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Batman The Animated Newsletter #34

Batman The Animated Newsletter #34

Batman The Animated Newsletter #34
Weeks of August 2 – August 14/15, 1999
Volume 2,
Rated: PG for some “low-key coarse language and occasional griping”

THIS ISSUE’S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: “GO SEE ‘THE IRON GIANT’! IF THIS MOVIE DOES WELL (as it should), IT MAY CONVINCE THE WB TO MAKE MORE ANIMATED SUPERHERO MOVIES! GO SEE IT NOW!”
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to another issue of “Batman: The Animated Newsletter”. Enjoy!
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SPECIAL IN THIS ISSUE
We have shortened down the length of our “Why we love BTAS so much” column from four installments to two – so that means the final installment is in this issue. Scroll down to see if you can find your quote! (It’s like a text version of “Where’s Waldo”, I guess…)
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NEW EPISODE(S)
This section will just basically give an insight into what the new episodes are about and hopefully a synopsis of the episode. This section will feature both new Superman and new Batman episodes.

THE LOSS OF THE WB ON WGN: Beginning this fall, the WB will no longer be carried on WGN-TV’s national feed to avoid conflicts with other WB affiliates. WGN-TV will continue carrying the prime time WB in the Chicago area. If you’re outside the Chicago area and know of no other way to pick up the WB, you may call them at (818)977-5000 for more information. This is taken from the info section of the WGN website, http://www.wgn.com . Thank you for Peter Destructo for pointing this out.

KidsWB will soon be shown on a new channel called “WeB” – I know little about this – but if you can get that channel, I’m pretty sure the WB shows would be on.

‘ONCE BURNED’
Batman Beyond #14?
Air Date: 1999-2000 season
Ten returns to rekindle her love for Terry, and the Royal Flush Gang returns to once again kill Batman – but then again, is there more than meets the eye this time?

‘SPLICING’
Batman Beyond #15?
Airdate:1999-2000 season
Teenagers at Hamilton Hill High School’s new fad is ‘splicing’ where teens take characteristics of animals and geneticaly splice them into their own bodies. You can guess this goes downhill fast!

‘THE DEMON REBORN’
Superman #44?
Air date: Fall of 1999
BATMAN’S FINAL CURRENT-DAY ANIMATED APPEARANCE! This episode features Batman and Superman teaming up to take down Ra’s Al Ghul, who has plans to send the world back to its natural, pre-human state. WOOHOO! THE BAT IS BACK! Airs in September.

‘LEGACY (Pt. 1 & 2)’
Superman #48, 49?
Air date: Fall of 1999
This two-parter features the final showdown between Superman and Darksied in which he strips Superman of his memory and adopts him as a son in an effort to take over Earth. Now it seems this won’t air until September! Argh!
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WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS site)

This section of the newsletter highlights the schedule and times that WB airs The New Batman/Superman Adventures. For most affiliates it airs Monday – Friday at 4pm (ET) and Saturdays beginning at 8am (ET). WGN airs Batman/Superman Monday – Friday at 10am (ET) and Sundays beginning at 8am (ET). There’s a chance that your local WB channel airs it at a differant time. To find out when, we recommend you follow this URL (provided by Toonzone): http://www.toonzone.net/brian/stations/index.html

PS – Remember that “Batman Beyond” airs 30 minutes AFTER “Batman/Superman” is over, because “Men In Black” has been squeezed in between.

THIS WEEK:
Mon 8-02-99: Superman #19 Target
Batman #77 The Lion and the Unicorn

Tue 8-03-99: Batman #76 Baby-Doll
Superman #25 Brave New Metropolis

Wed 8-04-99: Superman #08 The Main Man (Pt. 1)
Superman #11 The Main Man (Pt. 2)

Thu 8-05-99: Batman #70 House and Garden 
Superman #16 Action Figures

Fri 8-06-99: Superman #45 Knight Time
Batman #104 Legends of the Dark Knight

Sat 8-07-99: Superman #43 New Kids in Town
Batman #107 Chemistry
B-BEYOND #10 Dead Man’s Hand

NEXT WEEK:
Episode schedules for the week of August 9 to August 15 were unavailable at the delivery date of this newsletter. For current schedules, go to Brian Cruz’ site, via the link provided above.

All episodes #86 and onward of BATMAN are considered THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES while the original 85 are considered BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS) episodes.
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CARTOON NETWORK WB ANIMATION SCHEDULE:
“Yabba Dabba Doom”
(courtesy of Brian Cruz)

THE CARTOON NETWORK was able to get the exclusive rights to 52 episodes of the classic BTAS, as well as both animated movies. BTAS airs Monday-Friday at 6pm (ET) and then repeated again at midnight. If our schedule listings is not complete or up to date then please go to TOONZONE for the complete episode schedule at:

http://www.toonzone.net/brian/schedules/batman-cn.html
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EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)

All of Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton’s reviews of the new-style BTAS episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links, which link to “Two-Face’s Tower of Tranquility and Terror”:

MAIN PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BTAS PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFaceText/bats.html


SINS OF THE FATHER
Written by Rich Fogel 
Directed by Curt Geda 
Animation by Dong Yang 
Original air date: September 20, 1997 
My rating: *** 

“Sins of the Father” is the origin story of the third Robin, Tim Drake. After “Sub-Zero”, Dick Grayson (the original Robin) became Nightwing, and needs to be replaced. Note: Tim Drake is the third Robin in the comics, but the second Robin on BTAS. (BTAS overlooked the brutal but important death of Jason Todd.)

In the BTAS incarnation of this character, Tim Drake is a down-on-his luck kid, who has pretty much been orphaned by his father, Stephen Drake. Tim is very street-smart…and idolizes Batman, for he possesses a collection of newspaper clippings about the Dark Knight and even a real batarang at his below-average residence. 

