Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of May 28, 2001 – June 9, 2001
Volume 4,
Rated: PG for some “low-key coarse language and occasional griping”
THIS ISSUE’S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: “And our No Man’s Island final survivor is…”
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
-GOOD NEWS! THE BATMAN SITE AT FANDOM.COM WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE ON, EVEN AFTER FANDOM DIES! CHECK OUT OUR “Internet Endeavours” SECTION FOR DETAILS!
-Both the BATMAN BEYOND and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES comic series’ are being cancelled with issues #24 and #66 (probably) respectively. Noooo! (No word on GOTHAM ADVENTURES though, thank goodness.)
-CHECK OUT THE NEWS SECTION FOR A WHOLE BUNCH OF JLA ANIMATED SERIES INFORMATION!!!!
-BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE RULES OF OUR ‘RETURN OF THE JOKER’ GIVEAWAY! SCROLL DOWN TO JUST
BELOW OUR EPISODE REVIEW FOR DETAILS!
Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
-who’s pumped, baby…pumped!
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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING…
New episodes are on the horizon! Here’s what we can expect in the near future…
UNMASKED
Batman Beyond #47
Air date: June 16, 2001
Synopsis: A little kid gets a glimpse of the face under the Batman mask. It is rumoured that Bruce Wayne may be featured in the costume. Written by Hilary J. Bader, directed by Curt Geda.
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KIDS WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Toonzone & Kids’WB!)
Kids’WB! currently airs BATMAN BEYOND on weekdays and weekends. Remember, Kids’WB! is notorious for switching schedules around at the very last minutes. Batman Beyond currently airs at 11:30am (ET) on Saturdays and during a 3-4pm block on Monday-Thursday. Check out these links if we are unable to update our schedule:
http://www.kidswb.com/cgi-local/sched.cgi?976584931
http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/worldsfinestpage/epsched.htm
http://www.toonzone.net/shows/schedules
NOTE:
If our schedule is not updated, then go to the following URL. It will ALWAYS contain the most up-to-date schedule possible:
http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/worldsfinestpage/epsched.htm
THIS WEEK:
Mon 05-28-01: B-BEYOND #37 Sentries of the Lost Cosmos
Tue 05-29-01: B-BEYOND #23 Mind Games
Wed 05-30-01: B-BEYOND #35 April Moon
Thu 05-31-01: B-BEYOND #52 Countdown
Fri 06-01-01: NONE
Sat 06-02-01: NONE
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 06-04-01: B-BEYOND #19 Hidden Agenda
Tue 06-05-01: B-BEYOND #42 King’s Ransom
Wed 06-06-01: B-BEYOND #21 Hooked Up
Thu 06-07-01: B-BEYOND #46 Inqueling
Fri 06-08-01: NONE
Sat 06-09-01: NONE
NEXT WEEK (NOT YET AVAILABLE):
Mon 06-11-01: B-BEYOND #03 Black Out
Tue 06-12-01: B-BEYOND #24 Revenant
Wed 06-13-01: B-BEYOND #06 Shriek
Thu 06-14-01: B-BEYOND #10 Dead Man’s Hand
Fri 06-15-01: NONE
Sat 06-16-01: NONE
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CANADIAN EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BATMAN on YTV – courtesy of our friends at YTV)
BATMAN BEYOND will be returning to show the remainder of its 52 episode run to YTV shortly!
Keep reading here in future issues for details!
YTV currently has the rights to air all 109 episodes of BTAS. YTV usually airs these episodes in either chronological order, or in the original order they aired on Kids’WB! and FOX. Batman now airs at 3:40am Monday – Friday (well, technically, Tuesday – Saturday). If our schedules are not updated or are inaccurate, please use these links:
http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/worldsfinestpage/epsched.htm
http://www.ytv.com/ytvguide
THIS WEEK:
Mon 05-28-01: BTAS #10 Two-Face (Pt. 1)
Tue 05-29-01: BTAS #17 Two-Face (Pt. 2)
Wed 05-30-01: BTAS #24 Fear of Victory
Thu 05-31-01: BTAS #12 I’ve Got Batman in My Basement
Fri 06-01-01: BTAS #23 Vendetta
NEXT WEEK: (this week may be slightly inaccurate)
Mon 06-04-01: BTAS #19 Prophecy of Doom
Tue 06-05-01: BTAS #08 The Forgotten
Wed 06-06-01: BTAS #27 Mad as a Hatter
Thu 06-07-01: BTAS #31 The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
Fri 06-08-01: BTAS #30 Perchance to Dream
THE WEEK AFTER THAT: (this schedule may also be slightly inaccurate)
Mon 06-11-01: BTAS #06 The Underdwellers
Tue 06-12-01: BTAS #34 Night of the Ninja
Wed 06-13-01: BTAS #36 The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
Thu 06-14-01: BTAS #41 Tyger, Tyger
Fri 06-15-01: BTAS #28 Dreams in Darkness
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THE CARTOON NETWORK
Cartoon Network has the right to air all 109 BTAS episodes, as well as all 54 SUPERMAN episiodes. Cartoon Network currently airs both shows in rotation and together during the weekday Toonami block. Since Cartoon Network is unpredictable with their schedules, we may be unable to keep up with them. Please, use these links to find out the schedule information you need:
Here is where you can find an air date schedules:
http://www.CartoonNetwork.com/TOONAMI/lineup/batman.html
http://www.CartoonNetwork.com/TOONAMI/lineup/Superman.html
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv/schedule.html
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EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Justin Chen and/or Zanna)
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/btas.html
The creative team for this column alternates between Zanna and Justin Chen, two loyal subscribers and great friends of ours here. Any other reviews printed here are written by editor Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton. Enjoy!
With no new episodes debuting, we have nothing to review…anyone wanna submit reviews of older BTAS episodes? We’re always taking submissions!
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EDITORIAL
Our editorial has been cut from this issue because my “No Man’s Island” contest went out of control and I really wanted to wrap it up this issue. However, be sure to come back here next issue for A. H. Blom’s editorial on censorship in BATMAN BEYOND, with a look at the series and, of course, the controversial cuts to RETURN OF THE JOKER.
-Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Due to demand by some of our subscribers, we’ve decided to give a “Letters to the Editor” section a shot. Feel free to submit something you’d like to say to us, and each issue we’ll choose one to post and then reply to. (NOTE: It can be completely uncensored, positive OR negative, though any coarse language will be bleeped out. We want this to be a no-holds-barred column!)
* * * * * *
What? No one had anything to say? Oh well…maybe next time, huh? (Hint, hint.)
* * * * * *
TWO-FACE’S SIDE OF THE COIN
My side of the coin says WRITE IN! That’s my final answer.
;-Y
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‘RETURN OF THE JOKER’ GIVEAWAY
READ BELOW FOR THE RULES AND MORE!
