Beware the Batman Chapters #5–12

Hi, this is Lauren Lester and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Ah, brave new

world that has such putzes in it. You know kids,

a lot has changed while your old uncle Joker's

been away. New Gotham, new rules, even a new

Batman. It isn't 65 years in the future, but

Legends of the Dark Knight has gone beyond. Batman

beyond, that is. Ah, the new boy. ears are too

long and I miss the cape, but not too shabby,

not too shabby at all. Join Steve and Mike as

they delve into the remaining episodes of the

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.com. Welcome to The Pull Bag. Join us as we

dig out our latest comics and discuss them. with

a rotating panel of the GCRN crew. So sit back

and enjoy this week's poll bag. Hello and welcome

to The Pull Bag. We are continuing the Batman

75 year anniversary coverage here inside The

Pull Bag with episode 74. Last time you heard

us talk about a death in the family and now we

are flashing all the way to 2012 -2013 with Beware

the Batman. I am your host TFJ and Mike and joining

me for Beware the Batman chapters 5 through 12

is JT from Saskatoon. good morning good afternoon

and good night whatever the hell you people listen

to this uh... yes uh... so steve joined me with

uh... chapters one through four when we did the

uh... the first part of for the batman here inside

bat month on the poll bag and jt's joining me

for the final uh... part of this uh... where

the batman stuff i don't know if that i know

that I've heard that this comic has been cancelled

after issue 6. On Comixology, it still says to

be determined as far as release, but the covers

for issue 6 have already been released with the

final two chapters digitally, chapter 11 and

chapter 12, so I assume that's going to be it.

Because I remember that DC had said that they

were basically cancelling this, and I just...

I just don't get it because it's like... What

I really loathe ladies and gentlemen is today's...

You know treatment of animated properties well

that but the fact that oh Well, you have to have

a toy line that's selling in order for us to

produce a cartoon or you have to have This so

you can have that or you have to have this so

you can have oh god, but anyway We are here to

talk about beware of the Batman chapters 5 through

12. These are the digital chapters There's not

gonna be a whole lot of analysis in these because

these are just pure unadulterated fun. So chapter

five, the digital cover is Batman Inside Tobias

Whale's mouth. Moby Dick reference. First of

all, what is your initial opinion of the comic

so far, just the series in general? I've dug

what I've read. I mean, it's not quite... It's

not quite a lot of other tie -in comic books

where it's like an episode that was just never

produced sort of feel Like like the Batman TAS

comics from back in the day And I've enjoyed

the first couple of chapters were you know interesting

especially with like that anarchy story yeah,

that started the thing off and I Believe the

first couple chapters like this. Oh, is it Luciano?

Vecchio who's that does the art on these also

does the art on the the new Scooby -Doo comic

that DC's putting out. He's got a nice animated

feel to his art, so that makes it a lot more

fun for me. If at least it imparts that feeling

of this could be a cartoon. We'll talk a little

bit about the show when we're done here. The

CGI in the show is all well and good, but it's

not the CGI that sucks, it's the character designs.

because with the CGI artwork it just it seems

a little stiff whereas with Vecchio's art that

sort of design it works a lot more for me at

least like I think it works a lot better like

when you see Bruce Wayne and then you see Batman

like it doesn't look so kind of alien like the

cartoon does so Yeah, I mean it is a CGI style

and for the show and it is a little different

than what we had in You know fucking Oswald becomes

Batman, but you've got to let that go Mike. No,

I don't I never will I'm sorry. I as I don't

care how many interviews I hear with Dietrich

Bader and him professing his love for Batman

that Be between him and Billy Baldwin worst Batman

voices ever Um what you know Jeremy Sisto under

the bus as well. Oh, yeah him too But he was

only in one movie same thing Billy Baldwin. Yeah

still all right All right, we're the Batman chapter

five Tobias awaits part one of two Scott Beatty

is doing the writing on this one As you said

Luciano Vecchio is is the artist colored by Franco

Rezco Alex Anton is the editor. So that's that's

interesting I think he does the editing for most

of the DC digital stuff because he's also the

editor on but where the Batman Beyond 2 .0 and

Justice League Beyond 2 .0 And we start and now

I am viewing these on Comixology in their With

their guided view technology, so I'm going basically

panel by panel like it's a storyboard So we start

somewhere 250 feet below sea level and Katana

is swimming and She's in a ship somewhere Yeah,

she's she's somewhere She's she's in the cargo

hold Hey, wait aren't there Romulans down there

Yeah, there's like some giant manta ray swimming

up behind her look out. Oh, no, that's not a

manta ray That's that I love this this the this

image of her with Batman behind her. Mm -hmm

Oh my god, that is so amazing. That is Like just

a silhouette like that. It's like bum bum bum

I dig that and No, it's like I said, Vecchio's

art's a lot of fun and you see as it goes on

like Katana knows something's up She you know

whips out her sword and the next thing you know

her air hose has been disconnected It's like

and if you see the normal then the notice on

that previous page there She's 250 feet below

the sea level. Uh -oh mm -hmm yeah she's uh not

gonna be able to survive whatsoever I do love

the fact of when she shines her light on whatever

it is that's attacking her that um Vecchio pretty

much highlights her bodacious tatas yes yes yes

they did yeah so we We see all this. She's swimming

to the surface. We see the fact that it's Batman.

And she comes up and guess what? She's in the

Batcave. What the hell? And the first real lines

of dialogue is, so I'm to assume that I've failed

the swim test spectacularly. Yeah, and you can

hear it's Anthony Rivera. I think is how you

pronounce his last name, like you can hear the

pissed off tone and the character's voice like

that. And it's one of the first times you see

it, almost a poetic version of this version of

Batman in the comic or in the cartoon, really.

You know, so they go and obviously it's a training

exercise. They're going after this ship that.

Batman more or less scuttle. We find on that

he basically scuttle the weapons transport of

Tobias Wales. And I don't know what I see. I

think one of the things that bothers me about

the cartoon, the comic is that Alfred doesn't

have a mustache. Never mind that the design of

this Alfred is basically an older, surlier Jason

Statham. More or less or or or or an older older

surlier Balder Sean Connery James Bond Yeah,

it's well. It's Alfred in some comics has been

portrayed as Having been a spy in his previous

life. It's just dude. You need the stash. I'm

sorry But yeah, it's a Alfred brings them you

know bring some tea for Tatsu and Then he's like

Alfie dear, please no pleasant street down here

and the dankin duck coffee sir with the tone

that implies you're not gonna drink this anyhow

are you asshole yeah no and he's like well more

for me he starts chugging because well you got

to wonder how he puts up with all this BS and

we get into a flashback where we find that the

Tobias whale of the where the Batman is a is

a little bit sentimental for the old ways as

he gives Batman a pair of cement overshoes and

tries to drown him and then Batman gets loose

and in retaliation sinks his ship that's carrying

a cargo of weapons to Gotham City and Katana's

like he didn't go after him he's like I had better

things to do I had bigger fish to fry So basically

what they're training for is they're going to

go down dangerously deep under the water to basically

destroy this cache of weapons and then, you know,

deny Tobias Whale, you know, this stuff because

Batman is like, guns on my streets? Oh, hell

no. So I mean, and this is obviously this is

like sometime later, like Batman specifically

says it's two months ago. Yeah, and they're basically

instead of waiting for it to you know slip over

the edge and Go into the subatlantic trench because

you know With that the Marianas trench is just

so passe Yeah Although I love the line is like

I'm ready to begin this operation. It's it's

already started katana And then I keep thinking

of that line from the Watchmen movie Stopped

me. Well, it stopped me. I started it half an

hour ago. Yeah, I still haven't seen that movie.

No interest really. Yeah, there you go. So we

go to the Gotham docks and see Commissioner Gordon's

putting in an order for a salvage crew to go

out and pick up what's like basically legit.

