The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Mayhem of the Music Meister!

Season One, Episode Twenty-Five: Mayhem of the Music Meister!
Written by Michael Jelenic
Directed by Ben Jones

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: The Music Meister walks out in front of a curtain and starts to conduct an orchestra.

Episode: (Song titles appear in italics as they appear in the episode)

The curtain parts and shows a military base, where Black Manta's walker fires on the soldiers, causing them to flee. Black Manta, Gorilla Grodd, and Clock King are inside, preparing to hijack the rocket that holds the United Nations new communications satellite, which they plan to use to cause chaos on global communications. But before they can get on the rocket, the are interrupted by Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Aquaman. But before they can start fighting, the begin... to sing.

As they sing in bewilderment, the mastermind behind the singing appears: The Music Meister, who instructs them to stop fighting him, which they do and he begins to details his plan and origin (I'm the Music Meister). The heroes and villains begin to dance and sing back-up as he explains he controls people by singing at them. Observing from a distance, Batman sees the singing and dancing as the heroes prepare the satellite to launch.

When Music Meister hears Black Canary sing, he becomes enchanted by her, but her Canary Cry knocks him off his feet as Batman drops from his Bat-gyro, having out in an earpiece to protect him from Music Meister's hypnosis. While Batman easily gets the upperhand on Music Meister, the villains sends his controlled heroes and villains to attack Batman. Batman is able to fight the others to a standstill until Music Meister sets off the rocket to launch, and commands the heroes and villains to do a kickline into the flames blasting from the rocket, as the curtains close again, ending Act One.

As Music Meister speeds away on a keyboard on wheels, Batman chooses to save his friends and enemies from being burned alive by using two Bat-grapnels to hold them in place and then fire a net from the Bat-gyro to hold them. With the rocket and Music Meister gone, the spell is broken, and the heroes knock out the villains. Batman knows there's more to Music Meister's plan, and Black Canary asks to join him in hunting down the new foe. He gives the heroes earplugs to protect them, and tells them to stay with the defeated villains until the police arrive, taking off alone, and Black Canary ignores Green Arrows attempts to court her affections.

At a concert hall, Music Meister plays the organ and talks to a cardboard audience, detailing his plan to use the satellite to spread his hypnotic power over the world, musing there's one thing that can stop him. And as he says it, Batman appears, and Music Meister hits keys in the organ which spews smoke to let him escape and begins to sing about Batman's ability to drive villains crazy an ruin their plans (Drives Us Bats).

Music Meister leads Batman on a chase through the city, getting people to randomly attack him, before arriving at Blackgate Prison and causing a mass breakout, which is foiled by Batman and his allies. As they fight, Black Canary watches Batman fight and sings about her wanting Batman to love her (If Only). Music Meister joins in, singing about his own feelings for Canary, making it a duet. He is able to blast Canary and Batman with an energy bolt, knocking them unconscious as the curtain falls on Act Two.

The curtains open on a closed club now filled with huge machinery chugging away, producing a beat that Music Mesiter sings to about his death trap (Death Trap). Batman and Canary are tied together, and as Music Meister leaves, acid and lasers begin moving towards the heroes, the walls start closing in, and a bomb starts ticking, but Batman is able to use his gadgets to get Canary and himself out.

Music Meister has set up in Gotham Square, with Aquaman and Green Arrow guarding him, preparing for the finale of his scheme, but Batman and Canary appear to stop him. But Music Meister's final costume change has speakers built in, allowing him to project his voice farther and create an army of innocent citizens to protect him (The World is Mine), while others begin to steal everything they can. And coupling the speakers and mic system with the satellite, all of Gotham begins to bring Music Meister everything they can get their hands on, not just in Gotham, but everywhere.

Under Music Meister's control, Aquaman grabs Black Canary, but Green Arrow is able to break the mind control long enough to free Canary before Aquaman starts and outrageous hero on hero fight. Batman and Canary again try to stop Music Meister, but his legion of thralls interfere. They are able to grab Canary and remove her earplugs, leaving Batman alone to fight. Canary turns on Batman, and begins fighting Batman, but Batman challenges Music Meister to have Canary match him in a singing contest, note for note, going higher and higher. Distracted by the singing, Music Meister doesn't see Batman loop a Batrope tied to a Batarang around his microphone. Batman pulls the mike in front of Canary as she hits the high note, her Canary Cry triggering and blowing out all the speakers and breaking Music Meister's spell, before Batman slugs the villain, knocking him unconscious and saving the world from musical mind control.

Canary goes to Batman, who explains he used a gadget to match her voice, and she asks him to dinner, but he refuses, because crime doesn't take breaks. before he swings off. Canary begins to sing again about her crush in Batman, but Green Arrow joins in about his feelings for her (If Only [Reprise]), and she is shocked by his singing voice, and the two join hands and sing in front of the sparkling lights of the damaged stage as a single spotlight shines on them, and the curtain closes on the heroes looking into each other's eyes.

Who's Who

Music Meister (Voiced by Neil Patrick Harris)

First Comic Book Appearance:  None
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Five: Mayhem of the Music Meister!

As a young child, the Music Meister was bullied because he could sing beautifully in choir. But one day, when surrounded by bullies, he began to sing and they stopped. And soon he was controlling them. He realized he could control people with the sound of his voice, and so began his path to supervillainy. This is the Music Meister's only full appearance; he will cameo a few more times, but never speaks or sings in any of them. Music Meister can control anyone in the sound of his singing voice, and has many music related gadgets.

Black Canary (Voiced by Grey Griffin)
First Comic Book Appearance: Flash Comics #86 (August, 1947)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Sixteen- Night of the Huntress!

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

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!

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!

Black Manta (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)

First comic book appearance: Aquaman #35 (September 1967)

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


Clock King (Voice 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

"Mayhem of the Music Meister" is one of the most popular episodes Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Seriously, I can't tell you how wonderful it is. The songs are whip smart and catchy, Neil Patrick Harris, star of stage and screen best known as the title character on Doogie Howser, M.D. and as the womanizing Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, completely knocks his performance out of the park, and it's just delightful through and through. It's so popular that contributor Dan Grote included it as one of his picks for best animated episodes in last year's Advent Calendar.

If you watch the episode and love it, the soundtrack was released to download and on CD through Amazon.

Batman's singing voice is provided not by Diedrich Bader, who voices Batman in the series, but Jeff Bennett, who voices the Joker on the series.

Among the numerous references in this episode, there's a particularly fun one. As Music Meister sends the heroes and villains at the beginning to fight Batman, they start snapping their fingers, which is a nod to the classic musical West Side Story, where the two street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, snap at the beginning of their dance based rumbles.

During the number "Drives Us Bats," the cuts to the villains singing in Arkham includes nearly every villain who has appeared in this series, not to mention most of the original villains from the Batman TV series from the '60s: King Tut, Psycho Pirate, Top, Crazy Quilt, Mad Hatter, Calendar Man, Mr. Freeze, Tweedles, Scarecrow, Two-Face, Joker, False Face, Shame, Cavalier, Egghead, Kiteman, Babyface, Louie the Lilac, Felix Faust, Fun Haus, Shark, Sportsmaster, Bookworm, The Archer, Grodd, Black Manta, Clock King

Music Meister makes numerous costume changes throughout the episode, hitting on various musical genres and musical influences including Phantom of the Opera, Liberace, Mozart, Marching Band, Disco King, Kiss, Behorned Opera Singer. Elvis, and Punk.

During "Death Trap" the walls of the room surrounding Batman and Black Cnaary are platered with what look like band stickers, and each of the stickers has the name of DC Universe team, both great and small. It would take forever to list them all, but if you pause your DVD or stream with the DC Wiki open, you'll see some amazing deep cuts in there.

The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Inside the Outsiders!

Season One, Episode Twenty-Four: Inside the Outsiders!
Written by Alex Van Dyne
Directed by Michael Chang

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: Batman and Green Arrow are tied at the top a post that is slowly lowering as large jungle cats growl at them and try to reach them. Green Arrow is irritated that Batman didn't see the trap that got them into this situation coming, as Batman should know better having fought Catwoman numerous times. Batman and Catwoman talk, with batman trying to talk her out of her life of crime, and Green Arrow is shocked (and annoyed) when he realizes they're flirting. As they near the cats, Batman uses a Batarang to sever the ropes tying the heroes and they swing to safety. Green Arrow fights Catwoman's thugs, while Batman fights the villain herself. The heroes defeat Catwoman and her goons, and are preparing to take them in when Catwoman escapes, leaving Batman with a note including her phone number and a message that says, "Call Me."

