Legends of the Dark Knight

I was inspired by Liam Ellison's recent piece on Batman's cartoon history, to write something of my own on the subject, centering around one episode in particular. Legends of the Dark Knight was an episode from The New Batman Adventures, a series which was the successor to Batman: The Animated Series and also sadly one I didn't get to watch during its original run. I'm not actually sure whether it was shown in the UK but I would hazard a guess that it was shown on satellite cartoon channels, which I didn't have access to. This episode became a cult favourite among fans though and I first heard of it via someone mentioning a sequence in it mocking the Joel Schumacher Batman films (found at around 3:50 in the second youtube video). The basic premise of it is that three kids tell stories about what they think Batman is really like, an idea which was used again in Batman: Gotham Knight.

What stands out the most about the first story now is that it's pretty much a prototype episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold and it comes as no surprise that it was drawn by James Tucker who went on to produce that show. I'm a big fan of The Brave and the Bold, which I wasn't expecting when I first heard about it. While being lighter in tone than most recent takes on Batman, it has always felt like a love letter to fans of Batman through the ages. I perhaps wasn't in on the joke when I first watched the 60's TV version of Batman but there is clearly a lot of love for his campier incarnations too. And on top of that it was full of references that would make devout fans chuckle while remaining focused on simple standalone stories. It's the kind of show that makes me wish I had kids to watch it with to see the different levels we would appreciate it on.

It also includes a variety of DC characters, some of which are less well known than others and puts an interesting spin on almost all of them. In particular, the show's take on Aquaman as a pompous, lovable boaster has taken hold as the definitive version for me and I'm now thrown off whenever I see other versions that aren't quite as "Outrageous!". I also loved their version of Bat-Mite as the ultimate Batman fanboy, regularly using modern internet catchphrases and generally acting like a real life super fan. His involvement in the epic fourth wall breaking final episode takes quite a satirical look at the whole production process and sends the whole thing off on a perfect note. No wonder my wife bought me the figurine of him shown below... and I didn't even mention the infuriatingly catchy songs of the Music Meister, as voiced by Neil Patrick Harris.

The second story in Legends of the Dark Knight is also pretty relevant right now, as it is pretty much a word for word adaptation of parts of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, which is currently being adapted into a full length animated movie. It gives a great glimpse of what we can hopefully expect from the forthcoming adaptation, something I remain cautiously optimistic about. In the recent trailer Peter Weller doesn't seem quite as good a fit for the voice of an older Batman as Michael Ironside in this short and personally I would have loved to see Kevin Conroy take on this role, which would have been a fitting end to his career voicing Bats. I've already had to start dealing with the fact that Conroy is no longer the definitive voice of Batman though, as other animated films have started to bring in a new cast.

I could actually really do with watching the animated version of Batman: Year One again, the most recent adaptation of one of Miller's stories, as I find it difficult to remember whether I actually liked it or not. It was always going to have a pretty tough time winning me over as I think Year One is probably my favourite standalone comic book of all time and I already felt like there was an animated version I could play in my head. The story itself also influenced aspects of Batman Begins and on the whole it feels more grounded than some of Miller's more over the top creations. The art by David Mazzucchelli is also fantastic, I love how it captures just enough detail, while at the same paying homage to the style of the early comics Batman was born from. As an introduction to comics for almost anyone I find it hard to fault.

The closing story of this episode finds the storytellers themselves involved with Batman, mistaking the arsonist Firefly for him and stumbling into one of his schemes. While I was a little disappointed that there wasn't another homage to a different era, this does work well in tying the whole episode together. Apparently there were initially plans for an additional story focussed on the early '70s Batman comics but it was decided that the art style of Neal Adams was difficult to adapt for animation. In the final scene, while the kids still argue over who was right about Batman, I can't help but think that it cements the idea that almost all of the incarnations of Batman have something to offer. Even the kid who thought that Batman wasn't human, might find some evidence to back up his theory...