The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Game Over for Owlman!

Season One, Episode Thirteen: Game Over for Owlman!
Written by Joseph Kuhr
Directed by Ben Jones

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: A recap of the events of the last episode, the first part of the two-parter, segues into Batman using a smoke pellet to escape the Gotham police.

Episode: Batman heads across the rooftops, avoiding the police, finding the Phase Oscillator warps time as well as space and that he's been gone for three weeks in this world, and trying to figure out why the police are after him. He then sees another Batman, dressed in an old version of his costume, escaping a bank with stolen money. He deduces that it is Owlman, having escaped, and they begin to fight. Again, the two are so evenly matched that neither can easily defeat the other, but Owlman escapes, leaving Batman holding the money bag, and Green Arrow appears to capture Batman. Batman tells Arrow the truth, but he doesn't believe him, and so Batman throws the moneybag at him with a small explosive and escapes in the confusion.

Batman slips into a hidden tunnel, as we see all his friends now hunting for him, coordianted by Green Arrow, except Plastic Man, who Green Arrow tells they don't need. Blue Beetle sees Batman as he pops out onto the street, but Batman hits him with an electric blast, and then ties up Plastic Man, who nearly grabs him, and escapes again, this time to be nearly grabbed by Red Tornado. Batman tries to summon the Batmobile, but realizes Owlman has reprogrammed it. Trapped in a blind alley, Batman thinks he's about to be taken out by his best friends when a hook, like those used to pull bad acts off stage, appears out of the darkness. and pulls him into the shadows and into a warehouse. And in the warehouse is the Joker, oversized pistol in hand, waiting to shoot him for changing their game and trying to out-criminal him.

Joker pulls the trigger and a bang flag pops out, and Batman punches him. Joker tosses up a white flag, and tells Batman he wants to team-up against the impostor. Batman wants to know how Joker knows there's an imposter, and Joker more or less says he knows because he knows Batman and what he would or wouldn't do. He wants to team up to stop Owlman, and Batman initially refuses, leaving Joker handcuffed, but Joker points out that since the two are evenly matched, Batman will need the Joker's help, as Owlman still craves order, and the Joker's chaotic nature will work in Batman's favor. Batman begins to consider it just as Plastic Man finds him. Joker offers a ride in his Jokermobile, and as the heroes wait outside, the Jokermobile breaks out of the warehouse.They stop it, only to find a trussed up Plastic Man inside.

Meanwhile, Batman and Joker try to figure out their next move. Batman calls an old Batmobile to them, and they head off. Batman makes Joker give his word no one will be hurt. Joker agrees, and offers to shake, but Batman gives him a look and joker reveals the little needle he has on his hand, waiting to poke Batman. Joker chalks it up to old habits, and start asking what all the buttons in the Batmobile do. Batman tells him that he really shouldn't touch one, and Joker naturally does, and is hit with knockout gas.

Batman awakens Joker in the Batcave, and Joker sees all the mementos from their previous encounters. Batman begins to consider what Owlman's next target is, looking for a pattern. He finds out Owlman has accessed his files on his fellow heroes, and found the ways to neutralize them, and we see him starting to do it. Batman again knocks out Joker and they head out of the cave. Batman contacts the others, and only Plastic Man responds, just as Owlman takes him down. Batman and Joker arrive, and Batman begins to fight Owlman, who demands the Phase Oscillator back so he can return to his Earth.

Joker starts to go through his weapons, trying to find one that won't hurt anyone, and settles on a rocket launcher, which he fires at the dueling Batman and Owlman. He thinsk Batman will move, but instead it Batman knocked down as Owlman nearly hits them with the Batmobile. Joker takes a grappling hook from Batman's utility belt and escapes, saving Batman's life. A car chase begins, Batman contacting Owlman, who offers to trade the heroes he's captured for the Phase Oscillator. Batman refuses, and Owlman begins to threaten innocents, so Batman turns the Batmobile over to Joker to drive as he saves people Owlman is endangering with reckless driving and weapons. Joker even stops chasing Owlman to save an innocent.

