Reflecting on the DC Animated Universe

This episode of Legends of the Dark Knight features

Steve, Mike and Tara. to Legends of the Dark

Knight only on the Geekcast Radio Network. Hi,

this is composer Christopher Carter from Dynamic

Music Partners and you're listening to Geekcast

Radio. Mu ha ha ha ha. Hello and welcome to Legends

of the Dark Knight. I'm your host, Steve, Joker

Phillips, joining me in this adventure into Gotham

City. Ah, the dynamic duo! TF2 on mic. And Terra,

the rising star, is back, aka, backerall. Welcome

back. Thank you. It's good to be back. Yes, we

figured we might as well get the original trio

back for the finale of the series of Legends

of the Dark Knight to sit down and discuss the

pretty much their you know favorite moments and

favorite parts of the films or just kind of reminiscing

over the Decade long run of Batman yes you know

honestly I think he's as he went along in the

DC animated universe his lines got better and

better and better because he has some great lines

in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited

I mean like that very first episode of Justice

League Secret Origins part one where Superman

you know he and Superman have to team up to fight

these alien things and Superman All of a sudden

without warning flies off, Batman's head whips

around, where is he going? But no, Batman the

Animated Series and Batman Beyond, two of the

best cartoons Batman -wise out there. I still

say though there are at least 10 to 15 episodes

out of the BTAS run that I can count that are

just god -awful episodes. stuff like moon of

the wolf tiger tiger you know the terrible trio

I mean it's got terrible in the name how good

of an episode can it be and Batman Beyond that

has its share of bad episodes do not watch rats

to save your life just don't watch that episode

knock it off Oh man, I remember when we had to

watch those episodes and talk about it back in

the beginning of this podcast. Oh my gosh. I

literally had to be like, why am I watching these

horrible episodes? Yeah. They were horrible back

then too, but I was too young to kind of, you

know, know any better. I was fortunate during

the original run of Batman the Animated Series

that they only reran the good episodes. You you

mean you only were able to see the good episode

didn't catch it when the bat no because they've

rerun all of them over the year Yeah, I mean,

I just I happen to get lucky and see only the

good ones But I occasionally catch one that would

want me make me want to gag myself, but Like

Olympus of fire on Olympus. Oh my god. I Didn't

like any of the splicing episodes that one. I

was kind of Oh, well, yeah. Fire and Olympus

is from BTIS, but Batman Beyond... Yeah, the

splicing stuff. I didn't like the stuff with

Stalker, even though I love that it's Carl Lumley

as the voice of the Stalker, which he would eventually

go on to do the voice of Martian Manhunter in

Justice League. But yeah, and some of the high

school stuff kind of got old after a while. and

Batman Beyond. But for BTAS, I mean, it all comes

down to stuff like Heart of Ice, the Heart of

Steel two -parter, obviously Christmas with the

Joker. I have to say, my favorite overall Joker

episode where he is the main focus, even though

it focuses more on Harley than it does him, but...

Mean old wounds. He's just I Don't want to say

he's been relegated to villain of the week But

he kind of was for that episode But the one that

really focused on him was mad love and I would

have to say that that is my overall Fully focused

Joker episode favorite is mad love because it's

just so hilarious That was a fantastic episode.