Enter the villain. Stephen Drake used to work for Two-Face, and has something that Two-Face desires…and he and his mean are searching for him. They eventually stumble upon Tim at his home, and take him hostage. 

Enter the hero. Batman saves the day, and in a hurried escape, takes Tim back to the Batcave in the new Batboat. One event leads to another…Tim’s father is found dead in Metropolis, Tim discovers Batman’s secret identity, and Batgirl makes her uneeded appearance…and after Batman’s continual dissuasion, Tim becomes the new Robin. 

I liked this episode. Two-Face is genuinely evil, and Batman is the stone-cold man he should be. Alfred makes his first “improved” appearance, and it now appears that Batgirl has full access to the Batcave. Tim Drake is a good Robin replacement, for he really is a “boy wonder”. At the end of the episode, Dick Grayson enters to see Bruce training Tim…a very touching, and cool ending. 

This one should have been a two-parter, though. That’s the only downside. 
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SPECIAL IN THIS ISSUE #1
(by YOU, the fans)

FANS, FANS EVERYWHERE!
PART TWO

Welcome to our new summer column! This is the second and final installment of our column showcasing why fans Batman/Superman/Beyond so much! This column is compirsed of quotes from fans, telling us why its a step above all the rest! But remember, these are YOUR quotes! Can you find yours? Can you find ours? Can you find Waldo? OK, enough of this…let’s begin!

“History: I’m been a comics collector for over 25 years, I grew up watching the Adam West Batman, and the CBS morning DC lineup, Superfriends, et al. Never really was thrilled with the theatrical versions of Supes or Batman; the promos for the new Fox show had my
interest. When my family and I sat down to watch the premiere episode we were thrilled: the music, the voices, the animation – all perfectly cast (even surprises here and there like Mark Hamill of “Star Wars” portraying the Joker) – the opening alone sent chills down my spine – this was a WINNER!!
And in the years to follow I enjoyed taping and watching my episodes, laughing, gasping and even crying at the drama that was presented – I dare anyone to say they were not affected by Michael Ansara’s portrayal of the tragic Mr. Freeze (I so hated Arnold in the role!). I’ve always been a credits reader and I knew that a Dini episode would have me glued to the screen – and his creation of Harley (“Ya wanna ride your Harley, Mistah J?”) Quinn was a masterstroke – the perfect moll.
In a word, “Batman: the Animated Series” was tradition – in it’s own right. Not hokey, campy, special effects laden garbage that Warner Brothers has tortured us with, but a true to itself internal history that never backed away from the hard issues of violence and its affect on people.
“Superman” – he’s always been ok. I was never a huge fan of his comic, but it’s been a hoot to see their rebooted presentation of Supergirl – I like her a lot and I loved the crossover with Batgirl (“Girls Night Out”) for obvious reasons, Harley knocking herself out during the fight alone was worth it!!! I also have liked Superman better when he wasn’t playing the stereotypical good guy (“Knight Time”) and the “World’s Finest” team-up was fantastic!
“Batman Beyond” – Terry McGinnis is growing on me…. and the way the creative team is tossing out little tantalizing bits of info – the biggest bombshell being that Barbara and Bruce were an item???? Whoa Mama!! Now as we move into the second season I wanna know what happened to Dick, Tim, and Alfred.
All in all the creative teams of these three shows are exceptionally talented and they should be credited for re-creating the most famous DC heroes out there – and they’ve done it by sticking to the traditions of what makes these characters work, its not the skintight, latex suits with toys and explosions everywhere, it’s the people behind the costumes and the decisions that they make that keep them fresh and special.” 
-WB Animation Fan, Beverly Martin & Family

“These shows are great simply becuase they don’t pull their punches. Sure, the FOX censors thought they were being smart, but some alterations made things better. The chilling scene where Dick’s parents die (in “Robin’s Reckoning (Pt. 1)”)? Done great. To think, if the crew got their way, we would have watched Dick’s parent’s fall to their untimely deaths. I think it’s better we don’t see some of the action, it lets our imagaination enter this world and make our own spin of the consequences, even if they prove to be different later on in the show. Although one thing I wish I never saw was ‘CRITTERS’.”
-Anthony Steeves

“Superman. The ultimate boy scout, and also a huge pain in the ass for Batman. Seeing those two heroes meet up wasn’t your normal SUPERFRIENDS fare. It was done with style, grace, and a killer script. I have every episode on tape, and I’m glad. In twenty years, if VCRs are still
around, then maybe I’ll sit down and watch all 160+ episodes of Batman & Superman. Maybe.
-Brad McCully

“I like the new Batman/Superman Animated Adventures becuase it lets me relive my childhood. I read the comics when I was young. I’m 40 years old.”
-Leo Henton

“A normal man (well…basically at the best physical shape ANYONE can be) versus freaks, weirdos, and impossible odds. What’s not to love?”
-anonymous

“In the 1940s a man named Max Fleischer (sp?) gave us some animated shorta based a fairly new comic called SUPERMAN. Who knew that that series would be a complete hit? Today’s Superman is just as great (give or a take a few poor-very poor episodes) and exciting!”
-A Max Fan

“well, heheh, this will be fun…I love Batman becuase of the adventure basically; that’s why I like all three of them in fact [Batman, Superman, B. Beyond]. I’m a very day-dreamy kinda gal, and this is the perfect show to loose your imagaination in. Plus to top it off I just love to write, and to watch stories like this just knock me off my feet with the creativeness the
writers are able to produce. BB especially is doing great with their new characters and interestinbg stories. So that’s it! *FALLS BACK INTO SHADOWS*”
-Barb aka Oracle ^-^

“The show is great basically becuase it’s so true to the myth of the character. A rubber suit? Please! An earthquake? In Gotham? Come on! The Joker, loose? Go get him!”
-anonymous

“I think “Superman” has brought us the best spin on the Superman rogue’s gallery. They’ve made seemlessly harmless mainstream characters into true 3 dimensional bad asses. Look at Toyman. In the comic he’s just some bald guy who likes ot kill kids. In the cartoon, he’s a revenge
driven man whose father (who was a toy maker) was swindled by the mob. That sound better then just some child killer, doesn’t it?”
-Cecil Mallery

“I have Batman to thank for me finding Superman. If Batman didn’t move to Kids’WB! and team with Batman weekdays and weekends, then I would’ve never found the TRUE Man Of Steel!”
-Matthew Clarke

“Well, I like BTAS, because for the first time I saw a Batman true to the spirit of the legendary character. It’s true that this show doesn’t depict so many graphic violence that we saw lately on the comics from Batman, but this isn’t a deter to show fully three-dimensional
characters.