Episode: Batman runs through a hallway covered in creeoy golden masks that shoot blasts at him, but he makes it through, crashing into a room where the Psycho Pirate sits in a high tech throne. The Outsiders are in glass tubes that are feeding energy into Psycho Pirate, who is feeding on their emotions. Batman plans to open the chambers, but doing that will fry their brains, and the only way Batman has to save them is to enter the dream world of Psycho Pirate to pull them out, so he dons one of Psycho Pirate's helmets and heads in.

He appears in what appears to be a Japanese temple, and he sees a younger Katana and her old master. She has revealed the location of a sword, and an evil ronin has now arrived seeking it. Katana watches her memory play out, seeing her master die, as Batman tries to snap her out of it. Katana tells Batman this is her nightmare, but this time she will get revenge, and grabs the sword to fight Takeo, the ronin. Takeo tells her that it was her mouth that killed her master, and she prepares to strike down her foe.

At the last moment, Batman intercepts her blade with the energy sword from his utility belt, and the two of them commence dueling, Batman telling her this is now their way, or that of her master. Takeo again goads her on, saying she is now silent because she was responsible for her master's death and feels guilty, while Batman says that she is silent to honor him. This reminder snaps her out of it, and she stops fighting. Takeo transforms into Psycho Pirate, who had been playing on her guilt, who then disappears. Batman knows Psycho Pirate feeds off rage, and he thinks Black Lighting is the main course.

Appearing in an alleyway, Batman and Katana head out to find Black Lightning, prepared for the worst. What they find is a Black Lightning who is attacking people not for crimes but for little social infractions and anything that irritates him. Batman talks to him, trying to get him to calm down, and instead Black Lighting attacks, annoyed at Batman's cape. Katana saves a bystander who turns into Psycho Pirate who tries to get her to again attack, but she does not and he seems offput by it.

Black Lightning continues to attack Batman, Psycho Pirate growing more powerful, and then Black Lightning sees on TV... Uni the Unicorn (an homage to Barney the Dinosaur), and his anger grows. Black Lightning says hugs don't solve everything, and Batman tells him neither does rage, and that his anger was just making Psycho Pirate stronger. Psycho Pirate disappears in a flash, but as he does he causes Uni to leap from the screen and break through the glass. Black Lightning blasts him into confetti, but an army of Uni's come at him. Batman again tells him to channel his anger and energy into stopping Psycho Pirate, and this time Black Lightning listens. he embraces the possibility of happiness and the Uni's disappear. Again Psycho Pirate disappears, and Black Lightning is sure the worst is behind them, since Metamorpho is a happy guy. But as the clouds turn into a huge, angry Metamorpho, Batman knows that the worst is yet to come.

Now in what looks like the wreck of a city, Metamorpho transforms into more and more destructive forms, destroying everything. Batman realizes that Metamorpho's bottled up rage has been fueling Psycho Pirate all along. Psycho Pirate hovers near Metamorpho's ear like the devil on his shoulder, feeding his anger: anger that he is a freak who can't go out in public, anger that part of him believes his friends are laughing at him, not with him. and Metamorpho attacks.

Batman tells the Outsiders they can't harm Metamorpho, since he would be hurt in real life too, and so they have to reason with him. Black Lightning tells him they count on him, that he has the coolest powers in the world, but Psych Pirate counters that all they're doing is using him, and Metamorpho attacks again, saved only by Batman flying them away in his jetpack. He tells Black Lightning and Katana to keep reasoning with Metamorpho while he takes care of Psycho Pirate.

While the Outsiders dodge Metamorpho, Batman attacks Psycho Pirate. Black Lightning and Katana stand under the giant Metamorpho, and it's Katana speaking that stops him. They talk to him, telling him that they're a team, friends, and that they need him, and as he calms down, Batman begins to gain the upper hand on Psycho Pirate. Finally, Metamorpho shrinks down and hugs his friends, back to his normal self.

The dream world splits apart, and Batman awakens, but finds Psycho Pirate out of his throne, standing by a switch which the villain throws, obliterating the Outsiders. In a rage, Batman begins to pound on Psycho Pirate, who is feeding on the anger of the righteous, but Batman realizes this is still a dream, and Batman centers himself, feeding Psycho Pirate happy thoughts, which he can't take, and proceeds to happily knock out the villain.

With the Psycho Pirate finally defeated, Batman and the Outsiders stand over the defeated Psycho Pirate. As Batman walks off to call the authorities, the Outsiders wonder what are Batman's happiest thoughts.



Who's Who

Black Lightning (Voiced by Bumper Robinson)

First Comic Book Appearance:  Black Lightning #1 (April, 1977)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Six- Enter the Outsiders!

Katana (Voiced by Vyvan Pham)

First Comic Book Appearance:  The Brave and the Bold #200 (July, 1983)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Six- Enter the Outsiders!

Metamorpho (Voiced by Scott Menville)
First Comic Book Appearance:  The Brave and the Bold #57 (January, 1965)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Six- Enter the Outsiders!

Psycho Pirate (Voiced by Armin Shimmerman)

First Comic Book Appearance:  Showcase #56 (May-June 1965)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Four: Inside the Outsiders!

The Psycho Pirate who appears in Brave and the Bold is the second character to use that name in the comics, Roger Hayden. He was a villain of Earth-2, the Justice Society's Earth, who received the Medusa Mask, a relic that allowed him to manipulate emotions, from the original Psycho Pirate. Psycho Pirate would be a thorn in the side of various members of the Justice Society, but would reach new prominence during DC's legendary crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, where he would become an accomplice and agent of the Anti-Monitor. He would survive the Crisis, and would be the only person with a full memory of the existence of the Pre-Crisis multiverse, knowledge which drove him mad. He would appear very sporadically over the course of the next twenty years, most notably in Grant Morrison's Animal Man, before he was recruited by Alexander Luthor during Infinite Crisis, where he was killed by Black Adam. Psycho Pirate has recently reappeared in the Rebirth era Battman series, as a part of Task Force X, and is the mcguffin of the new arc of that series, which begins today. While Psycho Pirate has no innate abilities, the Medusa Mask which he possesses allows him to force emotional states on others and to enhance emotions they already feel.

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


Catwoman (Voiced by Nike Futterman)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Batman #1 (Spring, 1940)
First Full  Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Four: Inside the Outsiders!

Selina Kyle is Batman's most persistent female foe. Her origins have changed and morphed over her more than seventy-five years of existence, but it always comes around to her being the world's best cat burglar and a lover of all things feline. In some versions she is abused wife, in others a prostitute, and other times simply a runaway kid. She and Batman spar, each often trying to win the other over to their side of the law, and in recent years, she has been as often an anti-hero as she has been a villain. She is probably Batman's greatest love interest (at least in my opinion), and in more than one universe in the multiverse or adaptation of Batman in other media, it is Catwoman who Batman winds up with. She is one of the greatest characters in comics, and one of the most visible female characters, bot defined by the male hero she is attached to, by clever, powerful, and often wickedly funny in her own right. Catwoman has no superhuman abilities, but is an expert thief, acrobat, escape artist, and hand-to-hand fighter. Her weapons of choice include a cat o'nine tails whip and claws built into her gloves.

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

So, if you're watching along on DVDs, you will notice that this is not the next episode on the DVD. There care three orders in which the last three episodes of Season One  ("Inside the Outsiders", "Menace of the Music Meister", and The Fate of Equinox") can be looked. There is the DVD order, which places this episode last in the season, the order in which they were aired which puts Music Meister before this episode, or the episode numbers, which is the order I chose, meaning this episode is next, followed by Music Meister, and and ending with the Equinox episode, which feels like a season finale.

Catwoman gets her Who's Who entry this week, despite having cameoed twice before, in Legends of the Dark Mite! and Hail the Tornado Tyrant! However, both of those were silent cameos, and this being her first full appearance, I held off spotlighting her until now.

Armin Shimmerman, who voiced Psycho Pirate this episode, and is best known to genre TV fans as Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Principal Snyder on Buffy the Vampire Slayer,  has appeared on Brave and the Bold once before, voicing Calculator in Night of the Huntress, and will appear one more time, but that's for the future.

I just want to call out a very cool visual in this episode. During the Black Lightning sequence, the whole world in in grey scale except for the people who are frustrating him, who appear in color.

The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: When OMAC Attacks!