They're going to gather the weapons and either

put them into evidence or destroy them. And then

Batman calls him. Apparently Commissioner Gordon

has a Bat celly phone. Yeah, it's an interesting

design, but I'm sorry. This Commissioner Gordon

would not have that. Batman would most likely

hack the police band, versus either giving him

or allowing him to have a Bat phone. It's a nice

little nod to the old days of 66 and it's a nice

little update But there's no because this Commissioner

Gordon just based on what I've seen out of the

cartoon He's completely against Batman for the

most part. Oh If you haven't caught up because

I mean they haven't and we'll talk about the

show at the end I've seen on Dailymotion. There's

a few of the Episodes down the line where he

kind of turns a corner on that where he's not

entirely with Batman, but he'd sooner work with

him than against him. I just love the fact that,

you know, if he puts that cell phone in his pocket

wrong, he's gonna pierce something. That, and

the fact that Batman doesn't allow him to keep

it, because, you know, in five seconds this phone

will self -destruct. And it does. He's like,

pitches out the window, he's like, drive, drive,

drive it like you stole it! Yeah, exactly. I

love how the other wood panel where the phone

explodes harmlessly in a dumpster and the cops

just keep on rolling and then there's like this

old dude driving by like a homeless guy with

a cart and he just keeps on trucking it. He's

like, I was in the war. I don't even notice this

stuff anymore. Like he does a twitch and then

you see like the bat aqua suit and I love, this

is Efren Zimbalist Jr. How could you not get

D 'Alfred to voice this line? Relationships are

built on trust, sir, not exploding cell phones.

Yeah, uh, you know, the thing about this comic

with this phone, now that I'm really noticing

it, um, I just can't see Batman having a phone

like this. It just, it's weird. You can't see

him not getting his head stuck coming out of

the Batmobile with that headgear, but... Yeah,

true there. We are so we go to the Atlantic Ocean

3 .7 miles northeast of Gotham Sound Where Tobias's

people say that they're all suited up and ready

to go I Love one of the best things about this

comic is They get to, like I said, the designs

are great, so you hear the voice of the voice

actors, like Michael Leon Woolley, who does Tobias

Whale, and he's got that, it's all good, baby.

Like, he's got that, you can hear that coming

from the art. Oh yeah, most definitely. And it's

like, I ain't leaving nothing to chance, Jim.

You know, Tobias is going down there and he's

gonna get, he's got a harpoon gun, he's ready

to shank Batman if necessary. He's just going

on he's gonna get what's his technically so they

they lower into the ocean and this first chapter

ends with Batman and katana making some bad fish

puns You know But that coloring on the fish finder,

I love that. That is amazing. That kind of holographic

sort of coloring like that. I mean, as bad as

the pun is, it bears repeating. It's like, is

the fish finder working? Flawlessly. One large

fish and three bottom feeders. And I'm just kind

of like... So yeah, that's where the first chapter

ends and then we get to... Chapters well I shouldn't

the first part of this two -parter for chapter

five ends and then chapter six Tobias awaits

part two of two So there's that Alfred singing

an old sea shanty. Yeah I don't remember Alfred

being Irish, but okay. It's not necessarily have

to be Irish, but He's got the spirit of the sea

in him, but yeah, he's basically Swimming by

Tobias's ship in a kayak Acting drunker than

three sheets Then you know tags the ship with

something and the guys were like hey And you

know Alfred is like ahoy there the oceans big

enough for both of us in it So, um, did you see

what the name of the ship was old chum? Yeah

Hey That's a nice little nod Does it smell like

Adam West in here? Yeah, pretty much. So you

Alfred takes the ship, which is it's probably

a bomb You wink wink and you know, it's basically

they they Love the characterization of Tatsu

like I grew up reading Batman and the Outsiders

in its original run and Tatsu then was very much

a samurai like patient unrelenting and This one

well, she's unrelenting, but she ain't got no

patience because she's chomping at the bit to

get in here Yeah, and you see Tobias and his

men get into the ship there's that kind of trippy

image where they get into the cargo hold and

the the the ceiling is the floor and the floor

is the ceiling you see all the crates and the

net just Hanging over top them like that. I Love

is the image the panel where Tobias is underwater

and he's basically laughing but the he is in

bubbles. Yeah Yeah, you know and then they drop

this one, you know sinister looking, you know

weapons locker and They go to and he goes to

check him. He's like you what the dilly and It's

been open already and you know Batman right in

your face You know pretty much You know and the

whole time from the point where Batman jumps

out of the weapons locker In between Alfred,

you know Asking Katana, would you be a deer and

assist the Batman? He keeps singing the sea shanty

and then it starts There like there's reference

just before this where he jumps out he's like

You know, he's there's the verse where it's talking

about Batman And then there's the verse talking

about the the sharp -witted mermaid mermaid.

Yeah It's like you it's I love the sea shanty

Like it's just a lot of fun and it's a great

framing device for this this issue it is yeah

very much so and It's just you see Batman. It's

He's putting foot to ask for Gotham City and

then he gets hit with the harpoon and then in

comes katana and I Love the you know, she's like

Batman. He's like stay back he's a deceptively

strong swimmer as he's getting like the biggest

bear hook of his career yeah and uh she cuts

his line like batman did her and just well let's

hear here's hoping he's more like his namesake

than he appears yeah really and bat and i love

how he he can there's no way tobias whale can

hear batman he's still talk it smack to the villain

as they escape the ship and then goes over the

edge and they save the day basically then he

breaks the surface and Commissioner Gord is like

well you're under arrest for what I try to defraud

the city Then we have the bat sub basically right

next to Tobias and Batman says you passed pardon

the swim test you passed this time And then the

reference well, what did Tobias whale learn it

I don't think they really concern themselves

that much with the Kurt criminals learn or don't

learn And then we end with you know Alfred is

like, oh, yeah, just leave me out here. I'll

just kayak back to shore Nothing like a brisk

four -mile swim of the kayak. I Love the the

panel before that with the giant all that head

the silhouette of that Oh my god, that is so

awesome. That does look good. And that's kind

of reminiscent of the trade dress The or not

the trade dress like the logo of when you see

like the where the Batman The show logo, it's

echoing that. Oh yeah, most definitely. Most

definitely. But no, I absolutely love this two

-parter. I love how they're able to... What I

love about the comic and the show is how they're

able to bring in less... I don't want to say

less important villains, but lesser known. I

didn't know who the hell Professor Pig was until

this show. Oh, if you read the original run of

Batman and Robin where Professor Pig showed up,

it's night and freaking day. Okay, yeah, but

that's what I'm saying. I never did that. I never

read that. You know, I never knew who he was

until this show and this comic and now he's starting

to show back up in in Batman comics now. Yeah,

I Think what we're gonna do for this episode

ladies and gentlemen is we're going to save our

ratings for the issues until the end of the show

for each one of them because It's just it's just

easier that way. I think so we move on to chapter

seven of the digital series if comixology would

load sure it loads the chapter eight but it doesn't

load chapter seven come on there it goes um now

chapters good i was gonna say technical difficulties

yes yay uh now chapter seven is written by ivan

cohen and it's also Art done by Luciano Vecchio.

Ivan Cohen was the guy that wrote the very first

two -parter. And this one now is introducing

a villain that most everyone knows. Well, anti

-villain or anti -hero. He walks the line, let's

say. He turns himself into a giant bat and destroys

Gotham City. It's a twist on that. I don't...

I generally don't really care for the Man -Bat

character. It was fine in Batman the animated

series. I liked how Kyle Higgins brought him

back in the Batman Beyond 2 .0 comic. But as

a general rule, I generally don't give a crap

about Man -Bat. But this was an interesting sidestep

to it. Yeah, so I mean if I've read some of the

early Appearances in like the late 60s early

70s when bad bat first appeared and back then

they played it as more of like he was Honestly

trying to help in creating the man bat serum

and the what they did with him Originally was

kind of play him off as this kind of Jekyll and

Hyde Sort of all the is almost like the Incredible

Hulk of the Batman universe and that he tried

to do good in whatever form he was in and then

eventually it just he lost himself to the beast

and There's the man bat that we all know and

love in the modern comics. So but yeah, it's

uh It's the the the opening page like we open

with you know Barbara Gordon waiting for some

guy named Kim and the I thought I thought Tim

Drake, that's exactly what I thought the first

time I read this is like let it be Tim Drake.

Let it be Tim Drake Yeah, and then you know,

she gets a call from dad and basically he's telling

her like look we're There's a bat so they're

they're chasing after Batman, you know, he doesn't

approve of the kid. That's like Barb is supposed

to be turning, you know, he's only there cuz

he's got the he's warm for your form, right and

Why don't you tell them that your dad has a gun?

