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: Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Season One, Episode Nine: Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Written by Matt Wayne

Directed by Michael Chang

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: DC’s two stretchiest heroes, Plastic Man and the Elongated Man, foil a bank robbery by Babyface and his gang. EM expresses jealousy over PM’s popularity and the hang time he gets with Batman while proclaiming himself the nobler rubber-limbed do-gooder (Plastic Man is a reformed villain, after all). The two get themselves tangled in a trap, at which point Bats shows up and delivers the knockout blow to Babyface, closing with the line “Truth be told, between the two of you, I prefer to work alone.”

Episode: Professor Ryan Choi, the Atom, is in the middle of a delicate experiment when he receives a call from Aquaman, who appears to want to shoot the breeze, only to reveal as an afterthought that Batman has fallen ill after a battle with Chemo, a giant green toxic-waste monster currently attacking the country of Bialya.

To combat the microorganisms ravaging Batman’s system, the Atom volunteers to go inside the Caped Crusader. And Aquaman asks to come with, which Batman agrees to either because he genuinely thinks Atom could use the extra muscle or because he’d rather be rid of both of them for a while. It’s obvious from jump we’re set up for an Odd Couple-style buddy comedy between the two guest heroes. Atom is an easily frustrated man of science, while Aquaman charges ahead, laughs in the face of everything and is generally awesome.

Meanwhile, a sickened Batman, his body growing all manner of warts and losing motor control, continues taking the fight to Chemo alongside the Navy, to little avail.

Inside the Dark Knight, our other two heroes are experiencing difficulties both repelling the invading nasties and working with each other.

“The problem with you, Atom, is that you think when you should feel,” Aquaman says as he slices apart the invading microbes with his waterborne weaponry, only for them to multiply.

Atom then fries the enemy an electromagnetic shock, which does not result in their mitosis.

“See? Thinking’s not so tough. Maybe you should try it some time,” he says before they are surrounded and outnumbered.

Amid the ensuing battle, Aquaman befriends a white blood cell he names platelet (despite, as Atom rightly points out, the fact that it is not a platelet) and rides as if it were one of his seahorses.

Outside Batman, it is revealed that Chemo was after a nuclear missile and was being controlled by the Brain, a villain that is, in fact, a brain with a French accent attached to a computer on wheels. As the Brain makes plain his threat to Bialya, Chemo eats the nuke, and Batman ejects from his submarine and into the mouth of the beast.

And as Batman ventures inside Chemo, Aquaman and Atom journey further into Batman aboard Platelet to the Dark Knight’s brain, where the mutating nanonasties have established their base camp.

Inside Chemo, Batman fries the nuclear missile and throws some bombs to discorporate the monster. He then locates the Brain’s submarine. He attacks the villain, but in his weakened state falls over, knocking the Brain down with him.

Meanwhile, as they watch the bugs lay waste to Batman’s brain, Atom sees every possible course of action as having unacceptable consequences. Aquaman, on the other hand, sees this as the time to charge headlong toward Bats’ brain.

“At least I’ll have one heckuva story,” he reasons. And we all know how Aquaman loves his stories. As the king of Atlantis attacks, the microorganisms claim Platelet, sending Atom into a long-overdue rage full of punches and screaming.

“What about the plan?” Aquaman asks.

“Blah blah blah! Let’s punch ‘em!” he retorts.

Atom uses his weapon on the seed cell, healing Batman in time to defeat the Brain. Now, it’s just a matter of getting the Dark Knight to cry so they can escape out his tear duct.

“But surely Batman never cries!” Aquman muses. Fade to black.

Number of times someone yells “Outrageous!”: Aquaman 2, Atom 1.

Who's Who

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!

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!

Elongated Man (voiced by Sean Donnellan)

First comic book appearance: The Flash vol. 1 #112 (May 1960)

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

Co-created by John Broome and legendary Flash artist Carmine Infantino, Ralph Dibny is one of two rubber-limbed heroes in the DCU. But while Plastic Man is a reformed villain often mined for comedic relief, Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, is known for his skills as a detective, much like the Dark Knight himself. He acquired his stretchiness by drinking a chemical concoction brewed from a rare fruit found in Latin America. He and his wife, Sue (to whom something quite horrible happened that we need not revisit here), spent the 1960s and ’70s driving around in a convertible solving mysteries. This is not EM’s first animated rodeo; he also appeared in the Justice League Unlimited series alongside pretty much every other DC hero ever created.