Season One, Episode Twenty-Three: When OMAC Attacks!
Written by Stan Berkowitz
Directed by Brandon Vietti

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: A mighty battles between two fleets wages in space. The Batplane flies towards them, and Batman tells his passengers, the brother heroes Hawk and Dove to deal with the ground forces while he stops the warships so he can get both sides to the bargaining table. Batman drops them off, telling them not to fight amongst themselves, and the two jump into battle, bickering all the while. Batman stops the fleet, and contacts Hawk and Dove, who are still arguing peace vs. aggression. Later, even as the treaty is signed between the Controllers and the Warlords of Okaara, the two continue to bicker.

Episode: At the headquarters of the Global Peace Agency, the faceless members of the mysterious law enforcement organization berate Batman for not completing the mission they assigned him, finding and stopping the villainous General Kafka, quickly enough for their liking. The GPA agents explain that Kafka must be stopped before he can create a biological tranformative. The GPA tells Batman they will be assigning him a partner. A janitor, Buddy Blank, comes in, and spills water on Batman while gushing over what a big fan he is of the Dark Knight. When Batman asks about the partner, they tell him Buddy is his partner, as they contact the artificially intelligent satellite Brother Eye, which transforms Buddy into the GPA's top agent, OMAC, the One Man Army Corps, a powerful entity who has no knowledge of his life as a janitor.

Later, Batman and OMAC surveil a mountain fortress. Batman says he has something that will let them slip in, but OMAC instead has Brother Eye, who can upgrade OMAC's powers on demand, enhance his strength and he leaps to the compound, busting down the wall before smashing the tanks and beating all the soldiers unconscious. Batman offers OMAC the advice that excessive force isn't the answer to everything, which OMAC promptly ignores.

In Kafka's lab, Batman and OMAC break in to find Kafka waiting. OMAC leaps for Kafka, who blasts him, and the two run off deeper into the lab. Batman is about to follow when Equinox appears, telling Batman he is not supposed to be here, that Equinox has set this whole thing in motion as part of his plan to maintain balance. batman shoots his grapnel into the air, saying he will try to tip the scales to the side of the good guys, but the grapnel cable snaps and Equinox disappears into the shadows.

OMAC and Kafka continue to fight, and when OMAC has Kafka at his mercy, he calls on Brother Eye to give him energy powers to blast Kafka. Batman interferes to stop OMAC from killing Kafka, and the stray blast hits the vat of Kafka's experimental chemical which floods the room. Batman is able to get himself and OMAC out, but the chemical washes over Kafka. Batman and OMAC stare each other down, Batman chiding OMAC for being merciless. But from the wreckage bursts Kafka, reborn from the chemicals as the metal monster, Shrapnel.

Shrapnel fires metal projectiles at Batman and OMAC, and one hits the symbol on OMAC's chest. When Batman is able to get to OMAC, he finds that he has been transformed back into Buddy. Batman escapes with Buddy, as Shrapnel swears revenge. Back at the GPA, the agents again blame Batman for failing, but Batman warns them about Equinox, telling them he feels Equinox is probably responsible for OMAC reverting to Buddy. Batman feels the GPA is abusing Buddy, not letting him know what they're doing to him and that an OMAC with some of Buddy's heart would be a better solider.

Buddy is in his room, wishing he could get another shot at Shrapnel. Batman appears in the room's shadows startling Buddy, coming to check on him. Batman reassures Buddy that underneath it, there's a string man waiting to break out, but before they can talk more, the complex shakes. Batman assumes it's Shrapnel, and looks to find Buddy once more transformed into OMAC. In the streets outside, Shrapnel is attacking. Batman and OMAC again confront him, and OMAC again doesn't listen to Batman's ideas about being more subtle.

Before Batman can join the fight, Equinox reappears, telling Batman he warned him about interference. Equinox tells Batman he feels they are similar both trying to balance the scale, be it of justice, like Batman, or like himself in a grander sense. Batman throws a Batarang at Equinox, which he transforms into a living bat with a thought.

OMAC and Shrapnel continue to fight, only now Shrapnel has the upper hand. He tells OMAC that the GPA came to his country to stop a war, and destroyed a village in the process. It was his village, and Shrapnel survived to seek revenge on the GPA. Batman makes another attempt to stop Equinox, but a tree branch falls on him, stopping him. Equinox tells Batman that his plan is to balance the scales here, to have the city the GPA is headquartered in destroyed to balance the loss of Shrapnel's home village. Batman looks at Equinox in dawning horror as he swings off, finding that Shrapnel's path is leading towards a nuclear plant, and OMAC is not fairing well on the fight.

In the plant, OMACis continuing to take punishment, and doesn't stop all of Shrapnel's projectiles, which damage the plant's control panel, starting a meltdown. Batman rushes into the plant to try to stop the meltdown while OMAC and Shrapnel still battle. Finally, OMAC decides to listen to Batman's words, and he has Brother Eye give him full strength to shields, which stops him from being hurt when Shrapnel punches him through the building. He now knows fighting Shrapnel only makes him stronger, so he's hoping this will stop him.

Batman goes to enter the reactor to stop the meltdown to have Equinox magically appear again to stop him. The two discuss the philosophy of balance as they fight. OMAC continues, to take blow after blow from Shrapnel, and Shrapnel begins to lose his steam; OMAC has realized that Shrapnel absorbs and redirects energy, and by not fighting him, Shrapnel has nothing to fight with. OMAC uses a girder to hold Shrapnel in place, just as his own energy reserves reach zero, transforming him back to Buddy. Buddy sees the chaos at the plant and charges in.

Batman is able to get a grenade past Equinox, blowing up the security panel and gaining access to the nuclear core. Equinox warns him that the radiation will destroy him, but Batman pushes on anyway, and when Equinox tries to stop him, Buddy appears, knocking Equinox aside and letting Batman charge into the core. Batman reaches the control rods and is able to to push them into the core, stopping the meltdown, and is on the verge of death when Equinox appears and saves Batman's life, magically healing him, saying it is not his time before disappearing.

Buddy, in a radiation suit, pulls Batman from he core, and is overjoyed that he has fought a supervillain, confident he Equinox will not return. But Batman looks to the moon, sure they have not seen the end of the villain, as the moon changes to the yin yang symbol of Equinox.



Who's Who

OMAC (Voiced by Jeff Bennet)

First Comic Book Appearance:  OMAC #1 (October, 1974)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Three- When OMAC Attacks!

In the not too distant future, Buddy Blank was a nobody who was taken into the employ of the Global Peace Agency and whose identity was subsumed by the GPA's perfect soldier: OMAC. OMAC was a perfect weapon who would fight for peace, and in a world where large armies were considered too dangerous and too public, it was up to OMAC to keep the peace. OMAC's series would only last eight issues, but he would pop up in other short series and backups by the likes of Jim Starlin and John Byrne. Years later, in a non-Kirby written back-up story, Buddy Blank would take his young grandson into the Command D bunker to protect him from a coming cataclysm, and that young boy would take his name from the location when he emerged, becoming Kamandi. Buddy was rarely used within the DC Universe, but was one of the aspects of Kirby creations that appeared in Countdown to Final Crisis. OMAC's powers come from the satellite Brother Eye, and include super strength and speed, density control, and energy projection.

Brother Eye (Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
First Comic Book Appearance:  OMAC #1 (October, 1974)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Three- When OMAC Attacks!

When introduced in OMAC, Brother Eye was the sentient satellite that provided OMAC with his powers. But Brother Eye has had a larger and more sinister role in the DC Universe at large. Created by Batman to spy on metahumans, the Brother MK1 satellite developed artificial intelligence and was corrupted my Maxwell Lord, the Black King of Checkmate, in his plan to destroy all superhumans. Even after Lord's death, the satellite, dubbing itself Brother Eye, would continue his plan until it was eventually destroyed by a group of superheroes during Infinite Crisis. In the post-Flashpoint universe, Brother Eye was destined to conquer the Earth and transform it's populace into mindless cybernetic soldiers, but this timeline was prevented by a time travelling Terry McGinnis. The current fate of Brother Eye remains unknown. An artificial intelligence of vast intellect and tremendous computing power that can easily overtake most other computer systems. It also controls a vast army of OMACs, cybernetic soldiers that do its bidding.

Kafka (Voiced by Jonny Rees)

First Comic Book Appearance:  OMAC #3 (February, 1975)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Three- When OMAC Attacks!

Kafka was an Eastern European dictator and recurring nemesis of OMAC

Shrapnel (Voiced by Jonny Rees)

First Comic Book Appearance:  Doom Patrol Vol.2 #7 (April, 1988)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Three- When OMAC Attacks!

