Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
It's a big, wide universe out there, and you can bet there will always be some kind of trouble. Luckily, we've got some folks up in space looking to make sure that trouble stays out there.
SILVER SURFER: THE ANIMATED SERIES
VS.
GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES
SUPER SUITS
Sometimes, a hero needs a little advantage over the forces of evil. If you didn't happen to be born on another planet, a mystical island, or splashed with a mixture of chemicals and electricity, then a super suit is the way to go!
Going into the 1960s,
Stan Lee’s duties at Marvel Comics had grown exponentially to the
point his time was a premium. He and Jack
Kirby had just propelled the company into a new era with the debut of Fantastic Four vol. 1#1 in 1961, with more and more
superheroes joining them every year. Lee was editing and writing a good portion
of Marvel’s output at the time. With deadlines looming and artists sitting idly
by waiting for the next script, Lee devised a way to keep production going
around his hectic schedule: let the artists tell the story.
Galactus arrives.
In what would come to
be dubbed “The
Marvel Method,” Lee would discuss the plot of a book with the artist either
at length or in a brief quickly-typed page and then let the artist go to town.
The artist would then give Lee the completed artwork with some notes on what
was going on in the story, and Lee would write the dialogue and sound effects
and hand it off to the letterer. Lee had already been
working this way with Kirby, whose profile in the industry granted him some creative
freedom, and with Steve
Ditko, although that stemmed from a growing
animosity between the two, and had resulted in some of the company’s best-selling
books. Over the years, this method of writing has led
to debate over how much Lee actually contributed to the books that bore his
name; especially when one considers the case of Fantastic Four vol. 1#48 (1966).
Norrin's sacrifice.
Galactus
is a cosmic entity with an overwhelming hunger that could only be satisfied by
consuming the entire life force of a planet, rendering it dead and inert. Finally,
Galactus set his sights on Earth leaving the heroic Fantastic
Four with the herculean task of saving their planet. In what was intended
to be a simple story of the Fantastic Four versus the massive Galactus, artist Jack Kirby had snuck in a new
character of his own creation: The Silver Surfer, a being whose body was
entirely covered in silver and who rode a silvery surf board through the cosmos.
Kirby postulated that a being like Galactus would have a herald as a sort of
advance scout to do the heavy searching for sustenance sources, to which
Galactus would then follow. The reason for Surfer’s mode of transport was
because Kirby had grown tired of drawing spaceships.
Creation of the Surfer.
The
Surfer began as Norrin Radd, citizen of the planet Zenn-La, which was once on
Galactus’ menu. To save his planet and the love of his life, Shalla-Bal, Radd
offered himself up as Galactus’ herald to aid in his quest with the intention
of leading Galactus to suitable planets devoid of sentient life; thus, sparing
billions. Galactus infused Radd with the Power Cosmic, turning him into the
Silver Surfer. But it came with a price: Radd’s soul had been altered by
Galactus, making him forget his intentions.
Alicia reawakens the Surfer's humanity.
Lee,
initially skeptical of the character, grew to appreciate him and the Surfer
became an integral part of the story as he would become touched by the nobility
of the Thing’s
then-girlfriend, blind sculptress Alicia Masters,
and turn against his master. Galactus is driven off, exiling Radd to Earth with
the erection of an invisible barrier around the planet. Popular with readers, the
Surfer would return for several guest-starring spots in Fantastic Four before gaining his own series in 1968, the first of
several, and becoming a mainstay in the Marvel Universe. In 1967, Surfer made
his animation debut on Hanna-Barbera’s
Fantastic Fourcartoon voiced by Vic
Perrin, and then had his origin retold in the 1994 version as part of The Marvel Action Houron
Sundays voiced by Robin Sachs.
Norrin and Shalla-Bal.
Fox Kids head Margaret Loesch had
successfully brought Marvel to television in the 1990s with the hit shows X-Men:
The Animated Seriesand Spider-Man:
The Animated Series. Also having an affinity for the Silver Surfer, he
was the subject of the next Marvel offering for the network. Developed by Larry Brody, the series was heavily influenced
by the work of Kirby and inker Joe Sinnott
in its look for both settings and the characters designed by Roy Burdine and Shannon Denton. To create an original
visual presentation, the series was done in a blend of traditional cel
animation and computer animation; particularly for the scenes set in space and
Galactus himself. The computer animation was overseen by art director Dale Hendrickson.
Galactus.