Joker asks Batman  why he took a chance on working with him, and Batman remembers Red Hoo,d Joker's counterpart from Owlman's world, who is a hero. He looks up in the sky and sees an Owlman version of the Batsignal. At the signal's source, Owlman has the heroes captured in tailor made deathtraps, with various villains surrounding him. Batman and Joker arrive, and tells Owlman that if he doesn't free the heroes, Batman will destory the Phase Oscillator, stranding him. The villains attack, But Joker proves a good ally.

However, as they face down the villains, Owlman offers Joker a new option, a tailor made trap for Batman, and the trigger to start it. Joker is tempted, and then decides that he' a villain, and hits the button, which should encase Batman in rubber. But Batman used the Phase Oscillator to escape, and pops out on the other side of the villains, where he promptly punches Owlman but Dr. Polaris is able to magnetically pull the Phase Oscillator from Batman and send it to Owlman.

But Batman had counted on the Joker's betrayal, and user the Phase Oscillator's time bending abilities to spend a week gathering Batmans from alternate worlds and appearing only a second later back on his Earth. The Batmen begin to not only fight the villains, but free the imprisoned heroes. Now that the villains are outnumbered two-to-one, they are easily defeated, leaving Batman to take down Owlman and Joker on his own, but the two villains begins arguing over which one will take down Batman, and Batman uses the distraction to use the trap Owlman designed for him to capture them both.

The fight over, the villains are carted away, and Batman goes to his counterparts, who old a tied up Owlman, who swears to return for revenge, and Batman says he'll be waiting to stop him before the other Batmen take him away. The Joker is the last of the villains to be carted away, and he says if they weren't opposites they could be friends, and Batman knows, from having met the Red Hood, that's true, and there's a good man in there. But then Joker swears he'll get him next time and Batman thinks, "Or maybe not."

Who's Who

The Joker (Voiced by Jeff Bennett)

First Comic Book Appearance: Batman #1 (April 1940)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Thirteen- Game Over for Owlman!

The Clown Prince of Crime. The Harlequin of Hate. These are but two of the nicknames for The Joker, Batman's arch-foe. Formerly the criminal known as the Red Hood, he lost his mind after chemicals bleached his skin and turned his hair green, and has since been an agent of sheer chaos. At times a madcap clown crook, at other a terrifying murderer, Joker's personality is as variable as the winds. His history with Batman goes back to the Dark Knight's earliest days, and no one villain has inflicted more pain on Batman. The Joker believes the two of them are a duel act, and that they are meant to fight until the end. The Joker is a master criminal with a brilliant, if twisted mind. He has myriad lethal gadgets and gimmicks, most notably his Joker Venom, a poison that leaves his victims with a rictus grin similar to his. But his greatest weapon is his sheer unpredictability, a person is never sure if Joker will shake their hand or wring their neck.

Owlman (Voiced by Diedrich Bader)
First Comic Book Appearance: Justice League of America #29 (August 1964)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twelve- Deep Cover for Batman!

Green Arrow (Voiced by James Arnold Taylor)
First Comic Book Appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November, 1941)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode One- Rise of the Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle  (Voiced by Will Friedle)
First Comic Book Appearance: Infinite Crisis #3 (February, 2006)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode One- Rise of the Blue Beetle

Aquaman (voiced by John DiMaggio)

First comic book appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

Red Tornado (Voiced by Corey Burton)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Justice League of America #64 (August, 1968)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Four- Invasion of the Secret Santas!

The Atom (Ryan Choi) (voiced by James Sie)

First comic book appearance: DCU Brave New World (August 2006)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

Plastic Man (Voiced by Tom Kenny)
First Comic Book Appearance: Police Comics #1 (August 1941)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

Black Manta (Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)

First Comic Book Appearance:  Aquaman #35 (September, 1967)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Three- Evil Under the Sea!