You know, yeah It's just it's it's the standard

kind of father -daughter sort of rigmarole that

I I did like this because at this point Barbara

is like 16 or something, you know, she's in high

school. She's still a kid Yeah, very highly doubtful

given the Current knowledge that we possess of

the show that she'll ever become Batgirl So after

she's done talking to her dad she calls into

the Batcave and apparently she's got the code

name Oracle now Mm -hmm, and they basically No

shot heard around the world needed. Yeah So she

like updates and like look my dad's after Batman

they're at this abandoned warehouse and It's

basically they're chasing the same target mm

-hmm and so of course Barbara being the meddlesome

do -gooder that she is goes to the scene of the

crime and Basically Commissioner Gordon's calling

for Batman it you know turn himself in and it

turns out to be a Man bat Yeah Although I did

like the the page like there's good Gordon telling

him on the bullhorn to turn himself in you have

those Next page you have that I need you to leave

me and you see this bat flying towards the window

alone and it's you know i i love that image of

man bat you know self -defenestrating himself

like that yeah and then um batman i wish they

would put this toy out uh the bat cycle that

turns into a jet pack slash glider wings i know

that would be so awesome and i i love it's never

mentioned in this world that apparently there's

no uh There are no bullets anymore. There is

only a laser pistol. Yeah energy weapons. Yeah

That's a little crazy now when I first saw this

bat cycle slash jet pack the first thing I thought

of was the Shield spider cycle for spidey and

ultimate spider -man. That was the first thing

I thought of it's up there Yeah, it's up there,

but yeah, and I love that full pre -age image

of you know batman flying after the man bat that's

this here here's my problem with this with the

homeless direction of the it's clearly somebody

it's not kirk langstrom it because kirk is older

at this point and this looks like a young kid

to bleak before i even got the reveal that it

is who it is i kind of figured it wasn't the

real man bat i never got that at all cuz i mean

This is the first Man -Bat that we've seen in

the Beware universe. Up until you get the reveal

later on, you have no idea that this is Kirk

Langstrom. For longtime fans of both the comics

and the animated series, there's the classic

Man -Bat voiced by the Beast Master. There's...

You know a man the man bad from the Batman voiced

by you know Yanos from Ghostbusters 2 And I think

that's the old you know why am I drippings with

goo? That is Peter McNichol oh My head is killing

me now He's like must not make Ghostbusters reference

I mean, I love Ghostbusters 2, but let's face

it Yanos was the worst part about that movie

And the sad thing the sad thing is I loved his

character on the TV series numbers Yeah that

he was the he was the the shit and that stuff

but you know, it's of course even Batman makes

the Mistake is like Langstrom. You have to let

me help you before someone gets hurt and then

I love that like I hurt all the time So Yeah,

you see that and it's uh He's like I'll help

you Kirk. What's wrong. It's like who is Kirk

and In my mind the first time I read this I was

like who is Kirk Kirk is the manliest man involved

Starfleet, dude He's William freaking Shatner

come on So Batman and man vet escaped the scene

the cops give chase At some point man bat manages

to sever the batwing from The jet like or one

half of the you basically tears a motorcycle

in half Yeah, pretty much and you know the man

bat More or less he gets away and then I know

is that supposed to be like a spotlight or something

that they just happen to have with them Let me

see here Where oh you mean the yeah, no, that's

a that's a GCBD Spotlight. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah I

like Batman's mask there though. That's pretty

cool the helmet. Yeah. Yeah It doesn't matter

what animated series you're watching he has taken

the time and spent the money to develop a motorcycle

helmet that perfectly fits the The mask. Yeah,

that fits his cowl so that the pointy ears are

not affected. I mean, let's face it, if he goes

ass over teakettle off the bat cycle and goes

head first into somebody, that person isn't going

to walk anymore. Or breathe. No, not at all.

You know, if you really want to, you could land

in like a fruit cart and you come out with a

nice shish kebab going on. and it's yeah so basically

the GCPD uses this spotlight to like blind them

do something and we find on the next page that

they got away you don't see them get away it's

just it's like a it's like a cutscene and or

it's what do you call it uh dissolve to like

the next scene you just oh they got away is Barbara's

mentioning this out loud to nobody Then you know

it's Gotham City. She knows there's super criminals

about there's all sorts of skullduggery But she's

gonna go down the dark alley for the voice pleading

for help But they don't show it because the next

panel is is And this is what I was saying that

Kirk is older so I knew that the new, younger

-looking man -bat wasn't Kirk Langstrom. Yeah.

And they prove it right here in this next panel

because they assume that it is two different

man -bat men. Now, although, and this is from

what I know about animal, very little about animal

physiology, like the way bats' bodies are, you

know, they've got like the hollow bones and they're

lighter, so maybe the serum... Again, with the

size of Man -Bat that we've seen to this point,

maybe the serum just really physically mutated

him to an actual bat. Something like that. But

then we see the actual, you know, warm and...

The cuddliest version of Man -Bat we've ever

seen. You know, after they... Batman's like,

yeah, he was smaller, he was faster, his emotions

are out of control. Like that, he's getting his

ribs taped. And then even Alfred points out that

maybe it could be Langs from you. Maybe his search

for a cure has done this to him. And then you

find out Batman's actually kind of a cool dude

because he's got this guy with his Jekyll and

Hyde thing going on. So he's set up like a secret

lab for Man -Bat to work on a cure for him. I

love the image of the Batmobile. I love the Batmobile

in this series. I like the coloring. Oh, no,

no. This is like straight up. It's like what

if Batman jacked the Mach 5? And you have like

a Fast and Furious style sequence of him like

pimping the Mach 5 into something truly badass.

Because that's what it looks like. Although I'm

gonna say like in the show and it's just the

color palette that they use in the show. I don't

they they have like this really like black with

a lot of navy blue For the for the batmobile,

but in here. It's like straight -up black and

gold as It should be on the batmobile. Yeah,

well it's better than the batface But we're brave

in the bold game us. Oh, let it go Mike. Nope

never So this one kind of ends with with Batman

going to the lab and and because he knows where

Langstrom is and everything else and I've been

here all day to be continued I love the art.

I think the art is really good. It pays True

homage to the series. It's I mean, it's it's

basically 2d versions of the CGI animation But

I absolutely love it. Oh, yeah with with the

next chapter chapter 8 it's son of the man bat

parts 2 So we basically pick up where we left

off and Barbara, you know shows that like most

people they don't realize that there are flashlight

apps for your cell phone because she just uses

She just uses the light from her screen, and

she discovers Bat Boy. Yeah, and she says, whoever

you are, you should know my father is a cop.

I press send and all of Gotham's finest show

up in two seconds, I hope. Yeah, that's great

love and respect for the GCPD there, Barb. Now,

the greatest thing about this Barbara Gordon

is... Even though in the show we have yet to

see more of her, which as you've referenced,

we'll talk about at the end of the podcast. But

greatest thing about this, Barbara, is Tara strong

returns. But the voice in the darkness says,

Barbara, it's me. That voice, Tim, the kid she

was tutoring turned into a man bat. Yeah. And

then when you go to the next page, you see the

It's an Asian kid because he said like Tim Kwan.

So but the design there, it's like if you didn't

know this is supposed to be an Asian kid, you

could mistake that to be Tim Drake. Exactly.

That's who I thought it was at first. The whole

time before they mentioned his last name, you

know, that's who I thought it was. Yeah. So he

sees Man -Bat go into a building thinking it's

Batman. and he goes in and it's like the flash

origin where he you know dark building trips

into a table full of chemicals and you know I

do like that image you see him in like mid transformation

as he's basically you know hulking out and his

clothes are ripping and everything and as the

as the change takes him over and then you see

him like he's still got his wits about him somewhat

now that he's calmed down Uh huh. So, basically,

he he kidnaps Barbara. It's you see it is as

they're flying away. You see Katana's trying

to call him and we get the the low down on what

man that no and this is the thing that drives

me baddy if I may about this is that clearly,

you know, they've got this lost episode. or where

Batman runs into Man -Bat and it's you know it's

like that would be the second time in the series

after the Metamorpho episode that you know he's

helped or he tried to help somebody like this

and he had a little more success with Man -Bat

because clearly the guy stuck as a Man -Bat but

Dr. Langstrom is still trying to you know He

set him up with this lab so he could cut and

it's almost like he set up like he could be a

recurring character Although we know that's not

gonna happen And it's basically gives the lowdown

and what he's been doing and he was at least

there with a cure For himself and then you know

Tim trout trap what he sorry fell backwards into

his man bad powers And then we find out that,

you know, Batman just like, you know, no personal

boundaries for this guy. He just, he just starts

reading the kids, you know, you know, notebook

or whatever. And, you know, he's like, yeah,

and he's seriously crushing on her, you know?