Baby Face (voiced by Tom Kenny)

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

A character created for the show and clearly meant to evoke the spirit of ’66. Baby Face – real name Alfonso Vincenzo Giuseppe Face – is an as-advertised Bat villain, a gangster with the face of a baby, complete with Edward G. Robinson voice. He will appear a few more times during the series.

Chemo (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)

First comics appearance: Showcase #39 (July-August 1962)

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

Chemo (pronounced Kem-O, not KEE-Mo) is a sentient batch of toxic chemicals from failed experiments that originally fought the Metal Men. During the “Infinite Crisis” crossover, the monster nearly destroys all of Bludhaven, the adopted city of Nightwing, the very first Robin.

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!

A brilliant scientist who was killed in a lab accident, only to have his brain transferred into a computer, the Brain in the comics is generally paired with his talking gorilla assistant, Monsieur Mallah. Fun fact: In Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol, he had the Brain and Mallah express their love for each other and kiss before exploding, which may be one of the most Grant Morrison-y things he’s ever done.

Bialya

First comic book appearance: Justice League #2 (June 1987)

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

Bialya is a fictional country located north of Saudi Arabia and Iran. It was created by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen during their run on Justice Leauge. At one point, Shazam villain Black Adam kills millions of its inhabitants.

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

The Atom-Aquaman pairing will be mined again later in the series, specifically Season 3’s “Sword of the Atom!” in which Batman, Aquaman and Choi look for the original Atom, Ray Palmer, whom you may know from Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. That episode also contains my favorite cold open of the series, which we’ll come to in due time.

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

The Great Batman: The Brave and the Bold Rewatch: "Terror on Dinosaur Island!"

Season One, Episode Two: Terror on Dinosaur Island!
Written by Steven Melching
Directed by Brandon Vietti

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: In Mexico for Dia de los Muertos, Batman and Plastic Man are pursuing Gentleman Ghost. Plastic Man is distracted by the bag of money Gentleman Ghost stole, leaving Batman to face Ghost alone in a cemetery, where the timely intervention of Fire helps save Batman from Ghost's trap

Episode: A cruise ship sails through the seas, filled with the wealthy. A couple in a tux and evening dress look out over the sea to see something flying towards them. What that something is turns out to be pterosaurs being ridden by gorilla soldiers. A pterosaur sets down, revealing Gorilla Grodd, telling the humans that their time is finished and the day of the ape is at hand. Grodd blasts one of the people on the ship with a raygun that seems to de-evolve him into a caveman form.

On the Bat-plane, Batman lectures Plastic Man about trying to make off with some of Gentleman Ghost's loot, saying that he stuck his neck out for Plastic Man in front of the law and the Justice League. Batman is tempted to use the ejector seat, until a distress signal from the ship calls for his attention.

On the ship, Grodd is angry that his "E-Ray" was not functioning as he wished. Deciding to leave, the pterosaurs attach cables to the ship and begin flying it off. As the Bat-Plane arrives, Grodd observes that Batman in the only human worthy of his intellect, and his arrival is, "unfortunate." Grodd and the gorilla soldiers not carrying the ship begin a dogfight with the Bat-Plane. Batman seems to be winning until Grodd uses his mind powers to enthrall Batman, and one of Batman's own missles strikes the Bat-Plane.

Using Plastic Man as a parachute, Batman and Plas land in Dinosaur Island, to be immediately confronted by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Plas winds up accidentally in the T-Rex's mouth, but once the dinosaur spits him out, he is able to swing through the jungle and wing off with Batman, out of the T-Rex's reach.

Batman looks out over the island, still displeased with Plastic Man, and Plas tries to get Batman to give him another chance to help, reminding Batman that he is partially responsible for common criminal Eel O'Brian becoming Plastic Man: O'Brian was a member of Kite Man's gang, and when Batman confronted the gang in a chemical plant, a Batarang knocked him into a vat of chemicals as he tried to make off with the money instead of simply escaping; this gave him his powers. Batman tells Plas that he has to make the best of his life now and walks off.

