wrote:Well save for what ever this Rex monster from last episode calls itself.

Looking at the Wikipedia blurbs for the show, it's Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho. He has a couple episodes of Justice League dedicated to him. He's actually a hero, and he was part of the same team (The Outsiders) that introduced Katana.[/quote]
Katana? Is that the code name of Bruce's new body guard?
Well, Metamorpho is being set up as a tragic villain, and those usually end up becoming heroes before long. But I'm pretty sure he'll be a villain for the next couple of appearances, mostly trying to get stuff that might help him.

Board is acting funny, so it double posted.

Dead Metal wrote:Katana? Is that the code name of Bruce's new body guard?

Insofar as Batman is the code name of Bruce Wayne, but yes.

...ugh, Bruce needing a bodyguard? What's next, Superman needing kevlar?

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Katana? Is that the code name of Bruce's new body guard?

Insofar as Batman is the code name of Bruce Wayne, but yes.

...ugh, Bruce needing a bodyguard? What's next, Superman needing kevlar?

The bodyguard is only part of his act of being a billionaire bodyguard.

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Katana? Is that the code name of Bruce's new body guard?

Insofar as Batman is the code name of Bruce Wayne, but yes.

...ugh, Bruce needing a bodyguard? What's next, Superman needing kevlar?

The bodyguard is only part of his act of being a billionaire bodyguard.

In both Arkham City and the Dark Knight, he's shown beating the hell out of thugs, sans cowl, in the former, he does so right in front of the Penguin, after he broke Penguin's hand. He's never needed a bodyguard before, even for the sake of keeping up appearances.

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Katana? Is that the code name of Bruce's new body guard?

Insofar as Batman is the code name of Bruce Wayne, but yes.

...ugh, Bruce needing a bodyguard? What's next, Superman needing kevlar?

The bodyguard is only part of his act of being a billionaire bodyguard.

In both Arkham City and the Dark Knight, he's shown beating the hell out of thugs, sans cowl, in the former, he does so right in front of the Penguin, after he broke Penguin's hand. He's never needed a bodyguard before, even for the sake of keeping up appearances.

Yes and remember how surprised everyone was when the helpless billionaire beat the crap out of them all? Literally nobody expected him to be able to do so.
You know what else Batman never needed in the past? A different voice for when he's in his Batman suite, armor, a Batmobile, a Batcave, a Batcomputer, a buttler, a Batwing, a no killing policy, drinking soda while pretending to be an alcoholic.

This show, just like every other Batman reinterpretation before it, decided to add something of its own to make the whole thing a little more believable.

Before that he was given a fake billionaire playboy act, in which he acted like a total jackass who's lost touch with reality, and here they decided to add the fake bodyguard on top of it.

I seriously don't see the problem here, the only new thing that I think is kinda stupid is that he takes his smartphone with him while being Batman, and yes it's the same one with the same contacts while both Batman and Bruce Wayne. That's the only stupid thing so far, but then again, the show does point out how dangerous that is for him.

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Katana? Is that the code name of Bruce's new body guard?

Insofar as Batman is the code name of Bruce Wayne, but yes.

...ugh, Bruce needing a bodyguard? What's next, Superman needing kevlar?

The bodyguard is only part of his act of being a billionaire bodyguard.

In both Arkham City and the Dark Knight, he's shown beating the hell out of thugs, sans cowl, in the former, he does so right in front of the Penguin, after he broke Penguin's hand. He's never needed a bodyguard before, even for the sake of keeping up appearances.

Yes and remember how surprised everyone was when the helpless billionaire beat the crap out of them all? Literally nobody expected him to be able to do so.

Aaaaand? Afterwords, no one expected him to be able to do so either; most of the dialogue concerning Bruce Wayne is about how they think he's dead, or how they plan to make him dead. None of them seem to be aware that he just trashed Penguin and six of his guys.

Point is, he doesn't need the cowl to be a badass.

Dead Metal wrote:You know what else Batman never needed in the past? A different voice for when he's in his Batman suite, armor, a Batmobile, a Batcave, a Batcomputer, a buttler, a Batwing, a no killing policy, drinking soda while pretending to be an alcoholic.

Actually yes he does. People would form an angry mob if he lacked most of those, there would be blood in the streets. You're talking about some minute detail that makes literally no sense (IE, like Superman needing kevlar) to everything that makes Batman, Batman.

Dead Metal wrote:This show, just like every other Batman reinterpretation before it, decided to add something of its own to make the whole thing a little more believable.

If they wanted the show to be believable, it wouldn't be about a dude who dresses up like a bat to jump across rooftops and fight crime with crazy gadgets.

