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Graebeard, I'm right with you. The only things missing for me these days while watching this show are 3 huge bowls of Lucky Charms, and punching my little brother now and then just because.
First the Challengers of the Unknown, now not just the denizens of the deep in Atlantis, but their king as well – Aquaman is the latest victim to succumb to the will of Starro. I have to say I’m curious how this will all pay out. Starro is a pretty tough customer and I’m wondering who else besides Batman will have to help out to conquer The Conqueror?
So far the good people at Batman: Brave and the Bold have been reticent about showcasing some of the bigger guns in the DC arsenal, although we did get to see the backs of both Wonder Woman and Superman recently. Starro’s most famous adventure is probably his work in the pages of the comic book, Brave and the Bold, #28 in 1960. It was the first adventure of the newly formed Justice League of America. (Lineup: Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and the Flash.) I’m wondering if we’ll see some of the original JLA lineup team up with Bats to take down the giant five-pointed alien fishy.
As for the actual episode, “The Clash of the Metal Men,” even I’m surprised that this creative crew managed to pull this story off. I’ve done nothing but sing their praises at every turn, but I never would have given them the credit to pull off such a thoroughly entertaining adventure with one of DC’s 4th string teams.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the Metal Men in the comics on occasion, but they’re really more of every now and then flavor for me. After just 5 minutes with the Doc Magnus and his robotic heroes, I wanted them to have their own show too. Each Metal Man has always had a distinctive (if not one dimensional) personality, and it’s that lack of real character development that often hinders any story in which they’re featured. The slow but loyal Lead, the dashing Gold, even the hot-tempered Mercury didn’t bug me at all, and I don’t like the Mercury character at all… he’s a bit of a metallic dick.
Even Tin’s constant insecurities and whining were fun to watch, and bravo for a few sly sexual entendres between the sexy Platinum and the stoic Batman. I’m not normally one for cheap innuendos, but Platinum turning herself into a chair and then watching her (as the seat) demurely (yet innocently) ask Batman to sit on that face really took me off guard in a good way.
This writing team really has fun with their Silver Age roots. A bad guy team like The Gas Gang could look ridiculous in the hands of a less loving bunch of scribes, but these guys made them cartoonishly believable. (Yeah I know it’s an oxymoron, but it makes perfect sense to me.)
By the way, you know why Batman’s a much better hero than I’ll ever be? Because if a villainous gang of gaseous fumes ever knocked me out just once, I’d steer the hell away from them for the rest of my life. I have no freaking idea how to bring humanoid versions of Oxygen, Helium, Chloroform, Carbon Monoxide, and Carbon Dioxide to justice. I’d just hide somewhere and get scared every time I took another breath. Seriously. I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. That Batman – he’s committed, I’ll tell you that.
And let’s give a round of applause to the robot bodies Magnus is guilted into giving these gaseous scoundrels. Hilarious. And speaking of hilarious, I love Diedrich Bader’s deadpan delivery; “Bad guys like you come in many forms, but liquid, gas or solid, they always wind up in the same state. Inert!” Come on. That’s some brilliant campy comic book writing.
At the end of any Metal Men story worth it’s wait in gold, Batman and the Metal Men team up in classic Brave and the Bold style and even whiney ass Tin makes a huge contribution and feels like he’s part of the team. Of course we all know by the time the next adventure rolls around, he’ll be back to his insecure whiney ass ways, but that’s our Tin for ya.
I wonder if these guys will ever try to reunite the Inferior Five? If anyone can, they can.
Joe Oesterle is an award-winning writer and illustrator, but what he often fails to mention is that many of those awards were won on a New Jersey boardwalk. If you have some time and a love of one-man produced animation, please check out some of Joe’s own animated shorts.
Graebeard, I'm right with you. The only things missing for me these days while watching this show are 3 huge bowls of Lucky Charms, and punching my little brother now and then just because.
This show is crazy amazing.
Now if they can just release the whole season on DVD instead of trying to milk it with two episodes per $15 disc....
I can't help but smile with childish glee when shows like this come along. They bring me back to the joys of a child reading comics in the 60's without mocking the characters - or my memories of them. Joe deftly identified the secret - its the writing team! They have fun - and let us come along for the ride!