In trying to get people both more involved with the newsletter AND want to help them out at the same time, we’re offering anyone that participates in our NO MAN’S ISLAND column a chance to win unedited copies of RETURN OF THE JOKER.
The way it works is as follows: vote for the two characters you’d like to vote off the island. Of the characters that are being cast off or even nominated in that particular issue, we will randomly select one of these characters for our contest. Anyone who voted for this character will be entered into a draw, according to the e-mail address from which their ballot was recieved. Every issue, we will randomly select one e-mail address (from a hat, to make it fair) and that participant, if willing, wins a copy of the unedited movie!
You may vote for NO MAN’S ISLAND as often as you like (just once per round), and are eligible to win once within each round.
If the selected winner for whatever reason declines, the will be another draw for that same week. The catch? The winner, if agreeing, must provide a tape and enough money to cover postage ($5 American) of the tape to and from their place of residence. There will be no extra profit for us at BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER (as that would be illegal) or anything. We just want to get this movie out to more people as it’s not going to be definately released on tape just yet.
NOTE: I am not promoting the act of bootlegging videos for profit, I am merely looking for the cost of the tape and postage, so fans will be able to view the movie as it was supposed to be.
That said, let’s get voting! (And make sure to read the NO MAN’S ISLAND section below.)
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NO MAN’S ISLAND
ROUND NINETEEN (Final Round)
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)The final round. Gasp!!! Who will win? Will it be the one that we all suspected would win back in October when this game started? Will it be the villain that gets away? Or how about the other one – could we be in for a major upset? Read on to find out!
…A WALTZ DOWN MEMORY LANE…
A WORD FROM THE CAST-AWAYS:
COMMISSIONER GORDON: “I’ve had enough of this. I just want to go home, retire, and recieve my pension.”
TWO-FACE: “The only thing that bugs me – or us – about my – or our – death is that I – or we – can’t figure out if it’s a suicide or double-homicide.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Bruce Wayne emerged from the Sugar & Spice Fashion Boutique, gingerly climbing through the shattered display window, his cowl still hanging down behind his head. He carried the corpse of his friend, Harvey Dent – still warm – daintily, looking for an ideal location for a proper burial. Friend or not, like hell he was going to bury him next to Leslie Thompkins, Helena Bertinelli, Barbara, Selina, and Dick – he had more respect for them than that.
Walking back towards Crime Alley, where he had left Commissioner Gordon – and where Dick still lay – Bruce thought deeply about this game he had volunteered to play. He didn’t realize it would cause so much death, destruction, heartbreak…hopefully Zatanna would re-appear, just wave her magic wand, and make everything OK again.
No, that isn’t possible – that sort of thing only happens in Metropolis.
Argh.
Perhaps he should have actually listened to Lucious Fox for once. Then again, doing so would have gone against his foppish, playboy front and SOMEONE would have caught on eventually. No, that’s insane – and so is he. This is proof enough that he belongs in Arkham with all the rest of ’em. Just how Dick kept his head on straight and still being chipper while doing this vigilante-gig was beyond him; geez, that kid was special. So were Barbara, Tim, Leslie, and all the others. Even the Creeper…geez…even that guy deserved better than this.
Endangering loved ones – or just innocent whacky yellow-skinned by-standers – was insane. He’d never forgive himself for that.
His only concern now was that both Alfred and Commissioner Gordon were still faring well – moreover, still living. This “game” took a bloody turn for the worst over the past few months, and why would it stop now? Bruce picked up the pace, advancing towards Crime Alley through the silent, canyon-like streets, until he heard something.
Even with his acute sense of hearing, he still couldn’t make it out. He squinted his eyes, as if his ears would follow suit; as he walked further, the noise steadily grew louder. Turning a corner past the Monarch Theatre, the noise suddenly grew in volume and revealed itself to be a jaunty Vaudeville tune.
“Hello my baby,
Hello my honey,
Hello my rag-time gal…”
The crackling sound of a dying phonograph filled the air as the tune continued. Bruce looked up – the alleyway was set ablaze with crudely made impatterned torches, burning bright as the night’s only light. He quickened his pace – he knew this was the Joker’s work, of course. Alfred wouldn’t do something this crazy…he was too dignified and SANE for that.
“Send me a kiss by wire,
Baby, my heart’s on fire!”
Bruce turned another corner – the source of the noise wasn’t far, and the light was growing stronger, and warmer; a bright orange and yellow glow reflected off of the brick-and-neon-grafitti surroundings. Bruce shielded his face from the warm blasts of air, using Harvey’s body as a shield. As the raging air let up for a moment, his vision cleared; he gasped in horror and dropped Harvey’s body on the slimy ground beside a oil-barrel bonfire before leaping forward.
“If you refuse me,
Honey, you lose me –
Then you’ll be left alone, oh baby
come home, and tell me I’m your own!”
Commissioner Gordon sat propped up against the glowing wall, his shirt torn open with slashes of red contrasting his white skin. Whiter still was his face, hidden under layers of caked-on white make-up, a goofy grin painted on across his tired lips.
“JIM?” Bruce questioned in concern, knowing full well it was his friend. He immediately pressed two fingers underneath Gordon’s jaw; there was still a pulse. A strong pulse, too. He was just knocked out cold.
The phonograph from nowhere started playing again – and again – and again – the song was on a continuous loop.
Writhing in anger and disgust, Bruce looked down at Gordon’s chest. Upon it, the gashes were arranged in such a fashion that it looked like written a message; the letters were inscribed with partly incisions and partly streaks of lipstick. It read:
“bruce – with the old man outa the way, it’s now just between you and me, darling. see you
soon.
sincerely,
j, your little clown prince.”
“BRUCE!” Alfred called. Bruce looked up and saw Alfred dart down the alleyway towards him, still with his medic pack under his arm. He didn’t even care that Alfred had gone against his wishes and left the cave, either – he needed him here. Though Batman is a loner by definition, he hates to be alone. “Thank heavens I found you!”
Bruce looked over with big, sad, almost sappy eyes – he looked like he was two steps away from crying. This game certainly had taken its toll on him, whether he wanted to admit it or not. “Alfred…” he muttered; his loyal servant and surrogate father put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a good squeeze. “Leave, now. I don’t want this to happen to you, too.” He was doubting his own abilities already.
After a brief pause, Pennyworth snorted. “No, I am not going to leave simply because you say so, Master Bruce. You’re exhausted and need someone here with you. This is exactly how you got your back broken way back when…” He quickly cut himself off. He didn’t want to start scolding the poor boy.
Bruce sighed. “Then help me moving Jim – I don’t want him here for the Joker to find him again.”
Alfred nodded; watching Bruce pick Gordon up around his shoulders, Alfred moved to pick up his feet. “Wait…what about Harvey?” He saw Two-Face’s body lying on the ground ever-to-close to the bonfire on the opposite side of the alley.
“Leave him,” Bruce grunted grimly.