The Brain (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)

First comic book appearance: Doom Patrol #86 (May 1964)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 9 – Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Dr. Polaris (Voiced by Lex Lang)
First Comic Book Appearance: Green Lantern #21 (June, 1963)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Eight- Fall of the Blue Beetle!

Gorilla Grodd (Voice by John DiMaggio)
First Comic Book Appearance: The Flash #106 (May, 1959)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

Gentleman Ghost (Voiced by Jonny Rees)
First Comic Book Appearance: Flash Comics #88 (October, 1947)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

Clock King (Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
First Comic Book Appearance: World's Finest Comics #111 (August, 1960)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode One- Rise of the Blue Beetle


Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

As opposed to simply being sharing a title and being called part one and part two, this two parter shares a connected title, "Deep Cover for Batman!" and "Game over for Owlman!" These kinds of constructions are similar to to ones from the classic Batman TV series, although in most of those cases, the titles also rhymed.

When Owlman makes his first appearance in the episode, he is wearing Batman's original costume from Detective Comics #27, down to the purple gloves he wore in that first issue, and he is striking the exact pose from the final panel of the first origin story of Batman in Detective Comics #33.

Similarly, the Batmobile Batman uses when chasing Owlman is the design of the first bat branded Batmobile ever used in the comic; Batman drove cars before that, but they were just roadsters and sports cars without the signature Batman touches.

This episode marks the first appearance of the Joker in the series, and is the first major Batman villain to appear: eventually, most of the major Bat-foes will appear, but before now it's been mstly non-Batman foes like Grodd or C-Listers like Cavalier. Joker's design, like Batman's, hearkens back to the '50s, especially the art of legendary Batman artist, Dick Sprang. The Jokermobile was right out of the same era, by the way.

The Batmen of the Multiverse are mostly versions of Batman who have appeared in Elseworlds. The vampire Batman is from the Doug Moench/Kelly Jones vampire Batman trilogy; there are a few Cowboy Batman incarnations, although this one resembles a cross between Batman and the DC western hero, Nighthawk; the superstrong, bulky Batman is drawn from Brave and the Bold #68; Pirate Batman is Captain Leatherwing from Chuck Dixon's Elseworlds annual Detective Comics Annual #7; the Big Brain Batman is from World's Finest #151, where he's the "Batman of 800,000 A,D."; and finally, the armored Batman is one I can't place. If anyone knows where he comes from before this episode, or knows for certain it's an original creation, let me  know.

The Great Batman: The Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Deep Cover for Batman!

Season One, Episode Twelve: Deep Cover for Batman!
Written by Joseph Kuhr
Directed by Michael Chang

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: Sitting in shadows, a hooded figure begins to talk about his comrades and the Phase Oscillator, a device that will allow him to find allies on another Earth. He fires the device, and a portal opens. He tosses a throwing star in the shape of a card suit spade through, and is confident the device is working when a hooded Batman-like figure appears, along with figures resembling his many allies, although they appear far more aggressive. The light reveals the man to be the Red Hood, and as the others pursue him, he drops the Phase Oscillator, which is retrieved by his foes, who beat him, although he is able to escape. The group steps out of the shadows, revealed to be Owlman (Batman), Blue Bowman (Green Arrow), Scarlet Scarab (Blue Beetle), and Silver Cyclone (Red Tornado), who plan to use the device to take over other worlds.

Episode: The Bat Signal shines in the Gotham sky, as Batman talks to Commissioner Gordon, telling him he's stopped the Riddler. He drives back into the Batcave, first noticing the throwing spade Red Hood tossed through the vortex, and in its reflective surface notices Owlman, who attacks. The two have an extended fight sequence and prove evenly matched, down to similar gadgets. Batman kills the lights, and Owlman begins to gloat, saying owls see better in the dark than bats, turning on nightvision tech. Batman, though, is prepared and triggers a device that causes a bright flash before punching Owlman and knocking him out.