Silver Surfer debuted on FOX on February 7, 1998 and
was co-produced by Saban International. They
chose to begin the series with a retelling of the Surfer’s (Paul Essiembre)
origin; however, the Fantastic Four was omitted in the Surfer’s decision to
save Earth to keep the show’s focus on the Surfer entirely. And, instead of
being trapped on Earth, Galactus (James Blendick) punished Surfer by hiding
Zenn-La from him. The series was notable for being the most verbose of any
action-oriented cartoon; duplicating the dense monologues Lee would script for
the character in the comics. Along with Brody, the series was written by Michael Steven Gregory, Dallas L. Barnes, Harlan Ellison, D.C. Fontana, Mark Hoffmeier, Christopher Kane, Jeffrey Knokey, Andrea Lawrence, Alan Swayze and Brooks Wachtel. Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (under the alias Kussa
Mahchi) served as the series composers, and animation duties were handled by AKOM.
Surfer vs. Thanos.
While Galactus would
make appearances throughout the show’s run, the ultimate villain of the show
was Thanos (Gary Krawford), an all-powerful being set on destroying the
universe to win the love of Lady Chaos (changed from Death
due to FOX’s standards and practices, voiced by Lally Chadeau). Like the other
Marvel shows of the decade, Silver Surfer
featured guest-appearances by other Marvel characters; particularly from
their space-based stable. Amongst them were Uatu the Watcher (Colin Fox), a
being part of a race dedicated to observing history as it transpired without
interfering; the genetically engineered perfect being Adam Warlock
and his dark counterpart, the Magus
(both Oliver Becker); Pip the Troll
(Robert Bockstael), a teleporting
being created as part of the Kree’s slave labor
force; space mercenary Nebula (Jennifer
Dale); Ego the
Living Planet (Roy Lewis);
Gamora (Mary Long & Alison Sealy-Smith), the most
dangerous woman in the galaxy; Galactus’ new herald from Earth, Nova,
aka Frankie Raye (Tara Rosling),
who served as an alternative love interest for the Surfer; Drax the Destroyer (Norm Spencer), a cyborg with an
organic brain created by Thanos’ father (brother in the show due to a typo) Mentor (Cedric Smith) to battle Thanos; Beta Ray Bill
(Karl Pruner), who in the
comics was associated with the Norse thunder god Thor but instead
merely shared characteristics with him, and whose people were locked in a group
dream utilizing Zenn-La technology; and the cosmic entities Eternity (John Neville), the embodiment
of the multiverse, and Infinity (Elizabeth Shepherd),
representing the totality of space.
Beta Ray Bill.
When the show was
in production, Marvel was undergoing
financial trouble that would result in its eventual bankruptcy and
subsequent reorganization. This also led to some legal disputes between Marvel
and Saban. The first season had been completed and aired, and production for
the second season had already begun. After 8 scripts for season two had been
written, production was shut down while both parties worked it out. Ultimately,
Silver Surfer ended up being
cancelled by Fox despite its strong performance in the ratings in favor of
starting over fresh with Marvel and looking into new properties for adaptation.
That took the form of Spider-Man Unlimited, also helmed by Brody,and Avengers: United They Stand, both
debuting in 1999.
Nova.
In
the time since, Brody has released the series bible, the scripts for the first
season, and the scripts for season two on his website, along with additional
material. Silver Surfer was the last
Marvel cartoon to be relatively faithful to the source material as all of the
programs since have had a focus on drastically reinventing the characters and
story by either changing locations, adjusting character’s ages, or being based
on movie properties. In 2019, it became one of the launch titles for the
streaming service Disney+.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 1” (2/7/98) – Galactus comes
to feed on Zenn-La, and Norrin Radd offers himself as Galactus’ herald if he
spares the planet.
“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 2” (2/14/98) – Surfer, devoid
of memory, undergoes his new task as herald, but finds deep feelings stirring
inside of him.
“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 3” (2/21/98) – Galactus
threatens Earth, sparking the return of Surfer’s memory and causing him to
rebel against his master.
“The Planet of Dr. Moreau” (2/28/98) – Searching for a way back to
Zenn-La, Surfer ends up entangled in a battle against the Kree.
“Learning Curve Part 1” (3/7/98) – Surfer’s search for Zenn-La leads
him to the Universal Library, base of the knowledge of the Watchers, and to
trouble.
“Learning Curve Part 2” (3/14/98) – Surfer must choose between
obtaining all knowledge in the universe or remaining human and free.
“Innervisions” (4/4/98) – To save a planet, Surfer must destroy the
foundation of its existence.
“Antibody” (4/11/98) – Galactus
is dying, and only the Surfer can save him.
“Second Foundation” (4/25/98) – Nova attempts to help Surfer find
Zenn-La, but they end up on the Skrull homeworld instead.
“Radical Justice” (5/2/98) – Galactus’ survivors capture Surfer and
put him on trial for crimes against all life.
“The Forever War” (5/29/98) – Surfer must accomplish a task for the
Kree before they will allow him audience with their Supreme Intelligent for
help home.
“Return to Zenn-La” (5/9/98) – Surfer
finally returns home, but soon discovers it’s a construct of Ego, the Living
Planet, who seeks to repay his debt.