I have to agree with that. That was one of my

favorites and It really it really showed. I mean,

I loved seeing how how they met and how their

relationship developed. And you can just see,

I mean, like, yeah, he's sick and he's twisted,

but he does care for her in his own, you know,

his own way. His own sick twisted way. But it

was a really great episode. Another Joker episode

since we're on the topic of Joker. I really loved

Christmas with the Joker. I know it's a really

early episode and I know it's not even really

in sequence when they aired it. But it was it

was just one of my favorites and I really enjoyed

it even though had like three different little

mini kind of episodes It was it was enjoyable

to watch it was funny and had a great had a great

plot with every little mini episode and It had

an ending which I really enjoyed Another Joker

episode that I think was pretty good was also

Joker's millions. Oh, yeah, that was fantastic

How he hired how he hired the most expensive

lawyers to get him what I think to get his like

his name cleared and he was a free man and all

that and erased from all like the books that

was pretty funny and then when he finds out all

the rest of the money is fake oh man oh man he

goes on like a rampage I think there's also another

one jokers is it called jokers wild yeah that

was that was the casino one right Yep, yeah,

yeah that one was another one of my favorite

ones when he gets when he gets back at the casino

But I mean come on you should not make casino

mocking the Joker if you don't want the Joker

to go and you know blow it up But in the end

it was just the guy remember like the guy was

using him just to get To get a money for the

from the Joker destroying his casino I'm a joker

fan dad. The joker's like nobody nobody outdo's

me So that was that was those were some pretty

good moments When they focus on him or anything

involving the Joker, you know, it's gonna be

a good episode Yeah, I I definitely can relate

to that anytime I see the Joker show up I'm I'm

ecstatic I Mean compared to some of the other

kind of one -off villains I mean, I did not enjoy

really any of the mr. Freeze ones at all. I don't

know. I just didn't Hard of Isis, his premiere

one, that one was pretty good. And the one with

the heart of steel that you guys were talking

about, those were not that interesting. I don't

know, I mean, you know, Hardac, the whole computer

thing, replacing people, that's kind of interesting.

I didn't mind the invasions of the body snatchers

part, but I liked the one where the robot was

actually Batman and he had come to grips with

fighting himself, so it was like an inner struggle

to the point that the robot almost hit its own

sentience because it had copied the one flaw

of... I mean, some would call it a flaw and some

wouldn't, but the one flaw of Bruce Wayne is...

he doesn't kill and doesn't use guns and the

robot thought he killed batman so he he in turn

did the right thing before he blew himself up

yep Yes, yeah, I guess with the Invasion of the

Body Snatchers kind of thing, I guess that was

a pretty cool thing, but there were just some

episodes that just didn't stick with me, just

maybe because they didn't have my favorite characters.

I'm a huge fan of Poison Ivy, I'm a huge fan

of Catwoman, I'm a huge fan of Joker, I'm a huge

fan of Harley Quinn, I'm a huge fan of Riddler.

So I guess when they had, like, you know, kind

of not the main villains, they were just like

villains that were really only, you know, specific

to the Batman The Imminid series. That kind of,

you know, didn't really didn't really flow with

me that well. Now on all your favorite characters,

and this goes for both of you, did you like the

the new adventures style? to the animation and

to the characters themselves? Or did you like

the original incarnation? You're talking about

when we got like the redesigns? Yeah. You know

what? I'm kind of mixed. I mean, Poison Ivy looked

way I guess she looked, you know, she didn't

really look like Poison Ivy because she was,

you know, she had like the white skin and then

she's wearing like a black outfit. That that

didn't really flow with me that well that was

not really poison ivy to me I liked her better

when she had the auburn hair and the green outfit

Catwoman Yeah, it's hard to say Riddler definitely

didn't like his redesign Didn't like the Mad

Hatter's redesign at all Joker I was actually

okay with his redesign Harley Quinn didn't really

wasn't really that noticeable for her redesign

But yeah, I think really it was poison ivy I

had a big issue with with her redesign That was

my that was my thing because it did not it looked

like kind of like a way different version of

her But I don't remember seeing except for the

animated series Yeah, I think for me I like the

Batman redesign just because I prefer the black

and gray over the blue, yellow, and black. Or

the blue, yellow, and gray. So there is that.

With Robin, Robin didn't really change other

than the fact they put Tim Drake in the suit.

I mean, it's the same Robin suit, pretty much.

Obviously, Nightwing is great. I prefer the new

adventure style for Batgirl. It just looks better

than the blue and gray one from the original

series. Joker was fine. The rest of the redesigns,

I didn't pay that much attention to, honestly.

Well, for myself, I disliked pretty much everybody's

redesign. Except for like the bat family Joker

I didn't actually I liked him, but I disliked

the fact that his face looks so plain Compared

to what it used to look like So when they got

to like the the Batman Beyond flashback or the

you know like the Justice League years I Liked

that rendition of the Joker better Yeah But no,

I mean I liked and I liked freeze. I think it

made him look more menacing. I liked Batman I

liked Scarecrow looked freaky Kind of like some

kind of undead monster That is very true I know

that I'm looking back at it. I mean Scarecrow

got a really good redesign I have to admit that

it fit it fit his character really well, but

with some of the other ones. Yeah Like, Mr. Freeze,

I think that they made him look cooler. The turning

into a spider head thing kind of freaked me out

originally. Yeah, that was just so completely

wrong. And then they kind of got to fix that

in Batman Beyond. Yeah. Because they grew him

a new body. I mean, they made Clayface look better.