Much of Shrapnel''s background is unknown. It is know he was a man named Mark Scheffer, who was somehow transformed into the walking pile of metal shards, who went insane and decided to kill anyone who saw him. He would go on to fight the Doom Patrol, and would go on to be a member of the Secret Society and the Suicide Squad. Shrapnel has super strength, but his main power is the fact that he is made of small metal shards that he can fire to devastating effect, and that regenerate over time.

Equinox (voiced by Oded Fehr)

First comic book appearance: Justice League of America #111 (June 1974)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 14- Mystery in Space!

Hawk (Voiced by Jonny Rees) & Dove (Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Showcase #75 (June, 1968)

First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Three- When OMAC Attacks!

Hank and Don Hall were brothers who could not have been more different. Created by legendary creator Steve Ditko in the late '60s, the two were typical of different philosophies of the time: Hank was belligerent and quick to anger, while Don was passive and always seeking to talk out problems. They were granted powers by a mysterious source (later determined to be members of the cosmic entities known as the Lords of Order and Chaos). They would fight crime together, and usually combat each other verbally, due to their very different points of view on how best to deal with criminals. The two would remain partners until Don's death during Crisis on Infinite Earths, shortly after which a new Dove was called, a young woman named Dawn Granger, who is still Dove today. When danger is present, Hank and Don could call out their respective superhero names to magically change into their costumes. Hawk's powers include heightened strength and stamina; Dove's powers include a heightened senses and agility.


Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

This episode ends the unconnected trilogy of Kirby greatness. Jack Kirby the King of Comics, created OMAC towards the end of his tenure with DC Comics, the same period that gave us Kamandi, who appeared last episode, and the New Gods, who include Mr. Miracle, who was featured in last episode's teaser, and the Female Furies and Steppenwolf, who appeared two episodes ago.

There have been numerous versions of the Hawk & Dove team throughout DC Comics history. The best known are the Hank and Don Hall versions, as they are the ones that have appeared not just in Brave and the Bold but Justice League Unlimited, and the Hank Hall and Dawn Granger versions, which has been the longest lasting version, with Hank teamed up with a female Dove after the death of his brother. There was a completely unrelated version that appeared very briefly. I'm going to avoid giving the background on what happened in the '90s and early 2000s to Hawk and Dove, because they both died and Hawk became a villain for a while, but Dawn briefly teamed with her theretofore unknown sister, Holly Granger, as Hawk before Holly died and Hank was resurrected in the Blackest Night event, and they have been Hawk and Dove again since.

The Shrapnel character has two entries in this week's Who's Who section because the Brave and the Bold version is a conflation of two completely different comic book characters. It is not uncommon in media adaptations of comics for a new character gets an established super hero/villain identity, but this kind of conflation, while not unheard of, is rarer, and I like it here. Kafka isn't a physical threat for OMAC, and Shrapnel is a fairly generic thug in the comics, personality-wise, so merging them creates a fascinating new character.

The Global Peace Agency were created for the OMAC series, which didn't appear to be part of the DC Universe, Grant Morrison, master of bringing in elements from all over the history of comics, brought them into the DCU in Final Crisis, cleverly tying them in with the Question, who is similarly faceless. They would appear in the trippy and criminally under-rated Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape and Nemesis: The Imposter mini-series before disappearing after Flashpoint.

The name OMAC has a very different connotation in modern DC Comics. OMACs were mindless servants of Checkmate and Brother Eye, who had been injected with nano-bots to transform them into super strong metahuman hunters, in the mini-series The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis. These events would spawn a mini-series featuring a self aware OMAC as part of the aftermath of those crossovers. One of the New 52 series was another new OMAC, more similar to Buddy Blank in that it was a sole protagonist, in this case a young man named Kevin Kho, although this title was short lived, being one of the first to be cancelled in DC's new universe.

Although not named, the two races fighting at the beginning of this episode are the Warlords of Okaara and the Controllers. The Okaarans were known for training beings in the art of combat, including Starfire and her sister, Blackfire, while the Controllers were an offshoot of the Guardians of the Universe, who once created a competing galactic police force, the Darkstars.

This episode is the second part of the Equinox trilogy. The first episode, where Equinox appeared just in the trailer, was Mystery in Space! In this episode he appears as the secondary villain, manipulating the main events of the episode. He will appear again, as the main antagonist, in the season finale, The Fate of Equinox!

The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Last Bat on Earth!

Season One, Episode Twenty-Two: Last Bat on Earth!
Written by Steven Melching
Directed by Ben Jones

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: Batman and Mr. Miracle are chained to a roller coaster car passing through a booby trap littered roller coaster. They progressively escape from such death traps as blades, hammers, and fire, all while undoing the chains that hold them. At the last minute, before they are about to crash into a spiked wall, they break free and land on stage; this has been a charity stunt to raise money for orphans, and Miracle's wife, Big Barda, and manager, Oberon, are waiting.

Episode: In a post-apocalyptic future, a tribe of tiger men in armor march to meet a similar army of gorillas. Watching from a distance is Kamandi, the last boy on Earth, and his friend and mentor, the dog-man Dr. Canus. They are waiting for the battle to begin so they can liberate the humans who both sides keep as slaves. The battle is joined, and the tiger king, Great Caesar,  urges his son, Tuftan, friend of Kamandi, into battle. The battle is brutal, and when Tuftan is lassoed, Kamandi jumps into battle to save his friend, and the two ride off on horseback together.

The tigers win the day, driving off the gorillas, but Caesar is disappointed that his son has abandoned him. Meanwhile, at the gorilla camp, the gorilla general is berating his soldiers, when a cloaked figure appears and says the loss is the general's fault. The figure removes his cowl and reveals his identity: Gorilla Grodd.

Back in the present, Batman finds himself in the lab of Professor Nichols, a scientist working on time travel. Batman finds Nichols tied up and gagged, and when Batman removes the gag, Nichols tells him that Grodd coerced Nichols into sending him to the future. Batman asks Nichols to send him after Grodd, and after receiving a beacon that will allow him to return, Batman goes after Grodd.

Back in the future, Grodd challenges the general to a battle to determine the leader of the gorillas and bests him, taking over the gorilla army. In the tiger encampment, we see tiger warriors gathering more human slaves as Kamandi and Tuftan attack. While they distract the guards, Canus tries to free the humans, but is captured in a net as is Kamandi, but before a tiger guard can smash Kamandi with a club, a batarang disarms him and Batman appears to aid Kamandi and his friends. Batman and Kamandi begin to defeat the tigers, but are forced to surrender when the guards threaten to kill the humans, Tuftan, and Canus unless they do.

In the city of the tigers, Batman, Kamandi, Canus, and Tuftan are imprisoned. Great Caesar comes down to tell them that Tuftan will be left imprisoned and the others will be executed. Batman tries to warn Caesar of the coming on Grodd, but Caesar scoffs until he hears the war chant of the gorillas: Grodd has arrived outside the citadel with his army. Grodd has come to the future with technology, including a power gauntlet for himself and other weapons, and after Caesar insults Grodd by calling him a monkey. Grodd has his soldiers fire a sonic cannon, which has an even stronger effect on the sensitive hearing of the cats. Grodd then has a huge ape named Tiny smash the tigers' gates and the gorillas attack.

In the jail, Batman uses acid to melt through the bars and escape with Kamandi and friends. Tuftan uses his knowledge of the city to lead them through the streets, but Grodd smells Batman and sends his soldiers after him, but Batman and company slip into the sewers and escape. Batman takes Kamandi and Canus to prepare his plan to stop Grodd, while he sends Tuftan on another mission.

Batman takes Kamandi and Canus to the Batcave, which has fallen into disrepair over the centuries, and is now populated by man-bats, who attack Batman for mocking them with his costume. Batman and Kamandi fight the man-bats, and when they defeat the leader, the man-bats leave. Batmanreveaks his plan, and begins preparing technology of his own to stand against Grodd's.

Grodd and his army march out of the city, only ot be met by an army of tigers, snakes, rats and other animals, led by Tuftan. Tuftan again goads Grodd by calling him a chimp, and Grodd unleashes the sonic cannon, but as Grodd orders the charge, Batman appears with the Batplane, which fires missles that destroy the sonic cannons, helping to level the playing field.

As the armies meet, Batman, Kamandi, and Canus escape the Batplane with an ejector seat, and the plane crashes into the mountain, raining rubble down on the gorillas. As they drift to the ground, the man-bats return, swearing allegiance to Batman, and joining the battle against the gorillas, stealing their clubs from them. The armies are warring when Grodd sends Tiny into combat. Kamandi takes some rope from Batman and goes to deal with Tiny while Batman goes to deal with Grodd.