Yeah. And it's, uh, then they have, I love the

revelation that, uh, because man, that was an

adult. and however the science worked you know

the voodoo that he does so well uh that he was

a man when he turned into man bat the effect

stabilized but because tim's still a kid and

he's still growing there's a greater chance if

they don't get to him soon with this cure he

could be you know man bat boy forever yeah pretty

much yeah that would suck yeah and then they

have that cool image of man bat flying in the

batmobile following behind and You know, it's

just decent then they catch up with katana and

I guess the boys spores were I guess that's His

scent or whatever. I have no idea what spore

actually is. Mm -hmm. So but I like the other

they find the alley where they met and But where

they're gone and it's like but where would they

take her Gotham Observatory? And Katana even

busts on that and is like, I never would have

taken you to be such a romantic. And again, this

goes to the voice actors work on the show that

you could hear like every episode, like Batman

for like 30 seconds turns into expository man

and then just drops all this knowledge. on every

on long katana or Alfred about what's going on

and you see him because he's a movie lover and

an astronomy buff and Every movie lover knows

the rebel without a cause blah blah blah And

here's the thing when you go to the observatory

seek Barbara's knocked out and I guess maybe

Vecchio took this design from Young justice because

you see that Tim's mutation is Quickening like

it's worsening and he's got the muscle rips on

his shoulders, which are Well, they're taken

directly from Like what's mammoth? From the episode

drop zone and young justice where you know, he

gets like the Cobra venom injected into him and

it's like You know, it's like the exposed muscle

and all that. It's like right through the skin.

So I thought that was a cool nod to that series.

Yeah, yeah. And they're like, he only has minutes

left as the heroes arrive to save the day. And

which man bat design do you like? more here because

you get the one shot of them like scurrying at

each other and Yeah, I honestly don't like either

one of them. I'm looking at the page where I'm

a little bit ahead of you I'm looking at the

page where Barbara's basically telling him you

have to take this or else you you know and you

see Kirk in the background and you see Tim up

front with Barbara and they both Kirk looks like

If you crossed Yogi bear with a bat it really

like if It really really does It just doesn't

look right to me. I mean in this style It's okay

because it's it's this animated series style.

Yeah, but I Still prefer the btas versions of

and the energy see you versions of man bad versus

this yeah Mean Tim's design is clearly like straight

up. This is what a man bat Would look like and

they it's like I said this the lengths from bat

is like the cuddliest version of man that we've

ever seen Yeah, he cut you know if you changed

his colors to pure white gave him some blue hair

and a black leather jacket He would almost be

Michael Morbius from spider -man 94 Yeah, except

this one probably actually drinks blood and not

plasma Well, you know it is the 21st century

vampires can drink blood and become sparkly versus

just having to drink plasma. Yeah. Oh God Vampires

don't sparkle And It's I love that scene where

Barbara talks him down you see him chucking you

back and it's like there you go Who's a good

rabid bat beast? And then, of course, you know,

Commissioner Gordon being a dad. I never liked

that kid. Yeah. I thought this was a really fun

issue. Well, it's got that little race against

time and you've got monsters, you know, and more

or less. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, this one. Yeah,

very much so. All right, and of course that that

that ending Where Tatsu says Bruce I have one

question I've I've reviewed Tim's notebook. He

never mentions rebel without a cause So how did

you know the connection? Call it an educated

gets Tatsu and she the end of it is more like

a more like a hunch I'd say It's like oh isn't

that cute Batman thinks he's James Dean. Yeah,

really I absolutely love that about Tatsu and

Bruce's relationship in this. It's very well

done. This comic series and this cartoon series

shows that you don't necessarily need a Robin,

really. I mean, you know, not all the time. That's

one of the first things when I first heard about

this series a couple years ago. and how there

wasn't going to be a Robin and they were going

to use like lesser known uh you know uh lesser

known characters both villainous and heroes although

the the only other hero they've used is Metamorpho

so uh and I completely I had kind of I knew this

but I kind of forgot uh I forgot Somaly, Montana

You know RC from trap TF prime. Yeah, I love

the fact that she's got a very chameleon -esque

Aspect to her voice that you know It's her voice

and I recognize that now but listening to it

before I actually read this on Wikipedia like

I had no idea I Was so I was almost leaning towards

Kelly Hugh for the longest time. Oh, no I knew

as soon as I heard and I knew it was I knew it

as soon as I heard Tatu's voice I knew it wasn't

Kelly whoo because I hear her all the time as

Stacey on Phineas and Ferb so But with Simile

Montano the funny thing is I almost Almost got

her tripped up to use the voice on the interview

we did with her She there was several times during

the interview where she almost did the voice

of tattoo before the series ever uh... head it

aired uh... so we go into chapter nine uh...

with uh... batman in the background for the cover

page with uh... katana versus katana this is

going to be interesting and the uh... the title

of this is suitable for framing we have a new

creative teams on this and this is what i love

Generally, and I've said this before in the podcast,

I loathe when creative team writers change. Artists

can change all the time. Sure, it might take

me an issue or two to get used to it, but with

this series, because it's not... It doesn't really

need to have direct continuity. Okay, sure, the

standard stuff needs to happen from the animated

series where... It, you know, you have to have

the same Batman design, you have to have the

same design on Katana and Alfred, and the rest

of the characters in the world of Gotham City,

but the writing, anybody can write these stories.

And this time around, we have Mike W. Barr as

the writer. TMNT new animated adventures artist

Dario Brasuella on this. Yeah, and I should correct

that. I realize, looking at the art of this issue,

Brasuella... Does the art for that scooby -doo

comic I mentioned earlier? So yeah, so But yeah,

and I didn't realize that until you get in you

just get the you know Just look at the heads

of this cop and Commissioner Gordon. They just

got this block of wood look to them Yeah, you

know and it's Basically they found a body and

it's whitey black mon The names in this series

It's like someone filleted him like a trout And

it's like not just someone according to this

it was katana Did you see the um, I Need I need

to see what this looks like in oh Okay, cuz like

I said, I've been using guided view on comixology

and I needed to see how Oh man, it's so much

better on Guided View. On Guided View, where

Commissioner Gordon's like, according to the

security cameras, Blackmon had a meeting with

Katana. And then the next page is, I've got no

choice but to put an all points bulletin out

on Katana for murder. In the background, you

see Batman in the Guided View. If you hit the

next page... It's the same thing but Commissioner

Gordon is actually looking at the rooftop and

Batman's gone if you if you Right and left arrow

fast enough. You can see how fast Batman just

appears and disappears. That is so awesome Well,

he's Batman. Yes. Yes So Batman warns katana

and I like in the show up to the last regularly

aired episode uh she she never took the soul

taker sword out on patrol like so and i guess

it's just something they did for the purposes

of this story like you see her you know batman

calls her is like the cops are after you and

she's like no duh i know yeah it's like um yeah

i know that thank you or yeah or brazella just

you put the soul taker design in there because

that was She used it in the show. It's associated

with that character Or just looked cool, you

know, whatever so she's cornered by the cops

and I'll drop this I love the how the cops just

give the heroes in this series ideas. It's like

drop the sword It's time you took the fall and

you just you go to that next panel where she

just you see that barest hint of a smile and

she Does a triple Lindy off the top of this 20

story building? Yeah yeah um it's pretty interesting

and you see how the the next couple of pages

like the panels that follows her fall and then

batman's like i wasn't sure you could avoid them

it's like you don't know me at all yeah yeah

um that's one thing i love about certain comics

and in certain ways that like they did this Kind

of thing. I forget who did it. I think it was

either Brett Booth or Will Conrad on the Nightwing

series They did this same kind of thing with

the falling It was more so Nightwing executing

a jump over a over a villain and I love when

they do that like that if you look at the one

panel where she's vaulting over and You know

coming down and then and then pounce landing

You know that was That was very awesome. So Yeah,

so Batman wants her to lay low and she says is

that what you would do nuts to that Yeah, really?