“At first I rejected to see the show episodes. I supposed that it will be a Batman 60’s series, or that mediocre SuperFriends cartoons look-a-like. But one day I give it a chance and wow! It was an episode without Batman at all, but instead a disguised Bruce Wayne, and since
then I was hooked. I really liked the way that this show mixed the 40’s-50’s feeling with all the technologic improvements of our time.
“This is the kind of Batman movies that the silly execs at Warner should make. My best Batman picture of all time is “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm”; why they don’t think to bring this in an live-action movie?
“Of Superman I only saw the ‘movie’ with Batman, Luthor and The Joker, and it rocks [WB released WORLD’S FINEST to video in the Summer of 1998]! If only Warner Bros could produce more direct to video movies like this it would be heaven. Like the scenes between Lois and Bruce,
and all the action scenes by the “World’s Finest” team were astounding!
“That’s all my comments about this. Sorry I haven’t seen Batman Beyond
yet.” 
-GEVALHER

“Comics have gotten a bad reputation for being adapted poorly to the small screen (MARVEL ACTION HOUR anyone?) and to the big screen (BATMAN & ROBIN, and about every other comicbook film). It was nice to see two shows that actually succeeded in breaking that chain. To top it off we got a completely new spin-off show, Batman Beyond, that’s just as great!”
-Josh Harvey

“I see these characters as the modern mythology. Who does not know who Superman is? Ask any one. Heroes give us hope where there is none, or at least where there should not be. I won’t name examples here, becuase you can find your own. Just open a comic book, read a novel, or watch TV. A lot of people don’t have heroes to look up to. To me those were my heroes. Sometimes they change, but they always change back. Sometimes they die or get injured. They overcome obstacles (hey, even death). I look at this as rooting for the home team at sporting events. People wear Superman and Batman shirts Most people think comics books and cartoons are for kids. They’re wrong. Everyone I know watched Batman/Superman. They like it as much as
I do. They ask me questions about the why’s and how’s; then I collect comic books.
Green Lantern mostly. This is all I have to say on the subject. I hope this helps”
-anonymous

“This show gives us a chance to see some of our favorite DC characters in action, and done right. Compare the SUPER-FRIENDS GL to the new one who guest starred on Superman. The SF’s GL was just a clone of all the other heroes. STAS’s GL was his own hero. Sure he wasn’t good at being a hero, but he was only just beginning ya know!”
-James Green

“The future. Sure. It’s mysterious. Unknown. Frightening. But BEYOND is able to take all of that and use it on the legend of Batman. A mysterious future. A legendary character. Mix ’em togethor and you get one helluva show!”
-McKenzie Karter

“Batman just has influence. In IT’S NEVER TOO LATE he is able to single handily turn a mob boss around. He showed him all the evil he was doing, and it worked. The boss’ son was in drug rehab. His empire and marriage in shambles. Hmph. And all it took was a man in a bat costume to fix things. He’d be one helluva divorce lawyer.”
-Dan McFarlane

“OBSESSION. An insane man stalks a woman. Sure the insane man has a thing for toys and the woman is really a robot, but damn, this episode actually hits home. There are reported stalkings every year. Somehow, this episode was able to deal with that issue, sorta, and turn things all around, and make it enjoyable. I call that class. And art.”
-anonymous

“We have the Joker. We have Lex Luthor. We have Two-Face. We have Darksied. Four of the biggest bad asses every created in one show (well two technically) and they are all on the mark. Every character they way they should be . I see no flaws whatsoever in their presentation. Just damn good stories.”
-anonymous

“‘I don’t really know, how to put on a cool show’. Those are lyrics from the silverchair song ‘FREAK’. They should take some pointers from THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES!”
-Sean Harper

“Great scripts? Got that! Great animation? Got that! Interesting Characters? Got that, too! These three shows have everything a person could ever want in a show!
-just an enthused bat fan

T-T-Th-Th-Th-That’s All Folks! Let’s mambo! (Well, this IS a WB-influenced newsletter, isn’t it? And as a bonus trivia question, does anyone know where that quote came from? 🙂

EDITORAL #1
(by Laura Hysert, aka “Phoenix”)

Laura is still on hiatus – here’s hoping she returns soon! *BEGS* COME BACK LAURA!!! 
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EDITORIAL #2
(by Michael Mandeville)
batboym@wtp.net

Hello everybody,

As always, I don’t mean for this editorial to offend anyone (even though I probably will).

For the past few days I’ve been watching my tapes of the old Batman 60’s series (the one with Adam West and Burt Ward in tights), and I started looking at the changes of Batman over the years (from the Batman 60’s series to BTAS in the 90’s). So in this editorial I’ll be reviewing the changes of Batman villains and other characters. The changes will range in the four mainstream movies, the “animated” universe, and the 60’s series. 

The villain gallery:

THE JOKER – Batman’s most hated enemy. Probably the most famous of all villains. Look’s like a clown.
BATMAN (TV) (1966-1968): The Joker is a nameless villain who loves pranks. He takes on the guise of a clown and becomes the most famous nameless person in the Batman chronicles. Played by the now-deceased Cesar Romero.
BATMAN (1989): Jack Napier is a criminal that turns bad when he is knocked into a vat of acid (we all know this story), he becomes The Joker. Dies at the end. Played by Jack Nicholson.
BTAS (1992-present): The Joker is a man going under a variety of aliases. He goes bad after he is knocked into a vat of acids by Batman. Voiced by Mark Hamill (who else?).
BATMAN BEYOND (1999): Fate unknown. Popular opinion believes Batman killed him.

