Rating: 
Summary: Gotham's winged avenger flies high...
Review: You've GOT to love Warner Bros. for doing this. Releasing not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE different animated Batman DVDs all at the same time. "Return of the Joker" is intense, "Sub-Zero" is heart-wrenching, "the Batman Superman Movie" is interesting and "Justice League" is fun, but this would be my desert island DVD. It includes the first five episodes of the modern legend "Batman - the Animated Series."Episodes include "On Leather Wings," the first Batman episode, in which a mysterious man-bat terrorizes Gotham City and Batman is blamed for the heinous crimes. Not bad for a pilot episode. "Christmas With the Joker" is a fun episode. It's nothing really deep, but it introduced the series to Batman's most notorious adversary, the Joker. Here, he holds three (important) people hostage and wants Batman to show up by midnight so the Joker can give him a Christmas present (???). The gift turns out to be a hilarious joke, and it shows just how nutso the Joker really is. Next up is "Nothing to Fear," which is my favorite episode on this DVD. Here, Batman faces the Scarecrow, who injects him with a sort of fear serum which will unearth Batman's deepest, darkest fears. Batman is afraid his parents are turning over in their graves, since people have claimed that Bruce Wayne has put a damper on his namesake. Our hero starts to believe it himself, until he finally realizes how proud his parents would be if they saw how much he puts on the line to help the stranger citizens of Gotham City. It ends with a kickass battle on a blimp. The fourth episode is called "the Last Laugh," which brings the Joker back again to wreak havoc on Gotham City. Here, he infests Gotham with his goofy gas on April Fool's Day, which temporarily turns people insane, causing them to uncontrollably laugh hysterically. And, as always, it's up to Batman to save the day. A great episode, though, like the previous Joker outing, not very deep. The final episode is "Pretty Poison," which introduces Poison Ivy to the series. District Attorney Harvey Dent (who would later become Two-Face in my favorite episode) is infected with a rare poison, and Batman has to find a cure before it's too late. He suspects Pamela Isley, Dent's love interest, to be responsible. As per usual, the dark night detective's hunch is right. A very good episode. Unlike "the Simpsons," which took a season or two to get just right, the creators of this show nailed it right on the head from the get-go. Some things are different from later episodes, such as Alfred's voice and the Joker's laugh, but the atmosphere is still there, and the writing remained top-notch until the series' final episode. This is quality programming, and they should have kept going with it. Instead, they opted for different animation and more light-hearted action with "the Batman/Superman Adventures." A good show in it's own right, of course, but the original animated series is the cream of the crop. I almost drooled when I read Warner Bros. would begin releasing this series on DVD, and this particular disc isn't a bad way to start. However, I'm sure I could have held out longer if Warner decided to go with a boxed set edition of EVERY SEASON on DVD instead of this. Still, it's good to own five classic episodes of B-TAS and reminisce on the time when I would come home from school, watch the show, and re-enact what I just saw with my Batman action figures. "I am vengance. I am the night. I am BATMAN!" Very cool stuff.
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