Kamandi and Tuftan are able to die Tiny's feet together, and when he falls the assembled armies easily defeat him. Grodd is caught in the flight of his gorilla army, as they flee after their strongest member and their weapons are destroyed, leaving him for Batman to retrieve. With the battle over, Great Caesar thanks Batman and Kamandi, finding that humans are more than he thought, and after congratulating his son as well, he frees the human slaves. Kamandi says goodbye to Batman, who returns to his own time with Grodd, leaving Kamandi excited at the idea of maybe visiting Batman in his time someday.




Who's Who

Kamandi (Voiced by Mikey Kelley)

First Comic Book Appearance:  Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth (October, 1972)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Seven- Dawn of the Deadman!

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!


Mr. Miracle (Voiced by Yuri Lowenthal)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Mister Miracle #1 (April, 1971)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Two- Last Bat on Earth!

One of the New Gods of New Genesis, Scott Free is the son of the leader of that world, Highfather. But as a part of the pact that brought about the cease fire between New Genesis and its opposite number, evil Apokolips, Scott was given over to Darkseid to raise as a hostage, while Darkseid's son was given to Highfather, Not surprisingly, Darkseid was not a loving father, and dumped Scott into one of his orphanages, to be raised at the not so tender mercies of Granny Goodness. But Scott never gave in, and eventually did what no one ever had: he escaped. He came to Earth, where he would take up the name of Mr. Miracle and be both a superhero and the world's greatest escape artist. He would be a member of the Justice League. He would make friends and marry Big Barda, another escapee from Apokolips. But above all else, he would be free. Mr. Miracle has many of the standard powers of a New God, including immortality and enhanced durability, but its his mind that is truly impressive. A master inventor, he builds his own traps to escape. He is the world's greatest escape artist, and emplyes otherworldly tech including the sentient computer Mother Box.

Big Barda (Voiced by Diane Delano)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Mister Miracle #4 (October, 1971)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Two- Last Bat on Earth!

Big Barda was raised by Granny Goodness to be the leader of her Female Furies, the elite female warriors trained to, "Die for Darkseid." But a meeting with a young Scott Free changed all that, and after helping him and other rebels against the despotic ruler of Apokolips, Barda fled Apokolips for Earth. There she found Scott, and the two were married. Barda would travel with her husband, and would join the Justice League, both at his side and on her own. Barda is a powerful presence with a personality equal to her huge stature, but is at heart someone who loves life as much as she loves Scott. Barda is physically powerful, even by the standards of the New Gods, exceedingly strong and nearly indestructible.

Oberon (Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Mister Miracle #1 (April, 1971)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-Two- Last Bat on Earth!

Oberon was the manager and assistant to the original Mr. Miracle, the human escape artist Thaddeus Brown, and when Scott Free came to Earth and inherited the mantle, Oberon stayed with him in those capacities, but also as friend and mentor here on Earth. Oberon is most often seen with Scott, although he did spend some time with Maxwell Lord as his assistant when Lord was leading the Justice League, but returned to working with Scott when that incarnation of the League folded. Oberon is a normal human, although he has an excellent knowledge of business and escapology.

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

The creations of Jack Kirby, the King of Comics, feature heavily in this episode. Both Mr. Miracle and his supporting cast, and the world of Kamandi are Kirby creations. Last episode also featured Kirby creations, in that case Steppenwolf and members of the Female Furies. And next episode also guest stars Kirby creations, but we'll get to that next week,

Professor Nichols, the scientist who sends Batman and Grodd into the future, was a Silver Age character, who would appear in those stories to use "time travel hypnosis" to send Batman and Robin through time. Grant Morrison would revisit the character, as he did with many Silver Age concepts, during his extended run on the Batman titles.

Tiny has some King Kong-inspired moments in this episode, and it would be easy to assume a giant ape is just a generic concept. But Tiny is a character right out of the Kamandi comics, specifically issue seven of Kamandi's original series. There he could talk, though, so that version has some advantages.

Yuri Lowenthal makes his Brave and the Bold debut in this episode, voicing Mr. Miracle, but as another voice actor with a long list of credits, this is far from his only DC animated credit. He voiced Lagoon Boy and Icicle Jr. in Young Justice, and has voiced Red Robin in the direct to video Batman Unlimited features.

The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Duel of the Double Crossers!

Season One, Episode Twenty-One: Duel of the Double Crossers!
Written by Todd Casey
Directed by Michael Chang

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: Despero stands on a rooftop, preparing to throw a giant globe down on to bystanders. Batman communicates to the Outsiders(Black Lightning, Katana, and Metamorpho) telling them what to do to stop the villain. The Outsiders, though, are doing things their own way, which mostly involves lots of property damage and not much stopping of Despero. Only when they listen to Batman, working as a team, do they stop the alien conqueror, although the damage to the city is severe. It turns out it was all a simulation, and Batman tells them they'll keep doing it until they get it right, restarting the simulation.

Episode: In front of a large sunset, the bounty hunter Jonah Hex rides, heading towards a saloon. Only when we get inside, and see the saloon is full of aliens and not old west ne'er do wells, do we realize Hex is not in his native time or world. Hex sits down at a card table with an alien named Arges, and proceeds to attempt to take him, but Arges blasts him with an eye beam. Hex, with some help from his robot horse, captures Arges, and is teleported away to Warworld.

Upon arriving on Warworld, Hex confronts its master, Mongul, who welcomes Hex back, pleased with his new captive. Hex is less pleased, and demands Mongul send him back to his own time. Mongul says he will, but only if Hex delivers one more bounty to him, a warrior who will stand up too his sisters gladiators: Batman.

On Earth, Batman easily takes out the villain Zebra Man just before Hex arrives. Batman knows about Warworld, and knows why Hex is there, and the two men prepare to face off. Batman throws a Batarang, which Hex shoots out of the air, and the two face off, but Hex is able to lasso Batman.

On Warworld, Batman is led away by Mongul's guards, and Hex again tells Mongul to send him home. Mongul again refuses, saying that Hex is too valuable, and when Hex threatens to shoot Mongul, the alien warlord reminds Hex that killing him will leave Hex stranded in the present forever. Hex contemplates doing it anyway, but they are interrupted by Mongal, Mongul's sister and competitor, along with two of her guards, Lashina and Stompa, members of the Female Furies. Hex decides to stand down rather than fight the Furies, flirting briefly with Lashina, and threatens Mongul that he will help in Mongul's fall. Mongal scoffs at the idea that Batman could beat her champion, Steppenwolf, but Mongul seems more confident in the Dark Knight.

In the arena, we see Batman led out into the center, along with Arges, a Gordanian, and another alien. Mongul pronounces this to be Battle Arena Warworld, a combat entertainment with no rules and with only one victor. Batman tries to convince the others to work together against Steppenwolf, and they refuse, as the Apokoliptan general, Steppenwolf appears. Steppenwolf attacks, starting to easily take out his foes. Flash away from the arena to an irritated Hex, who shoots the screen showing the battle, as Mongal approaches him. She offers to send Hex home simply to screw with Mongul, and gives him a map to the time machine and the deliverance to send him home. He tips his hat and heads off.

Back in the arena, Steppenwolf has made short work of most of his opponents, leaving only Batman and Arges. Batman gets Arges to agree to help him, only for Arges to use Batman's distraction to escape. Batman now stands seemingly alone against Steppenwolf, but Hex arrives on robot horseback. Hex joins in the fight, and although he shoots his way through Steppenwolf's shield and disarms him of his axe, he is downed. Batman, adding techno-brass knuckles to his fists (which he refers to yet again as the Hammers of Justice), engages Steppenwolf in a fist fight. They trade blows, but Batman's superior fighting skills win the day, leaving Steppenwolf defeated. Hex rises, and the two head off.

Hex leads Batman to free the prisoners of Warworld before he heads home, They are confronted by Mongal and her Furies, and Batman and Hex engage the Furies in combat, Lashina calling Hex out. Batman and Stompa fight, but Hex and Lashina are continuing to flirt as they fight hand-to-hand. Eventually, the Furies are defeated, but that leaves them with Mongal. Hex is able to lasso her and tie her to Hex's robot horse before heading off again. Mongul sees his sister and laughs, but she tells him where Batman and Hex are going as she is dragged away.