Batman examines the Phase Oscillator, deducing its purpose, and realizing Owlman is his doppelganger. Owlman, in a strait jacket and cell in the Batcave, refuses to tell Batman his purpose, and while Batman seems to threaten to beat the answers out of Owlman, he instead takes his costume and heads back to Owlman's Earth. In Owlman's penthouse, he finds the doppelgangers of his friends waiting, and warns them off his Earth, saying its too dangerous, a world where everyone has powers, so they decide to go with plan B: simply use a giant bomb to blow up the other Earth, to make an example of it and scare all other Earths into bowing to them.

The Injustice Syndicate heads to a lab to get a sample of Prometheum-90, the fuel for the bomb, and Batman sees the world he's in, and how it is full of fear of the villains, with seemingly no heroes to defend it. They reach the lab and go to get the Prometheum-90, but Silver Centurion warns them not to break the container, or the only sample of the mineral known will be useless. Seeing a way to stop the bomb, Batman heads to get it, only to be interrupted by Red Hood. The Injustice Syndicate attacks Red Hood, and Batman knocks Red Hood aside, revealing his identity as a hero from the other world. He gives Hood a Bat communicator, and although Hood's face is obscured by shadow, the lines of it and the bits we see make it clear he is this Earth's Joker. Batman apologizes before knocking him out, and the others arrive, with Scarlet Scarab holding the Prometheum-90.

Back at Owlman's penthouse, Batman finds out where Red Hood is being kept, and when Blue Bowman asks why he's acting weird, Batman slugs him and tells him not to question him. Bowman walks off perturbed, and then seems to talk to the air, telling someone to stay close and keep an eye on Owlman. In the jail, Silver Cyclone is trying to torture information out of Red Hood, who won't break, simply laughing it off. We see his origin, and inversion of Batman's fight with his Earth's Red Hood, where instead of him jumping into the chemicals that made him Joker to escape, Owlman throws him into them, and this Red Hood didn't fully lose his mind. We see versions of villains,in this world heroes, fighting the Injustice Syndicate, and falling to them, although Hood escapes to fight another day. Batman is communicating to him right in his ear through the communicator, telling him to stall as he is about to spring Hood and the other heroes.

But then we find out who Blue Bowman was talking to: Dyna-Mite, this universe's Atom, who springs up to stop Batman from using the computer to free the heroes. Batman stops Dyna-Mite, but the computer is destroyed, so Batman heads down to Hood, who uses his interrogation to drop hints to allow Batman to find him. As Batman nears him through the ventilation system, Silver Cyclone figures out what's going on, zaps Hood and starts blowing cyclones through the vents, pushing Batman back towards a large exhaust fan. Batman tosses a few explosive capsules from his utility belt to stop the fan, and escapes into the Injustice Syndicate's trophy room.

Batman makes his way into the room, and finds Blue Bowman, Dyna-Mite, and Scarlet Scarab waiting. They try to blast him, and when they find Owlman's tattered costume, they think they killed him, only to have Batman drop down on them in his own costume. He easily bests them, and then heads down to the jail, where he frees Red Hood. They are then confronted by the entire Injustice Syndicate, including doubles of Aquaman, Fire, and nearly all the bother heroes who have appeared in the series to date. Silver Cyclone observes they are outnumbered, but Batman opens the cells, freeing the heroes, all doubles of series villains, to even the odds.

A big fight commences, and with Batman aiding them, the heroes have the upper hand this time. Red Hood battles Silver Cyclone, and is able to knock the Phase Oscillator away from him into Batman's hands. The heroes begin to slowly lock the villains up in the cells they were once imprisoned in, but Silver Cyclone has a last play: He activates the bomb that he was planning to send to Batman's Earth, so he can wipe out all human life on this Earth, leaving him an empty Earth of his own. Red Hood throws an explosive spade, blowing up Cyclone's head. Batman attaches rockets to the bomb, and Red Hood programs the Phase Oscillator to a world of zombies, where no one can be killed, and the rocket explodes there, causing no deaths.