“The End of Eternity, Part 1”
(5/16/98) – Eternity and Infinity recruit Surfer to stop Thanos from causing
time to flow backwards, thus destroying the universe.
For the history of Batman, check out the post here.
In 1997, leadership at The WB Network
had changed, and with new executives came new ideas on how to improve
everything—even the things that weren’t in need of improving. While Superman: The Animated Seriesand Batman: The Animated Serieswere doing well
for the network, the audience for both programs tended to skew a bit older than
what was desired. Network head Jamie Kellner
called in the producers--Bruce
Timm,
Alan Burnett,
Glen Murakami
and Paul Dini--with
the idea of making Batman
more appealing to kids. They thought he was talking about adding yet another
sidekick to the mix, but Kellner had bigger ideas: make Batman a teenager.
Evolution of Batman in the DCAU.
Timm, Burnett and Dini were a bit
taken aback by the suggestion; so much so that they even contemplated outright
quitting. Murakami, though, was very enthusiastic for the idea and convinced
the others to stay on and go through with it. However, instead of starting
entirely from scratch, Dini and Burnett thought it would work better as a continuation
of Batman set 50 years into the
future; making it a part of the interconnected DC Animated Universe
(DCAU).
Batman struggles to juggle his heroics with his love life.
The series developed under the
working names of The Tomorrow Knight,
Batman Tomorrow and B2, ended up
being set roughly 40 years into the future from the then-present day. Gotham
and its citizens were redesigned with a strong focus on Dickensian
themes. The city would become populated by tower skyscrapers with a modern
aesthetic, while aspects of Old Gotham would remain the lower you went. The
production team took cues from Blade
Runner,
Metropolis from 1927,
and Akirafor a blend of
film noir and German expressionism mixed with future tech noir. The clothing
styles would also have a Victorian/Old English feel to them and would vary
depending on the class level of the character. The technology wasn’t too
outlandishly futuristic, instead it was grounded in reality by exaggerating
technology that already existed like cell phones and computers (this future
still had extensive use of land lines). That’s not to say there were the
occasional futuristic flourishes, like the flying Batmobile
and reporters who appeared to be nothing more than holograms on a screen
(voiced by Lauren Tom,
Mark
Jonathan Davis and Sean
Donnellan).
Derek Powers making Warren McGinnis uncomfortable.
One desire of the producers was to
shift the criminal element from the streets to the boardroom, making the
villains be wealthy and powerful members of Neo-Gotham society. While the
streets would be safer than they were in Batman,
there were still remnants of good old-fashioned street crime; such as the
gang that patterned themselves after the Joker
(Mark Hamill),
called The
Jokerz (other similarly themed gangs were contemplated, but
abandoned to keep it from feeling gimmicky; although a similar concept was
successfully explored in Batman:
Arkham City). The idea was never allowed to come to
full fruition as Kellner, who was obsessed with capturing the feel of Buffy
the Vampire Slayer,
wanted
more focus on school drama. So, many stories were centered around events and
characters at Hamilton
Hill High School (named for the mayor from Batman).
The mind is willing, but the body...
Burnett suggested that the series
should open on the original Batman’s final night. Beginning 20 years in the
future, Batman (Kevin Conroy) was forced to finally retire as his heart had
become too weak to allow him to continue fighting crime, even in his enhanced
super suit. 20 years later, Bruce Wayne had become a virtual recluse in his mansion
with his loyal guard dog, Ace (Frank Welker). Ruthless businessman Derek Powers
(Sherman Howard, cast because the producers remembered he was almost their Lex
Luthor), ran Wayne-Powers;
the combination of Wayne
Enterprises and Powers Technology.
Blight takes on Mr. Freeze as Batman watches.
Powers
was engaging in illegal weapons development that was discovered by Warren McGinnis
(Michael Gross),
leading to Powers having him killed by his right-hand man, Mr. Fixx
(George Takei).
Warren’s son, Terry (Will Friedle in his first voice acting role), had
accidentally discovered Bruce’s secret identity after Bruce helped him fend off
a gang of Jokerz at the gates of the manor. Terry returned to steal the Batsuit
to go after Mr. Fixx, and eventually Powers himself after exposure to his
weapon turned him into the radioactive villain, Blight. Ultimately, Bruce
decided to become active in his company again and to take Terry on as his
assistant as a cover for Terry continuing as Batman. The Batman suit acted as
strength-enhancing armor with boot jets for limited flight, expandable wings
for gliding, a variety of audio and visual sensors, and a stealth mode that
rendered it invisible.
The
opening sequence was a composition of several different animation techniques
designed and put together by Darwyn
Cooke. Two shots were achieved by Timm in his kitchen: 1)
when old Bruce Wayne turns towards the camera was a maquette sculpted by Glenn Wong
filmed on a Lazy Susan and 2) when Batman is surrounded by foes and the camera
spins around him, that was a figure being spun on that same Lazy Susan as Timm
filmed it.
