Meanwhile... (AKA Holy Broken Power Supplies Batman!)

Sorry folks, a broken computer and an empty wallet with which to fix it has kept me off the Internet for a lengthy period. But, finally, all is well, and I can get back to this new endeavor. And, for my first post back I'm gonna discuss the latest episode of Carton Network's Batman:The Brave and the Bold. And awaaaaay we go!

"Deep Cover for Batman"

You can read a full episode description over at TV.com, spoilers abound. If you're not interested in that long of a recap: Batman travels to a parallel Earth disguised as the alternate reality (Read: Evil) version of himself, Owlman! There he infiltrates the Injustice Syndicate and helps the Red Hood (and the Justice Underground) stop their nefarious plot to destroy the world!

Easily the best episode so far, and I say that having fully enjoyed this series from the get-go. When I realized we were getting the animated version of the Crime Syndicate from the comics I have to admit I was pretty giddy with geek glee.

I don't know a ton about the alternate reality versions of DC's superheroes, just that it's a tops-turvy world where they're the bad guys and they kind of run amok. In spirit this animated version is obviously faithful to the original concept, but instead of some of the big DC heroes (Supes, Wonder Woman) we get versions of a number of characters that had previously appeared on the show: Silver Cyclone (Red Tornado), Blue Bowman (Green Arrow), Dyna-Mite (The Atom), Scarlett Scarab (Blue Beetle), Barracuda (Aquaman), Rubber Man (Plastic Man), Pussycat (Wildcat), Blaze (Fire), and Bwanna Brute (Bwanna Beast). Alternately we get previously seen villains from the show posing as the episodes heroes, with one notable exception: The Red Hood.

Until now we have yet to see any of the Bats traditional rogues gallery, the Red Hood is our first glimpse at the Joker. The Joker as a hero, no less. And boy does it work. Viewers not in the know might not catch the sly nod to Bats' most notable foe (I believe he'll be making an appearance in the next episode of this two-parter), but long-time comic fans certainly did. I think seeing this heroic side of the character is certainly going to make watching the maniacal version of the guy heartbreaking. Jeff Bennett as the Red Hood steals the show from the Diedrich Bader voiced Batman, making me want to see a whole series based on this counter-earth with him as the hero.

The show had all kinds of nods to Bat-history as well as what I think might have been a great tip of the cap to their cross town rivals at Marvel. First up, the title of this episode and the next are a nice little nod to the 60's series Adam West show (which, tonally, this show has been doing since day one). The (possible) nod to Marvel comes towards the end of the episode when The Red Hood sends the Syndicate's bomb to the Zombie Earth (no chance of us seeing THAT episode I guess...).

All in all a fantastic episode, and if you can catch the repeat, I highly recommend it.

You can catch a brief glimpse of the episode over at Cartoon Network's site, but only for a limited time!