The two fell dead silent as they moved Gordon out of harm’s way, and took a step in the direction of Wayne Manor, many miles away. That blasted song kept playing, too; the two men tried to put it out of their minds, but when that stuffed frog-doll hit Bruce in the back of the head, it was tough to ignore.
“Hey Brucie, Alfred…li’l help?”
* * * * * * * * * *
AND AFTER A NINETEENTH AND FINAL ROUND OF VOTING…
The Joker gleefully giggled as Bruce turned his head around and glared coldly up at him. “Please pass Michigan back up here darling, I’d simply DIE without him. This is his song, after all.” He clucked his tongue. “It’s our song, too.”
“Sick, twisted, basta…” Bruce muttered.
“Just ignore him Master Bruce,” Alfred advised. The two kept walking, backs turned, but kept an eye on the Joker anyway. They’d be idiots not to.
“Hey, you can’t just walk away from me! I put a lot of effort into that letter I wrote you! The least you could do is ACKNOWLEDGE it!!!!” The Joker spat from the rooftop a few storeys above; still, Bruce and Alfred kept silent as they moved away. The Joker growled and tore the record away from the phonograph he’d set up on the roof and threw it like a frisbee in their direction; it collided into the brick wall far off target and shattered.
“Thank god we’ll never hear that song again,” Alfred mused within.
Still nothing. The Joker saw nothing. After all of his planning, nothing. “Why don’t you just shoot ‘im?” Harley once suggested. Ugh. That may be effective, but where’s the drama? Where’s the poetry? Where’s the style? This had to be a masterpiece!!!!
Thing is, all of his “masterpieces” required Batman to fall for his trap – or just paying attention to him. This ignorance thing just doesn’t work – it really deflates the ego.
Perhaps Plan B would have to suffice.
Bruce and Alfred had nearly made it to the dimly-lit street, a full-half block away from where they had found Gordon. The two looked at each other and sighed heavily. Gordon’s body was beginning to droop in their arms; they had to get back to civilization.
BLAM!!!!
As the bullet grazed the right side of his neck, Alfred fell to the ground in surprise and pain; Gordon fell out of his arms and onto the ground beside him.
“There, if that doesn’t get you riled up, I don’t know WHAT will!” The Joker hollered in anguish. His heart went aflutter when Bruce dove down onto Alfred’s body to see if he was alright. He’s such a sweetie, he is – always lookin’ out for the little guy.
Batman growled deeply and pulled his mask back over his face. “I’ll be alright, Master Bruce,” Alfred gasped, pressing one hand against the flesh wound as his other hand searched through his medic-pack for proper bandages and gauze. Batman didn’t seem to believe him. “Trust me, I’ll be fine.” He sputtered and coughed, heaving up a little bit of blood. Batman spun around and stared at the Joker coldly, fisted clenched.
The Joker giggled from above, twiddling his gloved fingers daintily while biting on his lower lip, trying to put on a pouty face and look innocent. “Come, come, as fast as you can – I promise not to play hard to get for too long, Batman.” He whistled playfully and could hardly contain his laughter and he spun around and ran, just as he saw Batman leap to his feet.
See, this is where the real fun began. The chase. The stakes were high, the city was collapsing around them, only one of them would make it out alive – a real clash of the titans. It would be epic. It would make all the headlines for the next YEAR, the kids would be learning about this in school for generations to come! If other people could live in infamy, why couldn’t Mistah J?
The Joker lept from the rooftop across an alley and tumbled onto the roof of the opposing building. A shrill metallic buzz cut through the air as two batarangs shot out of nowhere and narrowly missed his head and hit the wall of a shed atop the roof. Phew! That was close – but Brucie always did have a thing for tough love, didn’t he?
After a minute of running across the tar-and-pipe covered roof, the Joker stopped, and stayed still. Four more batarangs came at him and embedded themselves into the roof before him. He missed by a few feet. That was so unlike him. Oh, the Joker thought, resting his head in his hand, he’s trying to make me paranoid. Two can play at that game.
“I always knew it come down between the two of us you know, darling,” the Joker cooed, his cool demeanor radiating outwards despite his constantly shifting eyes, trying to get a fix on Batman’s location. “It always does. Just you, a city in peril, and me. It’s almost predictable, no?”
“It is,” Batman responded, throwing his voice – Arnold Wesker would have been proud. From his hiding place, Batman observed the Joker twirling about to find where the sound came from – he could hear a slight stutter in his voice as the Joker continued with his speech.
“What I don’t understand is how that damned butler of yours made it this long, too. I thought all Brits were supposed to be weak and lanky and -” the Joker bit his tongue. “I’m Irish. I’m allowed to say this stuff and get away with it.” He giggled. “I knew I wouldn’t get your complete attention until absolutely everyone else was out of the way – that’s what young Robin learned while I raped the poor boy’s mind.”
Nothing. No reaction. Just how cold was this guy? Very. Like Victor Fries in the dead of winter.
“Didn’t you HEAR ME? I just said I abused the boy who’s practically your SON in the worst possible way, and you have nothing to say to me? Geez, Brucie-poo, if you really are this cold to me, I can see why you only hang out with those drunken floosies at parties all the time.”
“I heard you,” Batman muttered, the voice coming from a different location this time. It was louder, but softer.
“Maybe I don’t want to get into a relationship with you so soon any more. You’ll just hurt my – gasp – already fractured heart.” He grinned and whispered harshly. “Oh, you like to hurt me, don’t you? You hurt me so good.”
Nothing. Again. The Joker was getting sick of this – he could only speak for so long until Batman would finally cave in, let his emotions get the better of him, and beat his face in. He reached into his breast pocket and hit a switch. Another little jaunty tune began to play from out of nowhere.
“A climatic battle needs theme music, so while you were chasing down Harvey and mourning over the loss of Dickie Grayson and after I had fun with the Commissioner earlier this evening, I took the opportunity to set up a little sound system here.” Some Frank Sinatra tune became audiable, and the Joker began to melt. “Oh, I love good ol’ Blue Eyes…anyway, I would have gotten some candles and incense, too, but you know – I was rushed, and you can’t rush LOVE, now, can you?” He began to croon along with the tune.
Batman stared down from his perch, disgusted but disturbingly curious. The Joker slowly backed up across the roof while whistling, growing close to the edge of the building, underneath the water tower upon which Batman stood watch.
“Harley only THOUGHT she loved me – I could care less either way. But you – we’ve been through so much, so much of it I’ve forgotten, with a lobotomy here, some brain damage there – but you’ve kept track and remembered it all, my dear. You’re as crazy about me as I am for you.” He shed a tear and wiped it on his sleeve. “I love you, Bruce.”
Still nothing.
“WHAT IS WITH YOU???? SAY SOMETHING!!!!!!!”
Batman swung down from above and collided with the Joker, knocking him back into his crudely set-up CD-player, causing the CD to skip. The Joker flailed back and clutched at the ground, grinning widely. “There you are, at least, just you and me, in the pale moonlight…it’s so beautiful…”
WHAM!