Mary and Matt McGinnis.
Although
the death of a parent set Terry out on his path as Batman, he wasn’t exactly
orphaned. He still had his mother, Mary
(Teri Garr),
and little brother, Matt
(Ryan O’Donohue).
The network wanted Matt to become Batman’s sidekick, having a secret way in and
out of their apartment to a motorcycle. The producers largely ignored that and
instead just made Matt a huge fan of Batman, while simultaneously being a brat
to Terry. However, the network got their way with the addition of Maxine Gibson
(Cree Summer) in the second season, fulfilling their desire for a strong young
teenage girl. She was an intelligent classmate of Terry’s who figured out his dual
identity and spent the rest of the series acting in an Alfred-type
role, rather than being another sidekick akin to Batgirl on the previous show.
The other woman in Terry’s life was Dana Tan
(Tom); his long-suffering girlfriend who often came second to Terry’s duties as
Batman. At one point, Murakami wanted to showcase an episode in season 3 where
Terry managed to make a date with Dana, but Burnett wanted to have Terry’s
affections shift towards Max to escape the trope of the teenaged hero having
one consistent girlfriend throughout a series’ run. Fans, and even Friedle, came out in support of that pairing over the years.
A collage of villains featured on the show.
For
a new Batman, they introduced a host of new villains. Each began as a drawing
that was put in the hands of that episode’s writer to flesh out the finer
details. Amongst them was Inque
(Shannon Kenny),
a freelance saboteur who could change into an ink-like liquid; Walter Shreeve,
aka Shriek
(Chris Mulkey),
a genius sound engineer led astray by Powers who developed a soundwave-generating
suit; James Tate, aka Armory
(Dorian Harewood),
a brilliant weapons designer forced to become a mercenary when he loses his
job; Ira Billings, aka Spellbinder
(Jon Cypher),
a high school psychologist who used virtual reality technology and his
knowledge of the human brain to commit crimes; Ian Peek
(Michael McKean),
a tabloid newscast host who used a phasing device to uncover celebrity secrets
to boost his ratings; Stalker
(Carl Lumbly),
a big game hunter enhanced with cybernetic implants who targeted Batman as his
next, great hunting challenge; Curare
(Melissa Disney),
the best assassin in the Society of
Assassins who wielded a laser-honed scimitar; Dr. Abel Cuvier
(Ian Buchanan),
a scientist who introduced “splicing”,
the act of combining human DNA with animal DNA, and used that discovery to
commit crimes; Kenny Stanton, aka Payback
(Adam Wylie,
Bill Fagerbakke
in costume), was a troubled child who decided to get revenge on his parents’
tormentors in order to free their time up to give him attention; and Carter
Wilson, aka Terminal
(Michael Rosenbaum),
a Jokerz gang leader who was also a popular genius at Hamilton High, amongst
others.
Max fixes up Zeta.
One
new character went on to have a life outside of Beyond: Infiltration
Unit Zeta (Gary
Cole
& Diedrich
Bader). Zeta was an assassination android that developed a
conscience due to the machinations of his creator. Zeta went rogue and the NSA tracked him down to
Hamilton Hill where Batman first fought against him, then with him. Maxine
ultimately disabled his tracking device and taught him how to use his
holographic projections to make new identities for himself, allowing Zeta to
escape. “Zeta” served as the backdoor pilot for The Zeta Project, which came to Kids
WB! in 2001.
You can take the Commissioner out of the batsuit...
Wanting
the show to stand on its own, they limited the number of returning characters
from the previous series. That’s not to say some didn’t pop up from time to
time. One of the series’ recurring characters was Barbara Gordon
(Stockard Channing,
Angie Harmon
as of season 3), who was now the Police Commissioner and initially very
anti-Batman. She was married to district attorney Sam Young
(Paul Winfield).
Mr.
Freeze (Michael
Ansara) appeared as just his head, made immortal by the same
cryogenic process that eventually destroyed his body (a rejected gag where
Freeze’s head was living in Bruce’s refrigerator was dismissed as being an
unfitting end for the character). Bane
was a withered husk of a man after years of exposure to Venom;
the only thing that was keeping him alive at that point. Ra’s al Ghul
(David Warner),
whose body degenerated from repeating use of the Lazarus Pits, transferred his
mind into the body of his daughter, Talia
(Olivia Hussey),
in the hopes of one day taking Bruce’s and gaining control of Wayne
Enterprises. They and other characters, particularly villains, were
immortalized via souvenirs on display in the Batcave.
The Royal Flush Gang.
Straddling
the line between new and old was the Royal
Flush Gang, who flew around on giant playing cards. This version
was a criminal family known as the Walkers. The King
(George Lazenby)
and Queen
(Amanda Donohoe
& Sarah Douglas)
were husband and wife, Jack was their son, also named Jack
(Scott Cleverdon
& Nicholas
Guest), and their daughter, Melanie (Olivia d’Abo),
was Ten.
