Riddler's Revenge

Getting better...
Season 4 finds THE BATMAN at its most accessible and fan friendly. Lots of folks (and I was one of 'em) weren't too enthused with this younger Dark Knight version when he first came out in 2004. So, with The Batman - The Complete First Season (DC Comics Kids Collection) having left me and others in a lukewarm and sulky state, I never thought the series would last to a fourth season, let alone a 5th, which is just around the corner. But, perhaps because of the dearth of animated superhero stuff on TV - what with only the occasional animated film released by Marvel and DC, leaving us with LEGION OF SUPERHEROES (enjoyable) and FANTASTIC FOUR (kinda shady) as the other viewing options - well, I've started watching THE BATMAN more and more.

There's been a decided upgrading in quality to the episodes. Also, the additions of Batgirl (debuted in Season 3 and now officially in the Bat family) and of Robin...

The Batman's animated evolution continues..in the right direction
Like so many others who watched this show intially, I was not impressed. One reason was that I had a problem with the way some of Batman's rogues gallery were drawn or made over(especially The Joker and Bane). The one redeeming makeover was The Penguin. I really liked how he was portrayed to be just as formidible as he was vain. But overall it was a show that I would occasionally watch. But as the second and third seasons premiered and progressed, I was pleasantly surprised. But it was Season Four, where everything shifted into fifth gear.

The make or break move for this show was how they were going to implement Robin into this show after it was announced that he
would be introduced in season four. I must say that Robin's introduction exceeded my expectations. I thought that The Boy Wonder would have a 2 part episode that would provide his origin and drag out over 67 yrs of history. Not so. The opening episode "A Matter of Family" not only summed up everything in 30...

It just keeps getting better
OK, so unlike several others here, I liked THE BATMAN from the beginning. Even so, I have to say that I think it's gotten even better over the years. As of this writing, I haven't seen any of season 5 (I prefer to wait for the DVD's so I can get 'em all at once), but season 4 is by far the best season yet.

Hardcore Batfans have traditionally been slow to warm-up to the "sidekick" characters of Robin and Batgirl. And I'll admit I was initally reluctant to embrace either of them in ANY incarnation of Batman. So imagine my surprise when, after only 3 or 4 episodes, I found that the interplay between Batgirl and the Boy Wonder is among my favorites things about this season. They're really just kids, after all, and their good-natured sibling rivalry is handled with wit and intelligence.

There's not really a bad episode in the bunch, but I'll mention a few favorites: "Strange New World" calls to mind the excellent feature-length...

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