Dead Metal wrote:I seriously don't see the problem here, the only new thing that I think is kinda stupid is that he takes his smartphone with him while being Batman, and yes it's the same one with the same contacts while both Batman and Bruce Wayne. That's the only stupid thing so far, but then again, the show does point out how dangerous that is for him.

You know what I think is really stupid? Not using the most iconic villains of all time because you think they're "overused." No, I'm not going to get over that.

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Katana? Is that the code name of Bruce's new body guard?

Insofar as Batman is the code name of Bruce Wayne, but yes.

...ugh, Bruce needing a bodyguard? What's next, Superman needing kevlar?

The bodyguard is only part of his act of being a billionaire bodyguard.

In both Arkham City and the Dark Knight, he's shown beating the hell out of thugs, sans cowl, in the former, he does so right in front of the Penguin, after he broke Penguin's hand. He's never needed a bodyguard before, even for the sake of keeping up appearances.

Yes and remember how surprised everyone was when the helpless billionaire beat the crap out of them all? Literally nobody expected him to be able to do so.

Aaaaand? Afterwords, no one expected him to be able to do so either; most of the dialogue concerning Bruce Wayne is about how they think he's dead, or how they plan to make him dead. None of them seem to be aware that he just trashed Penguin and six of his guys.

Point is, he doesn't need the cowl to be a badass.

So? Arkham City is not only it's own incarnation of Batman, but the situation was different. They managed to get Bruce Wayne, whom they thought to be an easy kill since he's a useless billionaire Playboy and he managed to beat them turning eyes. Most of the talk about him after that was indeed rumors that he was dead, cos you know, he's a billionaire in what is essentially a city full of crazy killers.

And you forget that Bruce even said (well thought to himself that is), that he has to hold back and hope to find a way of running away so that they don't suspect him of being Batman.

Dead Metal wrote:You know what else Batman never needed in the past? A different voice for when he's in his Batman suite, armor, a Batmobile, a Batcave, a Batcomputer, a buttler, a Batwing, a no killing policy, drinking soda while pretending to be an alcoholic.

Actually yes he does. People would form an angry mob if he lacked most of those, there would be blood in the streets. You're talking about some minute detail that makes literally no sense (IE, like Superman needing kevlar) to everything that makes Batman, Batman.

I brought those up, since before they where implemented nobody thought they where necessary, and in some cases where ridiculed *cough cough Batman's smoker voice cough cough*

You're rolling your eyes at something that enhances his act of being a useless billionaire, while in fact it's exactly the same as acting like a useless billionaire playboy and changing his voice to cover up the fact that he's Batman in the first place. How is another layer tot hat act suddenly senseless?

All those things only make Batman Batman in today's eyes, because guess what, their implementation was successful and people liked it.

The bodyguard is only there to enhance his image of being a useless helpless playboy. He doesn't need him (in the case of Alfred) or her (Katana after Alfred gets hurt) to protect his life, only his image.

Dead Metal wrote:This show, just like every other Batman reinterpretation before it, decided to add something of its own to make the whole thing a little more believable.

If they wanted the show to be believable, it wouldn't be about a dude who dresses up like a bat to jump across rooftops and fight crime with crazy gadgets.

Well, then why does he need to change his voice? Or use armor? Or martial arts training? Or hell, a mask and a secret identity?
He could just jump from rooftop to rooftop in a thin spandex suite and get shot multiple times, the police would pay and help him, he wouldn't even need a mask or change his voice, cos you know who needs believability in a show about a superhero?

Dead Metal wrote:I seriously don't see the problem here, the only new thing that I think is kinda stupid is that he takes his smartphone with him while being Batman, and yes it's the same one with the same contacts while both Batman and Bruce Wayne. That's the only stupid thing so far, but then again, the show does point out how dangerous that is for him.

You know what I think is really stupid? Not using the most iconic villains of all time because you think they're "overused." No, I'm not going to get over that.

Well, considering that most of those iconic villains where pretty much shite and underdeveloped or b and c listers before Batman TAS showed up, well you have no point at all.

The show is really good so far, as I said the only weak episode was the stupid hood guy and that one was still stronger than most of what I saw of "The Batman".

Dead Metal wrote:Well, then why does he need to change his voice? Or use armor? Or martial arts training? Or hell, a mask and a secret identity?

The Nolan movies explained that perfectly:

1. To the average law-abiding citizen, he's a symbol of a nameless, faceless man standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves. The idea is that if the Batman could be anybody, then anybody could be the Batman, and thus anyone could stand up and fight for what's right.

2. The the criminals, he's terror incarnate; a horrifying bat-monster who talks like the devil and can beat the living hell out of them with his bare hands. Something that can't realistically exist, much less pull of those otherwise impossible feats (He once managed to sneak up on Superman) and yet, he's doing that anyway.