As the Joker toppled back again, the CD chose to stay on a KORN song; the loud beats began to play, and the Joker giggled. “Ohhhh, this song always drives me crazy – the lead singer IS crazy…” He advanced towards Batman, pointing at his chin. “And we’re crazy, you and me both, Bruce. So come on…hit me, baby, just one more time…”
The Joker pursed his lips and as Batman thrust his fist more than willingly into the clown’s face to dislodge a second tooth, he slid a pocket-knife out of his purple sleeve and stabbed Batman in the stomach; he gave the twisted dagger a good twist before letting go. Batman yelped in pain as the Joker pulled the dagger out of his gut and dug the tip into his chest and slowly peeled his costume away from his body.
“There, now that I FINALLY have your attention, we can talk.” He tore the tunic away from Batman’s body and traced thetip of the knife around Batman’s heart in a heart-shape, slowly but surely cutting into his skin as he repeated the motion. “It’s obvious that my desires towards you are falling completely flat. The only viable solution is to give that heart of yours a good ol’ fashioned inspection and dissection.” He caressed Batman’s chin and tickled under his jaw.
Batman spat. “You can’t. You can’t allow yourself. You could have killed me hundreds of times over in the past, just as I could have. I chose not to, and so did you.” He gasped. “You need me in your life, not the other way around.”
The Joker took a step back as Batman continued. “If you dropped dead right this instant – not only would I be, shall we say, ECSTATIC, instead of ‘so cold’ as you believe – but there would be truckloads of others that would take your place in a dying heartbeat.”
Growling, the Joker punished himself by allowing Batman to continue to speak. “Selina, good ol’ Harvey, Oswald, your favourite EDWARD, Jonathan, Pamela, Jervis, Victor, your little girlfriend Harleen…hell, even the Clock King or Maxie Zeus would prove to be a more enlightening and refreshing adversary.” Batman groaned in pain, but forced himself to go on. “I’m sick of you, you’ve just become a bore, now. This was the most half-assed ‘Death of Batman’ scheme you’ve come up with yet. Serenading me with show-tunes? Heavy metal? Pop music? Please. Simply throwing a rock at me would have been more creative.” The Joker growled deeply, beginning to foam at the mouth. “I’m glad one of us is going to die tonight, I just can’t put up with how corny you’ve been getting lately.”
“SHUT UP!” The Joker hollered, kicked Batman in the face, rolling him over onto his back. He didn’t know what else to say.
“Hey, you’re the one that WANTED me to say something,” Batman taunted with his foppish Bruce-Wayne voice. It drove Lucious Fox nuts, so it must work on the Joker too, right?
The Joker scowled and pulled a joker-grenade out of his suit. “You may just get your wish after all, lover.” He didn’t want to say anything – that ‘corny’ comment really got to him. Oh well, one more cliche couldn’t hurt, right? “Til death do us part, and all that…” he said, not even caring; he pulled the pin and tossed the grendade in Batman’s direction. With his last ounce of remaining strength, Batman tossed a batarang in the air, hit the grenade, and sent it skyward towards the underbelly of the water tower. It exploded, the tower erupted, twisted, and splintered, and oceans of pure water cascaded down upon the two.
“Oh Batman, you devil,” the Joker cooed, “you always DID get me wet…”
The force of the water pushed the two over the edge of the building and two storeys down back onto the hard surface of Crime Alley; Batman fell onto his front, and the Joker hit the pavement on his side. He dropped his gun and the force of the water pushed it in Batman’s direction.
The Joker pounced on Batman and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him against and crushing him to the ground. “How DARE you mock me! After all I’ve done to make this night EXTRA SPECIAL, all the people I had to kill, all the time I spent planning…YOU DON’T EVEN CARE!!!!”
“So, like, what’s your point?”
Again, the Bruce Wayne voice. Why did he even fall for this idiot in the first place??? The Joker was quickly learning to despise this playboy all over again. Maybe divorce-court would be the way to go after all this was over – he might need a lawyer, though – perhaps Dent would still be available, hm? The Joker stepped on Bruce’s chest and crushed his heel into his heart. He thrust his knife at him again, spitting, “the only thing that could make this moment even sweeter is if I was the one that killed your parents right in this very same alley so many years ago.”
Batman flung his hand to the side and grabbed the Joker’s gun. He sloppily clutched it as the water continued to cascade downward, and held it to the Joker’s temple. “Don’t.”
The Joker stabbed Batman again. And again, and again. He started at his feet, and slowly worked his way up his body, moving towards his chest and face. Laughing maniacly, he spat out curse word alternating with insult all the way. “Hehe, tough luck, Brucie – it’s filled with blanks! Hole-ey body, Batman, I never thought you’d fall for THAT!” He laughed again, his cackling echoing across the landscape. He crouched down over Batman’s face and breathed hot breath directly up his nostrils. “Never spurn a lover, Brucie – they always become your worst enemy.”
BLAM!!!
Batman looked at his own hand before looking at the Joker as his body collapsed on his own; that wasn’t his gun, the Joker was right, it wasn’t loaded. As if it was both searing hot and cursed, Batman dropped the gun in the building puddle of water and looked at the Joker begrudgingly. There was a large hole in the back of his head, bleeding profusely. As the raining water momentarily cleared out of his eyes, Batman could see a figure walking towards him, slowly, with a limp and his head hanging low.
“Alfred?”
“Indeed it is, sir,” Alfred responded. Batman growled and threw the Joker’s body off of him and tried to sit up – which he could do, barely. Alfred had already patched himself up – and acting in relatively good condition.
“You…a gun…?” He mumbled in disbelief.
“Please,” Alfred sighed, taking Batman’s hand in his, “I was in the British Secret Service for many years, I DO KNOW how to use one of these.” He slipped the gun back into his pocket. “Don’t be so concerned sir, it’s Gordon’s – he still had it on him.” He let the medic pack fall from his shoulder and caught it in his hand. “Now let’s have a look at you, hm?” He slowly and carefully began to clean his wounds, one by one.
After a few minutes of silence had passed, Batman spoke up. “Not that it matters, Alfred, but I guess it looks like you won.”
Alfred smiled smugly. “Yes, you’re right. It doesn’t matter.”
As the sun rose, a helicopter soared over the city and hovered above the bodies of Batman, Alfred, and the Joker, and landed on the wide street into which the alley led. Summer Gleason jumped off of the chopper, running in their direction. Obviously her months of absense from the game had done her some good. “Batman! Mr. Pennyworth! Do either of you care to give us any words on your experience here over the past couple of months?”
There was a humbling silence as the two looked at each other longingly, and then back to Ms. Gleason. “I’m just happy it’s over,” Alfred said coldly. “Now please, just get us all out of here.”
Summer bit her lip and looked back at the rest of the helicopter crew – the pilot, a few medics, and her cameraman. What was she to do now? Batman spoke up. “How much extra room do you have on the chopper?”