Finding Grodd's fortress, Batman and Plas see numerous yachts, and Plas again begins thinking about all the loot that Grodd must have. Batman tells him to focus, and they begin to make their way to the fortress, trying to avoid all manner of detection. They avoid cameras and lasers, but when they seem to be out of danger, Plas leans against the tree arrogantly, and triggers a panel on the tree that sets off an alarm. Soon, the heroes find themselves surrounded by gorillas riding Triceratops and pterosaurs.

Grodd tells Batman his evil plan, that he is going to use his E-Ray to evolve man into intelligent apes that he will rule. Grodd prepares to test the E-Ray on Batman, but Batman spooks the Triceratops Grodd is riding with a smoke bomb, and a Batman versus ape battle begins. Grodd attempts to mind control Batman again, but this time Batman is ready and blocks the mental attack. But the physically stronger Grodd still defeats Batman in hand to hand combat, and Plastic Man is shot across the island by two dinosaurs pulling and releasing him like a rubber band. Grodd sends a search party after Plas.

Alone, Plas remembers Batman saving him from the chemicals and being there for him as he recovered and helped him get out of jail, promising to help him rehabilitate. Plas swears he will save Batman.

Back at Grodd's fortress, Batman awakens to find himself chained to a chair. Grodd gives a speech, asking Batman to join him, but Batman scoffs, secretly working to pick the locks holding him. Plas arrives back at the fortress, and sneaks in. Grodd continues talking about how man is trying to destroy Earth, and baits Grodd and frees himself, again fighting ape soldiers.

Plas, arriving inside the fortress after an unfortunate incident involving shape shifting into a shovel and being used to clean the dinosaur pens, finds himself in Grodd's treasure horde. Unable to resist his base instincts, he shovels as much gold and gems into himself before heading off to find Batman. Batman is still fighting Grodd, and Plas arrives too late; finding Batman transformed into an intelligent ape.

Batape and Plas now face Grodd and his soldiers together, but Grodd has activated a device that will release E-Rays on every human within 500 miles, so the clock is ticking. Batape charges Grodd, while Plas fights off Grodd's soldiers. Realizing it's the only way to keep the apes off Batape , Plas begins using the gold and jewels he swallowed as ammunition, spitting them at the soldiers like he was a machine gun.

Batman is able to fend off Grodd, but too late to stop the massive E-Ray explosion. But the explosion does not have the effect Grodd anticipated. Batman, as well as the de-evolved humans from the cruise ships and yachts, are human again, and Grodd and his apes have been evolved into humans, to Grodd's dismay: Batman reversed the device while Grodd was distracted.

Plastic Man holds out a bag to Batman, telling him he rounded up all the jewels and gold, and offers to let Batman count. Batman tells him he doesn't need to because he trusts Plas. After Batman leaves the room, Plas take a large diamond out of his ear and deposits it with the rest of the loot. Finally, in prison, Grodd, now human, contemplates revenge while hanging from a bar like an ape, eating a banana.

Who's Who

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!

Plastic Man is the jester of the super hero set. Crated by Jack Cole in the 40s, Plas's origin is portrayed pretty close to what it is in the comics in this episode, only remove him as the sidekick of a supervillain and make Eel O'Brian a typical 40s gangster. Plastic Man stories are known to be as surreal and twisty as the body of the hero, and his supporting cast includes a goofy, over-weight sidekick named Woozy Winks. While Plastic Man hasn't carried a series of his own in modern times, he is often a member of modern Justice Leagues, used regularly through the Grant Morrison/Mark Waid/Joe Kelly era of the title. Plas has defied the trend to make a character grim and dark, remaining light and fun, even thought his characterization has been deepened throughout the years. His powers allow him to change his size and shape into almost anything, even though the color must remain his normal color scheme of red, yellow, and black.