In both cases, it's mostly to maintain the mysticism of the Batman.

Dead Metal wrote:He could just jump from rooftop to rooftop in a thin spandex suite

Not a big fan of comics, huh? He doesn't wear armor in the comics, his suit is just as thin as Superman's. in fact, it was only ever the movies where his normal suit was body armor instead of the superhero-standard spandex. There's usually a few bits about it being really thin body armor, but realistically speaking it's far too thin to be effective.

Dead Metal wrote:and get shot multiple times

It happens. in fact, getting shot is usually the most comfortable thing to happen to him; once a night he usually gets beaten, stabbed, shot, blown up, and if Scarecrow is around, hit in the face with a weaponized hallucinogen.

Dead Metal wrote:the police would pay and help him

The police don't pay him because they clearly don't need to, (The dude owns a jet and a bat-themed muscle car!) but they do help him, Jim Gordon being one of Batman's oldest and closest friends.

Dead Metal wrote:he wouldn't even need a mask or change his voice,

Only if you want to piss off the fans...

Dead Metal wrote:cos you know who needs believability in a show about a superhero?

Considering the DC Universe itself? I don't think they're even capable of something realistic while staying true to the characters.

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Well, then why does he need to change his voice? Or use armor? Or martial arts training? Or hell, a mask and a secret identity?

The Nolan movies explained that perfectly:

1. To the average law-abiding citizen, he's a symbol of a nameless, faceless man standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves. The idea is that if the Batman could be anybody, then anybody could be the Batman, and thus anyone could stand up and fight for what's right.

2. The the criminals, he's terror incarnate; a horrifying bat-monster who talks like the devil and can beat the living hell out of them with his bare hands. Something that can't realistically exist, much less pull of those otherwise impossible feats (He once managed to sneak up on Superman) and yet, he's doing that anyway.

In both cases, it's mostly to maintain the mysticism of the Batman.

So that's the Nolan movies, and not the comics, or the shows. That's the interpretation in those movies, they can't really work as an example why a different interpretation can't bring in something as tiny and insignificant as a fake bodyguard.

Dead Metal wrote:He could just jump from rooftop to rooftop in a thin spandex suite

Not a big fan of comics, huh? He doesn't wear armor in the comics, his suit is just as thin as Superman's. in fact, it was only ever the movies where his normal suit was body armor instead of the superhero-standard spandex. There's usually a few bits about it being really thin body armor, but realistically speaking it's far too thin to be effective.

Nope, not of Batman comics, since Batman comics suck, and I can say that since I've read more Batman comics than you have seen of this show, which means my stance on Batman comics is more valid than your stance on this show.
And again, why is it OK for the Arkham games and the movies OK to change Batman, even going so far as making him less of a badass, by having him require body armor? But a fake bodyguard "OMG RUINED FOREVER!"

Dead Metal wrote:and get shot multiple times

It happens. in fact, getting shot is usually the most comfortable thing to happen to him; once a night he usually gets beaten, stabbed, shot, blown up, and if Scarecrow is around, hit in the face with a weaponized hallucinogen.

You cut one point into two pieces, if a sentence contains "ands", the ones that have no commas show that those two points are actually one, if the and has a comma before it then it's a list and can be broken off.
But by ignoring that you made my point about him jumping about in spandex and still get shot multiple times seem less valid. Since you know, you need to point out something I'm wrong about, even if you have to create it first.

Dead Metal wrote:the police would pay and help him

The police don't pay him because they clearly don't need to, (The dude owns a jet and a bat-themed muscle car!) but they do help him, Jim Gordon being one of Batman's oldest and closest friends.

So? Anybody could have that stuff if he's payed handsomely by the police, why should the police assume he has loads of cash. It's a superhero show after all, we don't need a shred of believability in it. But in all versions of them helping him, it's always shown to be against the law and they're threading on a thin line, why do we need that? I mean it's a superhero show, we don't need real life stuff and believability for it. I mean that's what you said isn't it?
[/quote]

Dead Metal wrote:he wouldn't even need a mask or change his voice,

Only if you want to piss off the fans...

His "Batman voice" was Christian Bale's idea, the only fans who would be pissed off about not having it would be them, and seeing how many people are pissed off about the movies having the voice, well you don't have a point with that. As for the mask, so? He doesn't need it, since the mask is there to make it more believable that his secret identity is kept secret. But since we don't need believability in this, he wouldn't need a mask. Hey it works for Superman.

Dead Metal wrote:cos you know who needs believability in a show about a superhero?

Considering the DC Universe itself? I don't think they're even capable of something realistic while staying true to the characters.

And yet the Nolan movies tried to make it so, and seeing how you like those well.