“Four, sir,” one of the nameless men called. One for Alfred, one for himself, and…
“Further up the alley Commissioner Gordon is laying, alive – and Nightwing isn’t – bring them and then we’ll be on our way.”
They didn’t even seem to be curious as to why Batman was overlooking the Joker; it was obvious no one cared.
About half an hour later, after everyone had been rounded up, the helicopter rose above the city and headed off westbound to the west shore of the Gotham River where the rest of the outcasts had been placed. Looking down upon the city, Alfred smiled wryly.
Batman, still hiding his face under his cowl from the reporters and others in the chopper, noticed Alfred’s strange sense of glee. “What’s gotten into you?” He felt this was one of those situations where brooding was the only acceptable thing to do.
“Cheer up,” Alfred mused. “Yes, it has been a hellish few months, but everything will be absolutely fine as soon as we return home. That, my friend, is the wonder of an ‘elseworld’s tale’.”
Batman noticeably cocked his eyebrow and looked at Alfred with a vacant expression on his face. Just what was Alfred talking about? He always had an ace up his sleeve, he always held the answer.
A ‘tale’? As in, a story? Is Alfred saying this isn’t real? Perhaps all he needed was a good pinch. Ugh. Nothing. What was this? A dream? Was this another fear-gas experiment? Was it mind-control? Was he trapped inside another riddle-riddled video game? Was he just knocked out cold and going insane?
Batman would just have to wait to find out.
* * * * * * * * * *
ROUND NINETEEN
Kicked Off:
THE JOKER (38.9%)
BATMAN (31.5%)
So, without further adieu, congratulations to our final survivor, (with a vote of 29.6% for this round), ALFRED PENNYWORTH!!!!
“It was nothing, I just stayed in the background until my services were required. What else is a butler meant to do?”
* * * * * *
Congratulations to our subscriber at snivelyjackelise@hotmail.com for winning an unedited copy of RETURN OF THE JOKER! Now don’t forget to vote, the rest of you!
*Voting is now closed. Thank you to everyone for your participation in “No Man’s Island”.
___________________________________________________________________
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! (Mwuhahaha!) 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.
STUFF
546. Watch the sequence of BATMAN FOREVER where Batman takes the Batwing out of the cave to go find the Riddler’s and Two-Face’s lair. What episode OR animated movie of Batman OR Batman Beyond nearly identically copies the sequence of Batman flying the Batwing out of the cave?
Answer: _________________
547. What “superhero” in Gotham City bears an uncanny resemblance to Roseanne?
Answer: _________________
548. Listen to the music at the beginning of BATMAN & MR. FREEZE: SUB-ZERO. What mainstream live-action Bat-movie OR other animated movie uses that exact same track?
Answer: _________________
549. What is the name of the bakery that Klarion the Witch-Boy breaks into?
Answer: _________________
550. What Gotham City sports franchise shares the name with a Batman-related comic book of the past or present?
Answer: _________________
551. What professional sport does this team play?
Answer: _________________
552. What is the first name of the relative of Veronica Vreeland that appears on BATMAN BEYOND?
Answer: _________________
553. In what “new style” BTAS episode does Summer Gleason appear in?
Answer: _________________
554. Where does Sid the Squid get sent to when Batman proves to him that he didn’t kill him after all?
Answer: _________________
555. To “make ‘ha-ha’ with Harley Quinn”, as stated in WORLD’S FINEST (Pt. 1), implies what?
Answer: _________________
_____________________________________________________________________
AND THESE ARE OUR FINAL ANSWERS (to the trivia)
Answer to #546: BATMAN & MR. FREEZE: SUB-ZERO
Answer to #547: “Mighty Mom”
Answer to #548: BATMAN (1989)
Answer to #549: “Kirby Cakes”
Answer to #550: BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS
Answer to #551: Football
Answer to #552: Bunny
Answer to #553: MAD LOVE
Answer to #554: Blackgate Prison
Answer to #555: Ugh…just as Batman said when he learned of the Killer Croc/Baby-Doll romance: “I don’t want to think about it.”
_____________________________________________________________________
LITTLE FACTS AND BLOOPERS
(by Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton)
Here is a section that just points out various little facts and bloopers that we have noticed while watching BTAS, STAS and BEYOND countless times. If you have anything to contribute, feel free to do so! Enjoy!
CONTRIBUTED BY STAFF:
1) In the opening scene of “Judgement Day”, Killer Croc cracks Penguin’s table when he feels that he’s being ripped off. In a shot about a minute later when Croc and Two-Face are being escorted out, we see that there is no damage to the same table whatsoever!
CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
(by Phillip Ratter)
2) In Batman Beyond, in the Batcave, Bruce has different items from his days in the cape and cowl. In several episodes, we see Halrey Quinn’s costume in a glass case. The problem here is that in “Return of the Joker” Halrey fel into the pit, with her costume. So where did the one in the cave come from. Does Halrey have extra costumes, and if she does, how in the world did Batman get ahold of them?
____________________________________________________________________
FIGURE THIS OUT!
(by Marc Rosenzweig)
I hereby wish to officially offer my humblest apologies to Audrey and Paula as well as to Hasbro for the misquote and misprint in the JLA/Hasbro connection. There is no connection at this time and it appears there may not be a connection.
At this time, it appears that Hasbro has not confirmed or denied that they have the license to JLA Animated. If Hasbro doesn’t hustle and score the license soon, I personally think that DC Direct may be the next in line to pull it off and make the figures we all want to see based on the show. But as you are reading this issue, there has not been any true confirmation from my sources inside DC of this juicy “rumor”. As soon as I know, you’ll know!
=================================
Hello to all ye Bat-toy-fans, sorry for the long absence from writing but I have been dealing with much in the way of family business as well as my own day job. But now, I’m BAAAAaaack! I wish to thank fellow toy collector Mr.Dave Artman and his review of the Knight Camo Batmobile (which I had to run out and buy right away after I read his article, Thanx Dave!). I encourage any of you fellow Bat-toy-fans to send in your review of a Batman Beyond or Batman Animated toy for print in this section of our newsletter. This is your opportunity to be heard, be published and share your points of view on a toy or other related Bat Animated play item! Keep in mind the name of the segment is FIGURE THIS OUT! Just have fun with it!
Before I go any further, I must make a retraction. In I mis-quoted the staff of HASBRO TOYS when I mentioned that I had heard that [Hasbro] was involved with the JLA Animated series, I had been in the middle of another line of questioning in the same breath. I reported Audrey and Paula’s response as a “yes” to working on the JLA line. Infact, Audrey called me after the article was published and corrected me. I misinterpreted her response in my line of questioning her. I hereby wish to officially offer my humblest apologies to Audrey and Paula as well as to Hasbro for the misquote and misprint in the JLA/Hasbro connection. There is no connection at this time and it appears there may not be a connection.