At the cells, Batman and Hex arrive. The prisoners are overjoyed to see Batman, but angered by Hex. Hex tells them he's going to spring them and then head to settle his score with Mongul as Mongul teleports in. Mongul is able to sucker punch the heroes, but even after he no longer has the element of surprise, he still has the upper hand. Batman prepares to free the prisoners to join the battle against Mongul, but is told is he does he will destroy the time tunnel platform as well, stranding Hex. Hex agrees to it, knowing the consequences, and with the cells open, the gathered alien warriors attack Mongul and Mongal, who has conveniently ust been dropped off the the robo horse.

With the battle done, Hex prepares to send Batman home. Batman offers to have Hex come with him, and see if Batman can find another way to return Hex to his own time. Hex decides to stay behind, though, and see what's to do. Batman returns home, and Hex finds Lashina waiting by his horse, and the two ride off together.


Who's Who

Jonah Hex (Voiced by Phil Morris)

First Comic Book Appearance: All-Star Western #10 (February-March, 1972)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Eleven- Return of the Fearsome Fangs!

Mongul (Voiced by Gary Anthony Williams)
First Comic Book Appearance:  DC Comics Presents #27 (November, 1980)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-One- Duel of the Double Crossers!

Mongul is one of the great galactic conqueror villains of the DC Universe. While his origins have changed substantially depending on which timeline in the DC Universe you are following, his story is always tied to that of Warworld, a mobile planetoid battlestation, and the Black Mercy, the plant that attaches itself to a host and gives them a fantasy of their greatest desire. Mongul's best known origin has him as master of Warworld when Superman, travelling the galaxy, finds himself on the planet and forced into the arena to fight. Superman eventually defeated him, leaving him no fallen in the eyes of the citizens of Warworld. Mongul would go on to serve as a lackey to the villainous Cyborg Superman, and took part on the destruction of Coast City, Green Lantern's home town. The original Mongul would go on to be killed and replaced by his son, also named Mongul, who looked identitcal to his father, but more on that below in the notes. Mongul II would continue to be a nemesis of Superman and various Green Lanterns, and would briefly go on to lead the Sinestro Corps. Mongul has most of the traditional big galaxy conquering bad powers, like super strength, invulnerability, and the ability to fire energy.

Mongal (Voiced by Gary Anthony Williams)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Superman Vol.2 #170 (July, 2001)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-One- Duel of the Double Crossers!

Mongal was the sister of Mongul II, and worked with her brother on various occasions. She eventually became ruler of the planet Almerac, but eventually went back to work with her brother, who in a fit of pique, murdered her because family was a weakness. She had powers identical to those of her brother.

Lashina (Voiced by Nika Futterman)
First Comic Book Appearance:  Mister Miracle #6 (January, 1972)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-One- Duel of the Double Crossers!

Stompa
First Comic Book Appearance:  Mister Miracle #6 (January, 1972)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-One- Duel of the Double Crossers!

The Female Furies are members of the elite guard of Apokolips, the world of the evil gods ruled by Darkseid. Selected by Granny Goodness, the master of Darkseid's orphanage, for their ruthlessness and power, the Furies include Bernadeth, sister of Desaad, Lashina, of the metal whips, the superstrong Stompa, and the claw wielding Mad Harriet, among many others. Lashina is probably the most developed Fury, storywise as she became a member of the Suicide Squad under the pseudonym "Duchess" for some time.

Steppenwolf (Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)
First Comic Book Appearance:  New Gods #7 (February, 1972)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-One- Duel of the Double Crossers!

Uncle to Darkseid, Steppenwolf is one of the generals of Apokolips and its master's chief military adviser. He was one of the members of Darkseid's retinue when Darkseid personally attacked New Genesis, home of the New Gods, and slew the wife of Highfather. He has been one of the evil gods most prominently appearing since the new post-Flashpoint continuity, as one of the chief antagonists on Earth 2, and has appeared in other New Gods related stories. Steppenwolf will also be one of, if not the main, antagonists in DC's upcoming Justice League film. Steppenwolf has all the base powers of a New God, meaning he is immortal and has physical strength, stamina, and durability far beyond those of a mortal. He is also a master hunter, hand-to-hand combatant, weaponsmaster, and military tactician.

Zebra-Man
First Comic Book Appearance:  Detective Comics #275 (January, 1960)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty-One- Duel of the Double Crossers!

The original Zebra-Man was a one off villain who appeared in one issue of Detective Comics, and is a classic Silver Age science villain, whose own science experiment backfired on him, giving him powers, in his case based on magnetism. Various other Zebra-Mans have appeared over the years, but they are all at best D-list villains who mostly appear in the background as parts of supervillain crowds.

Black Lightning (Voiced by Bumper Robinson)

First Comic Book Appearance:  Black Lightning #1 (April, 1977)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Six- Enter the Outsiders!

Katana (Voiced by Vyvan Pham)

First Comic Book Appearance:  The Brave and the Bold #200 (July, 1983)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Six- Enter the Outsiders!

Metamorpho (Voiced by Scott Menville)
First Comic Book Appearance:  The Brave and the Bold #57 (January, 1965)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Six- Enter the Outsiders!


Despero (Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)
First Comic Book Appearance: Justice League of America #1 (October, 1960)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Ten- The Eyes of Despero!

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

While Jonah Hex is best known for his gritty or occult themed adventures in the Old West, time travel isn't completely unheard of for Hex. Not onyl did the last arc of his most recent series, All-Star Western, have Hex come to the present DC Universe, but his first post-Crisis series, simply called Hex, have Jonah in a Mad Max-esque dystopian future. And in his Justice League Unlimited appearance in "The Once and Future Thing," where he encounters a time travelling Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman, he identifies them as time travelers, and when Batman asks him what makes him think that, he simply replies, "I've had an interesting life."

The origins I gave for Mongul and Mongal above gloss over the somewhat strange connection between the two characters. The original Mongul died during the DC crossover event, Underworld Unleashed, in a way that was clearly set up to show what a threat the big bad of that series, Neron, was. And he stayed dead. When Mongul II appeared, it was convenient that he had the same name and an identical appearance to his father, to the point that the fact that he is technically the son of the original character stopped being mentioned, as if there had always been one Mongul. This is reminiscent to me of the season fifteen episode of The Simpsons, "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot," where the Simpson cat, Snowball II, dies, and after many attempts to get a new cat, they find an identical one and keep the name, which is played for comic effect. I feel Brave and the Bold made the right decision in simply avoiding that whole mess and combining the two characters into one.

Two of The Brave and the Bold regulars return this episode, with Kevin Michael Richardson, who previously voiced Black Manta and Despero, voicing Steppenwolf, and James Arnold Taylor, who voices Green Arrow, voicing one-off character Arges.

While I list this episode as Zebra-Man's first appearance, he did technically appear before in the dream sequence in episode nineteen, "Legend of the Dark Mite!"

The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Hail the Tornado Tyrant!

Season One, Episode Twenty: Hail the Tornado Tyrant!
Written by J.M. DeMatteis
Directed by Brandon Vietti

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: Batman, driving the Batmobile,  gives chase to Joker in his Joker Mobile. Green Arrow catches up in his Arrowmobile, and the two heroes usual competetive streak comes out as they both try to catch the arch-criminal and see who has the cooler car. With Joker taken care of, they see Catwoman esacpe Gotham museum in her Catplane, and the two cars transform into planes as they give chase, still bantering.

Episode: Batman arrives at a laboratory, and finds a body under a sheet, only to be surprised by Red Tornado. Removing the sheet, Tornado reveals another robot. Tornado tells Batman he is about to activate the other robot, and Batman takes it to mean he wants to share the moment with a friend. Tornado says he has created an imporved version of himself, and Batman wonders about the creation of life, and what might go wrong. Tornado says he has installed a fail-safe of "my son" goes wrong, and Batman is shocked at the choice of words.

A blast of energy permeates the smaller robot, and Tornado Champion stands up, but does not seem to demonstrate the emotions that Tornado's improvements, the things he does not have, should have bestowed on him. Tornado wants to work together and fight crime to see if that might stir Champion, and finds that the villain Major Disaster is nearby.

Major Disaster is threatening the city with a hurricane as the heroes arrive. As they fight near a rollercoaster, Champion is able to direct Disaster's lightning back at him so batman can punch him out. But as the heroes are distracted after the fight, the still not entirely unconscious Disaster is able to blast Champion. Tornado holds his son, who seems fatally damaged, but a flash of light explodes from his face, and suddenly the previously emotionless Champion, smiles and calls Tornado, "Father!"

Back at the lab, Tornado analyzes Champion, and the younger robot is excited and filled with emotions. Batman looks on, seemingly doubtful. The two robots travel the world, stopping disasters and criminals talking about life and the meaning of it and emotions, all while Batman watches from the distance. Champion seems impatient and a little doubtful about some of Tornado's philosophical answers.