Well, with ink, yeah. Considering what he used

to look like. so what are you guys some of your

like if you had to pick a film obviously batman

beyond there's only one but if you had to pick

one one film overall what would what would be

your favorite out of the animated ones return

of the joker hands down return of the joker it

was just so well done it was just so well done

i mean if i was going to put them in order and

I don't count Mystery of the Batwoman at all.

It would go Return of the Joker, Mask of the

Phantasm, and then Sub -Zero for me. I mean,

if I'm gonna throw World's Finest in there, it

would be Return of the Joker, Mask of the Phantasm,

World's Finest, and Sub -Zero. I mean, I like

all those, I like all four of those films. Mask

of the Phantasm, I find, is the one that I rewatched

the most. The one I do not rewatch the most.

And honestly, I haven't rewatched a lot of the

films recently. Obviously, I've watched them

from when we did the commentaries and stuff here

in the podcast, but like before that, I think

the one I probably most watched at the time was

probably World's Finest. It's just such a fun

movie. It really is seeing the four characters.

I mean Batman Superman Lex and Joker Just interact

and the whole thing with Harley and Mercy was

just great. I'd love to have a whole show with

just them Fighting each other every week What

about you Steve well for me I I think I have

to agree I think that hands -down return to the

Joker was the best that they ever did Yeah But

mask of the phantasm only because that was the

first movie I ever saw in theater plus that was

my continued Love of the animated series That

one still ranks It's it's just a hair below.

I it's so close to being my number one that it's

it's tough, but I love Return of the Joker more.

I think Mask of the Phantasm is like the best

telling of Bruce Wayne becoming Batman. Right.

That we've ever gotten. Oh, absolutely. And then

World's Finest, yeah, I have to agree. That's

really cool how that all played out. And then,

you know, Sub -Zero after that and Mystery. But,

yeah, that's definitely my favorite. I mean,

people don't give Sub -Zero enough credit, honestly.

They really, really don't. No, it's really good.

Yeah. I mean, it's a really good Dick Grayson

Robin story and Batgirl story is really what

it is. I mean, Bruce is there, but it's more

focusing on Dick during Kai's college years,

and Barbara as well, and obviously Mr. Freeze.

Mystery of the Batwoman I just it's not even

the fact that I don't see it as being in continuity

It's the fact that there are just so many damn

problems with that movie for me like the constant

misdirection amongst the three Batwomen And a

bunch of other stuff Just alluding to the fact

that Bruce and Barbara even had a relationship

at some point. It's just And then Kyle had, Kyle

Higgins had to go ahead and expand on that. So,

what did you guys think of, Tara, have you ever

seen Epilogue from JLU? No, I haven't. I'm pretty

much only... You can watch Epilogue without having

to watch the rest of Justice League because it

is essentially a series finale for Batman Beyond.