BOOKWORM – A genius. Loves books and all his cromies are related to books.
BATAMN (TV) (1966-1968): A genius. Loves books and all his crimes relate to books. Played by the same man who later voiced the Mad Hatter in Batman the animated series, the late Roddy McDowall (Rest In Peace)

THE MAD HATTER – A villain who’s either obsessed with hats and “Alice In Wonderland”
BATMAN (TV) (1966-1968): Jervis Tetch… Obsessed with hats.
BTAS (1992-present): Jervis Tetch… Obsessed with Alice in Wonderland

MR. FREEZE – A cool customer
BATAMN (TV) (1966-1968): Played by three different actors in three different episodes (Wild!). Has no point to his crimes, but he is usually looking for a cool bride.
BTAS (1992-present): Avenging and trying to cure his wife, Nora.
BATMAN & ROBIN (1997): Dr. Victor Fries. the popularity of this villain jumps sky high, almost to the popularity of the Joker. Trying to find a cure for his wife, Nora Fries. Likes to laugh, say corny one-liners, and says “yes” a lot.
BATMAN & MR. FREEZE: SUB-ZERO (1998): Nora is cured; later marries her doctor and leaves Gotham for good.
BATMAN BEYOND (1999): Tries to become normal again, but hardly possible. Mr. Freeze meets his end in Batman Beyond ‘Meltdown’. He dies trying to help Batman against the likes of Blight.

CATWOMAN – Meow. A cat burglar.
BATMAN (TV) (1966-1968): Uses three of her nine lives. Loves Batman. Played by three actresses.
BATMAN RETURNS (1992): Uses more of her lives. Loves Bruce Wayne.
BTAS (1992-present): Uses the rest of her lives. Loves Batman.
BATMAN BEYOND (1999): On her last life…as an old lady.

THE PENGUIN – Short, long nosed, loves birds, loves crime.
BATMAN (TV) (1966-1968): Obsessed with crime and birds. Played by the late Burgess Meredith.
BATMAN RETURNS (1992): One of his own, a Penguin. Dies at the end. Maybe.
BTAS (1992-present): Oswald Cobblepot. Still short and long nosed. Later runs a nightclub and cleaned up his act.

TWO-FACE – Now runs this newsletter
BATMAN (TV) (1966-1968): Was GONNA be on the series but wasn’t because they thought the make-up required would be too expensive, unless they wanted Harv to look “campy”.
BATMAN (1989): Both sides of Harvey Dent are black.
BTAS (1992-present): Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face, and later develops a personality known as “The Judge”. Responsible for the creation of Robin (Tim Drake) and Batgirl.
BATMAN FOREVER (1995): Harvey Dent is back, and he’s white, and he’s Two-Face… And he’s played by a certain Man In Black. He dies. Maybe.
BATMAN BEYOND (1999): Apparently has cleaned up his act, got the surgery he needed, and become a major Hollywood star.

That’s all for now.

Thanks to everybody who actually reads this article,
To all MSTies worldwide (including myself)
And especially to the writers of the first amendment,
Batboy [Beyond]
batboym@wtp.net
batboybeyond@hotmail.com
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MONTHLY UPDATE FROM THE UK
(by Brian Davis)

Ever since we started BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER over a year ago, most of our columns have focused on events that happen in North America. This is understandable, since most of the movies, comics, episodes, and merchandise are first brought out here; however, there is a very large fan-following outside of North America, and we felt that it’d be a good idea to give these parts of the world some coverage. So, that’s how this column was born. Brian Davis, webmaster of BRIAN’S BATMAN SITE (which has gone under a major overhaul recently) has joined our newsletter to provide a monthly column, featuring Bat-events from the UK. So, let’s get on with the show! And enjoy!

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POND – AUGUST 1999 …… 

The months of July and August are a funny old time in the UK. Wimbledon has just finsihed and you know it’s supposed to be summer. The sun comes out, it’s really hot, you get sunburned. Walk inside for a cup of tea, go out again and it’s raining from the heavens. 

The UK’s weather is a bit like it’s television appearances of Batman and Superman. One minute you think it’s going to be on. You see Batman listed in the TV Times, tune in drooling and you realize they’re playing ‘Fire From Olympus’ again. The same with Superman. How many times must Season 1 of Superman be shown on ITV?? The real problem with ITV is money. They obviously feel uneasy about buying new episodes of Batman and Superman. I mean, why should they care. The problem is that they don’t actually realize that the new Batman/Superman episodes would be ratings winners. 

In Ireland, Superman (Season 2) is being shown for a second running at a peak time of 5:30 pm!! I wonder who has their priorities straight. In Ireland some Batman episodes (“Over the Edge”, “The Ultimate Thrill”, “Critters”, “Animal Act”) were even aired BEFORE the Kids WB in the USA!! After nearly 3 years ITV remain blind to the fact that Batman/Superman are good shows. So, will we ever see the new Batman/Superman Advs ? The chances are getting better, believe it or not; word is that Batman Beyond is due to air as part of a new Saturday morning show in September. If this is sucessful it may urge ITV to seek out the previous Batman episodes. I don’t know how we are supposed to understand Batman Beyond without having prior knowledge of TNBA. So what if they still don’t care ? Well, there are two more chances after that …. firstly, video. It would short of a miracle if WB UK brought more Batman episodes out on tape -but remember, it has happened before. We have some videos that were never released in the USA. This meant that the tapes were selling and selling good but still the chances of TNBA on video are slim.