Fire (Voiced by Grey Griffin)
First Comic Book Appearance: Super Friends #25 (October, 1979)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

Beatriz da Costa was a model and secret agent for the Brazilian government before gaining super powers and becoming a member of the Global Guardians, an international team of superheroes. When the Guardians disbanded, Bea, who was going by the codename Green Flame at the time, joined the newly formed Justice League International along with her best friend, Tara Olafsdotter, the heroine known as Ice Maiden; the two would change their code names to simply Fire and Ice during their time with the League. The two were regular members of the comedic Justice League of the 80s and early 90s, and stayed with the team throughout that incarnation until it was replaced by Grant Morrison's JLA. Fire would appear occasionally for the next few years, usually in JLI reunion stories, but was used very well by Greg Rucka during his tenure on Checkmate, where Fire became an agent of the international peacekeeping organization. She has appeared in modern, post Flashpoint DC continuity as a member of the short lived Justice League International. Quick to anger, Fire's personality matches her combustive ability, able to project high intensity green fire and enrobe herself in it, allowing her to fly.

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!

Gentleman Ghost is the spectre of "Gentleman" Jim Craddock,an English highwayman who, after being hung, rose from the grave and became the Gentleman Ghost. In the comics, while Gentleman Ghost has fought many heroes, including Batman, Superman, Hawkman, the Justice League, and the Flash, he is most known for being a rival of the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, and the Justice Society of America, the original super hero team of the 1940s. Gentleman Ghost has all the typical abilities of a ghost, including flight, intangibility, and the ability to produce weapons from thin air that can damage the living.

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!

Grodd is more than just a gorilla. A resident of Gorilla City, a city hidden in Africa populated entirely by super intelligent, telepathic gorillas, Grodd was the city's one criminal, often doing his best to conquer the city, and from there, the world. A principal rogue of the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, Grodd would also menace his successor, Wally West, on numerous occasions, and would often team up with other villains while fighting the Justice League. Grodd consistently believes himself superior to humans, and believes apes should rule the planet. Grodd was one of the principle antagonists of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon series, where he would lead different versions of the Injustice Gang and the Secret Society of Super Villains. Grodd not only has the physical strength and speed of an ape, but has a genius level intellect and a telepathic "Force of Mind," that allows him to mentally dominate others. You can read more about Grodd in this piece written by Dan Grote right before Grodd's first appearance on The Flash TV series.

Dinosaur Island
First Comic Book Appearance: Star Spangled War Stories #90 (April-May 1960)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

The name pretty much says it all. It's an island where dinosaurs still lived. Introduced in the war comic Star Spangled War Stories, Dinosaur Island was the setting for a recurring feature, "The War That Time Forgot." It has popped up over time in other DC Comics. ITs most notable appearance for me was as a setting in Darwyn Cooke's brilliant re-imagining of the dawn of the Silver Age, DC: The New Frontier.

Kite Man
First Comic Book Appearance: Batman #133 (August, 1960)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

If there was an entry in the dictionary for Z-List villain, Kite Man would be the picture used to illustrate it. Charles Brown (yup, his name is Charlie Brown, nemesis of kite eating trees everywhere) was a criminal with a kite themed gimmick. And that's it. No backstory, no deep trauma. He's just a dude with a thing about kites who fought Batman a few times. He is so unmemorable that he was killed off twice over the course of a year by other villains, once by Deathstroke and once by Bruno Mannheim, probably because no one remembered he was killed off the first time.

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

A fun episode, featuring two things that were thought to sell comics during the Silver Age: Apes and dinosaurs. The emotional arc of the episode, about Plastic Man overcoming his criminal tendencies, isn't played for laughs and is done smartly, but never bogs down the narrative.

The teaser for this episode, like the pilot, ties directly into the main plot of the episode, something that will grow less common as the series progresses.

To stop Gentleman Ghost, Batman says he uses Nth Metal knuckles and cuffs. Nth Metal is the anti-gravity material used by Hawman and Hawkgirl to fly, and is known to have anti-magical properties in certain stories.

Plastic Man mentions Superman at one point. Due to rights issues, Superman could not appear in these early episode of Brave and the Bold, along with his supporting cast and rogues, and neither could Wonder Woman. These issues would be worked out by season trhee, allowing DC's entire trinity to appear together.

Grodd is the first character on Brave and the Bold voiced John DiMaggio, one of the premiere voice actors in the world, best known as Jake the Dog on Adventure Time and Bender on Futurama, but it won't be his last. Next week's episode will feature the character that he is best known for on this show so come back to find out who.