Ace
was a massive and mute android that served primarily as their bodyguard.
Melanie developed affections for Batman, akin to the original’s relationship
with Catwoman,
and eventually quit her team and tried to reform. A rejected idea by Murakami
was to have Melanie rejoin the team and become the new Queen.
Justice League Beyond: Superman, Warhawk, Green Lantern, Aquagirl, and Big Barda.
It
took until the third season for the DCAU’s Superman
to make a guest-appearance. Although Superman
actor Tim
Daly
was available, the producers chose to cast Christopher
McDonald, who had previously voiced his father, Jor-El,
to show that Superman had grown over the years. With him came that era’s
version of the Justice
League, a precursor to the following Justice
Leagueanimated
series. Their roster included Aquagirl
(Jodi Benson,
who voiced Disney’s
Ariel);
Big Barda
(Farrah Forke),
formerly of the Female
Furies of Apokolips;
Green Lantern Kai-ro
(Tom); Micron
(Wayne Brady),
the next in the line of Atoms; and Warhawk
(Peter Onorati),
the son of John
Stewart and Hawkgirl
(revealed later, as the two hadn’t been introduced to the universe yet). The
episode also elevated Starro,
the mind-controlling starfish-like alien that first fought the League in their
debut comic, into an actual character from its cameo appearance in Superman.
The
biggest character return came in the form of the Joker in the made-for-TV film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Written
by Dini based on ideas by him, Timm and Murakami, the film delved into the
mystery of how the Joker stayed alive and what happened to drive the Bat-family
apart. The film also featured an adult Tim
Drake (Dean
Stockwell) and an elderly Harley Quinn
(Arleen Sorkin),
as well as the return of Tara
Strong as Batgirl and Mathew Valencia
as Robin in flashbacks. Because the Beyond
crew was already stretched tight, Tucker was named the film’s director and
was given a crew comprised of series regulars and freelancers. Some work was
outsourced to Tokyo
Movie Shinsha, who in turn outsourced to Koko
Enterprises and Dong
Yang.
New vs. old.
The
film was decidedly violent in its first airing, earning a PG-13 rating. Because
of the Columbine
High School massacre, there was a massive backlash against
violence in movies and video games meant to be for children. At the request of
executives, the film was altered
heavily to achieve a PG rating in future airings and
immediate home video releases. Many of these included the elimination of blows
from fight scenes or fight scenes entirely, altering the color of graffiti to
less-resemble blood, the removal of a knife and projectile weaponry in a couple
of scenes, the removal of visible deaths, and altered dialogue, amongst others.
Terry and his Justice League meet Static and his Justice League.
Once
production wrapped up on the series’ 52 episodes, the network didn’t order any
additional. The cast and crew went on to other projects; including the next
phase of the DCAU with Justice League. Production
delays caused some episodes to air later than planned. Two episodes produced
during season 2, “Big Time” and “Untouchable”, aired as part of season 3.
“Countdown”, the last episode produced, didn’t air until April 2001; nearly
five months after the last regular episode had aired. The final new episode,
“Unmasked”, was originally scheduled to air on September 14, 2001, but was
replaced following the September 11th
attacks due to its terrorism-related content. It wouldn’t air
for the first time until that December on Cartoon Network
where reruns were being shown. Terry would go on to make a guest appearance in
an episode of Static Shockand three episodes
of Justice League Unlimitedbetween 2004-05.
Terry confronts Amanda Waller.
Because
“Unmasked” was such an anti-climactic end to the series, the production crew
decided all future productions would end with their seasons with an epic story
in case that season ended up being the last one. A sort of proper series finale
came four years later as the second season finale of Justice League Unlimited. Written by Dwayne McDuffie
based on a story by him and Timm, “Epilogue” had an older Terry confronting an
elderly Amanda
Waller (CCH
Pounder) to find out why, when he was donating tissue to save
Bruce from a failing kidney, it turned out he was a perfect genetic match to
Bruce. Waller revealed that after impressing her with the way he defused a
situation, she felt the world needed a Batman and launched “Project: Batman
Beyond” to ensure there would be a successor. Bruce’s DNA was injected into
Warren, overwriting his reproductive genetics to effectively make both him and
Matt Bruce’s biological children. As Unlimited
had not yet been renewed by the time the episode was planned, it was also
meant to serve as an overall finale to the DCAU as well as Beyond. It also featured many ideas that were planned for a second Beyond film, which ended up being
scrapped after the controversial reaction to Return of the Joker.
Sometime
after the end of the show, Warner
Bros. hired members of the Beyond crew to pen a live-action adaptation of the series to be
directed by Boaz Yakin.