And I won't cower in a corner while I'm being

framed. Yeah now as much as I liked Vecchio's

art in those first couple of stories we looked

at I'm really digging Brazil is looking at Batman

because you have that scene where they're talking

like that She's like I'm not gonna cower in a

corner and this batman looks a lot more like

a more traditional batman like the the ears haven't

turned into antennas and aren't you know going

for glory you know out like that so Yeah, I think

that, like, if you look at the panel where she

says, lay low, is that what you would do? It

looks like the Beware the Batman animated series

model from the side, but when you look at the

straight -on face, it is more traditional, almost

BTAS -like. Yeah. As far as Bruce's face. Except

for the nose. Well, yeah, Batman don't have noses.

like turtles shouldn't have no wait that's a

topic for another day um turtles actually do

have noses but again another day yeah michael

bay's turtles have noses anyway um so i i don't

know if i really like as much as i like rizuela's

art i don't know if i like the change in the

more classic style because let's face it this

is supposed to be Beware the Batman. This is

not supposed to be a classic, and I'm fine with

an homage here and there. I'm nothing against

that, but the fact that he's basically not even

using the animated series design for Beware the

Batman here, it's a little disconcerting, I think.

Well, he's using the designs, but it's a lot

softer than, like, Vecchio's art was... I wouldn't

say cut and paste, but it's like... 80 % there.

Whereas Rizella's art is, you know, it's a lot

softer. It's a lot more in line with the style

he uses with the Scooby -Doo comic. Yeah. You

know, so when we go to Iron Heights prison, I

mean, Gotham Supermax prison. Yeah. And a character

known as Battle Axe, who is a woman. Go figure.

Mm hmm. You know, at first, when I first saw

her, I'm like, hey, it's Dr. Harleen Quinzel.

Exactly. The pigtails give it away. And you know

what, clearly Gotham City have got geniuses in

all areas of civic design and such, because let's

face it, you do not put an air vent inside a

prison cell that's large enough for someone to

crawl through. Yeah, no. And you wonder about

the revolving door at Arkham. Mm -hmm. So basically

Katana goes to check in with Battleaxe who is

like an old enemy or something like that and

essentially she admits well she she it's one

of those narcissistic villains where you cheated

in our last fight and I will have my revenge

my honor will be restored and blah blah blah

and it's basically She, for what they talked

about, and some information that Alfred digs

up, there are three of Battleaxe's apprentices,

or apprentices, are suspects in framing Kitana.

Yep. And, um, he warns her that, um, you know,

she has to be careful. And she goes, don't worry,

I'm watching out for any surprises. And then,

surprise! There's Katana right behind her. And

then, of course, the fake basically makes a noise

and, wham! Yeah. We get a sword fight. It's like,

boot to the face? Yeah, I... I almost envision

this sword fight as if Tia Carrera is doing it

as Cassandra from Wayne's World. Yeah, and let

us pause for a moment to reflect on the sublime

beauty of two Tia Carreras in a sword fight.

Exactly exactly And this this basically ends

with the real katana getting a one -up on the

fake and it ends with to be continued Yeah, no,

I mean the one thing I got to say about Brazil

is art at least in terms of the katana Design

like you see her in the show and her hair. She's

net it's never tied up in a ponytail But it's

always like slicked back against her design like

that. Whereas this one it's a little more full

-bodied and it's you know flailing in the wind

and all that like it actually looks like hair

yeah you know so we get like what would probably

be a pretty epic sword fight and then the fake

boots katana off a gargoyle and into the gotham

river which probably isn't all that healthy to

begin with no now we are on uh part two of two

this is chapter 10 uh... of the digital series

now i meant to ask you earlier when we started

this what do you think of uh... suitable for

framing the uh... the title page in batman basically

breaking through a frame but i i i like that

that's it's one of those like classic back images

you know batman absolutely batman is nothing

if not predictable and let's face it the guy

does like to self -defenestrate himself Yeah,

pretty much. You know in the back of his mind,

I could have gone in through the open skylight,

but breaking in through the window is just so

cool. You always love cleaning glass out of your

shorts, don't you, Batman? He's like, of course

I do. Get the tweezers. Your entrance was good,

his was better. Yes! The difference? Showmanship.

yep exactly alright so we've got the two katanas

fighting on um on the bruce eagle guard oh i'm

sorry this isn't spider -man um because it does

kind of look like a new york city skyline even

though we know this is gotham but um clang did

you say clang uh so we've got uh the two katanas

fighting and the copycat actually gets a one

-up on the real katana yeah And basically sends

her to her murky grave in the water. Or so she

hopes. Yeah, so she hopes. And then she's like,

no, I'm not gonna check for a body. I'm just

gonna leave. No, I'm not gonna check for this

little pipe bursting up with bubbles in the water.

I'm just gonna leave. I wasn't sure that old

Samara trick would work. If she'd been fooled

into thinking I had drowned. Yeah. And then she

makes the obligatory hunter becomes the hunted

yeah reference, which well couldn't be left unsaid

and then like we said like you go to the next

page you see that full -on shot of Batman is

like that just That is T. Yes a Little bit. Yes

a little bit The face it is yeah the the suit

is Probably more It's a cut it's kind of like

meshing new adventures with but where the Batman

yeah And every time I see this name whitey blackmon,

even though I know it's a black guy I still think

they're trying to say whitey bulger The first

couple times I read this and I see whitey blackmon.

I kept thinking Pokemon Yeah, there's that too,

you know or Digimon or something like that. Gotta

catch them all Anyway, I think this Batman's,

you know Proceeded a pace, you know tracking

down the enemies of whitey and I love how he

gets the guards attention. It's like ooh dust

and You know, he throws like some crumbs or something

like dust or bread crumbs and it's it's some

sort of crumb Yeah, and it makes a loud enough

noise that This guy he just he pulls out a shank

and he goes into the dark and quartered Batman

just yoink And you got to love the mastery of

disguise here I mean, what does he do? He puts

on a man's pants and his coat and his hat And

the guy is like yo Shiv Let's go and he doesn't

even notice that like nice cow Shiv Yeah, and

they go in it's for the second time in this series.

Tobias Whale. I love the, again, I like the Vecchio's

art because they look more like the show because

here he just looks like Kingpin with a skin disease.

Yeah, Tobias's design, the one that Vecchio did

Tobias doesn't look like kingpin with a skin

disease Tobias looks like kingpin that's wearing

a blue mask is what he looks like here. Yeah,

he's to me The design that Vecchio did was a

little bit better Well, I more in line with the

show. Yeah, and then you see all of the fake

Katana is coming to you know to take him out

and then Katana, you know ambushes her and There

is a lot of de -fenestration in this comic book.

Yep. There is. And for those that don't know,

de -fenestration is the act of being pushed or

thrown through a window. Yeah. Well, you know,

I mean, suitable for framing. You know, you...

So Batman realizes the right katana is who she's

supposed to be, the copycat escapes... Taking

a moment to yeah, she really knows how to make

an entrance and then you see that the the criminals

in the space of a couple of stories have upgraded

from laser pistols to Looks like semi automatics

Yeah, pretty much Now this is interesting after

they leave when they're leaving jumping across

rooftops You know who the imposter is of course,

don't you? I didn't sign on to fight the Batman.

I gotta get out of here before It's already too

late. Yeah, and And it's Christine it's one of

what's -her -name's apprentices Yeah, the battle

axe is apprentice and yeah, I guess if we would

have to go back to be certain But if you go back

through, they have that clue where you see the

line up of the three apprentices on the cell

phone and you see that Christine was left handed

and it happened. Check to see if there was an

actual reference put in or that was just the

revelation or that's what Batman noticed. What

I find interesting about this character is that

You hit her with some gamma rays and she could

become She -Hulk. Good ol' Christine Banner.

Or Red Hulk. Yeah, that too. Darn gingers. I

do like the last one. Can I have the top bunk?

