The Batman: "The Metal Face of Comedy"

"Adventurous"
The mother of all Joker episodes. So far.

Because I've seen every episode of "Batman: The Animated Series" (BAS) at least once, I've been so-so about "The Batman's" Joker.

But he's been getting better.

When this episode opens, we see a masked figure flipping about an evening cityscape. I'm not up on all the comic book lore, but as I watch the guy, I'm wondering if it's Nightwing. And it is! Ergo this must be Bludhaven in the future with Robin/Dick all grown up.

Nightwing makes his way into a foundry? and finds a vat of molten metal?/chemicals?. A baddie, Captain Slash (never heard of him), shows up and the two commence with the kung fu fighting. Surprisingly, Nightwing gets his butt handed to him and is hurled into the vat. Before one can process that Nightwing is dead, a green skull flashes on the vat, which is on a screen. Then we see Robin in the Batcave moaning over losing another match with Captain Slash. Sigh of relief.

Bats strolls by and puzzles over Robin's Nightwing alias (nice allusion to upcoming canon here). Robin goes on about how the player behind Captain Slash must be the coolest guy ever.

Cut to a warehouse with Martin, a nerd jonesing on stomping all over Nightwing yet again. LOL.

Then he answers a call from Joker, "Slacker!" Our clown prince asks Slacker--Martin if he has a handle on some robotic joker in the boxes who're supposed to be robbing the bank he's capmed outside of with Harley and the twin goons. A techie working for Joker. Interesting addition to the Clown's ensemble of henchman. Undoutedly an animated series response to present times.

As a robo joker thuds into the gang's van, Joker decides he'd rather do something else. Feed Martin to the hyenas. But Martin pulls a rabbit out of his hat with a new gizmo: a video game encased in a helmet that lets one mentally download money into a bank account of one's choosing. If one accepts the helmet (doesn't question the illogic too deeply that is), the episode will fall into place. I'm not asking for Trek level technobabble, but I would like to understand how playing a video game (not clear what kind here) will let a user directly connect to a binary computer system (neural interface via RF transmission?).

Meantime, Bruce is showing some investors/business associates beyond cutting edge nanites that can bond together to form any solid object they're programmed to assume and self replicate when necessary. Bruce is about to expound on what an awesome new tech Wayne Industries has developed when he gets a Batwave on his portable scanner. Bruce adlibs, telling a nearby white coat to regale his visitors with all the specs and diagrams, and exits post haste.

We cut to a bank where Joker and the twin goons are pulling off a heist with Martin's helmeted skeleton key. Joker's accessing the money (where's the video game?) when Bats and Robin crash in. Robin takes out the two twins by himself (don't question this too hard) while Bats flings a batarang at Martin's helmet to cut Joker's withdrawal short. Only there's a short and a virtual Joker (don't question this too) is looking at our dynamic duo and Joker from a computer screen. Before Bats can contain virtual Joker, Martin downloads him away to the gang's home computer system. Bats deposits the real Joker in a hospital to recover from his helmet shock and goes searching for the virtual Joker, who tells Martin and the gang that he won't stand for being a digital bit. Martin says he's heard of something that'll fit the bill, but they need a diversion...

In the Batcave, Batman and Robin (along with the rest of Gotham) spy a surprise broadcast of virtual Joker on every TV, computer screen, and electronic billboard. The city watches spellbound as virtual Joker hangs out with Captain Slash in virtual Bludhaven. Nightwing shows up, deletes Captain Slash, and almost gets Virtual Joker, who downloads into the Bruce's company lab. He then assembles into nano Joker (or 2.0 as he called himself) a la Russel Crowe from the flick "Virtuosity." Coincidence? A similar idea developed independently? I wonder (but not too hard).

Anyhow, nano Joker breaks out of the lab and evades the Dynamic Duo by turning into a cloud and flitting away. Literally. Meantime, the real Joker (1.0) wakes up and checks himself out of the hospital by leaping out a window.

Both Jokers show up in the gang's warehouse, where Harley (haven't mentioned yet that it's great having the original Harl's voice in this series too) and the goons are wondering who to follow. Both Jokers promise to work together (and lie like rugs).

They go to knock off a major gem repository, but 2.0 double crosses 1.0, leaving him for Bats to collar. Except Bats focuses on 2.0, trying to shock him. Didn't work. Wasn't surprised. Actually I was surprised Bats tried that gambit.

1.0 and the gang take off during all this. 2.0 then goes after 'em with Bats and Robin on his trail. Bats summons the batmobile, and he jumps in with Robin. Only the batmobile starts shrinking on them since it's a nano copy. Bats deactivates the nanomobile with a handy EMP pulse (why didn't he use it on 2.0 earlier?). He then summons the Batmobile again (why didn't it show up before?) and they go racing after 1.0 and the gang. Bats also radios Alfred to send something "big" to help take on 2.0.

They're brought up short by a Gotham cop with his squad car blocking the road. The cop asks for Harl's license, registration, and 1.0, morphing into 2.0. LOL.