At a fire, Champion saves two children, but they are afraid of him and the crowd turns on him, calling him a robot, though Champion views himself as a person. He and Tornado fly off, and they talk about emotions, and Champion's not understanding why he is not accepted. When Tornado tells Champion he will be accepted someday, he scoffs and flies off, leaving Tornado alone. Batman approaches him, and Tornado reveals he knows Batman has been watching him, but remains sure that Champion is doing fine. Tornado detects Major Disaster attempting to escape jail, and the heroes head off to stop him.

Batman and Tornado confront Disaster in the prison yard, and while Disaster has the upper hand, Champion's arrival turns the tide. But this time it' Tornado who is wounded, and Champion turns on Disaster seeking revenge, beating Disaster with whirlwinds. Batman stops Champion from delivering a deathblow, and the two argue about the morality of revenge, before he strike Batman. Tornado steps in the way, and tells Champion to stop, but Champion says humans are evil and a disease. Batman is able to strike Champion with a Batarang, shutting him down.

Batman and Tornado are back in the lab, Tornado wanting to save his son, Batman telling him that Champion is too dangerous and must be shut off using the fail-safe. Despite Champion's pleas, Tornado decides the fail-safe is the logical solution, and Champion shuts down. The two heroes walk away from the still robot, only for his eyes to glow green as they exit, revealing he removed the fail-safe. He uses Tornado's equipment to upgrade himself, redesigning himself into the more sinister Tornado Tyrant.

On the beach at Coast City, where the boardwalk Major Disaster initially attacked rests, a tidal wave blasts ashore, devastating the area. Two survivors see Tyrant, who follows his handiwork, and says he plans to wipe humanity from the globe. Batman and Tornado head toward Tyrant, preparing to do what must be done to stop him. They confront Tyrant with a device Tornado is sure will scramble Tyrant's programming, but Tyrant puts up a considerable fight, knocking Batman and the scrambler away.

Tornado and his son face each other is a duel of the winds, but Tyrant proves stronger. Tornado begs his son to stop, saying humans deserve better, but Tyrant will hear none of it, and savagely attacks Tornado, crushing him between two cars. Tornado again tries to reason with Tyrant, telling him of humanity's good side, their quest to connect and love, but Tyrant is unmoved.

As Tyrant is about to destroy his father, Batman is able to snag Tyrant with a grapnel, pull himself up to the robot, and plant the scrambler in Tyrant's head. Tornado uses the opportunity to charge Tyrant, plants his hands inside the other robot, and use his wind powers to destroy the rogue robot, although he averts his eyes, unable to see what he's doing to his son. Tornado collapses to his knees as Batman walks up to him.

One final time at the lab, Tornado mourns his attempts to create a son, saying he should never have done it and he does not understand human emotion. Batman assures him, having heard what Tornado said about human life and love, that Tornado may have found his own humanity. Tornado says that he just parroted what he has seen and read, and has no insight into it, and uses his machines to destroy what is left of Tyrant's parts. He assures Batman he is ok, and as he stands alone, a single tear falls from his eye. Tornado observes it and says he must run a diagnostic, not knowing that it is a most human act.

Who's Who

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!

Major Disaster (Voiced by James Arnold Taylor)
First Comic Book Appearance: Green Lantern #43 (March, 1966)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Twenty: Hail the Tornado Tyrant!

Paul Booker has an origin that is similar to those of a lot of Silver Age villains. He was a petty crook who got his hands on advanced technology and decided to use it to become a super criminal. Starting out as a Green Lantern foe (Part of his origin story had him discovering Hal Jordan's secret identity), he would go on to fight Superman, John Stewart, and the Outsiders before becoming a member of the comical Injustice League during the Giffen/DeMatteis era, which reformed and became the Justice League Antarctica. After briefly returning to villainy (and getting his powers made a part of him by the demon Neron), Booker reformed thanks to the faith of Superman, he was recruited by Batman as a member of the substitute Justice League when the main team went missing. When the Justice League returned, he became a member of the Justice League Elite, a covert ops League. He would eventually be killed during the Infinite Crisis crossover, and has yet to appear in DC's new timeline. Major Disaster's power allowed him to create natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes. After his deal with Neron, his power became one that effected causality, making bad fortune happen to people from still large events to smaller ones like tripping and falling.

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!

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

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

Comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis returns for his third episode as writer. It's cool that DeMatteis focuses on a different hero in each of these episodes, as opposed to tracking one hero. His first episode was a Green Arrow one, followed by a Green Lantern one, and now Red Tornado in his third.

The origins of Red Tornado from before the DC Comics defining event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, is as complex and knotty as those of Hawkman after the Crisis, but suffice it to say, he used both the identities of Tornado Champion and Tornado Tyrant at different points in his existence. I do my best to sum up this kind of thing here, but it's all so messy that I just have to refer you to Wikipedia to try to read it all. It's... really something.

Tornado Champion's initial design, with the purple cape and briefs, is actually one of Red Tornado's earlier designs before creators settled on his current, more well known, one.

Carl Lumbly, who voices Tornado Champion/Tyrant, is best known in DC Animation circles as the voice of J'onn J'onzz,the Martian Manhunter, on Justice League & Justice League Unlimited.

The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Legends of the Dark Mite!

Season One, Episode Nineteen: Legends of the Dark Mite!
Written by Paul Dini
Directed by Ben Jones

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: Catman is holding an auction for an endangered tiger when batmn interrupts the auction. He fights off the various people bidding on the tiger, and when Catman frees the jungle cat to attack him, Batman whistles for the aid of Ace the Bat Hound, who defeats tiger, sending it scurrying away, before running Catman up a tree and getting a Bat shaped dog treat.

Episode: A bomb goes off in a Gotham bank, as two mobsters go in to steal the money, only to see Batman's silhouette pop up in the door along with strange narration. The thugs immediately surrender, only to have the narrator sound his disappointment and order the mobsters to attack, and they seemingly do against their volition. They surrender quickly again, when suddenly more thugs appear, now all armed with tommy guns. Batman avoids them, and then they turn into ninjas, attacking again.

Batman demands the narrator show himself, and Batman is quickly teleported outside as Bat-Mite, an imp from the fifth dimension wearing a Batman inspired costume appears, declaring himself Batman's number one fan. Batman tries to swing away on his grapnel, only to find Bat-Mite following him. Bat-Mite explains his powers and purpose: to make Batman the greatest hero ever. He starts by changing his costume (into various ones recognizable from the characters history).

When Batman shakes this off and tells Bat- Mite he does this to fight villains too dangerous for police, Bat-Mite decides to summon the greatest villain of all for Batman to fight so the world can see how great Batman is. Batman dodges various heavy hitter before tricking Bat-Mite into summoning Calendar Man, Batman tells him to "take a dive," and he falls over. Batman tells Bat-Mite he won and Bat-Mite should go home.

But Bat-Mite isn't satisfied and turns Calendar Man into Calendar King, whi can summon holiday icons to aid him. He summons jack o'lantern men, biker Santas, and buff Uncle Sams to fight Batman, and while they are tougher than the mobsters and ninjas were, Batman defeats them, only to have giant mutant Easter bunnies attack him.

Bat-Mite wonders if this is too over the top and freezes things, heading to the Fifth Dimension's comic con to hear what the Batman fanboys have to say about it. On stage are animated versions of the crew of Brave and the Bold, and when a fan says that this version of Batman isn't the grim urban avenger and is, "not my Batman," they reply with a wonderful speech about the history of Batman and how this is a valid version. Appeased, Bat-Mite starts the fight again, before Batman knocks out the bunnies with a gas grenade and Batman decks Calendar King.

As Bat-Mite prepares to summon another villain, Batman convinces him to depart so he can fight real crime (and bribes him with a signed Batarang). Bat-Mite disappears, and Batman reappears in the bank vault with the mobsters from the beginning of the episode, who he makes short work of before returning to the Batcave.

Dropping down into the chair in front of the Batcomputer, Batman begins to talk about his night to Ace, commenting on the "weird little creep" he spent the night dealing with only to see a second Ace walking up to him. The first Ace, Bat-Mite in disguise, furiously teleports Batman to an alien world, where fling saucers and monsters attempt to kill him. A giant Bat-Mite tells Batman that the Dark Knight will be his toy, and he'll play with him until he breaks.