Silence? Yeah, that's... yeah. Because I love

I love Batman's reply before that to Katana She

won't be so she won't be happy when she finds

out hers who her cellmate is Yeah All right,

so we are on to chapter 11 of the digital series

for where the Batman This is the second to last

chapter. I do not know if Any more are going

to come out because as of right now on Comixology,

it's on my Comixology subscription. It's listed

as to be determined And we have First -person

shooter part one of two we have Matthew Kay Manning

back writing and we have Vecchio back on the

art With the I love the credits image of Batman.

They're using Brazillas Batman Yeah does a little

well see that's the thing that kind of surprises

me the cover is is Vecchio because it is the

series it is the the animated series is the boy

the Batman cartoon model design and then you

have the Then you have the Roswell a thing on

the title page So I wonder which version Vecchio

is gonna be using and actually I don't think

we even see Batman Okay, we see him on Alfred's

phone You don't see it in most of the story.

No, you don't. They're really working hard to

make this a cliffhanger -y type of thing. They

really are. Not just because this is part one

of two, but even the part two doesn't have...

I'm not going to say it doesn't have a satisfying

ending, but it doesn't have an actual true ending.

So we start this one out panel by panel, where

apparently Alfred is just getting out of the

shower. Well, I mean, it kind of goes in line

with the name of the story, First Person Shooter.

Yeah. Where, you know, it's almost like it's

a day in the life of Alfred J. Pennyworth. So,

I mean, they have, yeah, he wakes up, he's in

the shower, he gets a call from Master Bruce.

No, okay, we gotta talk about these panels where

his shoes are and his phone is because I've held

smartphones, I've seen some of the larger smartphones.

At one point when he's actually putting his left

shoe on, it looks like it isn't a smartphone,

it looks almost like an iPad. So that's a little

strange to me. Well, it's the distance because

you look at the perspective when he's grabbing

the shoes. I mean, it works. You know, basically

it's like I need to drink one now and it doesn't

look like through the proceed or the following

panels It's not that Alfred isn't hurrying, but

it doesn't look like he's moving all that fast

you know, although I do love in this series the

entrance to the Batcave which is so much which

is such an homage to the entrance to the cave

in or the Fox's lair in Zorro Like through the

fireplace and all that You know and he goes down

to the Batcave You know he gets the tranquil

which doesn't look anything like the TAS version

wink wink no No, not at all so he picks that

up and He's like now. What would be the quickest

way to get me to batman? And it's just you I

would love to see that this was an anime episode

of the series you see the the camera pan over

and Just hear Alfred go Yeah, this takes the

Batmobile And again, this thing is the Mach 5.

I mean you look at the steering wheel. It's all

the buttons are right there Yeah This reminds

me of the Forgotten where Alfred had to get in

the Batwing. Yeah Alfred in any incarnation.

I don't think is used to the technology that

Batman uses because Obviously he says whoa and

okay granted this Alfred is more British Secret

Service spy Kind of thing than he is the old

man butler So he could most good most of the

animated series Alfred is you know he's a glorified

mechanic but in a lot of the comics he's It depends

on which incarnation and whether or not it's

pre or post 52 Alfred usually had a hand in designing

or at least constructing some of the Batmobiles

so you know it depends on which incarnation yep

so he calls Tatsu and she apparently can't talk

and he's been getting a lot of that today because

she's getting the crap kicked out of her yeah

I guess she's basically fighting a room full

of minions yeah and not the cute ones from Despicable

Me either no So we get a flashback because Alfred

says that they got separated we get a flashback

to their fight scene and then it cuts back to

to Batman and we get somebody in the middle of

the road we get a kid in the middle of the road

and Alfred's like good god and he has to screech

to a halt to make sure he doesn't hit the kid

And apparently there was a crash because the

next panel is just completely blank Yeah, and

then pops the hood or the canopy I should say

yeah He's like oh, this is probably coming out

of my pay Yeah, I don't think Batman's gonna

be that vindictive And I don't know so Alfred

is basically has to chase this kid and I do love

this first -person Viewpoint this entire issue,

but it's a little strange And he oh the kids

stole the the utility belt he found the paint

capsules it's very It's there in the preceding

pages you don't if you're not like if you don't

pay too close attention you won't see it And

I love the the booby traps Are still there in

the bat belt cuz you know, it's like a die pack.

He gets the paint in the face now. I Don't think

they they never named this kid, but I'm willing

to bet his first name is Jason Yeah, cuz in the

arena you're after all he can't just steal the

wheels off the batmobile Yeah, well first it

was the hubcaps and then it was the wheels and

now it's his belt that I mean Batman just can't

trust anything around this kid No, you really

can't And then we get like another sort of flashback

or And there's no real good reason why Alfred

would be able to see this Unless it's just it

unless it's just shown for our own benefit because

you see Batman fighting somebody with like talons

and the belt gets cut off him basically well,

I I think it's to show more of a flashback as

to what is happening to Batman. Yeah, so basically

Alfred, you know, he's like, okay, so take me

to where you found this and the kid's like, fine.

So the kid goes to this locked roof, pulls out

a switchblade, pops the padlock, and Alfred's

like, industry is a little so -and -so, aren't

you? And he takes him down in this building where

You know kid says he didn't I don't see anybody

here. I just found it and we have another flashback

of Batman being Defenestrated again for like

the eighth time in these comics Yeah, and you

know Alfred Again, the kid lets himself out he

finds Batman's phone and He you know, he muses

what found you And if you got the digital first

comics like I do They get the the one of the

last pages on this particular chapter you get

the You get the week set up of What comes out

which I think is just worth mentioning quickly

here is we got Monday you get adventures of Superman

Tuesday you get injustice gods among us year

two Wednesday you get Batman 60 16 Titans go

then Vampire Diaries smallville season 11 Batman

and Justice League Beyond 2 .0's and the Scribblenauts

comic Which and I like It's a lot and again.

This is the weird dichotomy between Marvel and

DC. They can't Marvel can't make Animated series

that lasts more than like one or two animated

seasons Yeah, and DC can't make movies to save

their lives But forever notwithstanding well,

yeah But the both of them have got a really firm

grasp on the whole digital comics. Oh Yeah, most

definitely so it's just kind of cool to note

and as we go into it, you know part two chapter

two a first -person shooter Again, it's not like

they're gonna, it would be really weird if they

change artists or writers in between chapters

like this. Oh, no, no, no, no. Well, see, that's

the thing. That's one of the things I actually

love about this series. Two -part stories. Each

two -parter has one writer, one artist. Yeah.

So that is what I was saying earlier. Generally,

I mind it when writers change, but because they

have it set up where it's... one writer writes

a two -part story the next writer can come in

and write there because these are essentially

they're all individual stories each each two

-parter of these twelve issues of this digital

series is all its own story using villains from

the cartoon series granted this last chapter

as we will will will get into it will actually

you know show a rogue from Batman's gallery that

Usually he throws a rock at him And he sounds

like this bailiff from New York City, yeah But

yeah, so I mean that we see okay Maybe it's not

just windows Batman likes getting thrown through

as he's punched right through a door yep, and

You know, it's a Alfred goes out and there's

a bag lady there and well I love the fact that

that this Alfred is like still like, you know

stiff upper lip, but he's still a gent And he's

like evening miss haven't seen anything strange

tonight. Have you? And you just see her there

with a smile on his face and Alfred's like I

know where this is going You know Dukes are a

50 And she keeps going it's like well, I could

tell you he was a big guy can't really remember

anything else it's like wow alfero's nice to

know alfer carries some petty cash on them like

that because he'd be willing he drops are a hundred

bucks and you know gives her you know whatever

else yeah i mean well you know there's always

a couple of fifties in green lanterns ass yeah

heeheehee come on now you know you got that yeah

good ol' sheldon cooper ladies and gentlemen

And one lab accident away from becoming a supervillain.

That's the truth. So yeah, and I love Alfred.

He's like, it's been a rare delight, miss. Learn

to budget your money. I don't think you really

wanted to give out that cash, but you know, it's

not like he's Batman. He can like make someone

pee themselves just by staring at them real hard.

