Jamers

I see these two animated Batman series on Amazon

The Batman - The Complete First Season (DC Comics Kids Collection) (2004)
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Complet...?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

Batman - The Animated Series, Volume One (DC Comics Classic Collection) (1992)
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Animate...6846740&sr=1-5

How does these sets differ?

majorjoe23

The first one is the most recent Batman series, aimed at younger kids.

The second is the Bruce Timm animated series, with more of a film noir style.

JoeyOhhhh

They are two completely different animated series. I've not seen The Batman, but Batman The Animated Series is highly praised by fans, myself included.

hwanch

"The Batman" is the newer version of the Batman Animated series that's aimed at younger kids made by Kids WB (might be wrong about that). It has no relation to "Batman - The Animated Series."

"Batman - The Animated Series" is the animated version from the 90s, i think. IMO this is the better version of Batman. This version also follows the Bruce Timm universe so "Batman Beyond", "Superman - The Animated Series", "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited" falls into the same continuity.

I've seen both, and The Batman wasn't that great, but Batman: The Animated Series was amazing.

Jamers

OK Thanks. I see there is also Batman Gotham Knight which is animated. How does that compared to Batman - The Animated Series ?

kstublen

If you are talking about the Batman: Gotham Knight that I think you are talking about, it isn't really a series. It's a movie, comprised of six short films. It is part of the Batman Universe Christopher Nolan has created and takes place in between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

wm lopez

How about those 70's BATMAN cartoons?

darkhawk

There's the Batman series in the early 90's that was on Fox weekdays afternoons. When that ended, WB then had the Batman/Superman Hour The Animated Series on Saturday. Now it's The Batman on CW on Saturday

Walker Boh

The Batman (The Animated Series) DVDs cover three different versions of the show as it evolved:

• Aired as Batman (The Animated Series) [officially just "Batman"] = Volume 1, 2, and part of 3 of the B:TAS DVDs
• Aired as The Adventures of Batman & Robin = Remainder of Volume 3 of the B:TAS DVDs
• Aired as The New Batman Adventures (part of The New Batman/Superman Adventures) = Volume 4 of the B:TAS DVDs

Travis McClain

Your history of animated Bats is as follows:

"The Adventures of Batman" (1968) - aired as part of "The Batman/Superman Hour." Batman and Robin were voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward, and it's possible to view this series as a coda to the live action TV series, much the same way that the animated "Star Trek" relates to the original series. There were 17 episodes under the "Batman" title, and 17 under the "Batman and Robin" title.

"The New Adventures of Batman" (1977) - aired as part of "The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour," "Tarzan and the Super 7" and "Batman and the Super 7." There were 16 episodes, and they have been issued on DVD: http://www.amazon.com/New-Adventures...863220&sr=1-47

"Batman: The Animated Series" (1992-1994) Produced by Bruce Timm, this is the animated series that really gave birth to most, if not all, of the animated DC Universe series of the last fifteen-plus years. There were 65 episodes originally produced, followed by five more for a total of 70. There was also a theatrical release, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm."

"The Adventures of Batman & Robin" (1994) The same series as "Batman: The Animated Series," but given a new title and opening sequence to play up the inclusion of Robin, since the character was introduced in 1995's film "Batman Forever." There were 15 episodes produced, and these can be found as part of the first three volumes of "Batman: The Animated Series" on DVD. In 1997, after the last episodes had been produced, they released a direct-to-video feature, "Batman & Mr. Freeze in SubZero" (sometimes just called "Batman: SubZero"). This was produced in conjunction with the live action "Batman & Robin," which also featured Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Mr. Freeze.

"The New Batman/Superman Adventures" (1997-1999) The same series as "Batman: The Animated Series," but with a new look. Some characters were left mostly along (Harley Quinn, for instance), but others were dramatically altered (The Penguin and Scarecrow, among others). These episodes rotated with episodes featuring Superman, hence the series's title. Sometimes the Batman episodes are referred to as "Batman: Gotham Knights," though this title never appears on-screen anywhere. These 25 episodes can be found on DVD on "Batman: The Animated Series, Volume Four." The series premiered with "World's Finest," which was released on DVD as "The Batman/Superman Movie." It was broken into three parts for re-runs, and it was put on the "Superman: The Animated Series, Volume Two" DVD set that way; it was not included on any of the Batman DVD sets. The series was followed later by a direct-to-video feature, "Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman."

