For Batman fans that prefers their Batman with less substance and much more of the Adam West camp and adventure, “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” is right up your alley. With unique animation and solid voice work from Diedrich Bader, “Brave and the Bold” is mostly fan service, teaming Batman up with some of the most obscure and interesting Batman superheroes, while celebrating the more serial oriented side of the characters. There’s less of Bruce Wayne and his world involved in the series, with Batman mainly playing center to most of the events that occur.
Batman is never short of sidekicks and allies, as “Brave and the Bold” channels the original comic that explored the titular character’s adventures and travels in to other realities, rather than his struggles with crime and murder. Bader is a fine successor to previous Batman actors, and plays the character with a sense of charisma that’s infectious. Warner Home Video releases the first season of the acclaimed animated series on Blu-Ray, and while it’s not my kind of iteration of Batman, it surely will reach a niche audience that doesn’t mind visiting the dark knight when he’s enjoying crime fighting and isn’t moaning about his past. Batman teams up with classic DC superheroes including The Blue Beetle, as well as Green Arrow, and Plastic Man.
The aforementioned become common allies during the series, helping and guiding Batman along during his various battles. There are also appearances from the Golden Age Flash, and Catman, as they fight foes like Gentleman Ghost, Felix Faust, and the Music Meister. The presentation for the series is beautiful, with the series still garnering a unique flavor all on its own that opens itself up to a broad audience, despite its more youth oriented animation style. I did not particularly like this series and often found it dull as day old bread, but it’s definitely not a lazy cash grab. That’s one pro to the series. Fans looking to introduce younger comic book fans to the Dark Knight would be wise to use “Brave and the Bold” as the launching pad for their fandom.