Now as mentioned in an earlier column of FIGURE THIS OUT! that I had a surprise guest I was interviewing and today is the day I reveal my surprise!
As many of you toy fans surf eBay for that perfect new customized figure of a Bat-Family member or Bat-Villain, you wish you had the ability to make them yourself. Well, I have been “talking” with Matt Cauley of Iron Cow Productions. An artist by trade, a Bat-Toy-Fan by hobby and obsession. Matt (Iron Cow) and his partner Carson (Casimir), fight for truth, justice and a dead On-spec Bat-action figure that truly looks like the characters we all know and love and love to hate!
Matt and Carson have been customizing “professionally” for well over 2 years now and have developed, what they call “On Model” customizing. “On Model” means the finished product looks like it was directly taken from either the TV show or the comic book series. The good gentleman at Iron Cow refer to the comic art as we
NEWS AND RUMORS
ALL-ENCOMPASSING/OTHER
-BATMAN BEYOND just won two Daytime Emmy Awards – one for OUTSTANDING SPECIAL CLASS ANIMATED PROGRAM, and the other for OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC DIRECTION AND COMPOSITION.
Congratulations!
-Sign a petition in an attempt to get a soundtrack CD set of BTAS music produced! Go here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/2454/petition.html
-OnStar is staging an online promotion, with the prize being a walk-on role in the next Batman movie. Starting May 31, fans will have a chance to enter a sweepstakes at www.onstar.com to win a walk-on role in the next Batman movie, which is still in the planning stages with no firm dates set yet. The promotion is part of OnStar’s marketing campaign, teaming with DC Comics, that includes two new TV spots, print ads and an interactive animated comic on the Internet.
“The relationship between OnStar and Batman has been extremely successful, helping to push OnStar awareness to new heights,” said Mike McEnaney, OnStar director of sales and marketing services. “With this new integrated campaign, OnStar and DC Comics have created a simple, yet compelling way to tell more of the OnStar story.”
The TV ads highlight OnStar’s newest services, Personal Calling and Virtual Advisor. In one, which premiered during the Academy Awards, while fighting off an attack by the Penguin on his Batmobile, Batman places a hands-free call to longtime girlfriend Vicki Vale to warn her that he might be late for their dinner date.
The second ad pits Batman against the Riddler, who sends an e-mail via the OnStar Virtual Advisor. Batman also uses the Virtual Advisor to solve the riddle and prevent a crime. The commercials were directed by Vincent Ward.
-The following artists are selling artwork on eBay. The following are their names and Seller ID’s:
Terry Beatty: beatty@machlink.com
Craig Rousseau: cerousseau
Tim Levins: tlevins
Min S. Ku: min3000gt
ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS, STAS, BEYOND, JLA)
-WE HAVE LOTS OF JLA STUFF HERE FOR YOU, TOO!
-The show has undergone a name change. It will just be known as “Justice League” now.
And, for example, here’s the run-down of everyone doing the voices of major characters on the show:
-Batman (Kevin Conroy, of course)
-Superman (George Newbern)
-Green Lantern (Phil LaMarr)
-Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg)
-Hawkgirl (Maria Canals)
-Martian Manhunter (Carl Lumby)
-Flash (Michael Rosenbaum)
-The injustice league includes two arch-foes that have already appeared in the animated series, each character still being voiced by the same voice actor:
-The Joker (Mark Hamill)
-Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown)
-COMICSCONTINUUM has snagged a huge interview with Bruce Timm on this series. Here are some things we learned…and go to the following URL for the full interview:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0104/24/jlaindex.htm
*November 2001 will be the premiere date.
*26 half-hour episodes were ordered for this coming season.
*Though the show is set in the same continuity of the current Batman and Superman shows, don’t expect the show to stick to it 100%.
*The painted backgrounds for the show will be more realistic and less stylized than they were on the other shows.
*The style of the show will look more like the original BTAS series, not the “new” designs of BTAS, BEYOND, or SUPERMAN. Yes, Batman got a new character design once again. Superman and the Flash still look pretty much the same. For a pic of them, go here:
http://www.cinescape.com/insider/jla010424a.jpg
*Storyboards of the pilot has been completed and are ready to be shipped overseas to begin production.
*The crew behind JL is still unsure whether the show will air as an hour or 30 minutes. It does look like it’ll be in a prime-time slot, though!
*There will be episodes focusing on specific characters. A Wonder Woman episode is currently in the works. An Aquaman episode is expected, and a Green Lantern episode (the premiere) has already been greenlighted.
*There will be a sub-plot throughout the season, behind each epic battle, that will lead to a big finale. (Much like how the first seasons of BATMAN BEYOND and SUPERMAN were structured.)
*Along with Lex Luthor and the Joker, other villains appearing on the series will be:
Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, Shade, Copperhead, the Ultrahumanite, and probably Darkseid in the future (season two). Expect other DC Universe villains (including those from Gotham and Metropolis) to appear as well.
*Rich Fogel is the supervising/writing producer.
*Stan Berkowitz is the major staff writer.
*Glen Murakami and James Tucker are the artists and co-producers.
*Butch Lukic and Dan Riba are the directors.
*Andrea Romano is back as the voice director.
*Regarding the music of the series, no contracts have been signed as of yet, but Timm hopes to get Shirley Walker and all of the other BTAS, STAS, and BEYOND composers to contribute to the music for JLA.
*The first episode arc of the series will feature how the JLA got together. It is 90 minutes long and is entitled “Secret Origins”, is written by Rich Fogel, and is directed by Butch Lukic and Dan Riba.
*Paul Dini WAS writing for the show, but he’s had to bow out of writing his Flash/Green Lantern vs. Grodd story due to recent injury. Dwayne McDuffie has picked up the script and will complete it.
-The show will feature 10 60-minute stories, and 2 90-minute stories. That makes up the 26 episodes.
-Count on a JSA appearance in the future.
-BATMAN BEYOND is airing on GLOBAL in Canada, again! Check out GLOBAL at 3:10am on Thursdays
ANIMATED COMICS
-BATMAN BEYOND #24 and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #66 (probably) will be the last issue of each series, as each of the comic series based on the animated series is being cancelled. It looks like BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES is still making the cut, though.
-Just as with all WB animated series, the JLA animated series will also recieve a tie-in animated book, drawn in the animated style. It is tentatively entitled “JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES.”
-Comic writer Paul Storrie will be writing two issues of the BATMAN BEYOND comic series; the first is set to be released in July (#23), and the other the following months. This looks to be the final issue of the series.
-In a chat conducted with Tim Levins, he has confirmed that the following villains will all be showing up in GOTHAM ADVENTURES over the next few issues: Talia, the Riddler, Clayface (Issue # 39), and a solo Harley story ().
-At long last, Two-Face finally re-appears in GOTHAM ADVENTURES #44.
-Terry Beatty reports that the art-crew from BATMAN BEYOND (Craig Rousseau and Rob Leigh) will be working on of the series.