So what is our final option? The final option is light at the end of the tunnel, a glittering star in the Dark Knight’s sky. It’s name – Cartoon Network Europe. The satellite/cable channel that knows how to program. They jumped at the chance to buy up the rights for the first 50-odd episodes of Batman, and most recently the first season of Superman. They actually use phrases like ‘animation’ and ‘episodes’ on their teletext rather than ‘cartoon’ and ‘kiddies show’. My predictions are that they will buy all Batman episodes as soon as they are permitted to do so. But there is one problem: time. Cartoon Network seem to take a while getting new waves of episodes, even though they eventually do. I guess, that we’ll see Superman Season 2 on Cartoon Network before we see TNBA but I hope I’m wrong.

So the final conclusion is, all we can do is wait. Wait and watch TNBA figures upon figures released in the UK and even TNBA Easter Eggs but still no new episodes to accompany them. The forecast is gloomy, but hopefully Batman Beyond will be a ray of light to the fat-cats at ITV. Until then my friends, find a good TV/VCR that plays both UK and Amercian video tapes and find a mate in the USA with Kids WB !!

Until next month…keep watching ( whatever you can watch !!! )

– Brian
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED TRIVIA
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)

This is one of my favourite sections, where I get to boggle the minds of all our readers! *EVIL LAUGH* This trivia is all animated-related in some form, and can deal with ANY aspect of the show or comics based on the show. Remember, answer the questions WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE ANIMATED CONTINUITY. Now have fun – let’s see how well you do! Answers are provided below.

New quiz! I’ll list 5 characters here. Now, what you have to do is give me the title of the episode in which they first appeared, according to original air date. Enjoy!

156. Oswald Cobblepot

157. Harvey Dent

158. Barbara Gordon

159. Jack Napier

160. Dick Grayon
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ANSWERS TO THE TRIVIA

Answer to #156: I’ve Got Batman In My Basement
Answer to #157: On Leather Wings
Answer to #158: Heart of Steel (Pt. 1)
Answer to #159: Joker’s Favour
Answer to #160: Fear of Victory

Bonus question: That quote at the bottom of the “Why We Love BTAS So Much” column came from the BTAS episode, “Trial”.
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LITTLE FACTS
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)

Here is a section that just points out various little facts that we have noticed while watching BTAS and STAS countless times. If you have anything to contribute, feel free to do so! Enjoy!

CONBTRIBUTED BY STAFF:
1. Paul Dini makes another appearance on BTAS, this time in the episode “Trial”. Right after Batman is found guilty, Harley takes Van Dorne down the corridorr; she looks to the side to slyly smile at a Dini look-alike. Earlier in the episode there is a shot that shows Mistah Dini and two other guys together – that are also probably BTAS producers/writers/crew, but I don’t know who they are.

CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
(by “Lady Wayne”)
2. Watch the scene near the beginning of “Mudslide” where Stella retrieves Clayface’s body from the alley; when the car drives up, the back doors don’t have handles. When the car drives away, it DOES have handles. Weird, ain’t it? (Ain’t I? 🙂
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED FIGURES
(by Kevin Smith) 
Oh_Ho77@hotmail.com

Mr. Smith was unable to submit an article for this issue of BTAN. But fear not, he will return shortly!
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COMIC REVIEWS
(by Aaron Maurer)

BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES
ISSUE: “Captive Audience” (#16)
WRITTEN BY: Scott Peterson
PENCILED BY: Criag Rousseau
INKED BY: Terry Beatty
ISSUED: July 7, 1999 (Cover date is September)
RATING: ***.5 (out of 5)

“And thank you for being so cooperative. Most people take at least
30 seconds to hypnotize.”
–Alfred to his would-be kidnappers

SUMMARY: Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin are busy beating a bunch of thugs (no explanation is ever given, but endless amounts of bad guys keep coming at them) while Batman tells them that Alfred has been kidnapped. While they continually fight more thugs, Alfred outwits his
kidnappers so that when the Bat-team does arrive he’s already escaped.

COMMENTS: The art in this issue was great. Since there was no story, every panel is huge. The penciller, inker, and colorist all get to shine.

CRITICISMS: What was the point of this issue? A much simpler rehash of “The Lion and the Unicorn,” that has no importance whatsoever. Anyone who has seen that episode already knows that “Alfred was pretty formidable in his day,” so I didn’t find anything in this issue new or
noteworthy. However, I did like the final page which was a good end(?) to the story(?).

BOTTOM LINE: A good exercise in fast-paced, art-based storytelling that leaves anyone looking for a plot left in the dark.
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COMIC SCHEDULES & COVERING THE BASICS

This section gives a little bit more indepth look into each monthly issue of BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. Below each comic listing is a link to the cover of that comic. TALK ABOUT SERVICE!
The price is $1.99 in the US and..grrrrr…a whopping $3.25 in Canada. (Both our editors and many subscribers are Canadian, hence the “grrr”.)

BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #17
August 4th
Batman finds himself in the middle of a family matter when a mob leader tries to kidnap the young son of immigrants – a boy the leader claims is his son. What if the evidence proves this to be true? Can even a super-hero change a person’s nature? 
Cover: http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/covers/download/dbmga17.jpg 

NEXT MONTH:
Synopsis: Man-Bat is back. Kirk Langstrom’s wife’s disappearance coincides with attacks by Man-Bat on numerous corporate labs. What’s the connection, and how can Batman stop the creature without one of them getting killed? 
Cover: http://www.toonzone.net/comics/covers/bga/bga18.jpg

BATMAN BEYOND #1 (ongoing)
Uhhh…don’t know much about this…it’ll be out in September, though.

FOLLOWING MONTH: Issue #2. Starring Inque! Comes out in October.

SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #36
August 11th
This whole issue looks like a job for Superman – bank robberies, plane hijackings, people trapped in mine shafts, and oh yeah, a kid’s missing dog. Can even the Man of Steel cover all these bases, or will he have to choose one emergency over the other?
Cover: http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/covers/download/dsma36.jpg

NEXT MONTH:
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable

NEWS AND RUMORS

ALL-ENCOMPASSING/OTHER
-Terry Beatty has been and will be selling Gotham Adventures and Batman Beyond original art on ebay. His Seller ID is: wlee@muscanet.com Do yourself a favor and check out some great art!
-Also the COMIC BOOK CONTINUUM has an exclusive interview with none other then Paul Dini. Find out more on the upcoming season as well as his upcoming comic with Alex Ross called BATMAN:WAR ON CRIME as well as his other upcoming prjects! The URL is: http://detnews.com/metro/hobbies/comix/opinions/dini/index.htm
-There will be an ALL-NEW CONTEST beginning July 26th on BATMAN: THE ANIMATED MESSAGE BOARD. With a couple questions left, the current contest is winding down, with the winner soon to be announced. The prize(s) will of course, be Batman related. To find out more about the new contest check out the message board at:
http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb163084
-Next season, it seems Pokemon will now be appearng 10 times a week on Kids’WB! Twice every weekday and twice every weekend. This could effect BATMAN/SUPERMAN/s chance of regaining it’s hour format on weekends this fall.

“CURRENT” ANIMATED SERIES’
-However, BTAS/STAS will return in the fall of 2001 with NEW EPISODES, when Batman Beyond goes on hiatus.
-The STAS episodes LEGACY and DEMON REBORN have been left for next season. Great. Three more episodes to be scattered throughout the season. Perfect. Blech.

BATMAN BEYOND
-The BATMAN BEYOND CD will come out in stores on August 31st. Check out this section of Batman: The Animated Newsletter in for a full play-list. The CD runs about 40 minutes. For more info, and a picture of the CD cover, go to this address: http://detnews.com/metro/hobbies/comix/stories/9907/23/index.htm 

ANIMATED COMICS
-Still waiting to see when Ty Templeton’s leftover Joker story for “Gotham Adventures” is set to come out…
-Poison Ivy will be appearing in GOTHAM ADVENTURES #19.
-It’s a nearly-safe bet that Two-Face will be in #22 (just as he was in BATMAN ADVENTURES and BATMAN & ROBIN ADVENTURES).
-Ty, however, WILL be briefly return to DC’s animated comics. He is writing the script for and #42 of SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. As an added bonus, an unidentified character leaves his/her stomping grounds of Gotham City and makes an appearance in one of these two issues. Our lips are zipped! We’re not saying any more!

OTHER COMICS
-Batman will get a brand-spanking-new costume as of January 2000, immediately after “No Man’s Land” concludes. A new Batcave, Batmobile, and Wayne Manor are also coming.
-BATMAN: DARK VICTORY, the follow-up to THE LONG HALLOWEEN (by Loeb and Sale) kicks off this October with Issue #1.
-For more, see the “Road Through No Man’s Land” section below.

MOVIES
-Paul Dini says that the direct to video BATMAN BEYOND movie will now hit shleves Thanksgiving 2000. He says the sript is done and everything is set to go. Asked about whether or not we’ll see more Batman/Superman he simply said that when BATMAN was cancelled on FOX it was thought the show was done for good, then it appeared for two seasons on WB. Who knows?

TOYS & MERCHANDISE
-A CATWOMAN video game will be available for Game Boy Colour this summer! Where did THIS come from? It appears to be based on the COMICS version of Catwoman, not the animated or movie version. Go to this address to read all about it: http://www.top-gear.com/catwomandmg.htm
-The new BTAS video game which is currently in production (for PSX and N64) will be done in the TNBA (new style) style of the series.
-The Playstation version of the SUPERMAN video game has a tentative release date of September 16, 1999.
-Check out “Two-Face’s Trading Post” if you’re interested in purchasing figures…lists provided below.
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THE ROAD THROUGH NO MAN’S LAND
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)

Yes, I know this isn’t really an animated topic, but I thought, hey, it’s Batman’s 60th anniversary, and this is the big event that celebrates it, so I should have a section dedicated to this year-long crossover. Besides, so far it’s been excellent in every issue. We have this section split up into two parts – the first saying what has already happened, the second previewing what’s to come. Enjoy!

UP UNTIL NOW…
JANUARY – APRIL: For synopses of what happened in the first four months of NO MAN’S LAND, go see Issues #26 and #27 of “Batman: The Animated Newsletter”. Follow this link: http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/btan

MAY, JUNE: For synopses of what how things really heated up in the fifth and sixth months of NO MAN’S LAND, see of “Batman: The Animated Newsletter”. Follow this link: http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/btan

JULY: Batman and Mr. Freeze have a fight. Yep, that sums it up, pretty much. The only other thing that’s of any interest is that, apparently, something major has happened to Robin. We just don’t know what quite yet.
Later in July, however, both Batman and Killer Croc search for “The King of Gotham City”. Azrael and Batgirl go on a man-hunt for Nicholas Scratch; Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face hear of Scratch’s movement and prepare for a shift in Gotham’s political landscape…from anarky to further anarky. AND Nightwing has raided Blackgate prison to sieze it from Lock-Up’s grip – but got caught. Batgirl “saves” a gas station from being taken from a street gang, and it’s learned that the Joker is slowly grouping his forces for another big war to claim more of Gotham as his own.
Then Catwoman returns to Gotham at Batman’s request, only to be sent back to Manhattan to steal some files that are critical for the rebuilding of Gotham. Robin ventures underground to search for food, but is confronted by the Ratcatcher; the Spoiler’s identity is revealed to her mother. Bane returns to Gotham…and Batman fails to stop him from entering.

That’s 38 issues of NML so far. For a complete list, e-mail us.

