Hey Nerds, I’m Kya and I’m back with another exciting episode of ‘Yellow Spandex!’
You guys have been begging us to do Batman for a while, and it’s not like I needed much convincing.
I’m here for Batman anytime. I’m obsessed with all his different looks.
But it would be impossible to cover all that spandex in one episode.
So don’t worry, we’re definitely going to do his comic and live-action costumes, his villains, and maybe even a special look at the Batmobile.
But for part one, we’re gonna start with the medium that made me a nerd in the first place.
Because I’m crazy about Batman's animated evolution.
We don’t have time to cover all of the DC animated movies, since there’s about 20 million and they each draw Batman a different way.
So we’re gonna stick to TV, and start at the beginning with the Filmation Batman.
The Caped Crusader made his first animated appearance as part of Filmation’s ‘Batman/Superman Hour’ in 1968.
Unless you count the intro to the ‘66 live-action series.
The animation is pretty wonky and they’re constantly re-using footage, but the character designs aren’t bad.
They’re like those designs I would see on those retro lunch boxes and I wanted one.
They’re based on Neal Adams’ 1964 Batman redesign, so we’ve got the oval behind the bat-symbol and the little eyebrows drawn on the shadowy part of his mask.
The only real difference is that the grey parts of his costume are light blue for some reason.
The show only lasted about a year, but Filmation rebooted it in 1977 as ‘The New Adventures of Batman and Robin.’
It literally used the same models from the first show, and even recycled the same bits of animation.
So what’s so new about these adventures?
Unlike the first cartoon, Adam West and Burt Ward were back to reprise their roles as the Dynamic Duo.
You're getting tough, Dick.
Are you really gonna hold me to our bet?
I sure am! You're cooking all the meals for a whole week, my boy!
And they had a new friend in the form of the magical imp Bat-Mite.
Ta-da!
Bat Mite, I thought we told you to stay in your own world and out of our hair!
I tried! I really tried! But it was just so dreadfully boring!
He’s actually been a part of ‘Batman’ comics since the ‘50s.
He’s in ‘Brave and the Bold,’ too, but we’ll get to that later.
Filmation wasn’t the only company with an animated Batman in the ‘70s.
On top of their two series, we got another take on the Dark Knight from Hanna-Barbera.
It's Batman and Robin!
This version debuted on an episode of ‘The New Scooby-Doo Movies’ in 1972, but that was just a test run for ‘Superfriends’ the next year.
This Batman isn’t too different from the Filmation version.
He’s just redrawn in the smooth clean style of ‘Space Ghost’ creator Alex Toth.
Aaaahhhhhhh! Ahh!
But as great as these model sheets look, the actual animation was all kinds of f*cked up.
I mean I still watched them, loved them, but looking at it now, Jesus Christ.
See, back then, cartoons were still strictly for kids.
And studios pumped them out as fast and cheap as possible.
At least until 'Batman: The Animated Series' changed everything in 1992.
God, where do I even start?
'BTAS' is what made me as a human being. It was my favorite cartoon as a child. I watched 'X-Men: Evolution' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh' and all those other cartoons.
But 'BTAS' like, stayed with me and I would go back and watch the cool title sequences, and Harley Quinn was made there, and it's the first time I heard Mark Hamill's Joker.
And just hands down, it's the best thing I've ever seen in my life. It will always be the best thing I've ever seen in my life. I love 'BTAS.' Okay, great.
Nora! Noraaa!
My god...
Yes. It would move me to tears, if I still had tears to shed.
A big part of ‘Batman’s’ success was the brilliant art design of Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski.
Timm made these awesome model sheets that explained everything from the way Batman’s ears point to when it’s acceptable to cheat with the length of his cape.
Capes are cool! Like, when it comes straight down and makes a little circle around him... He looks like a bat! It's cool!
These designs established the visual language for DC’s Animated Universe, and the look would evolve over the next fifteen years.
After two seasons, the ‘Batman’ team redesigned their characters to match the crisper look of the ‘Superman’ cartoon.
They phased out curves and drew the characters with more sharp angles and straight lines.
Which in my opinion fits more of Batman’s aesthetic.
It makes him more edgy and dangerous.
Timm also ditched the yellow oval, and made Batman’s cape and cowl all black.
Also? Utility belt pouches.
Points for practicality.
I wasn’t originally gonna include Batman Beyond,
because it’s such a radical departure and Terry McGuinness isn’t technically our Batman.
McGuiness! What are you doing? !
But Bruce does wear the new black-and-red suit in the first episode, so I’ll allow it.
Batman got one more redesign when it came time for the ‘Justice League’ cartoon.
Man going through these cartoons are hard, man. I wanna rant about all of them.
‘Justice League’ has my favorite Batman personality wise,
Batman to all points. I could use some air support. Since I can't fly. At all.
but I’m gonna just keep talking about his looks.
