Batman: The Brave and the Bold

As a fan of Batman in all his incarnations, and a long time fan of the Brave and the Bold comic, I had concerns that an animated adventures show like this wouldn't measure up. I've really been pleasantly surprised by this series. But this is without a doubt the most disappointing outing so far.



It features a plot hole even the kids this show is aimed at should be able to pick up on. After a very strong opening with Batman and the Spectre, Batman and Detective Chimp go to Gorilla City to stop Grodd's latest scheme. Batman has left Gotham City under the protection of B'wana Beast and Vixen. Vixen can take on the powers of a single animal, and in this version of B'wana Beast, he can combine two or more creatures to make a new one.



Grodd's plan is to take over Gotham, which eventually leads Batman back to his hometown. At one point, he's in a cage with B'wana Beast and a powerless Vixen. Vixen explains that B'wana's powers don't work on humans.



Minor SPOILER:





Except that later, they do, as he combines Batman with a number of creatures. It was one of the weaker episodes in the series anyway, featuring so many D-list characters (as B'wana himself concedes). Detective Chimp was fine for a pre-titles sequence a few episodes back, but not compelling enough to support an entire episode.



But more than that, this episode contains so obvious a mistake that I found myself annoyed for having wasted 20 minutes watching it.

I loved this episode, let's start with the teaser, which despite the presence of The Spectre was a bit average, until the end. I thought that was rather gruesome but also a clever way to kill the character. Then let's have a look at the characters in the rest of the episode. We see the return of Gorilla Grodd...again, Detective Chimp, B'Wana Beast and Killer Moth. But we also get characters who have not previously been on the show, Monsieur Mallah and Gorilla Boss. Best of all, Vixen appears. I actually prefer this design to the Bruce Timm one, very sexy. Sorry Marvel, DC has the hottest women. Furthermore I have always loved her powers, though she needs the amulet.



The plot wasn't all that great, it's a gorilla invasion, but it's a lot of fun, mainly thanks to Detective Chimp, the subplot with B'Wana and Vixen was interesting and I liked the ending. As overexposed as Grodd is, he is a great villain. Monsieur Mallah and Gorilla Boss don't get that much screentime, but Mallah will probably appear in the Doom Patrol episode. The comedy was great and the action was good as well. It's always nice to see Chimp kick butt.



I...LOVE this show! Unfortunately now we have another break and have to wait even more for the Starro two-parter.