And again, Batman has stuff change about him constantly. All the stuff that "makes Batman Batman", didn't even exist in the original comics.
No killing policy? Pah, let them fall into acid, or shoot them, or stab them, or hell blow them up.
Batmobile? Bruce's normal civilian car does just fine.
Batcave? Who the hell needs that if you have a perfectly fine bedroom.
Butler? Don't need that.
Alfred? Originally a crappy comic relieve detective there to make Batman's detective work look good.
Batwing? Who needs that, the car is good enough.
Batman voice? Pah, this is the DC universe, people are born stupid, they'll never recognize his voice.
Batcomputer? Well, those didn't exist yet.
Pretend to be a useless Billionaire Playboy? Naw man, I'll just hang out with the police and talk about Batman and his cases, they'll never suspect me.

All those changes are OK and are somehow essential to Batman being Batman, oh no this show can't do that, this show can't bring in something new. Something that unlike some changes before it doesn't change the way the character works.

Get over it Shadowman, you're acting like this changes everything completely. But you can't actually form a proper opinion, since you haven't seen it.

Dead Metal wrote:Nope, not of Batman comics, since Batman comics suck, and I can say that since I've read more Batman comics than you have seen of this show, which means my stance on Batman comics is more valid than your stance on this show.

...you know, I was going to try and refute some of your points--because a lot of them are just so amazingly wrong (Christian Bale wasn't the first person to use a deeper voice just for Batman) but this? This is just a statement saying I don't have to. This quote, is so outstandingly ridiculous that it supersedes any and all arguments.

You just flat out admitted you don't know **** about Batman. Why oh why should I even bother with you after that?

Answer: I don't, I won't. I wash my hands of this thread.

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Nope, not of Batman comics, since Batman comics suck, and I can say that since I've read more Batman comics than you have seen of this show, which means my stance on Batman comics is more valid than your stance on this show.

...you know, I was going to try and refute some of your points--because a lot of them are just so amazingly wrong (Christian Bale wasn't the first person to use a deeper voice just for Batman) but this? This is just a statement saying I don't have to. This quote, is so outstandingly ridiculous that it supersedes any and all arguments.

You just flat out admitted you don't know **** about Batman. Why oh why should I even bother with you after that?

Answer: I don't, I won't. I wash my hands of this thread.

So kinda like you know **** of this show and yet thought you could talk about it? Hypocrite much?

And it took you this long to notice I don't read the comics? I mean seriously, every post of mine in this thread is how I know **** of the villains in this show, and this isn't the first time I've stated on here that I don't like the Batman comics and prefer his other media exploits. I mean how dense does one have to be to take this long to understand something as simple as that?

Besides, that's pretty much how half your discussions on here work anyway, you having opinions on stuff you know **** all about, but yes I shouldn't do that, so I'm so very sorry for having offended you by using your patented way of forum usage.

This show rocks!

I love how it's the first truly serialized Batman cartoon with each episode containing multiple ongoing plotlines that carry over in each one, with them seeming to be building up to Ra's al Ghul as a sort of primary antagonist who may likely be the main Big Bad for the season 1 finale.

I just found out about this show. I love it. As someone stated previously, it reminds me of the Batman the animated series for years ago.

Sabrblade wrote:This show rocks!

I love how it's the first truly serialized Batman cartoon with each episode containing multiple ongoing plotlines that carry over in each one, with them seeming to be building up to Ra's al Ghul as a sort of primary antagonist who may likely be the main Big Bad for the season 1 finale.

I think so too, if Anarchy really is supposed to be the main bad guy, they're doing a poor job at bringing that across. So far he's showed up in one episode, the only bad episode. While the League of Assassins has been featured in half of them.

If the animation was better, and a little more distinct, it could be to 3D animated shows what Batman TAS was to 2D animated shows during its prime.

Seems as if there's a mid season break, damn I hate those.

Anarky as the main villain? I never got that impression. Was that mentioned somewhere outside the show?

As for the art style, it honestly reminds me a lot of the Green Lantern cartoob, and that's a plus since I really dug that show's look. I honestly wouldn't mind any future crossover between the two if they were to both occupy the same world.

Oh yea, only just got to watching the latest episode. Made me realize why that Wale guy seems so familiar, he's basically a mix of The King Pin and Thombstone.

Also, this episode proves once again that Domino masks are utterly useless for superheroes.

But overall, a pretty decent episode, I like how this Batman recruits someone and then gets overly protective of them, while all others just stick the 10 year old in a thong and shirt an call it a day.

Oh totally forgot, I have to say, the previous episode with the league of assassins and reveal of Lady Shiva was possibly the best of the bunch. That was fantastic, sure predictable but then again, it's hard to make something that isn't especially since pretty much everything has been done before.