Batman figts his way through the aliens and monsters, stealing a flying saucer and using it for his benefit, untilhe realizes what's going on and Batman calls Bat-Mite's bluff, not fighting anymore, letting the monsters come... but none deliver a killing blow. Batman says he'd rather let himself be destroyed then be the imp's plaything, and then goads Bat-Mite into using his powers to turn himself into Batman.

Bat-Mite, his tiny head on an over-muscled Bat-body, is now in Gotham, with Batman narrating. Bat-Mite heads to the science museum to stop Gorilla Grodd, but is knocked down by Grodd who runs off with a device he stole. Batman tells Bat-Mite he needs to out-think Grodd, and Bat-Mite uses a banana to trip up the great ape, but the device explodes, sending Bat-Mite tumbling into an abyss of darkness, where many of Batman's foes are waiting.

They dogpile on him, and Bat-Mite runs away in fear. Batman appears, telling him to confront his foes and out-think them, but Bat-Mite says his imagination is running away with him and he continues to flee, only to have Kite-Man grab him and drop him from a height. He runs through traps laid out by Polka Dot Man, portals that summon villains, is frozen by Mr. Zero and smashed by the Tweedles, and is trapped by the Riddler.

Bat-Mite calls for Batman's help, who drops down and uses a combination of brains and brawn to begin defeating the villains. Inspired, Bat-Mite breaks out of his cage and defeats the last few. He zaps himself and Batman out of the hallucinatory world he created, feeling sorry for himself, but Batman tells him he should be proud of himself and his powers, and not blindly follow someone else. Bat-Mite thanks Batman, and returns him to the Batcave, where he tests to make sure Ace is really Ace before relaxing.

At a jewelry store, the villainous Copperhead is stealing handfuls of jewels before being knocked out by a boxing glove arrow. Green Arrow steps unto the light, only to hear a voice and turn around to see Bat-Mite, hovering in a Green Arrow costume, telling the archer that he's his number one fan. We fade to black and then pop back up as Bat-Mite breaks through a drum and delivers the classic Warner Bros. sign off, "That's all, folks," ala Porky Pig.

Who's Who

Bat-Mite (Voiced by Paul Reubens)
First Comic Book Appearance: Detective Comics #267 (May, 1959)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Nineteen- Legends of the Dark Mite!

Bat-Mite's origins and motivations are pretty much straight our of this episode: fifth dimensional Batman super-fan. He was introduced in the sci-fi heavy era of Batman stories from the late 50s and early 60s, and would often appear as a nuisance in Batman stories. While he disappeared, he never fully went away, appearing in occasional stories throughout the years, resurrected in Legends of the Dark Knight stories, in Grant Morrison's run on Batman, and in places like Brave and the Bold. If you want to learn more about Bat-Mite, you can check out the post I wrote before his recent mini-series.

Ace the Bat Hound (Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
First Comic Book Appearance: Batman #92 (June, 1955)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Nineteen- Legends of the Dark Mite!

Batman's trusty dog, Ace the Bat Hound, has appeared in many different incarnations over the hiostory of Batman. Originally appearing in the '50s, Ace was a German Shepherd who Batman and Robin encountered on a case and took in. He would help them on cases, and would even wear a mask and a cape. Ace would appear throughout the 50s and early 60s, and disappear around the time Julie Schwartz took over editing the Bat titles in the mid-60s; this is the version that inspired the Brave and the Bold take on the character. A new, post-Crisis Ace was introduced in the 90s, a puggle who Batman took in after his owner passed away. This Ace rarely joined in cases and never wore the mask and cape. He also disappeared, this time after "No Man's Land." Currently, Batman has a dog in the comics, one he bought for his son, Damian, a Great Dane named Titus. A version of Ace also appeared in Batman Beyond, who was also a Great Dane, and served as the elder Bruce Wayne's guard dog. The traditional Ace was resurrected as one of the regular supporting castmembers/guest stars in the Krypto the Superdog animated series, where he wore the mask and cape and acted like a canine version of his famous owner, serious, intelligent, and stern.

Catman (Voiced by Thomas F. Wilson)
First Comic Book Appearance: Detective Comics #311 (January, 1963)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Nineteen- Legends of the Dark Mite!

Thomas Blake was a big game hunter who had grown bored with hunting, and decided instead to take up crime to pay off his gambling debts Fashioning a costume from the cloth that had wrapped an ancient idol that was said to grant the nine lives of a cat, Blake became the criminal known as Catman. A minor Batman foe at best, Blake would be defeated regularly by Batman, as well as other heroes and his sometime rival, Catwoman. Blake would eventually retire and become the lowest of the low in the supervillain world. But hitting rock bottom made Blake look up again, and he would return to Africa, train again, and become a decidedly more deadly threat. Recruited as a member of the Secret Six, Catman was now a force to be reckoned with, a deadly hand to hand combatant and tracker. In the New 52 continuity, Blake is again a member of the Secret Six, although much of his backstory as a nemesis of Batman has been erased, with him simply being a mercenary and hunter.

Calendar Man (Voiced by Jim Piddock)
First Comic Book Appearance: Detective Comics #259 (September, 1958)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Nineteen- Legends of the Dark Mite!

Julian Day was a man obsessed with holidays and calendars, and like many villains of the 50s and 60s, used his obsession to create a criminal persona. Calendar Man would commit crimes centered on and around holidays. He would probably have faded into obscurity with the likes of Kite Man if not for the redesign by Tim Sale for his and Jeph Loeb's seminal Batman: The Long Halloween, where he became a far more frightening foe.

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!

Copperhead
First Comic Book Appearance: Brave and the Bold #78 (June, 1968)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Nineteen- Legends of the Dark Mite!

Copperhead was a thief and killer who wore a snake costume and would use it to commit murders and other crimes. His real identity was never revealed. He was a master contortionist with or without his costume, but the costume allowed for greater abilities to pass through tight spaces and to deliver poison through the fangs.

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

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

The title of this episode is shared with Batman:Legends of the Dark Knight #38, a story by Alan Grant and Kevin O'Neill, that resurrected Bat-MIte in Post-Crisis continuity,

This episode is the Brave and the Bold debut of writer Paul Dini, one of the best Batman writers of the past twenty years. starting out on Batman: The Animated Series, before doing long runs on Detective Comics and Batman: Streets of Gotham. He might be best known as the creator of Harley Quinn, and he and B:TAS producer and artist Bruce Timm won an Eisner award for their one-shit Batman: Mad Love, Harley's origin. He recently released a graphic memoir through Vertigo, Dark Night: A True Batman Story, and appeared on last week's Nerdist Podcast, which is well worth a listen.

Batman's line, "A friend of mine in Metropolis told me about menaces like you,"is of course a reference to Superman and his own Fifth Dimensional enemy, Mr. Mxyzptlk.

The costume transformations Bat-Mite puts Batman through include:Vampire Batman from the Batman/Dracula Red Rain trilogy, Bat-Hombre from Batman #56, Adam West's Batman from the classic TV series, the costume from Joel Scumacher's Batman and Robin, Zebra Batman from Detective Comics #275, and Frank Miller's Batman from The Dark Knight Returns.

Before Bat-Mite summons Calendar Man, he summons three other villains: returning foes Solomon Grundy and Gorilla Grodd, and first timer Shaggy Man.

At the comic convention scene, the Brave and the Bold cast and crew on stage include Diedrich Bader, Michael Chang, Michael Jelenic, Ben Jones, Sam Register, Andrea Romano, James Tucker, and Brandon Vietti. In the audience, while most fans are dressed as Batman, two are dressed as Joker and Harley Quinn. Thes two are Bruce Timm (Joker) and Paul Dini (Harley).

As Bat-Mite takes on Batman's identity and enters Gotham, the city has red skies and as bat-Mite lands on a building top and is silhouetted before being brought into the light by lightning, which is a direct lift from the opening of Batman:The Animated Series.

The shot and sequence as Bat-Mite confronts the mob of villains is an homage to "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery," a classic Daffy Duck short where he takes on the roll of Duck Twacy, a Dick Tracy parody. This sequence includes many of Batman's most famous (and infamous) villains, many amking their first Brave and the Bold appearance, and includes the Penguin Catwoman, Killer Moth, Kite-Man, Riddler, Polka-Dot Man, Tiger Shark, Zebra Man, Joker, Catman, Mr. Zero (Mr. Freeze), and Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. Later in the sequence, the Mad Hatter appears as well.

Bat-Mite's flight from the villains featured two very clear callbacks to two classic Batman covers, one is"The House that Joker Built," from Detective Comics #365, and the Riddler's first appearance cover in Detective Comics #140.