Batman: The Brave and the Bold

As seen on Cartoon Network

Plastic Man: Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Because I’m seeing gorillas riding pterodactyls, with harpoon guns, stealing a boat.
Batman: It’s Gorilla Grodd.
Plastic Man: It’s messed up is what it is.

One of the really great perks of having twin boys is that I have a built in reason to watch shows like this.  Oh sure, I’d be watching it anyway, but I can justify the space on the old DVR for the boys.

That being said, Batman:  The Brave and the Bold is a whole lot of fun no matter what age you are.

Since debuting on Cartoon Network in November this show has been consistently enjoyable.  Borrowing the conceit of the old Brave and the Bold comic books, it pairs Batman up with a different hero or heroes each week in crime busting adventures.

So far we’ve seen Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Deadman, Red Tornado, Blue Beetle and Wildcat, just to name a few, as the main guest stars.  As a bonus, each episode opens with the tail end of another caper being wrapped up before the opening credits.  We got the entire Green Lantern Corps in action before the credits.

And the credits are fun.  They’re very art deco with an obvious homage to the 1960s Batman TV show.

The tone of the show is decidedly lighter than Batman:  The Animated Series and that’s fine.  They’re focusing on standalone adventures and introducing a new generation to some of these lesser known characters.  And they’re doing a great job of it.

The animation isn’t sleek and edgy.  Its actually rather square and retro.  During one episode featuring Kamandi, I actually realized it’s quite Kirbyesque.  How about that?  Batman looks, for all the world, like a more muscular version of his Superfriends counterpart.

And who is the man with the voice beneath th cowl?  It’s Deidrich Bader.  That’s right, Oswald from The Drew Carey Show is Batman.  As weird as that sounds, it really works.  His voice is resonant and carries the hint of playfulness that runs through the entire series.

Batman:  The Brave and the Bold airs Friday nights at 8 p.m.  Give it a whirl.  I really think you’ll enjoy it.