WHAT’S TO COME…
-August: The month begins with Batman trying to save the children of NML from a gang known as “Lynx”. Then, things start to really shake up when Harley Quinn finally makes her debut in the mainstream, with the Joker and Poison Ivy coming along for the ride. Meanwhile, Azrael and Batgirl continue to try to make a dent in Nicholas Scratch’s operations. Nightwing is trapped in Blackgate, and Robin is still out searching for food.
-September: “The Underground Railroad”, in LOTDK #123 and SOTB #91. Batman hardly appears at all in this story; Robin, Penguin, and Joker have larger roles. Then in “Goin’ Downtown”, Two-Face, Penguin, and Bane collide in another major turf war – in BATMAN #571 and DC #738. And don’t forget “Batman: No Man’s Land #0”, featuring what Batman did in the first 100 days of NML before re-appearing to confront Scarface.
-October: Superman returns to Gotham, saving the city from Petit and his renegade ex-cops. Then Two-Face breaks his deal with Gordon, kidnaps him, and puts him on trial.
-See below for more.

AS FOR THE OTHER HEROES:
-The Nightwing/Lock-Up brawl continues from of NIGHTWING to #36 and #37.
-Batman sends Robin out to get emergency food rations BUT is confronted by Mr. Freeze and the Ratcatcher in the process. Robin then goes up against Killer Croc in Robin #71.
-Azrael and Batgirl team up to take down Nicholas Scratch. This is all in Azrael #57.
-The Huntress takes on the Joker and Harley Quinn in August.
-Leslie Thompkins and the Huntress are the focus of BATMAN CHRONICLES #18, in August.
-Superman will return to Gotham in SHADOW OF THE BAT #92, in October.
-Commissioner Gordon is kidnapped by Two-Face in BATMAN #572 and DC #739, in October.

AND AS FOR THE REMAINING VILLAINS…
-The Ratcatcher confronts Robin in the sewers under Gotham.
-Bane returns in September to destroy Gotham – and finally fulfill his plans – in “Goin’ Downtown”.
-Lock-Up is in trouble when Nightwing tries to take over control of Blackgate Prison in July!
-Mr. Freeze will appear in Robin #68 in July, and #70 in September.
-BATMAN: HARLEY QUINN, the one-shot comic featuring Harley Quinn’s intro to the mainstream Bat-universe will come out in August.
-The Joker doesn’t appear as a major player until close to the end, along with the new, improved Harley Quinn – whom will appear with the Joker AND Poison Ivy in August. (BATMAN: Harley Quinn, Batman #570, DC #737). Also, it looks like Ms. Quinn will going up against the Huntress.
-Killer Croc and a wounded Mr. Zsasz re-appear in BATMAN CHRONICLES #18 in August. Croc then re-appears in ROBIN #71 in October.
-Two-Face re-surfaces in September in “Goin’ Downtown”, another major turf-war story, also featuring Bane and Penguin. In October he kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and puts him on trial in the two-part “Jurisprudence”. He later re-appears in another big way later on in No Man’s Land, apparently as the second-last villain to be defeated. (How fitting.)
-The Penguin also returns to a prominent role in “Goin’ Downtown”.
-Ra’s Al Ghul, meanwhile, is in Washington D.C. battling Anarky in his new ongoing series.
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FEATURED BAT-SITES FOR THIS ISSUE

BATMAN UK

Brian Davis has done it again and has revamped his site (previously Brian’s Batman Page) for the 1999 / 2000. So what’s been keeping you ? ” I’ve been off learning some new HTML and I didn’t want the site going up until I was completely satisfied with the content”. The site became bigger and better when it re-opened on July 31st at the new address of http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk “I wasn’t happy with AOL. They only give you about 2 MB of webspace and the pages weren’t easy to update so I have left and joined a new UK company.” So what does it all mean?” I will now be able to update the page a lot quicker and hopefully more frequently due to the new changes. So, why Batman UK ? ” America used to have sites like the Bruce Timm Archive, Tim Two-Face’s Site and such that provided us with all the latest info but only stuff that was happening in North America. I aim to provide all UK fans with news of happenings in the UK as well as some news from other parts of the world too. “So, what’s new? “Well, I have totally re-designed the way you access each section in the site. There is now a simple frame at the side so you can get into what you want immediatly without hold-ups. There are some new sections too. We now have a little section for Superman : The Animated Series, Weekly Chat is back, a tribute for Batmans 60 Years and a Warner Bros. Studio Store section. It’s a favourite of mine, a guy called ‘Gookie’ will be doing store on-the-spot reports for us telling us what’s new at the store. He’s great “. So what’s your opinon on the final outcome ? ” Well, it’s better than the last site but it’s really up to the visitors to make any type of judgements “.

So that’s it folks, check out Brian Davis’ BATMAN UK which re-opened on Saturday July 31st.

http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk

***********

WORLD’S FINEST REVAMP!
The Superman titles are getting a makeover this fall. The Bat-titles are getting a complete makeover as well in January of 2000, so why not a website as well? BATMAN & SUPERMAN: THE WORLD’S FINEST DISCUSSION CENTER has gotten a makeover as well, sort of. There have been some minor adjustments made here and there, so stop by and check ’em out! Here are the list of some of the changes:

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED MESSES BOARD is now “The WB ANIMATION Discussion Board”
-This board covers the topic of ALL WB Animated prgramming. This includes the entire Kids’WB! line-up, as well as ALL CARTOON NETWORK shows like Voltron, or Scooby-Doo, or even the Powerpuff Girls, and ALL the other ones! This board also covers WB’s past, present, and upcoming animated movies, and television shows.

“BATMAN: THE ANIMATED MESSAGE BOARD” is now the “BATMAN/SUPERMAN: The Animated Message Board”
-Not much change, you say? Well true, but now the topics here are more then just ‘what’s under Bat’s cape?’. Superman has now joined in on the fun on this board. Topics can range from anything. Comparing the 1940s animated Superman to the 1990s. Compare Super-Friend to World’s Finest. It’s limitless!

