Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Batman Beyond season 1 ::
by William the Bloody
In 1998, the WB was king of the animation scene with it's New Adventures of Batman series. The trouble was, this Batman show seemed to target too much of the older audience, so the WB needed anew Batman angle to get the younger set. The WB did the right thing and let the show creators decide how to tackle this problem. How about this: we get a younger Batman. We put a teenager in the Bat-suit and he fights crime.... in the FUTURE! Sounds kind of lame at first but...
It's 50 years from now and Bruce Wayne has long since hung up the cowl to take on the life of a lonely and hermit-like miser living in a dust filled Wayne manor with only his dog Ace for companionship. Wayne Corp has merged with another company and Bruce is all but written out of its inner workings, so he just sits by himself and broods. One day, an employee of the new Wayne-Powers Corp has stumbled upon some pretty shady dealings and is getting ready to blow the whistle. He steals a disc of information and takes it home. That night he has a fight with his teenaged son, Terry, and the boy storms out to hook up with his girlfriend at a club. While waiting in line to get in, a bunch of gang members from a crew known as the Jokerz start causing trouble. Terry, looking to blow off steam, engages them, even though this is intensely stupid. He starts them on a motorcycle chase which winds up on this old and forgotten country road, the road to Wayne manor (natch). Bruce who was out for a walk is accosted by the Jokerz as well, and he a Terry take them on even though they are grossly out numbered, and win. Wayne gets chest pain after the fight and Terry helps him back up the path to the manor. While Wayne recuperates, Terry spies a bat mysteriously lodged behind the face of a grandfather clock. He tries to free it, only to stumble upon the entrance to.... dun dun DUUUN the Batcave! Wayne gets a bit pissed and throws Terry out, but when Terry gets home he finds the police waiting. While Terry was with Mr. Wayne, someone broke in and murdered his father. It LOOKS like Jokerz gang activity, but Terry has a hunch. He also has an urge for revenge and knows where he can find a specially equipped Batman combat uniform...
The Good: Bruce Timm's character designs are once again through the roof to impress. The whole show has a very distinctive look and feel to it that I just gotta love. And yeah, I know the WB was going for the younger audience with this, but well, it's still moody and dark, with plenty of high contrast shadows and great action sequences that I'd say they nearly missed their mark for the kiddies, but it still works for ME. The voice acting is superb, with many interesting celebrity guest spots (Terri Gar as Terry's mom, William H Macy (!!) as a wannabe villain, George Takei as Mr. Fixx, Seth Green as high school jock Nelson Nash, Stockard Channing as Commissioner Barbara Gordon, George Lazenby as King, and Olivia D'Abo as Ten), the triumphant return of Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne, and an actual dog making the dog noises (thank the stars). Each episode also boasts an original score, which was very much choice to the show's overall look and feel. I have to say the the soundtrack to the episode "Shriek" and also "Disappearing Inque" really stood out with some quality music AND sound editing. I quite enjoyed the winks at the original animated series, the reintroductions of old villains and of course the brilliant new baddies!
The Bad: Every so often, the animation seemed to slip a little bit, which was disappointing in a show that otherwise LOOKS great. The music, while interesting and unique, I felt wasn't as good as it had been for Batman: the Animated Series, which is too bad considering that it used many of the same composers. I don't really like Terry's character as much as I feel I should. Sometimes he comes off as quite a jackass for no reason, but that could be just me. The characters of the Terrific Trio were naturally waaaay too obvious of a Fantastic Four rip-off that it's barely worth mentioning, but I just have to get my teeth grinding about that out in the open.
All in all, the show is action and art that's fun and exciting for both the full grown adult and the young adult alike. The overall look and feel of the show is all its own, but happily, STILL Batman-y enough. Super cool futuristic sci-fi adventures abound, with just the right amount of teen angst. But, you're an adult and don't want to be seen checking out a CARTOON? Well, draw the blinds, turn off the lights and give it a go. I won't tell.
A-