However, they instead decided to go with Batman: Year Onedirected by Darren Aronofsky,
which eventually failed and gave way to Christopher Nolan’s
Batman Begins. Another attempt
at a live-action film, starring Michael
Keaton as old Bruce, ended up being
scrapped in 2022 during a reorganization following Discovery’s acquisition
of WarnerMedia. Beyond did make
one final return to television in 2014, as part of the Batman 75th
Anniversary Celebration. In a short called “Batman Beyond” written and directed
by Cooke, Friedle and Conroy return to their respective roles as Terry
discovered Bruce had been attacked by robot versions of himself. Each robot
represented a different era of Batman: The
Animated Series, Beware the Batman, The Batman, Batman:
The Brave and the Bold,
The Dark Knight Returns, Batman
’89,
Batman ’66,
and Detective Comics #27.
“Batman Beyond” debuted on Cartoon Network on April 23, 2014.
The future comes to comics.
DC Comics has
published several comics series utilizing the name and characters from the show.
The first Batman Beyond began as a six-issue limited
series in March of 1999 before becoming an ongoing series
that November, running 24 issues. The first three issues of the mini adapted
the debut story from the show, but the rest featured original stories that
served as mostly sequels to episodes. Originally, the third issue
of the ongoing series was
going to feature the Terrific Trio
from “Heroes”, but that idea was scrapped due to blowback from Marvel Comics
over their similarity to the Fantastic Four.
These books were mostly written by series writer Bader, with Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt
and Paul D. Storrie
filling in on a couple of issues. The mini was collected in 2000’s Batman Beyond, and 2010’s DC Comics Presents: Batman Beyond
100-Page Spectacularreprinted
issues #13, 14, 21 and 22. A special adapting Return of the Jokerwas published in
2000 written by Darren
Vincenzo, largely based on the original uncut version of the
film. Terry also made an appearance in Superman Adventures #64.
With a Batman, it was only a matter of time before there was a Batgirl.
In
the following years, the Beyond Batman
had made appearances in Superman/Batman #22-23
and Annual
#4,
Countdown to Final Crisis #21,
Justice League of America vol.
2#43,
and Batman #700.
Later, then-publisher Dan
DiDio announced a new Batman
Beyond series was launching after having teased it for a time. Written by Adam Beechen,
the mini-series
was designed to integrate the Beyond universe
into mainstream continuity. The success of the mini led to another ongoing
series that only ran for eight issues. A one-shot set after the Superman/Batman annual called Superman
Beyondwas
written by Tom
DeFalco and drawn by Ron Frenz.
In 2012, the Beyond universe was
featured as a tri-weekly digital series that would see monthly print in the
pages of Batman Beyond Unlimited. It contained
stories centered around Batman,
the Justice League and Superman. Those series were all cancelled in 2013 and
replaced with the digital-first Batman
Beyond 2.0 and Justice League Beyond
2.0, which were later physically printed in Batman Beyond Universe. A big change in
that version saw Terry now in college and Dick Grayson
playing his wingman on the computer instead of Bruce.
Matt becomes Robin?
Terry
played a major role in the weekly maxi-series New 52: Future’s Endas he traveled
back in time to 5 years in the DC Universe’s future to help prevent Brother Eye’s
conquest of the world 35 years later. Ultimately, Terry is killed, and a
retired Tim Drake takes up his mantle and cause, winding up stranded in Terry’s
future. The new Batman Beyond series
picked up following those events as Tim helped the last-standing city,
Neo-Gotham, fend off Brother Eye’s attacks after he had conquered and decimated
the rest of the world. Barbara served as his tech support. Eventually, it’s discovered that because of the altered timeline,
Terry was still alive in the future and Tim happily gave him back his role,
opting to go out and explore his new world. Batman
Beyond was again relaunched picking up from that
point. Over the course of the series, Bruce returned to Terry’s team, Dana
learned about his dual identity, and the network’s unfulfilled desire to see
Matt become Robin were finally realized.
Hasbro was the primary manufacturer
of the toys during the time of the show. They produced standard and deluxe figures
and vehicles, as well as a talking figure. Following the initial series, there
was a “Batlink” series where Batman was taking the fight to cyberspace,
“Mission Masters”, and a series based around Return of the Joker. Most of the figures were just variants of
Batman with different armor colors and accessories. The primary villains made
were two members of the Jokerz, outside of Joker himself for the “Batlink” and
film series. Exclusive to Warner
Bros. Stores, there was a 9”
Batman figure with a cloth costume and projectile accessories and a bean
bag plush. In 2000, Hasbro marked their 200th Batman figure with a 200th
Edition Justice Flight Batman Beyond figure, which came on a
base and flapped his wings. Hasbro also produced four Micro sets; three
featuring an action figure with two vehicles and one based on the Batcave.