-Mr. Freeze is getting another new suit in of GOTHAM ADVENTURES! It’s pretty similar to his newer, sleaker suit, but with a few modifications. Check it out here!
http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/wfnewspage/bgafreeze.jpg
-BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #40
Written by Scott Peterson; art by Tim Levins and Terry Beatty; cover by Bob Smith and Beatty.
In stores July 4. Mr. Freeze is back in Gotham City, and he’s looking for a way to bring about a new Ice Age. But he`s not working alone this time – there’s a mysterious person who has gotten Freeze to implement this latest plan. Batman must figure out what Freeze is looking for, what he`s trying to do and who`s got the influence over Freeze to push him toward this mad plan. But time is running out.
Cover: http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Images/BatmanImages269036.jpg
-BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #41
Written by Scott Peterson; art by Tim Levins and Terry Beatty; cover by Bob Smith and Beatty
In stores August 1. Batman’s giving his all to help one of Gotham City’s denizens get on the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, the subject of all of his efforts couldn’t care less whether or not he was on the right side of the law – or the right side of the Bat. Batman may have to deal with someone who’s too lethargic to care about redemption, when dealing with “The Man Called Joe.”
-BATMAN BEYOND #22
Written by Hilary Barta; art by Rick Burchett and Dan Davis; cover by Brian Stelfreeze.
In stores June 27. The conclusion to “In Blackest Day,” guest-starring the Justice League Unlimited. Batman and the JLU battle the strange new threat called Blacklight for the life and power of JLU member Green Lantern.
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0103/13/BB22.htm
-BAMTAN BEYOND #23
Written by Paul Storrie; art by Craig Rousseau and Rob Leigh; cover by Darwyn Cooke.
In stores July 25. There`s a new “King” in town, and he`s putting together a new Royal Flush Gang. Is Batman playing with a full deck when he asks “Ten” to help him take down this dangerous and motley crew?
Cover: http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Images/BatmanImages269033.jpg
-BATMAN BEYOND #24
This is the final issue of the series. Written by Hilary Barda; art by Craig Rousseau and Rob Leigh; cover by Darwyn Cooke. In stores August 29. There’s something curious about Mom’s new boyfriend. Could it be the claws, the fangs or the glowing eyes? That’s right, it’s the issue you’ve been waiting for as “Terry’s Mom Dates a Splicer!” But what does Batman have to say about it?
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0105/23/BB24.htm
-For more animated comic updates, go here:
http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/bbeyond/previews.html
OTHER COMICS
-WHOOPS! We don’t know whom, but SOMEONE released the August DC Solicitations and who are we to just sit by and neglect to report them?
So, without further adieu, here are some titles. For a full list, go to this URL:
http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/files/Forum3/HTML/004654.html
-DETECTIVE COMICS #761: In stores August 8. Bruce’s bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux has thirty days to prove her worth, or she’s fired! Meanwhile, Internal Affairs heats up the M.C.U., and you won’t
believe whom they’re after! Plus, “Trail of the Catwoman” continues in the backup written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke (BATMAN: EGO).
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0105/23/Det761.htm
-LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #146: Doug Moench is back as the writer for another three-part storyline!
-BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #20: In stores August 15. Bruce Wayne makes a trip to Metropolis for a meeting with Talia, the new CEO of LexCorp – but it doesn’t turn out as planned, and Batman has a run-in with Superman! Meanwhile, Dick Grayson and Batman both have to deal with the possibility that all of Grayson’s family isn’t dead after all, when a man claiming to be Dick’s grandfather comes to town.
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0105/23/BmGK20.htm
-BATMAN #594: Ed Brubaker’s two-part “Our Worlds at War” tale featuring an alien in Gotham concludes.
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0105/23/Bm594.htm
-BATMAN: OFFICER DOWN will be collected in a trade paperback coming out on August 29.
-Ed Brubaker has shed light on what DC plans for the “event” involving BATMAN #600, in 10 months time:
*It will be a 64-page issue.
*It will have an extra-sized lead story and a lot of back-ups.
*Brubaker said that he has approached James Tucker from the Batman and upcoming Justice League animated series to work on a Dick Sprang-influenced story for the issue. (Tucker worked on the portion of the “Legends of the Dark Knight” animated episode that featured a Batman from that era.)
-Greg Rucka has told FANDOM.com that one of the characters in the Superman comics will be moving over to the Batman comics permanently. He won’t say who or when, exactly – just that it will be later this year.
-Here’s a more detailed look at the previously-reported upcoming October 2001 event at DC:
Written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty, Art by Various, Covers by Brian Bolland, Six issues, Fourth Quarter 2001 The madcap madness of the Joker – one of the most heinous criminals in DCU history – is about to be multiplied a dozenfold this fall. When the Joker believes his days are numbered after a medical exam reveals a spot on his brain, he decides to go out with a bang – developing a way to `Jokerize` the other villains of the DC Universe and have them do his bidding. Beginning in Last Laugh, a six-part weekly series in the month of October and first week of November, the `Joker madness` then spreads into nearly all the DCU titles that month, as the world`s superheroes must face their already deadly enemies who now have unpredictable, murderous `Joker personalities`.
-Here is a preliminary cover of Catwoman’s new ongoing series (entitled CATWOMAN: VOLUME TWO):
http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Images/BatmanImages267930.jpg
-Later this year, DC will be taking a shot at attractive new BATMAN readers by offering a full-length, in-continuity one-shot by Greg Rucka and Rich Burchett entitled BATMAN: THE TEN CENT ADVENTURE – seriously, DC will actually sell it for 10 cents! It will also tie in with an important upcoming BATMAN storyline entitled BRUCE WAYNE: FUGITIVE.
Cover: http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Images/BatmanImages267928.jpg
-HARLEY QUIIN #11 Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0105/23/HQ11.htm
-HARLEY QUINN #12 will be an extra-sized issue featuring Harley, Bo, Surley, and Killer Croc.
MOVIES
-For videos of the cut scenes from the edited ROTJ video, go here:
http://4colorreview.simplenet.com/reviews/return_of_the_joker/return_of_the_joker.shtml
-Paul Dini is pondering ideas for a second BATMAN BEYOND direct-to-video movie, but nothing, repeat, NOTHING has been greenlit by the studio just yet.
*BATMAN: YEAR ONE (BATMAN 5) NEWS:
-Clint Mansell (who did the score for Darren Aronofsky’s PI and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) will be providing the score for the movie.
-The projected release date for this movie will be sometime in 2002 – but I wouldn’t say it’d be out ’til a year or two after that.
-YEAR ONE will be set in a 1970’s-like era.
-Aaron Eckhart (ERIN BROKOVICH), originally pegged to play the young Batman, has now been said to be “set to play the young Commissioner Gordon”, according to E! Online.
-Jack Nicholson IS still interested in doing another Bat-film if he were ever asked by the WB; unfortunately, they can’t seem to get around the fact that his character died in the first movie.