It's actually almost a finale for the entire

DCAU. It's the farthest out timeline -wise. Yes,

that's right. The way I view it is that... alive

and destroyer which are the final two episodes

of justice league unlimited season five alive

and destroyer essentially a two -parter to each

other destroyer is the one word ends uh... yet

batman says okay five -minute head start and

then they all go chasing after the criminals

and wonder woman says well the adventure continues

and we all see the heroes running down the steps

and flying off and everything else the way i

look at the dc and the universe is once destroyer

ends we then have x number of years of adventures

to go that were never made until we get to epilogue

so yes epilogue is the real and i mean you can

still watch it without it even though it has

the justice league opener on it it really is

a batman beyond episode i'll have to check it

out then It covers, you know all the way through

Cadmus and Amanda Waller and You know Terry in

his 30s and and Bruce in his 90s Still a stubborn

old old dude Of course Of course not surprised

Yeah, what I find absolutely funny is Kyle Higgins

who is currently writing the series that will

end soon Batman Beyond he uh... in the latest

issue he says uh... there's a line here where

he said where terry is batman says the joker's

dead the original batman is a lonely old man

so you tell me gul where's the fun in that so

uh... and you know as far as the podcast itself

goes we've had a fairly good run even though

there was a bit of a hiatus in the middle of

it but I mean you know doing the commentaries

getting through over a hundred and... a hundred

and nine fifty two is probably something like

a hundred and seventy something cartoons we interviewed

Lauren Lester twice we interviewed Kevin Conroy

once You know, we've had a good run. It's been

a fun ride. Even though I wasn't here for the

last half of your run, it was still really great

to be a part of the beginning of it. And obviously

the reason why I wasn't here for the last half

was due to school and life issues. But it's great

to be back for the final episode just to kind

of wrap things up. You know share my thoughts

on the whole Batman animated series cartoons

And I'm sure if we get you know another obviously

we get an interview with Kevin Conrad will go

on here I'm sure if we get any other I do plan

on interviewing a couple of the directors people

like Kurt Gata who directed Return of the Joker

and people like Dan Reba who what I said whoo

You know people like Dan Reba who did a number

of episodes of Batman Beyond We did have that

interview with Christopher Carter Alito Ramonis

and Michael McQuestion who did the composing

on some of the series along with Shirley Walker

You know, so there will still be interviews and

stuff coming for Legends of the Dark Knight but

as far as the overall run of the podcast this

is We're pretty much done folks. We got to move

on to other stuff now It was such an honor to

speak with Lauren Luster. That was such a treat.

He's such a nice man. To hear everything from

his perspective about what it was like to voice

the characters he voiced, it was fantastic. As

you said, hopefully in the future there will

be some more Batman voice actors and directors

we'll be able to speak to and add them to our

repertoire. If the attention so garners it, we

may eventually return to the podcast. Eventually.

Somewhere around 2017, 2018. Oh wow, that's a

long way off. I know, right? Who knows? It might

be sooner than that. You never know. We don't

even know what we're doing a year from now or

six months from now. I don't even know what I'm

doing a week from now. Except for Halloween.

Yes, we're recording this a week before Halloween.

Actually, this will air Halloween night. And

what's the anniversary date for that, Mike? I'll

have to look it up here. I believe it is Halloween

night. Three years ago. Well, happy Halloween

to all our fans and listeners and fellow geeks.

Yes, you know that type legends into iTunes.

It should immediately come up with the geek cast

radio network legends of the dark night But it

doesn't sadly My iTunes is not that smart apparently

Well, it is items Joker must be behind it. Yeah,

it's all the Joker's fault. That's right Well,

actually I'm gonna have to go back and change

the Change the day here to reflect what we actually

intended to be the the anniversary But according

to iTunes it was October 27th, but we meant it

to be October 31st 2011 so holy crap. It's not

too far off. It's it's been three years Yeah

It's amazing. Yeah, we actually started it actually

started in 2012, but... Wow. No, we didn't. No,

we didn't start in 2012. We didn't? We actually

recorded some in 2011? Yeah, Episode 0 was September

20th. Episode 1 through... Episode 1 through

4 was October, November, November, and December

of 2011, and then we came back in... Yeah, see,

I'm looking right at it. You'd think I would

know. I don't. And it is so awesome. Well, I'm

looking right at it on iTunes, you idiot. It

is so awesome that at the bottom of our iTunes

listing here, it says, listeners, also subscribe

to the Arkham Sessions by Dr. Andrea Letamendi

and Brian Ward. So it's nice that we've been

sending those people over there. Again, thank

you to everybody on iTunes who gave us reviews.

Very awesome of you. Yep, so and thank you go

all again for all of the The comments and all

of the iTunes reviews and following along with

us all this way Yes Three years. Oh my god. Has

it really been that long? Yes Wow There was a

couple of like three to four month hiatus is

in there Mm -hmm in a long process, but it's

been a fun process Oh, absolutely. It's been

fun. I mean, I get to talk about Batman. And

little side teaser, not really Batman related,

but there are other animated series review podcasts

and the works. So make sure you stay tuned for

that. Yes. So they won't be on this feed, so

just have to tune into the GeekCastRadio .com.

And our Facebook page. Yes, yes. Any other comments

before we close it out? I think that's it. Alrighty.

Thank you for joining us for the final time of

Legends of the Dark Knight. If you'd like to

leave feedback on the show, you can do so on

the website geekcastradio .com. You can become

a fan of us on Facebook by searching Geekcast

Radio Network. You can follow myself on Twitter

at scp21 and you can follow you guys at So for

now, we have been... And Steve Megatron Phillips

saying in the immortal words of Batman, I am

vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman. throw

a rock at him so harvey what became of the giant

penny it was a big rock they actually let him

keep it it's true badsy i know everything and

kind of like the kid who peeks at his christmas

presents i must admit it's sadly anti -climactic