In the premiere adventure, the Dark Knight teams up with Blue Beetle to stop an incoming meteor from hitting the Earth, but the two accidentally slip through a wormhole that dumps them on a planet in the far-side of the Milky Way Galaxy. There they discover that the last host of BB’s Scarab fended off an attempt by Kanjar Ro to enslave the planet’s plasm-like inhabitants, just as the galactic despot returns for a second bout of destruction.
Before jumping into critiques of story specifics, dialogue, and characterization, something needs to be said of the inferred history and world that Batman: Brave and the Bold inhabits. From the little seen, one can surmise it’s big. Very, very big.
The series doesn’t appear to be as much about Bats meeting new heroes as they emerge on the crime-busting circuit, but team-ups with old friends and allies. This sense of an already existing superhero community enriches the relationships and onscreen interactions of the major players, and tosses aside any fears that each episode is going to follow a boring formula of Batman learning to trust new good-doers.
These are established superhero relationships.
Simply said, it looks like the creators of the show know Batman, know the DCU, and plan on paying respect to the characters, the history, and, most importantly, the fans.
To illustrate this point, one needs to look no further than the opening moments of the series. Though the episode centers on Bats and the rookie Blue Beetle, it begins with the last few moments of a Batman/Green Arrow adventure against the Clock King that suggests this isn’t the first time the heroes have paired-up.
The characters have an aura of Darwyn Cooke/New Frontier about them, optimistic and witty. Their voices pull more from the confidence of a 1960s Adam West than the brooding Kevin Conroy of the 1990s. And the colors and (lack of shadows) echo an era of superheroes where they are embraced by the public they defend, instead of being feared and hiding in the shadows.
Though often avoided by modern comic book artists, the starkly contrasting blue and grey suit, adorned with yellow oval, works for this approach to the Dark Knight. The absence of the shadows and darks makes for a lighter-hearted hero, one more likely to lend himself to team-ups instead of looming in dark alleys.
And while the images translate the intent of the show well, the dialogue stumbles when it switches to a narrating Batman. As Batman narrates his relationship with the Emerald Archer and his thoughts on Blue Beetle, the clumsy oration slips into unbelievable cheese, detracting from the visuals and distracting the viewer.
At the same time, Batman seems too well equipped for every situation (an observation made by BB himself on camera), as his utility belt comes equipped with a lightsaber, his cape transforms into jet wings (with rockets on his belt for propulsion), and the emblem on his chest turns into a batarang (ala Superman II). It seems that this reliance on an arsenal ex machina could easily turn into this show’s downfall.
And while an unfair comparison, Brave and the Bold lacks the depth of character exploration seen and masterfully executed in Batman: The Animated Series, but is not completely absent, at least in this episode as the young Beetle learns why heroes need to remain humble.
All in all, Batman: Brave and the Bold keeps at its heart the ideal that watching these heroes should be fun, and worth checking out.
Follow Frank DeAngelo on Twitter at @modernheart to talk about comics, movies, politics, music, and more.