Yeah, that's true, but I kind of like that about

this Alfred that he actually has a bunch of 50s

on hand to bribe people Yeah, I think that's

you know, that's good So well, I was just gonna

say it's the one thing as after he makes that

little, you know, jab at the homeless lady and

you see the the drag marks you see the flashback

of this large guy dragging Batman towards the

water and then that kind of clicked in my head

that it's not so much flashbacks of stuff that

Alfred isn't wasn't there to see it's what through

him being a spy and working with Batman he's

extrapolating what could have happened given

what he sees which I thought was a really cool

because he again with this Alfred being like

ex British Secret Service and all that and Then

you see him kneeling there and he's like now

proverbial end of the road and he sees like the

the sewer drain there and Everything that's going

on and that's when it clicks in his head who

he's fighting, you know Yeah, you know any human

strength broke the bat belt Yeah, you know and

so it's coming to Yeah, and so it's come to this,

and Alfred has to go for a swim. Cannonball!

Which, that's what it looks like when you see

the image of him reflecting into the water. It

looks like he's ready to, you know, well, let's

do this! Yeah, the first thing I thought of was,

welcome to the Plaza Hotel, home of the... home

of where the guests of the celebrity dig -dang

-dong shows stay. Does anybody mind if I practice

my cannonballs? You see him, he goes through

the dark and you hear a crunch and slurping crunch

and he comes up and there's Batman's got a nice

little fire going on. That's not really his.

He's like, you need to get out of here. Cruella

Croc will be back any second. So Alfred does

get out of there tries to and killer croc basically

chases him through the water We get back to Batman

And Batman still tied up killer croc Asks about

what is this a tranquilizer? But this thing is

tricked out to loaded with enough of the stuff

to take down a big guy like me But a guy your

size couldn't survive with all that trinket in

his system. Am I right? If you would be if you

didn't have this you would be if you didn't have

the safety on I don't see a Oops what? Killer

crime He's just got this what the boom yeah,

I Do like Batman it's a kind of where Alfred's

kind of a mess down here. That's the remains

of Croc's dinner. He had chicken And then I like

how in return to how Rude katana was to him earlier.

You see katana calling and he's like I think

I'll call her back later much later Yeah, yeah

So Batman and Alfred make their way out of the

thing and and Alfred says one question. Are you

holding me up or am I holding you up? I don't

know Alfred. Let's just keep walking and that's

where it ends it doesn't it doesn't say the end

it doesn't say to be continued that's just where

it ends and if this is to be now the reason why

i said this is probably going to be the last

digital chapter is because it has the cover of

what is supposed to be the last print issue um

so i'm not sure what's going on with the series

i i honestly don't know I know the July solicitations

for DC Comics just came out and it is nowhere

in them. It's nowhere in the June solicitations

or the May solicitations either. So I assume

that's the end of this series. Well, to be determined,

but I mean, let's rate this before we both have

our little mini -rants. Well, we're going to

take a quick break and we'll come back with final

thoughts ratings and then the rant of the crappy

network after this warm up silver croc face me

thought you'd never ask i was wrong about you

bad man didn't think you'd have the stomach for

all this i'm going to enjoy hiring you see there

you're fitting in just fine All right, we are

back here inside the pull bags Batman 75th anniversary

spectacular or Bat -tacular if you want to not

have a spider -man reference Before we get to

JT's rant and information on the actual cartoon

series We're going to rate these issues today

and how we're gonna rate them is the story overall

so Chapter five and six is one story Seven and

eight is one story etc etc etc The chapter five

story the Tobias whale story I'll give Four I

really liked it I'm just not too Too interested

in Tobias that much as a villain for Batman.

I think it's cool what they did with him to kind

of make him sort of the new version of Black

Mask for this series of Batman, but, you know,

I'll give it a four, which is really liked it.

What about you? I'm going to give it a four as

well. Like, I really like the episode again.

It because of, you know, Vecchios are, you know,

basically always using the animation models for

the characters. And because I really like this

version of Tobias Whale, I mean, you had Steven

Mandragora in Justice League Unlimited, which

was basically Tobias Wales. I don't know. Maybe

it was a rights issue. They couldn't use that

name. I mean, he was voiced by, forgive me, I

can't remember the actor's name. He was voiced

by Odo from the Beetlejuice movie. You know,

the mayor from Nightmare Before Christmas. So

I really like that story. And it was one of those

ones that you could see this of all the stories.

This is the one I think the most could have been

an episode of the show. and for me that's like

the high like that's for me that's high praises

like this could have been an actual animated

episode mm -hmm I you know for me you know like

I said I like what they're I liked what they're

doing with this show that they're not just bringing

in Joker penguin Riddler two -face I get it I

like that I like that they're pretty much aiming

this directly at children Well, at the same time,

homaging several different Bat stuff for us,

the actual fans. For issues seven and eight,

the Son of Man Bat story, I love it because it's

Barbara, and I love it because they basically

misdirect us on Tim Drake. It's not Tim Drake.

But I'm only going to give it a three and a half,

which is liked it. I liked it, but there were...

Issues that I had with The issue that I have

is I'm just not a man bad fan really honestly

No, I get that and again. I'm right there with

you. I like it. It's I would almost give it a

three Just in the fact that it's it's a comic

story that you know the hero thinks this semi

reformed villain is up to his old shenanigans

again it turns out it's the new version and it's

something that i personally have seen so many

times in comics that it's i'm done yeah oh yeah

you know it's just like it's dude i've read oh

look he's cured of his villainous ways and we'll

never see this character again goody so you know

i'm gonna get like i said gonna give it a three

and a half again Vecchio's art was great. You

know, I like the character models. I mean, it's

a very softer. It's a much softer 2d version

I could see that character model for man bat

being in the show. And again, this is the cuddliest

of all Johnny Newton bats that we've ever seen

in Batman. I mean, whereas like with the first

like on leather wings with the TAS version where

it's basically a werewolf transformation yeah

yeah which was which was great and then there

was the batman but yeah it's it's a three and

a half i mean going into the uh suitable for

framing you know the third story with it with

the two katanas uh i am going to give it a three

and that's not And now just let me say it just

I'm gonna give it a three like the story in and

of itself is great Mm -hmm. I just I'm not in

terms of Brazellas art being used on Batman and

particularly with this version of Batman Yeah,

it's like I said when you see that first image

of that officer and Commissioner Gordon It just

looks like they're just blocks of wood like there

isn't that that flow that You can see that animation

with like with Vecchio's art. So it just it doesn't

it's a good It's decent art and all that it just

it doesn't play that well Yeah, it's not it's

not it's not bad art at all It really isn't but

if you're gonna come on to a comic series based

on the television show That uses the television

show designs. You should really cater to that

not just put your scooby -doo team up design

on on the where the batman uh... as much as i

do like uh... as much as i do like briswell's

are uh... on scooby -doo team up and the uh...

new animated adventures for turtles i just don't

think he was a good fit for for this story the

story itself is amazing i'm gonna give it a three

and a half which is like that uh... uh... for

me uh... I will say before we get to the final

story final rating with Roswell and with Scooby

-Doo team up We did do one issue Steve and I

did do one issue of that Actually, we did the

first two digital chapters. We may do a couple

more In the future here in the pullback, but

I'm not sure exactly when All right, so issues

11 and 12 I'm gonna give it a four and a half

out of five, which is almost perfect It took

me a little while to get used to the first -person

angle of the whole thing and it was a little

Disorienting to me when Alfred was getting dressed

Just because of the way the the it was drawn

to show how you know how he was moving But after

a while, I really liked it and overall I liked

it. I liked the fact that they went back to the

The show design what about you for 11 and 12?

I'm gonna give it a four and a half just Again,

I like the first person perspective like that.

I mean amongst one of my friends I'm one in the

minority for people who love the doom movie and

It's one of my favorite sequences in that film

is where they actually reference the first person

perspective of the game prior to Judge Dredd

throwing down with the roadblock. But no, I mean,

overall I really like the story. It's one of

those, like I said, it's a day in the life of

Alfred J. Pennyworth. And it's just a lot of

fun. And it was nice to see, looking at the character

model they used for Killer Croc, I think the

closest... analogy or not analogous. The closest

thing I can think to that in another version

of Batman is that's very reminiscent of the basic

design they used for Killer Croc in the Arkham

games. I mean, granted he's a lot more toothy

and scaly and drooly, but that's the basic design.

Yeah, this one kind of reminded me a cross between

that and the lizard from The Amazing Spider -Man.

