Batman Gotham Knights

I know the episode was made a long time ago, but oh well. People say this is an awesome episode, it's a good episode, but not awesome. The Adam West scene was a good one, with the sixties animation( the animation looked exactly like the sixties). The part with Batman blowing into the giant trumpet with Joker in it was funny, and a sixtyish way of defeating a villain. The kids were not very realistic at all. I wish the kids were closer to what kids act like today. The Dark Knight Returns! scene was pretty cool, but boring to me. The scene with the King Mutant drowning Batman was pretty intense for a kids show, and then Batman killing the guy, that was dark.



Now, the final scene which is the worst. Firefly being the villain was not a good choice at all. They could have used a better villain. Over all the episode had good scenes, boring scenes, and scenes with unrealistic kids. Like I said, it was good, but not awesome.

If you have ever read Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", this episode will rock your world. Think of that book in animated form shortened to a 10 minute story and you have Batman gold. While not the entire episode, this one isolated tale, told by a girl named Carrie (in homage to Robin from the book), deals with an older batman of 50 or so. Getting up there in age, but built like a tank, this Batman of tomorrow is possibly more ruthless than the current one. A bit of nostalgia for comic fans, and something compeltely new and great for fans of the show, anyone will love this episode.

This is one of my favorite episodes from any of the "Batman" cartoon series. There are many references to the old comics of the '50s, and the Miller miniseries of the 80s.



But that the stories are told by children, with the sense of wonder that a child has, THAT is what makes this a great episode. This sense of wonder and amazement should never be lost, even though we "have to grow up".



I like to think I never lost that sense of wonder, I still watch cartoons, like this one, and I always will.



And I don't care who knows it!

Alternative perspectives on the myth known as Batman:



*From one perspective, we see the campy 60's version personified- right down to Adam West's "old chum" line.



*In another light, we see "The Dark Knight Returns," a more recent and innovative comic story featuring a female Robin and a tank-driving Bat.



And, to top it all off, a nasty jab at franchise-ruiner Joel Schumacher!

This episode starts off with three kids talking about Batman. One kid believes he's more than a man, like a monster or something. It eventually delves into how one kids uncle is a security guard and has an encounter with Batman. This is the tributre to the Adam West Batman, and I, being unaware of this at first, thought they had changed the joker for know apparent reason and was disappointed to not hear Mark Hamol behind the voice, but within minutes Batman flew in with Robin, and it all became clear. Through Robin's, "Holy----Batman," quotes, and the Joker's odd complection, this part of the episode was very enjoyable.

The next kid oges on to tell how Batman is in his fifties, and Robin is a girl. This is clearly the tribute to Frank Miller. Batman goes on to fight the mutant leader in a gruesome mud pit fight where he finally pins the mutant leader into the mud and quotes ,"You still don't get it son. This isn't a trash heap, it's an operating table, (you hear a crack, and a scream), AND I'M THE SURGEON!" I was shocked to see this in a cartoon, though it was my favorite part of the episode. If you listen to the commentary of the episode on the DVD, you'll see that the creators were also surprised they got away with it.

The rest of the episode is somewhat dull, after seeing the unique versions of Batman, the normal Batman fighting the Firefly is nothing special. The creators also agrreed with me on that.