When I was growing up I had my share of comic books. I never really did the collecting thing, well at least as far as for money. I think when I sold my original comic book collection, which was around 3,000 or so, it was at the behest of a girlfriend who wanted me to buy a car. I was 15 at the time, so I stupidly took the first offer that came my way which was a measly $600. It didn’t take me long to recognize the error of my ways, and that girlfriend? Thankfully… long gone. When I bought and read comics it was for fun, and though my all-time favorite super-hero was Spider-Man, he was really the only Marvel character that really interested me. I was really more of a DC guy.

Every week, I hit the comic shop with my allowance and picked up stories about Superman, Green Lantern, and my absolute favorite DC character, Batman. Batman was it for me. He embodied everything that my immature mind could understand as being a tortured character. His parents were murdered in front of his eyes when he was a small child and everything he had done since, all the nightmares and all the bad guys he put away stemmed from that fateful night. He was dark, scary and imposing. He was it as far as I was concerned.


Over the years, Batman has been represented in all manner of movies, cartoons and of course the 1960’s schlock fest TV series. Most of the early movie serials were pretty good, the first two Tim Burton flicks were alright, the two follow-ups sucked hard, and in spite of its silliness I liked the Adam West / Burt Ward series. But it wasn’t until 1992, by this time I was well into my late 20’s, that I saw what I considered to be the best Batman series ever. When “Batman: The Animated Series” first aired I was completely blown away. I was used to all the cruddy cartoons that had become a staple of the 1980’s, and was floored when I saw the groundbreaking animation style, fully developed characters, and stellar voice work that made this series stand out amongst the masses.

The series was very dark, almost ‘film nourish’ in appearance. It also had a kind of timeless appeal, setting the action in modern times, but sometimes looking like we stepped back into the 1930’s. It was very grim, and the stories often poignant. Very few animated series have achieved this level of quality, even those that have followed.

Kevin Conroy, who I had seen briefly in a few TV series (most notably “Tour of Duty”), had been cast to do the voice for Batman. From the moment the first line fell from Batman’s lips, Conroy ruled, and has since become the definitive voice of the Dark Knight. Though the series itself only lasted for 85 episodes, Conroy has continued to voice the character in several other shows, including the new “JLA”, “Superman”, “The Zeta Project and my personal favorite, “Batman Beyond.” There has also been a feature length “Batman: The Animated Series” movie that was released in theatres as well as a straight to video film pitting Batman against fan favorite villain Mr. Freeze.

“Batman: The Animated Series”, and all its subsequent episodes featured an amazing array of actors doing the voiceover work for various villains and characters from the Batman Universe. Efram Zimbalist Jr (of TV’s “The F.B.I.”) stepped in as Alfred Pennyworth, following Clive Revill’s work in the pilot episode “On Leather Wings”, and has voiced the character ever since.

But one of the most surprising bits of casting came in the form of Mark Hamill. Since “Star Wars” is still considered to be one of the most well-known films in movie history, it’s a pretty safe bet that everyone has at least heard of Hamill. You know, the guy who’s biggest claim to fame is being Luke Skywalker in that little-known “Star Wars” Trilogy. Now to be specific, I’m talking the original Trilogy that was filmed before the current Trilogy in which the storyline actually takes place before the storyline of the original Trilogy but was filmed after. (Did you follow that one?) And who was he cast to voice? The Joker. That’s right; Batman’s #1 villain was turned over to Luke Skywalker. And, like Conroy, RULES as the Joker. Listening to him do the voice, you can just hear the fun he’s having with the part. By the way, if you ARE a fan of his vocal characterization of The Joker, you have to see him in the two episodes of the live-action “Flash” TV series where he played Jesse James a.k.a The Trickster. Hamill can play insanity like nobody’s business.

“Batman: The Animated Series”, without a doubt changed the way superheroes were represented in animated form. At least for the DC side of things. All of the shows that have come out in the last decade, like the aforementioned “Superman”, “JLA” and “Batman Beyond” have taken a lesson from their predecessor and continued to produce quality over quantity. The plotting and characterizations are as true as they can be to the comics (at least the ones from my day), and you never get the feeling that they are just another cookie cutter cartoon. They continue to attract some of the field’s best voiceover artists as well as some of Hollywood’s elite stars. As I mentioned, none have ever really attained the same level of quality and style, with the exception of “Batman Beyond”, but they have certainly come close enough to make them worthwhile.

Like most fans of “Batman: The Animated Series”, I made it a point to record as many of them as I could. I did pretty well, but I no longer have to worry about the ones I missed (not to mention the quality). Warner Brothers had finally decided to stop releasing the series in piecemeal DVDs comprising of just a few episodes. They started releasing full volumes of the series last year. They didn’t release full seasons per se, but that’s because that was nearly impossible. The first season was comprised of 60 episodes, while subsequent seasons only had 5 to 9 in each. So instead they opted to release them in a Volume format, with Volume 1 being made up of the first 28 episodes, etc… This way, with three volumes they’ll be able to release the entire series. They moved them out pretty fast, too. The third volume just hit the shelves this week.

This new set is comprised of the final 28 episodes of the series (which along the way had changed its name to “The Adventures of Batman & Robin). And, like each of the previous sets, there are quite a few favorite episodes. Some of which border on greatness. Three in particular bring all have R’as Ah Ghul (David Warner) in them. The first was the two-parter “Shadow of the Bat”, where Batman has to team-up with Ghul and his daughter Talia, while the third “Showdown” introduces us to a bit of Ghul’s past. This episode was of particular interest to me as it featured Jonah Hex, who was a favorite character of mine when I collected comics. It was cool to see him in an animated format.

As with the first 2 volumes, there isn’t the slightest bit if disappointment with this set. There was absolutely no drop in quality as far as the series was concerned, and while the extra features weren’t as abundant as on the Volume 1 set, they are still more than worthwhile. You’ll find three different commentaries. The first one is on "Read my Lips” and is by producer Bruce Timm, writer Paul Dini, director Boyd Kirkland, writer Michael Reaves and composer, Shirley Walker. The next one is a video commentary on "House and Garden" by Timm, Dini and Kirkland, and moderatored by Jason Hillhouse. The final one is on “Harlequinade" and is done by Timm, Dini and Shirley Walker. There is also a nice little featurette called “Gotham’s New Knight” and gives us the skinny on Batgirl.

Of all the TV series, both live action and animated coming to DVD, “Batman: The Animated Series” is certainly one of the most sought after. Fans can finally rejoice that all of the episodes of this great series are now available in DVD format. And let me tell you, all three of these sets are more than worth adding to your collection. Now if we can just convince Warner Brothers to do the same with “Batman Beyond,” I’ll be set!!

Episodes:
Shadow of the Bat
Shadow of the Bat, Part II
Blind as a Bat
Demon's Quest, The
Demon's Quest, Part II, The
His Silicon Soul
Fire From Olympus
Read My Lips
Worry Men, The
Sideshow
Bullet for Bullock, A
Trial
Avatar
House And Garden
Terrible Trio, The
Harlequinade
Time Out of Joint
Catwalk
Bane
Baby-Doll
Lion & the Unicorn, The
Showdown
Riddler's Reform
Second Chance
Harley's Holiday
Lock-Up
Make 'Em Laugh
Deep Freeze
Batgirl Returns

Starring (the voices of): Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Bob Hastings, Richard Moll, Arleen Sorkin
Extras: "Gotham's New Knight", Commentary on Three Key Episodes
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Surround Sound
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 5/24/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
Website

We'll give Batman the Animated Series: Volume 3 an A.