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Two more punchy punchy episodes with the Batman. First off he teams up with Deadman to fight the Gentleman Ghost… while being sort of kind of near dead. Next it’s another new Blue Beetle episode, with an appearance by the classic Ted Kord Blue Beetle… and oh, this episode tells you why you’ll never ever see said Kord Blue Beetle ever again in The Brave and The Bold.

Hint : It connects the events of two Batman adventures from two years ago (Kord) and present (new Guyver looking Blue Beetle).

This week MARVEL’s latest X-Men animated series launched on Nicktoons with Wolverine and the X-Men (bringing the series into the present with the most recent additions to the mutant menagerie, a harsher storyline from the movies with the war between humanity and mutants, and… oh, a title to totally milk the fact that X-Men Origins : Wolverine is coming to theaters soon starring Hugh (Wolverine) Jackman. Yeah, can’t forget that.

Ok. Forget that. Let’s focus on another long lived character of comics that has a long colorful history on TV and animation and movies… Batman.

Last week’s episode first off Batman is off into the distant future with Kamandi (Say kids! Remember that classic 20th Century need for comic companies to make series based in some dim dark post apocalyptic future where civilization is back in some fantasy stone age future monsters meet whatever weird world setting? I do.) helping Batman bring a cure for some ailment back in the past through a flooded post apocalyptic New York City.

But no time to rest on that. As the real episode opens we find Batman hovering over his own grave down in jolly ole’ London (home of Doctor Who, which is good since I’m sure Batman is going to need a good Doctor after this episode). Huh? What? Did Warner Brothers drive him to death by shame by allowing Schumacher to make another Batman movie? No? Batman has been buried alive by the Gentleman Ghost and the only person who can help him is the dead spirit of former acrobat turned black robe wearing (looks like he got his fashion sense from Hal Jordan’s stint as the Spectre) voice accent wielding Deadman… why he had to dress for most of the episode like the Hal Jordan Spectre I’m not too sure… anyway Gentleman Ghost is looking for three artifacts to raise an army of the dead… say, any reason they couldn’t find his hot slinky sexy relative the magicmaker lady with the fishnet stockings that are hard to animate (as seen in her first appearance back in Batman The Animated Series) for this episode? Anyway to save Batman’s physical body from it’s burial they end up having to use the young Green Arrow and his sidekick Speedy (remember kids, don’t do whatever it was Speedy was hooked on back like 30 or so years ago when he was doing whatever) to dig Batman up… and just in time to stop the Gentleman Ghost too. Yay.

Highlight? Batman flying all over the city Peter Pan style.

Lowlight? The Gentleman Ghost drawing a mystical circle to draw up the spirits of condemned criminals… in the image of a Poke’ball… what the hell! So now you can draw a Poke’ball to summon the undead?!? Wow.

This week one adventure covers two years and two seemingly unconnected events.

Two years ago Batman and Ted Kord (the Blue Beetle) team up because Ted stupidly lent his “Scarab” (which is later used to form the Guyver like armor of the new Blue Beetle)... oh hey, this Ted Kord isn’t a jerk that I remember the DC Comics version to be, in fact he’s so down pat with Batman they’re almost like a married couple comparing their gizmos and their love of punching bad guys around. Anyway two years later the new techno Blue Beetle is having serious issues with his role as a hero and goes off to find Batman to ask him about whether he was chosen or not to be the Blue Beetle… of course doing so while Batman’s having a beatdown with some Magento wannabe in a black armor named Dr. Polaris… say, did I miss the lame era of DC Villains!! Why is it we’re building up a longer and longer list of lame villains for this series anyway! Uh… never mind.

Not getting the answers from Batman, the new Beetle heads off and finds Ted Kord (the previous Blue Beetle)... only either this is not Kord or Ted’s abit tightly wound these days as he seems to have this whole take over the world to achieve world peace chain of thought going (in which he tricks the new Beetle to helping him out in the little endeavour). Obviously Batman is going to have to show up and help the new kid stop the invasion of the Earth by an army of Blue Beetle Cybermen robots created through the power of the new Beetle’s alien Scarab device thing that makes his armor… oh, and this episode also explains what the heck is up with Ted Kord/Blue Beetle I and why he ain’t going to be making anymore appearances except in flashbacks in this series.

Yah! Another two good weeks of the show (again no 4 out of 5 like that Outsider episode). Looking forward to seeing what’s next week, 5 out of 5 all around (enjoy Batman series, enjoy).

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