Later, Batman and Red Hood stand in Owlman's penthouse, Batman congratulating Red Hood on his victory, and Red Hood saying he hopes his counterpart can repay Batman, whose reply is that seems, "unlikely." Batman opens the portal and heads back to the Gotham, only to find the city papered with wanted posters for him, and the police surrounding him, saying he's under arrest.

TO BE CONTINUED

Who's Who

Owlman (Voiced by Diedrich Bader)
First Comic Book Appearance: Justice League of America #29 (August 1964)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twelve- Deep Cover for Batman!

When first introduced, Owlman was a member of the Crime Syndicate, the team's opposite number to Batman, although he was never given much of a backstory. In the post-Crisis and post-Flashpoint continuities, he is Thomas Wayne Jr., who hails from Earth-3 (or the anti-matter universe before the multiverse was recreated), the brother of Bruce Wayne. The two origins vary: post-Crisis, Thomas witnessed the death of his mother and brother at the hands of a corrupt police officer and swore vengeance on the law, while in post-Flashpoint, he orchestrated the death of his family to inherit their fortune. There have also been two Owlmans from the main DC Earth, one was detective Roy Raymond Jr., recruited to be the detective on the Outsiders after Batman's apparent death at the hands of Darkseid, and the other is Lincoln March, a member of the Court of Owls who claims to be Bruce's heretofore unknown brother, Thomas Wayne Jr, although his claims are unsubstantiated. Owlman has skills on par with Batman in both intellect and fighting, although he is considerably more ruthless and has no qualms about taking a life.

Crime Syndicate of America

First Comic Book Appearance: Justice League of America #29 (August 1964)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twelve- Deep Cover for Batman!

The Crime Syndicate of America is an alternate reality of the Justice League of America from Earth-3 (or briefly the antimatter universe in the post-Crisis continuity where there was no Multiverse). On their Earth, the morality of people is inverted, and heroes are villains and vice versa. The Crime Syndicate is often portrayed a rulers of their world. The five regular members of the Crime Syndicate are Ultraman (Superman), Super Woman (Wonder Woman), Owlman (Batman), Johnny Quick (Flash), and Power Ring (Green Lantern). The most recent incarnation of the team, whose invasion of the main DC Universe Earth was the centerpiece of the Forever Evil crossover, also included Grid (Cyborg), Sea King (Aquaman), Deathstorm (Firestorm), and Atomica (Atom).

Red Hood (Voiced by Jeff Bennett)

First Comic Book Appearance: Detective Comics #168 (February 1951)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twelve- Deep Cover for Batman!

While there is no direct corollary to this alternate Red Hood in the alternate DC Universe, the name Red Hood is significantly tied to Batman history. The leader of the Red Hood Gang, a gang that terrorized Gotham, Batman cornered Red Hood in the Ace Chemical Factory, where he dove into a vat of chemicals to avoid capture, counting on the air supply in his helmet to help him survive. And while he did survive, he found his skin bleached white and his hair dyed green. He would go on to become Batman's most nefarious foe, the Joker, but more on that next time... Former Robin Jason Todd would also take up the name Red Hood after his resurrection from his death at Joker's hands.

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

The Injustice Syndicate members introduced in this episode are nearly all original characters, with the exception of Owlman. The name of the group is actually a combination of two villain teams who have fought the Justice League over the years, the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3, who are the alternate reality evil doppelgangers of the Justice League, and the Injustice Gang, who are usually a team comprised of villains who are gathered to fight the Justice League.

This is the series first of only two part episodes. Similar to Batman: The Animated Series, Brave and the Bold is a mostly episodic series, where while there is character development and backstory built up over the series, it can mostly be watched in any order, as opposed to later DCAU series like Justice League, which was much closer to a serialized narrative.

As with the beginning of the series, the teaser is tied directly to the main story, but is even more tied in to the main story, being less of a stand alone vignette and more a prologue to the main action.

Many of the most famous elements of Batman's mythos appear rarely in the course of Brave and the Bold. As mentioned earlier,Batman rarely appears without his mask. And while the Batmobile and Batarangs have appeared often, this is the first appearance of both the Bat Signal and the Batcave.