"Batman Beyond" (1999-2001) Takes place in the future of "Batman: The Animated Series," with Bruce Wayne a retired old man mentoring a new, younger Batman. There were three seasons; seasons one and three each had 13 episodes, while season two had 26. There was also a direct-to-video movie, "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" featuring the Joker re-surfacing in the future.

"Gotham Girls" An Internet-exclusive set of webisodes featuring the female characters of "Batman: The Animated Series." They were collected and included as a bonus feature on the DVD release of the live action "Birds of Prey: The Complete Series."

"The Batman" (2004-current) I haven't watched this series, mostly because it has nothing to do with "Batman: The Animated Series" and I'm stubborn. Each season has been 13 episodes long and has been released on DVD in 2-disc sets. In 2005, to coincide with the live action film "Batman Begins," they produced a direct-to-video feature, "The Batman vs. Dracula."

Of course, these are just the series starring Batman. He has been a key character in DC Universe-wide series, such as "Super Friends" and "Justice League," but this post is already freaking long.

Jamers

What about Teen Titans. Isn't that the Robin pre-quel?

majorjoe23

Teen Titans doesn't seem to relate directly to any of the other animated series, other than the fact that Speedy showed up on Justice League, voiced by the same actor. It has very different animation and style from the other series.

canaryfarmer

Er, no. Batman isn't mentioned once throughout the series, and I don't even think Robin is identified as either Tim Drake or Dick Grayson. Jason Todd does show up on a chalkboard at one point, though. TT is completely unrelated timeline-wise to any of the other animated series.

Egon's Ghost

Just as I refuse to this day to watch Justice League (other than the first episode), as Batman Beyond was abandoned for that piece of...

canaryfarmer

I hope you at least caught the JLU episode "Epilogue" if you're a Beyond fan.

stingermck

I'll get crucified for saying this but The Batman is a great show, and has a better story arc than BTAS (save for season 4 aka Gotham Knights with Nightwing).

Season 1 is Batman alone and no one trust him
Season 2 Gordon is on his side
Season 3 Enter Batgirl
Season 4 Enter Robin
Season 5 he teams with the JLA.

An abbreviated but natural progression of Batman as a loner, to a team player.

Season 4 also has a great Dark Knight Returns style episode with Nightwing, Oracle, and a nod to Legion.

Mondo Kane

Is The Batman the one that has the rastafarian-demon Joker? Never seen the show, but I caught glimpses of an odd-looking Joker during one of the special features on "Gotham Knight".

dadaluholla

I actually just started watching THE BATMAN on dvd this week. I was initially reluctant to give it a shot, but I have to say I that I am really enjoying it. Very fun and highly entertaining show.

BrandonJF

How do you know it's a "piece of...", if you refuse to watch it? Although, if you didn't like the first episode, it's unlikely that you'd like much after it.

Justice League Unlimited is amazing and infinitely superior to the original "Justice League" run.

BrandonJF

It gets better as it goes on, IMO. Personally, I never cared for the background art and many of the villian character designs.

Lastdaysofrain

Justice League is hands down the best annimated version of any comic book hero thus far. It's probably also the best adaption/version of a comic book accross any media. It's very, very good.

Back to the matter at hand, I was very uninterested in "The Batman", I tried watching a few of the "guest star" episodes, but I really could never get into the series.

It's not terrible, but it's not great. The character designs are fairly bad however. I think they tried too hard to be different from the Bruce Timm (Batman the Animated Series) style and as a result managed to make some really bad choices.

Egon's Ghost

I don't dig Justice League, sorry. One episode was enough.

Lastdaysofrain

You're missing out. The first episode is really just establishing things, it gets very very good later.

Especially if you are a Batman Beyond fan, you're really missing out.

fumanstan

Yup, Justice League Unlimited, especially the first season, is pretty much the best of all the DC cartoons, and probably one of the best cartoons of all time. And i LOVE Batman Beyond. Justice League fits in great with it. You're missing out.

Rocketdog2000

You know, I've wanted to check THE BATMAN out, but just can't get past the - what I consider, at least - craptacular animation. It just bothers me so much to look at it, that I have a hard time focusing on anything else, and it ruins any joy I might get out of it otherwise. Most of the villain re-designs I've seen from looking at the DVD artwork are just atrocious, too.

Then again, I've seen these on sale pretty cheap recently, so maybe I'll break down and get them anyway. Who knows, one day may opinion may change.


Now that statement, I 100% agree with!