The gang says 2.0 rocks and 1.0 wonders how he picked such loyal henchmen. 2.0 also nabs the Dynamic Duo when they show up, rants about how he'll create a nano version of Gotham in place of the real one which he'll run, then catapults 1.0 and the Dynamic Duo (literally) out of the city.

The Batsuit comes zooming in then, and Bats acrobatically slips into it while in mid air and saves Robin and 1.0. He sets Robin down with 1.0 who's securely bound, and goes after 2.0, who replicates enough nanites to turn King Kong huge. Bats flits around, shooting and busting up giganto 2.0, who just reassembles and laughs him off. As 1.0 cheers Bats on, he cuts his bonds, then gives Robin the slip. He reunites with the gang, who all say they'd rather be with him than 2.0, who's too much. As Joker rejects 'em, Robin catches 'em all again.

Robin spies Martin's Captain Slash logo on his laptop pieces it together that they're each other's worst online enemy. As giganto 2.0 infiltrates Bats' suit with nanites, Robin and Martin team up to download virtual Joker out of Bruce's nanites.

To boost the download command signal, Bats hooks a rooftop satellite antenna into his suit and aims it a looming 2.0. In a nick of time, Robin initiates the beam.

The nanites fall to pieces and virtual Joker finds himself back in virtual Bludhaven, where Nightwing shows up and gives him a virtual pounding. LOL.

Bats and Robin then send the real Joker and gang back to Arkham, where they'll rest for a bit before breaking out again.

Fun episode if you don't harp on the fuzzy SF (like why didn't the Wayne Industry techs hardwire an abort code into the nanites?). It would've been nice to have Batgirl involved. She's been underused this year, and has missed out on all the super hero team ups except for the Martian Manhunter.

The Batman: "Ring Toss"

"Above average"
Musical rings anyone?

In Batman's latest Justice League team up, we have Green Lantern (GL). Not Kyle Raynor. Not John Stewart. But Hal Jordan.

Fine with me.

This episode seemed to cram a lot in. Maybe too much.

It opens with Dick at grade school waiting for a pickup. Some kids invite him to play basketball, but when Alfred shows up in the limo, Dick slinks off embarrassed. He complains to Alfred about not fitting in with the other kids. Alfred reminds Dick that he goes winging through the night in tights, wearing a mask, fighting bad guys at Batman's side, and our Boy Wonder clams up.

Then Alfred mentions that Master Bruce is entertaining another visiting hero: GL. Dick gets psyched up, and we don't hear another word of feeling apart from the other kids at school. What's the point of bringing it up in the first place?

Anyhow, Bats is scanning the known galaxy from the Batcave (nice) in search of GL's nemesis who escaped from an interstellar jail cell to wreak vengeance on him. I'll give you three guesses--it's Sinestro. Who else? With merely 21st century Wayne Corp. technology, Bats can't find a trace of this week's Big Bad. Dick shows up soon afterward and gushes over GL. After weathering Dick's fanboy adulation, GL goes to the Gotham? Airport to step back into his secret ID and recharge his power ring--except Sinestro shows up to take his ring to get even more powerful and lays a hurting on him.

GL puts up a good fight, but yellow trumps green--and his ring still needs a new charge. Before Sinestro can take his ring, GL sends it away with instructions to find Bats.

Sinestro leaves Hal unconscious and goes searching for the ring, which bumps into Penguin who's on his way to crash Bruce Wayne's latest charity event. After bumping into Pengie's top hat, the ring lets Mr. Cobblepot try it on for size.

I raised an eyebrow at this. I thought that all green lantern rings were set up to 1) seek out only worthy users and 2) not perpetrate evildoing.

Penguin goes on to gleefully rob Bruce's charity, a bank, a jewelry shop, and an antique car dealership. When I compare this to the Season Five JLU episode "The Great Brain Robbery" where the Flash and Lex Luthor switched bodies, this character trait mixing episode seemed a bit flat to me. I thought we could see Penguin using GL's ring to create an illicit Cobblepot estate or something rather than use his newfound superpower to go on a stereotypical robbery spree. And this seemed to take away from the main? issue of the GL vs Sinestro battle.

Batman and Robin soon catch up with Penguin, who holds 'em off with a ring that still hasn't run out of juice. Then Sinestro finally reappears and chases after Pengie, who lights out like a chicken with its head cut off. Hal also wakes up and somehow stays on the periphery as Penguin zips all over Gotham with Bats, Robin, and Sinestro hot after him.

Penguin soon gives the ring up to Bats, who starts to give Sinestro a challenge--except the ring is starting (again) to run low on juice.

Bats then tosses the ring back to Hal, who charges it back up, and can suddenly stand up to Sinestro even though his ring isn't supposed to be able to handle yellow projections.

Bats steps in to pickpocket Sinestro's yellow power ring and put him down for the count. Hal then soars heavenward to deliver Sinestro back into his "stasis field" to cap this week's adventure. What's the moral of this episode except to show that Hal and Sinestro aren't too extraordinary without their rings?

Batman on the other hand showed a nice touch with GL's ring. It woulda been interesting to see what he would've done with it for a full twenty minutes, except it wasn't his "style" and he doesn't need it to be a hero. This wasn't a bad episode, but I felt it could've been better.