Yeah, it's it's a lot more in line with a more

lizard team villain because it's not like the

gray scale that it was a big rock that we had

in the animated series and it's not the Mangator

voiced by Hellboy that we had in the Batman So

yeah, like I said for four and a half it's almost

there I did and again, I did love that line.

At least I hope it was chicken Yeah, yeah All

right, so we are gonna get into the actual Cartoon

series here briefly because JT has a rant about

it I will say to give people some information

the last televised airings of the show where

September 28th and October 5th 2013 those episodes

were sacrifice and instinct there were episode

12 and 13 attraction and fall that were available

on the DVD set But the other 13 episodes that

are supposed to be coming, we didn't know what

was going to happen with those, and now we know

they're going to take Ghost in the Shell's spot

inside Toonami Saturday mornings at 3am. Your

thoughts, sir? Son of a bitch! And I will expand

on that briefly. No, I'm not gonna swear like

that. I'm gonna remain somewhat adult somewhat

I stress I Like I like the idea of like the overall

that they're doing something different with Batman

in beware of the Batman the fact that we don't

have Dick Grayson or even Jason Todd that they're

using these B and C list You know villains, I

mean there's Mean, there's some things it's not

that I really have a problem with like they bring

the one of the villains that be of villains He

uses magpie who in the care in the comics was

this woman who had like a split personality and

was like basically assumed as kleptomaniac version

of Catwoman, you know and in the show Is that

great Delisle that does her voice I think so.

Yeah, I could be wrong. I'd have to look it up

again Yeah, but I mean I like what they do in

the show and they make her like this or a super

villain she's got like curare tip fingernails

that girl like like Lady Deathstrike and Apparently,

you know, they don't like violence in this show

because they made an effort to turn all the guns

into laser rifles But sure, let's have one of

the first super villain Batman fights to be a

hooker because that's what she's she she her

design almost looks like the one of the replicants

for Blade Runner. I mean, there's stuff I like,

like I love the fact that the primary antagonist

as the season goes on is Anarchy, which is this

kid in the comics that was like a computer hacker

and he... wanted to like upset the social order

and he hated big business and all that. It was

like a low rent version of V for Vendetta. But

in this one, he's like a dark, chaotic version

of Batman voiced by Wallace Langham, who if you

watch CSI, you know him as David Hodges. And

I love that the creep factor that he brings to

his voice work with this character is so good.

And I said off air, they now there are further

episodes. That are being broadcast in other countries

most notably New Zealand and I found a couple

of pages on Dailymotion .com That have posted

like these new episodes and then they made this

announcement in the last week that they're just

gonna burn off the rest of the episodes Because

they haven't even put toys out for this like

which which says to me two things one They just

care about toy sales because they barely put

out any Young Justice toys and then they yank

that with only like six episodes left in that

second season. And it's weird that a lot of American

animated shows like this have somewhat better

lives in other countries. If you look at the

CGI animated series Action Man and Max Steel

from the 90s, they actually had like, you know,

TV movies. Not even the TV stuff the toys had

a greater life in other countries toys that you

never saw in North America That would have sold

like hotcakes, but it's just for some reason

Cartoon Network just dropped the friggin ball.

I mean they had that great push with like Green

Lantern the animated series with Young Justice

I'm surprised we even got as much as we did on

those but It's just, there's no... It's like

they're just gonna throw the stuff out there

and it barely sticks to the wall. Oh well, it's

not Batman TAS. Scrap do -over. It just makes

no sense the way they're treating these properties

and how they treat these cartoons. Yeah, it's

not right at all, and I'm almost thinking that...

Back, way back in 2010, almost four years ago,

April 6, 2010, we did Geekcast Radio episode

11, Death of Cartoon Network. I almost think

over on Geekcast Radio, the flagship podcast

of the GCRN, we need to revisit that and basically

call it, you know, the... the insulting of Cartoon

Network or Cartoon Network is, you know, raping

our childhood or something, because it just...

Cartoon Network does not handle action cartoons

well. What they handle well is stupid crap that

kids shouldn't even watch, like Regular Show

and Adventure Time and Steven Universe, and God

knows what else they have up their sleeve now.

But where are the Batman? The funniest thing,

trivia bit that I can think of right now, and

it's really awesome. but where the batman has

jason marsden as a young bruce wayne what's ironic

about this is jason marsden was also a young

clark kent in the first three -parter superman

the animated series so jason marsden has both

voiced batman and superman that's awesome um

but yes you are right great delisle griffin is

magpie uh... what's interesting to me and something

that i didn't i kept wanting to hit on it every

time i saw an episode of where the batman i'm

like i know commissioner gordon's voice i know

that was i know what i've heard of her i'm like

all crap it's red foreman hell yes the curwood

smith that was seen quite you know clarence vodka

and commissioner gordon and speaking of two sides

again i mentioned this affair And I've seen like

these episodes that have come out in New Zealand

on Daily Motion in the second half of the season.

Basically, they have this big thing with the

ion cortex, which was this MacGuffin that Wayne

Enterprises is working on this first half of

the series. And it culminates in this two -parter

involving Rachel Gould and Lady Shiva in the

League of Assassins. Love the Lance Reddick who

played Philip Royals on fringe voices Rachel

Gould and it's it's like Bruce Bruce Greenwood

as like the second choice the Batman after voicing

Batman after Conroy Lance Reddick would be like

number three on the list because it would go

David Warner Jason Isaacs from Red Hood and then

Lance Reddick like he did a great job and then

The next episode after that, six months later,

Harvey Dent is the new district attorney. It's

voiced by Christopher McDonald. Shooter friggin'

McGavin. They bring this incredibly charismatic

actor onto the show to do one of the, like, the

number two Batman villain of all time, in my

opinion. And you're basically cancelling the

series. Yeah. Cartoon networking. You done goofed.

I mean, I'm not gonna say what I wanted to say.

You done goofed. You done friggin goofed. Because

you're cancelling the series and he turns into

Two -Face in the last friggin episode. Yeah.

Yeah. Um, it just... It's just one of those things

where it's such an interesting dynamic to see

some of the voice actors come to some of these

newer series because... Christopher McDonald

was Jor -El in Superman the Animated Series.

And he was Kal -El, the old Kal -El, in Batman

Beyond. He was the old Superman in Batman Beyond.

So it's interesting to see where these go from

here. Alright, ladies and gentlemen, that's gonna

wrap it up for the Beware the Batman episodes

here inside Batman Month for the Pull Bag. Next

time around, you're going to hear us with our

75th episode of the Pull Bag. It's... You know,

ladies and gentlemen, I gotta say... batman month

i went a little overboard uh... and i'm sorry

and i will have said this the beginning of the

spotlight uh... thirteen podcasts in a month's

time i basically turn the pull back into a television

schedule different podcasts hearing at different

times during one wednesday uh... i'm sorry this

will never happen again i'm working to pace out

the podcast even more uh... to make sure there

are multiple episodes in one day to know people

kinda can't keep up But, next time around, episode

75, we're only two years into the podcast, we've

already hit 75 episodes, it is going to be...

Batman 75 years of the cape and cowl my hosts

will be Steve Megatron Doug Abel from talking

about my generation and Dave Draper from toy

world order and JT actually makes a guest appearance

as he does the just the facts for Batman 75 so

tune in for that and then after that we get into

the new 52 stuff yay new 52 then the deal will

pay now Come on, DT, you gotta realize New 52

is basically a giant DCAU joke. You know that,

right? I know that. Think of the end of Once

and Future Thing. So that all really happened?

Yup. We're the only two that remember anything

about it. And it was Batman and Green Lantern.

It's just, sorry, Didio has... If I was Dr. Doom,

DiDio would be my Mr. Fantastic. It's just DiDio!

And it's not that I blame everything about the

new 52 on Dan DiDio. I've seen videos on YouTube

and read interviews with this man. I have never

met an individual with his head more firmly placed

between his buttocks. I firmly blame him for

the fate of Nightwing. Not only Nightwing's death,

but the fact that they're going to turn... Have

you seen the solicitations for the September

Futures End event? Not as yet. Oh, seriously?

You haven't seen these? Okay. Okay, ladies and

gentlemen. I don't want to take too much time

up left out of this podcast. Join us next time.

75 years of the Cape and Cowl. I'm going to go

break JT's mind off air. Make your greatest game

into comics and we will catch you next time.

You've just heard the latest episode of the pullback

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