-Read an interview with Darren Aronofsky here:
http://www.fandom.com/batman/editorial.asp?action=page&obj_id=248753
*BATMAN: YEAR TWO (BATMAN 6) NEWS:
-Yep, you guessed it! The sequel-hungry WB is already planning a sequel to Aronofsky’s YEAR ONE adaption. Whether this is going to be based on the YEAR TWO comic storyline (which, in my opinion, is NOT that great) or another story (like a LONG HALLOWEEN or an original tale) is unknown.
*BATMAN BEYOND: LIVE ACTION NEWS:
-Word has it that Paul Dini is moving well along with their script, and it may be in the second draft already!
-This is NOT official, but rumblings at the WB seem to indicate BATMAN BEYOND will make it to theatres before YEAR ONE does.
*BATMAN BEYOND: THE FOURTH ANIMATED MOVIE
-Nothing new today…just expect it to revolve around Nightwing, folks.
*CATWOMAN
-According to FANDOM, Ashley Judd has agreed to play Catwoman in the upcoming film; of course, this could be a mistake, and maybe she has actually signed on to play Catwoman in Darren Aronofsky’s BATMAN: YEAR ONE movie.
Go here for details: http://www.fandom.com/batman/editorial.asp?action=page&obj_id=267816
-John Rogers is writing the script.
-Denise DeNovi (producer of BATMAN RETURNS) is producing the film.
-Batman has yet to officially have a cameo appearance.
-It looks like this Catwoman won’t even be named Selina Kyle…apparently a new “mousy geeky girl” named Patience Prude is donning the Cat-cowl. Ugh – what’s up with that?
-For a review of the script, go here: http://filmforce.ign.com//articles/50949p1.html
-(Can someone please explain to me how this even works as a Batman film? Or even a spin-off?)
LIVE ACTION TELEVISION
-More Batman/ONSTAR commercials are in the works! During the Academy Awards ceremony, a commercial entitled “Hot Date”, featuring an attack of the Penguin keeping Batman from being able to show up for a date with Vicki Vale on time. This can be found at ONSTAR.COM and ADCRITIC.COM.
-The fifth ONSTAR webisode, featuring (sorta) the Riddler and the Penguin, is now online, too.
-For a current airing schedule for the 1966 Adam West series, click here:
http://www.scifi.com/bin/schedulebot.cgi?wd=w&s=batman&ds=1&db=US%3AEastern&mon=4.01
-Proudction of SMALLVILLE series is underway in Vancouver, BC, Canada; the pilot episode is nearing completion.
EXCLUSIVE INTERNET ENDEAVOURS:
-BATMAN and future CATWOMAN writer Ed Brubaker now has his own web domain:
http://www.edbrubaker.com
-More “Gotham Girls” episodes are on the way! Paul Dini has already scripted a Catwoman/Zatanna team-up, and it looks like Hilary Bader will be writing a number of other ones, too.
TOYS, BOOKS, AND OTHER MERCHANDISE
-BATMAN: VENGEANCE, a new game by Ubi Soft for the Playstation 2, is in production! The story is being written by the show’s writers, and it will have the “new” design look. Go to this address for stills from the game, featuring Batman, the Freezettes, Poison Ivy, Ivy’s Lab (?), Batgirl, something else from what I presume is the Mr. Freeze level, the Funnibone warehouse (looks like Joker’s in it for sure, too), the Batcave, and a whole bunch of shots of Gotham City. The game will probably price around $49.99, US.
http://www.fandom.com/batman/editorial.asp?action=page&obj_id=269762
-BATMAN: GOTHAM CITY RACER for PLAYSTATION is now available!
-Subscriber Victor Espinosa has told us that there is another Toys R Us exclusive four-pack on the way! It is called the GOTHAM CITY ENFORCEMENT TEAM, and it features figures of Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and, finally, Comissioner Gordon! Check out these links for more:
http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/worldsfinestpage/frames.htm
http://www.jokerinc.action-figure.net
-A new Poison Ivy statue will be available on September 26 from DC Direct. Here’s a picture:
http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Images/BatmanImages265326.jpg
-A Harley Quinn snowglobe is due out on November 21. Here’s a picture:
http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Images/BatmanImages265335.jpg
SPECIAL NOTE
For more BATMAN, SUPERMAN, AND BEYOND news throughout the week, check out the WORLD’S FINEST NEWS PAGE at:
http://www.geocities.com/bbeyond/news.html
____________________________________________________________________
FEATURED BATMAN INTERNET ENDEAVOURS FOR THIS ISSUE
(feel free to submit something for our consideration)
WHICH GOTHAMITE ARE YOU MUST LIKE?
A loyal subscriber and friend of mine has come up with a rather intriguing site in which us every-day Batfans input personal data. It then analyzes your answers and gives you a response, telling you what Batman-related character you most resemble. It’s really quite cool! Check it out at the following link:
http://www.selectsmart.com/FREE/select.php3?client=batman
____________________________________________________________________
ANIMATED BATMAN/SUPERMAN SITES:
Wow, our links section has grown so big that we’ve had to eliminate it from the newsletter!
Fear not, you can still find all these links at the WORLD’S FINEST NEWSPAGE, if you follow this
link…that’s hypocracy for ya!
http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/worldsfinestpage/linkpage.htm
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@dccnet.com
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 article, 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 archive contains 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/news/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@dccnet.com, put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line, and put the e-mail address you’d like the newsletter to be sent to in the body of the message.
For more information about the newsletter just email juno@dccnet.com
Thank you for your time, and thanks for reading! Tell your friends!
-Tim TWO-FACE Leighton and Dick Grayson, editors
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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! Thank you for reading! See ya next time!
CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER
EDITOR AT COLLEGE, & WORKING, TOO!: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
CO-EDITOR AT COLLEGE, ALSO WORKIN’: “Dick Grayson”
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Toonzone, Kids’WB!, and YTV
EPISODE REVIEWS: Zanna/Justin Chen, and occasionally Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
EDITORIAL: Help Wanted!!!
COMIC REVIEWS: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton, Dick Grayson
NO MAN’S ISLAND: SURVIVAL IN GOTHAM: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
‘RETURN OF THE JOKER’ GIVEAWAY: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
FIGURE THIS OUT: Marc Rosenzweig
“BTAN ARCHIVES” MODERATOR: Eileen Delgadillo
TRIVIA: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
PROMOTIONS, JUST GETTIN’ THE WORD OUT: Dick Grayson, Eileen Delgadillo, Brian Cruz, Brian Davis
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-Y Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
DELIVERY: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
E-MAIL RECEPTION HANDLING: Tim “TWO-FACE” Leighton
THE CREATION OF THIS NEWSLETTER INSPIRED BY: Alan J. Porter
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane & Bill Finger (who else?)
Batman and all related indicia are trademarks of DC Comics, Copyright c 2001.
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