We have a new chat room up, with a few tweaks made to make it hopefully better then the previous, as well as a new chat rules page. There’s a chat session held EVERY NIGHT from 8pm to 12am (Eastern Time) so stop by and ‘Hello!’ and just enjoy yourself! The BTAN Newsletter archives are constantly be updated with new ‘archived’ issues, so that’s your chance to see how this newsletter began and how we have evolved!

So please, check out the new and improved WORLD’S FINEST DISCUSSION
CENTER! The URL is:
http://welcome.to/worldsfinest
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ANIMATED BATMAN/SUPERMAN SITES:

* – indicates a shameless plug for a site a certain double-faced editor created with his bare hands – in other words, a cheap advertising technique.

OFFICIAL SITES
—–
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
http://www.batman-superman.com
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://www.batmantas.com
BATMAN BEYOND
http://www.batmanbeyond.com
SUB-ZERO: THE DEFINTIE GUIDE
http://www.batman-subzero.com
KID’S WB
http://www.kidswb.com
DC COMICS
http://www.dccomics.com
TOON ZONE
http://www.toonzone.net
RAVING TOY MANIAC
http://www.toymania.com
VOICE CHASERS
http://www.voicechasers.org

UNOFFICIAL SITES
—–
*TWO-FACE’S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND TERROR
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BRIAN CRUZ’ WB CARTOON PAGE
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/index.html
BRIAN’S BATMAN PAGE
http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk
GOTHAM GAZETTE
http://members.aol.com/gothamajp
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED HOMEPAGE
http://www3.sympatico.ca/quartet/home.htm
RA’S AL GHUL’S THE LAZARUS PIT 
http://www.aitnet.et/lazaruspit
THE DARK KNIGHT
http://www.darkknight.ca
BATMAN BEYOND: WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
http://www.batmanbeyond.net
DCU ANIMATED
http://welcome.to/the_dcu
ANIMANIA
http://hjem.get2net.dk/twt/home.htm
HARLEY’S HAVEN OF HEDONISM
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/harlequinhideaway
THE ANIMATED BAT
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/7382/index.html
BATMAN/SUPERMAN SNAP JUDGMENTS
http://www.snapjudgments.com/batsup.html
BATMAN BEYOND MULTIMEDIA
http://www.prophecysite.com/batman.htm
THE BATCOMPUTER
http://members.spree.com/batcomputer
BATMAN: FOREVER KNIGHT
http://batman.techv.net
WORLD’S FINEST
http://members.spree.com/sip/worldsfinest
CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN
http://www.xse.com/leres/batman.html
ARKHAM ASYLUM
http://animation.acmecity.com/saturday/352
JLA: THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://animation.acmecity.com/character/375
THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES: THE UNOFFICIAL SITE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/5158
ANIMATED TALES
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/2294/at
BATMAN & SUPERMAN:THE WORLD’S FINEST DISCUSSION CENTER
http://welcome.to/worldsfinest

NEWSGROUPS
—–
news: alt.comics.batman
news:alt.animation.batman
news:alt.comics.superman
news:rec.arts.sf.superman
news:alt.tv.cartoon-network
news:rec.arts.animation
news:alt.animation.warner-bros
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QUESTIONS, SUBMISSIONS, AND FAN-MAIL

If you have any questions, problems, links do not work, or anything else then please e-mail this address with your problems and we’ll try to fix them as soon as possible. Also if you’d like to send any fan-mail then please send it to this address:

juno@direct.ca

As for submissions, feel free to submit an article or opinion on anything pertaining to BTAS. Keep in mind that as the editors, we have the right to edit your submissions if we deem it necessary. Such instances would include problems with length, grammar, and language. If we do feel we must edit something, however, we will do our utmost to ensure that the opinion and the basic message of the submission does not change, as that is the most important part of any artcile, and everyone is entitled to it. And if you do submit something, please don’t just submit a basic review of an episode or a comic or something (because we have people writing for those purposes already) – write about an issue you’d like to discuss.
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED ARCHIVES

The very kind people at TOONZONE were nice enough to give us our own little section of their huge and diverse website. The archives contain past newsletters and is semi-regularly updated with the latest one. To check it out go here:

TOONZONE’s BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/btan
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LIKE WHAT YA SEE? WANNA SUBSCRIBE? HERE’S HOW!!!

For those of you who are seeing this at the WBC HOMEPAGE BTAN ARCHIVES section, and want to subscribe just follow these simple instructions:

To subscribe email juno@direct.ca and put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

For more information the newsletter just email juno@direct.ca
Thank you for your time, and thanks for reading! Tell your friends!

-Tim TWO-FACE Leighton and Dick Grayson, editors
___________________________
TO ALL GOOD THINGS…
…there must be an end. We would like to thank the endless amount of contributors for contributing their editorials, columns, news, jokes, reviews and other articles. We hope you’ve all enjoyed it as much as we’ve enjoyed making it! See ya next time!

CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER

EDITORS: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton and “Dick Grayson”
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Brian Cruz
BTAS REVIEWS: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
EDITORIAL #1: Laura Hysert
EDITORIAL #2: Michael Mandeville
COMIC REVIEWS: Aaron Maurer
TOY REVIEW: Kevin Smith
“BTAN ARCHIVES” MODERATOR: Eileen Delgadillo
TRIVIA: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
ROAD THROUGH NO MAN’S LAND: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
TWO-FACE’S TRADING POST: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
PROMOTIONS AND JUST GETTIN’ THE WORD AROUND: Dick Grayson, Eileen Delgadillo, Brian Cruz, Brian Davis
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-P Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
DELIVERY: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
E-MAIL RECEPTION HANDLING: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane (who else?)

Batman and all related indica are trademarks of DC Comics, Copyright c 1999.
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AND A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE DIE-HARD FANS THAT SUBMITTED THEIR REASONS AS TO WHY THEY LOVE WB’s SUPERHERO SERIES’ SO MUCH!

Batman The Animated Newsletter #34

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