They brought some of the color back to his costume and made his ears even longer and spookier.
He’s also got a heel on his boot, so I don’t want to hear any more complaining about Wonder Woman wearing wedges.
After the DCAU ended, the next show had a hard act to follow.
It was simply called: 'The Batman.'
The characters were designed by Jeff Matsuda, the guy who did ‘The Jackie Chan Adventures.’
F*ck, I love Jackie Chan Adventures.
One more thing! I also brought the antidotes that did not work! Maybe if I mix them together!
We’re like peak childhood for me right now.
But, I’m still not the biggest fan of the style for Batman.
It’s too anime for me, but at the same time not anime enough.
Bruce Wayne looks like a twelve-year-old caveman, and everyone’s proportions are just a little too crazy.
Also I’m not even gonna get into the Joker with dreads. I hate it.
Speaking of threads? Think this is a good look for me?
No! His stupid f*cking dreads look so stupid! It's like, okay, great, we'll try a new Joker, but he looks so stupid!
He doesn't look like the Joker, he looks like someone who wants to be the Joker! It also sucks cause his voice acting is so cool. Anyways.
Smear free! It's permaclown!
As for Bats himself, the oval is back, he’s got some cool claws, and you’re not gonna hear me complain about a long-ass cape.
I LOVE Batman with a long cape down to his ankles. He looks like a dementor. It’s sick.
This show lasted for five seasons.
Wait, shit, five seasons? These shows last way longer than you remember. Like you sit down, watch a few reruns
and you just like forget seasons exist. Next thing you know your 50 episodes deep and like ‘how did i get here?’
It was okay, but it was definitely a lot more kid-oriented and “toyetic”than the DCAU stuff.
That might not be a fair comparison, but ‘The Batman’ didn’t really do much to distinguish itself.
Not like 'The Brave and the Bold' did.
Instead of another take on the grim dark avenger of the night, this series threw back to the wacky Batman of the ‘50s.
You wouldn't hit a lady, would ya?
The hammer of Justice is unisex!
Everything about this show is just joyous and hilarious and fun.
There’s so many amazing DC cameos and guest stars and I just… I love it.
It’s also my favorite musical anything ever.
The Music Meister is amazing. Can we just play one of his songs here?
The Music Meister plays the song that the world wants to hear.
Let's not fight, let's get along for your hypnotic profiteer!
The Music Meister was played by Neil Patrick Harris, he went on Broadway to play 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch.'
He was then replaced by Darren Criss, who then went on to be the Music Meister in the Flash and Supergirl crossover episode!
And it all comes together. Sorry, I know way too much about the Music Meister. I love him a lot, he's really great.
The art style is a tribute to the ghost-artists who worked on Batman in the early years.
Even though Bob Kane got all the credit, most of his stories were illustrated by artists like Dick Sprang and Sheldon Moldoff.
That’s where the thick lines, tiny ears and constant smile came from
The whole show is a love letter to every incarnation of Batman, not just the aggro moody “I’M NOT WEARING HOCKEY PADS” version.
Unfortunately, that’s what the kids these days seem to want, so they cancelled “The Brave and the Bold” for a new computer animated series called
'Beware the Batman'
And yes, I’m still mad.
I’m sorry, this cartoon is ugly as sin.
I can kind of see the style they were going for…
The costume is super dark, and with the bright yellow belt against all that black it kinda resembles the Tim Burton movie suit.
But this weak-ass CGI just makes everyone look like aliens.
Whatever.
This show was cancelled after three months, and Cartoon Network burned off the last episodes in the 3:00 AM Toonami timeslot.
Sadly, that’s the last Batman solo show to date.
All that’s left are the team-ups.
We already talked about the ‘Superfriends’ and ‘Justice League,’ so what about the ‘Teen Titans?’
'Teen Titans' is also dope. I love the first one. Yo, Slade. Was. Amazing!
You shouldn't play with fire.
Batman is never seen in the first show, but a cute cartoony version does show up in ‘Teen Titans Go!’
Speaking of teenage superheroes, I know Phoenix Ravenclaw would never forgive me if I didn’t shout out ‘Young Justice.’
His costume looks like a version of the New 52 suit, just with the underwear on the outside still intact.
Batman is an absolute badass in this show, even if I’m a little disappointed he’s not voiced by Kevin Conroy.
The new ‘Justice League Action’ cartoon doesn’t have that problem, but it feels really weird hearing such a deep, velvety voice coming out of this skinny, tiny Batman.
I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman!
This is really more of a kids’ show, so I haven’t seen a ton of it.
I do love the huge logo though, especially how it blends in with his cape.
Honestly, Batman’s costume never changes too much in his animated incarnations.
The art style varies, but the classic cape and cowl are usually pretty consistent.
Live action is a whole different story, though.
So stay tuned, because we’re saving that one for another episode of Yellow Spandex.