Yes, I once pooh-poohed
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD.
A HUGE eye-roll was my reaction when I first read the show's premise.
I very arrogantly proclaimed it to be “good,” but “not my Batman” when I reviewed the episode 1 screener sent to me by the folks from Warner Bros./The Cartoon Network.
Then I started watching – as only a “reviewer” for BOF, mind you – and absolutely fell in love with the show.
So I’ll admit it: I was wrong, Wrong, WRONG about BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD.
And you are too if you haven’t given it a chance yet because you’re still assuming that it’s not “Your Batman.”
Truth be told, B:TBATB still isn’t “My Batman,” but that doesn’t matter. What it’s done for me as a Batman enthusiast is HUGE. I feel as if I’ve actually grown as a fan of The Dark Knight. I’m now much more accepting of incarnations of the character that beforehand wouldn’t have been very palatable – BATMAN RETURNS notwithstanding.
I’m sure many cynics will say, “Whatever, dude. The only reason you’re writing this is because you’re kissing ass.” And in return I say, “Whatever. Kissing ass got me on the set of THE DARK KNIGHT and a one-on-one interview with Chris Nolan.”
Hehehehehe….
I kid (sorta), but my whole point here is to shake a segment of Batman fandom out of apathy and turn them on to something great so they don’t miss out.
To back up my “shake fans out of apathy” statement, I’m fixin’ to watch BATMAN RETURNS with an open mind, followed by re-reading the first three issues of Grant Morrison’s BATMAN AND ROBIN.
OK, I’m lying…partially.
I’ll never watch that cinematic Bat-nonsense again, but I will re-read BATMAN AND ROBIN’s first story arc. The latter is something else I was wrong about in the beginning -- but that’s another op-ed for another time.
All kidding aside, please give BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD a shot Bat-Fans. If not, I figure you’re probably missing out on “Batman Classic” as it’s happening.
