Batman: The Brave and the Bold - "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases"

The Good. Three odd stories presented by Bat-Mite referencing versions of Batman in MAD magazine's Bat Boy and Rubin, Bat-Manga and Scooby-Doo. I particularly enjoyed how close to true they stuck to the animation styles (the opening credits of BatManga, the usual level of camp in Scooby Doo). Lord Death Man's appearance was the highlight of the show for me. Loved the addendum to weirdness by Bat-Mite, in unexpected ways since I'm not his biggest fan. But fast-forwarding through the opening credits was genius. There were also smart interventions, like when he points out that Batman's neck was mispainted, and the true problem he is drawing attention to is the batsign emblem; or when he gives batman and company the power to punch while bringing out a great point about the cartoons of that time. 

The Bad. Bat Boy and Rubin, while initially entertaining, got tiresome relatively quickly, down to the downright not "awesome sauce" ending. I also think that this kind of quirky weirdness that the writers can get away with on the final season (although this was made during the second season) should be used to really explore all the kinds of batmen that are out there (Elseworlds!). But it may also be nice to give some of this material proper treatment to link it to perhaps future episodes in the season. Imagine if, for example, the Bat-Manga episode could be expanded into a future Batman Inc. episode, a la Grant Morrison. Surprisingly, the Bat Manga section got a lot right in terms of the translation of the book to animated format, but the story missed awesome moments that fit better with the usual level of camp in BTBATB (The whole BatManga could have been improved 100-fold if it had closed with the closing of the original, see below). 

From an awesome article at comicsalliance.com

The Quotes:

• "Didn't you ever see gloves in the glove compartment? With hands in them"
• "Who doesn't love English dubbing on Japanese animation?"
• "Scooby Doo, Batman, and weird Al- It's the holy trinity of pop culture!"
• "Heeeey kids" Safety!
• "My good friend millionarie Bruce Wayne is a big polka fan!"
• Mental note: must remember set the bataquatic neutralizer to the proper setting, always have quick- release collar, soak cape in shark repellent - just in case.

The Verdict:  B-

Batman: The Brave and the Bold - "The Battle of the Superheroes!"

The good. A fantastic and welcome return of the show, for what I believe it's its final season. We get "introduced" to the whole universe of Metropolis characters, hero and villains in classic fights that were very enjoyable to watch with the likes of Metallo, Mister Mxyzptlk, Toyman and Braniac (not sure about the who the guy with the ray gun inside Kandor is). In terms of writing and directing, this is the most efficient episode Jones and Melching have put out together as a team (excellent comedic and action timing, great lines, real sense of danger - heck, even Pharaoh in the intro seems menacing).

The bad. As much as I loved finally getting to see Supes animated in this particular show, the voice casting (usually spot-on in this show) was just weird for both Supes and Lex. Other than that, not much to complain here, since this sets up a nice beginning for this coming season.

Favorite quotes:

• “Superman has turned into a real d…” 
• “Earthquake!” followed by little crowd screaming, explosion and smoke fills up Kandor's bottle. 
• "Superventriloquism!" 
• “... and I thought Batmite was a weird one” 

Random thoughts:

• The choice of armor worn by Batman was clearly no accident, and it really made me want a "Dark Knight Returns" animated feature, since it will be years before Zack Snyder gets hired to bring it to the big screen. 
• Was that earthquake joke on Kandor a little bit too soon? Only time will tell. 

Final grade: A-