Invasion of the Secret Santas talkback

[Eric]

Well, not my favorite of the 4 premier episodes.
Its always interesting to see flashbacks from Bruces childhood. Though I must say, the inclusion of Bruces Christmas morning disapointment tieing in with his parents murder added an extra sense of guilt for Batman. Something I didnt think we would see in this cartoon series. I loved seeing the Batmobile, very cool design. I really dont know much about Red Tornado, so his characterization I have no comment on. I did find him to be a bit annoying however. I dont recognize Funhouse as an existing character. He was designed like the Superfriends version of Toyman, and I had thought that was who he was until they said his name. There was the usual funny moments that mad me crack a laugh. For instance the "alien invasion" with the woman that kept screaming in closeups on the camera. The toy doll that looked like Baby Doll from BTAS was kinda funny. I did like the opening sequence with SportsMaster. It was cool to see Blue Beetle again, his character seemed to be a bit more developed. I dont expect to love every episode, and this one wasnt terrible, but as I said, not my favorite. Id rank it a 6.5 or a 7. Fun to watch.

[kilowog52]

I missed it on Friday, but caught it Saturday morning, but when the commercials after Batman was about to fall off the cliff ended, it replayed the majority of the entire chunk that already had aired between the commercials. Then when they finally realized what had happened, they didn't even pick up from where they left off, they played the last few minutes of the show so that it would still end when the half hour was up, which I think we should all complain to them about. And I agree. I am not familiar with this Fun Haus. If anybody thinks that this is an existing character, please speak up.

[knippenberg]

Batman (serious tone): He just made my naughty list!

Batman, after saving two kids, by punching the head off a Killer Santa: (Looks at them, pauses) You didn't see that.

Great lines.

I found to be the most interesting aspect of this insanely over-the-top, but fun, episode to be the reason why Batman doesn't feel celebrate the Christmas Spirit.

SPOILERS if you haven't seen the episode yet.

Throughout the episode we experience a series of flashbacks which take us back to Bruce Wayne's childhood. On Christmas morning, Bruce examines the wrapped present and, judging by size and weight, makes the deduction that he knows what it is. His father, Thomas, remarks to Martha, "He's our little detective". When Bruce opens the gift we see a wooden soldier. Thomas tells Bruce proudly that when he was a boy his own father had given that to him and now it would be Bruce's. Bruce scowls and is upset because he was expecting the latest action figure that was popular at the time and, in anger, hurls the wooden toy soldier against the wall, smashing it to pieces and runs off. In another flashback, we see the all too familiar scene of the Waynes exiting out from the evening showing of "The Mark of Zorro". Thomas explains to Bruce that he was sorry for not being able to provide him with the action figure he had wanted but hoped that seeing an action hero on the screen would make up for it. Bruce closes his eyes and turns away from his father's gaze, still angry, saying nothing. Thomas resigns to the fact that Bruce will just be hurt for a little while and tries to make the best of it. But that is when the Waynes make their way down Park Row (later known as Crime Alley), all we see is the darkness of the alley, two flashes from a gun muzzle (no sound at all), and finally we hear Bruce cry out for his parents.

I found this to be an interesting and emotional twist to the Batman origin. It's one thing for Bruce to have loved his parents dearly and then lost them, committing himself to a life of crimefighting forever, but to be angry towards a loved one and then never getting that chance to say "I'm sorry", or to change that awkward dynamic between a parent and child and losing that chance forever?

Anyway, in the end Batman does begin to feel a bit of the Christmas Spirit, thanks to his adventure with Red Tornado (who was also searching to find the Christmas Spirit) and when he finds a gift on the passenger seat of the Batmobile...the wooden soldier he had smashed all those years ago, put back together by Alfred. But, no time to rest as Batman declares, "Crime doesn't take a holiday, and neither do I!" and races off.

[All Star Batman]

This is my favorite episode of the series so far, mostly because of the flashbacks of Bruce's last Xmas with his parents and the emotional turn it took that fateful night. Made me feel sad.

I just loved Red Tornado in this episode and how he was trying to find the Xmas spirit, and Corey Burton's voice was perfect for him.

I don't get though why didn't they call him Toyman in this. Is there an actualy character called Funhouse? I don't see why they couldn't have called him Toyman. Also, did Mark Hammil do his voice? It kinda sounded like him.

One last thing: Best part of the episode was when Batman punched that Santa robot's head off in front of those two kids. "Uh, pretend you didn't see that."

[jef1963]

God I wish I had cable! This show sounds like fun! remember fun?

[DrGreenEvil]

This has been the best ep yet of this series.
The battle between Batman and the ufos... For all of those that doubt this is Batman, watch this ep!!
Batman may not be dark... But he is still a freakin bad@$$.
Loved Red Tornado. Reading a book from Stuart Martha. It was cute him trying to find out what Christmas was about. Him giving a gift to Batman was priceless. Although those kids calling him just a robot at the begining and slamming the door in his face when he tried caroling was kinda harsh. Corey Burton did a wonderful voice.
But man, these new Batman shows really now how to pull at the emotional strings. In THE BATMAN, it was pearls. This one though... gaw.
It really helps to show how Batman became so selfless. I'm honestly surprised they showed as much. I fully expected to just show the Wayne family walking down the alley and then fading away, letting the audience fill in what happened. But no, they amped it up didn't they.
It was nice seeing Alfred. Hopefully he will show up again with an actual part in the story later in the series.
I liked Fun Haus. He was funny. A kinda Joker/Toyman mix. The kinda-Baby Doll cameo was cool.
The opening with Blue Beetle was good. I like the progression of Blue Beetle, the suit talking to him now. They actually made Sportsmaster seem like a tough villain.
I really liked how they were able to cram a full story with Red Tornado's and Batman's back story into it. All into one ep.

Once again this is so far the best ep in the series. And the next one with Green Arrow, Merlin, and the Demon looks equally as awesome.
Sucks though that, according the listings, it will be around a month till the next new ep.
DrGreenEvil

[Dark Nightwing]

This episode was such an odd assortment. They put Batman's tragic origin story into a Christmas special. I thought they did a brilliant job of showing his origin too. I have seen it done a number of ways, but the way the camera stayed still and we just saw the two flashes was incredible. I did not think that there would be a real origin given for Batman in this show, so I was pleasantly surprised. I find it fascinating how this one scene has been done so many times and in so many different ways. I watched the encore that came on right after The Batman versus Dracula, so it was great to see both versions of the event back-to-back.

Learning more about Red Tornado was nice. I liked his character, but I found his voice acting to be rather annoying. Seeing Alfred was one of my favorite things. I am glad that this show is trying to establish back story from the start, instead of the way TT had barely anything on the characters.

[kilowog52]

I didn't like the way Red Tornado talked in this episode. He said 'Observation' or something else like it at the beginning of everything he said. He doesn't do that in the comics. It was great to see his John Smith alter ego though.