As a promotional tie-in to the show, Burger King included eight toys
in their Big Kids Meals. There were three Batmen: one that talked, one that
spread his wings, and one that threw batarang discs. There was a ripcord
spinner, a Batmobile and Jokerz motorcycle that could be blasted off, and Inque
and Blight who could transform to their human identities. Over in the United
Kingdom, KFC released their own
set of four
toys. One had a flying Batman balancing on a building, one had Batman flying
on a light-up cloud, an image viewer, and a pull-back Batmobile.
To
date, the only Beyond video game was
an adaptation of Return of the Joker developed
by Kemco
and published by UbiSoft
Entertainment for the PlayStation,
Nintendo
Game Boy Color, and N64.
The game loosely followed the story as Batman traversed levels, taking down
members of Joker’s gang and Joker himself. Batman was given four suits to
choose from during gameplay: Standard with three weapons, Offense which dealt
powerful attacks at the expense of defense, Defense which sacrificed strength
for durability, and Nimble that allowed double-jumping and gliding. The Game Boy version
allowed those features to be equipped one at a time, rather than shifting a
suit. The console version was largely panned by gamers and critics for its
short length, simple and repetitive gameplay and music, and overall poor
presentation, while the Game Boy version fared slightly better.
Six
episodes from the first season were combined for the Warner Home Video VHS
and DVD
release Batman Beyond: The Movie in
1999, re-released
again in 2009. Three of those were releases again with
three new ones in School Dayz and Spellboundin 2004, and six
more were released in Tech Wars and Disappearing Inque; both of which
combined the next
four VHS releases.The
complete first
and second
seasons were released in 2006, with the third
following in 2007. In 2010, the complete
series was released in a collector’s set that included a
booklet detailing the production of the series, and then to
Blu-ray in 2019. Initial releases of VHS
and DVDs
of Return of the Joker only featured
the cut version of the film. In 2002, the
uncut version was released and became the only version
to see release from that point on. In 2008, the film was released
in a double-feature set alongside Mystery
of the Batwoman(which
had Batwoman
wearing a costume similar to Terry’s).In
2011, the film came
to Blu-ray for the first time.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Rebirth,
Part 1” (1/10/99) – Years after Bruce Wayne retires, Terry McGinnis discovers
his secret identity and asks Bruce for help in avenging his murdered father.
“Rebirth,
Part 2” (1/10/99) – Terry steals the Batsuit to take down Mr. Fixx, and Bruce
decides to train Terry as the new Batman.
“Black
Out” (1/30/99) – Batman deals with the shapeshifting mercenary Inque as she
sabotages FoxTeca.
“Golem”
(2/6/99) – Willie Watt uses a construction robot to scare his chief bully, but
Batman’s attempts to stop him causes Willie to become mentally bonded to it.
“Meltdown”
(2/13/99) – Wayne-Powers builds a new body for Mr. Freeze that frees him of his
need for cold, but his quest for redemption is met with severe doubt.
“Heroes”
(2/20/99) – A trio of scientists become superheroes after an experiment
malfunctions, but that all changes when they learn their creation was no
accident.
“Shriek”
(3/13/99) – Powers hires Shriek to help drive Bruce out his controlling
interest in Wayne-Powers.
“Dead
Man’s Hand” (3/20/99) – Batman goes up against the Royal Flush Gang while dealing
with issues with Dana.
“The
Winning Edge” (4/10/99) – Doping Venom through patches is the new hot trend
amongst athletes, and Bruce suspects Bane is somehow behind it.
“Spellbound”
(5/1/99) – Spellbinder uses hypnotic technology to have others commit his
crimes for him.
“Disappearing
Inque” (5/8/99) – Inque is freed from capture and seeks the chemicals that will
allow her to resume her human form.
“A
Touch of Curare” (5/15/99) – Batman clashes with Commissioner Gordon as he
tries to protect her husband from an assassin named Curare.
“Ascension”
(5/22/99) – Paxton Powers is eager to help Batman capture Blight, but for his
own ulterior motives.
Season 2 (* aired in
season 3):
“Splicers”
(9/18/99) – The new trend is combining human DNA with that of animals, but the
process may not be as safe as its creator insists.
“Earth
Mover” (9/25/99) – Creatures made out of soil haunt one of Terry’s friends and
her adoptive father.
“Joyride”
(10/2/99) – A group of Jokerz steal a prototype military vehicle and go on a
destructive joyride.
“Lost
Soul” (10/9/99) – Dead communications tycoon Robert Vance takes over the
Batsuit leaving Terry without it as he tries to prevent Vance from taking over
his grandson’s body.
“Hidden
Agenda” (10/16/99) – While Batman tries to protect Max from the Jokerz’s new
leader, Max tries to figure out Batman’s identity.
“Bloodsport”
(10/23/99) – Cybernetically enhanced big-game hunter The Stalker comes to
Neo-Gotham to hunt the only prey worthy of his time: Batman.
“Once
Burned” (11/6/99) – Ten comes to Terry to help rescue her family from the
Jokerz.
“Hooked
Up” (11/13/99) – Batman discovers Spellbinder is back and gets students
addicted to virtual reality fantasies in order to become his slaves.
“Rats”
(11/20/99) – Feeling neglected by Terry, Dana welcomes the attention of a
secret admirer until she learns it’s a rat-like boy who lives in the sewers.
“Mind
Games” (12/4/99) – A mysterious girl asking Terry for help leads him to
discover a group of psychics known as the Brain Trust.
“Revenant”
(12/11/99) – Batman investigates when the school is seemingly haunted.
“Babel”
(1/8/00) – Shriek demands Batman’s life in exchange for returning all the sound
to Neo-Gotham.
“Terry’s
Friend Dates a Robot” (1/15/00) – Hopeless nerd Howard purchases an illegal
android to pose as his girlfriend, but soon she becomes dangerously possessive
of him.
“Eyewitness”
(1/22/00) – Terry is on the run from the law when Batman is framed for murder.
“Zeta”
(4/8/00) – Batman goes after a military android that has reported gone rouge
but discovers the truth may not be as clear as it seems.
“The
Last Resort” (3/4/00) – A new resort opens with a program for troubled kids,
but Terry feels something sinister is afoot and investigates when one of his
friends is sent there.
“Final
Cut” (2/5/00) – Curare seeks to end her former society before they end her, and
the last surviving member forces Batman to protect him by planting a bomb in
the city.
“Armory” (3/11/00) – An unemployed weapons
designer turns to crime as the one-man arsenal, Armory.
“Sneak
Peek” (3/25/00) – A gossip reporter uses technology to become incorporeal and
discovers Batman’s secret identity.
“Plague”
(4/15/00) – Batman teams-up with Stalker to stop a criminal who has stolen a
dangerous virus for the criminal organization KOBRA.
“The Eggbaby” (4/1/00) – Terry is forced to
lug around a computer-simulated “baby” to pass a class, even as he has to deal
with a gang of jewel thieves.
“April Moon” (4/22/00) – A bionics designer is
blackmailed into giving a gang implants after they kidnap his wife.
*“Big
Time” (10/7/00) – Terry tries to help an old friend keep from making the same
mistakes that landed him in jail but stealing from Wayne-Powers ends up getting
him mutated.
*“Untouchable”
(9/23/00) – Batman goes up a seemingly invincible foe whose technology
resembles something Wayne-Powers was working on.
“Payback”
(5/13/00) – When a vigilante named Payback gets revenge for tormented teens in
the same therapy group, Terry goes undercover to learn who it is.
“Sentries of the Last Cosmos” (5/6/00) – A VR
game designer uses three teenage fans to eliminate his enemies.
“Where’s Terry” (5/27/00) – After Shriek traps
Batman below Neo-Gotham, Bruce and Max join forces to find him.
“Ace
in the Hole” (8/19/00) – When Ace goes missing, Terry traces him to an
underground dog fighting organization.
Season 3:
“King’s Ransom” (9/16/00) – The Royal Flush
Gang wants to restore their reputation, but a betrayal by Paxton Powers leads
both parties to turn their attentions to Bruce’s fortune.
“Betrayal” (12/9/00) – Big Time returns and
causes trouble for both of Batman’s lives.
“Out
of the Past” (10/21/00) – Talia returns offering Bruce eternal life, but it
turns out Ra’s had imprinted his consciousness into his daughter’s brain.
“Speak
No Evil” (11/4/00) – Batman helps a genetically-enhanced gorilla find the
poacher that kidnapped his mother.
“Inqueling”
(9/30/00) – Inque turns to her daughter after she’s blasted by a device that
causes her to slowly dissolve.
“Unmasked”
(12/18/01) – Terry tells Max about the time a boy saw Batman’s face and became
a target of KOBRA.
“Curse
of the Kobra, Part 1” (2/3/01) – Bruce sends Terry to train with an old friend,
and Terry ends up befriending the heir to the KOBRA empire.
“Curse
of the Kobra, Part 2” (2/10/01) – KOBRA kidnaps Max to make her their leader’s
wife while they plot to restore the world to prehistoric times.
“The
Call, Part 1” (11/11/00) – Superman drafts Batman into the Justice League to
help weed out a traitor.
“The
Call, Part 2” (11/18/00) – Batman discovers that Starro has taken over
Superman.
“Countdown”
(4/7/01) – When Zeta returns to Neo-Gotham to find his creator, Mad Stan takes
him and turns him into a walking bomb.
Movie:
“Return
of the Joker” (12/12/00) – The Joker returns to Neo-Gotham and plans to use a
high-tech military defense satellite to destroy it.
Short:
“Darwyn
Cooke’s Batman Beyond” (4/23/14) – The Batcave is invaded by a legion of
androids that resemble a variety of versions of Bruce Wayne’s Batman.
