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FAQ
 

This portion of the website is hopefully going to answer some of your questions about Batman, Superman, Justice League, and Batman Beyond. This will hopefully clear up any confusions you have on the series, characters, and why some Batman episodes look more angular than others.

Okay, first question: What's the history behind Batman: The Animated Series?

The multiple award winning show first aired in 1992 and gained instant acclaim, as well as a lot of awards. The first season was a huge success for the Fox Kids Network. They aired an almost unheard of 65 episodes in one season. The show began with a weekend sneak preview, then a prime-time previews, and then began it's weekday shift. Fox kept churning out new episode after new episode. When the first season ended, it shifted to weekends for the second seasons. While the first season was grim, gritty, and very dark, the second season was a bit more upbeat, and featured a lot of Robin. The Fox Kids execs wanted more and more Robin, mainly because of his popularity with the kids. When the second season began, it was renamed 'The Adventures of Batman & Robin'. The second season consisted of 15 episodes, which namely featured returning characters.

A highlight of the second season was the introduction of Lock-Up, bad guy Bane, and the Riddler episode entitled 'Riddler's Reform'. With the second season on Saturday mornings, the series wasn't as dark, but did keep it a bit gritty. One the second season ended, Fox Kids decided to shift the series back to where it began, on the weekday slot.
The third season consisted of 5 episodes which were aired pretty quickly. The show then remained on the weekday slot for the new few years until 1997. With the ratings on the reruns dipping a bit, it was time for the show to be let go. Luckily, The new WB channel picked up the series after the Fox's five year contract ran out in September of 1997. WB wasted no time getting 24 episodes animated and ready to air. In September of 1997, we were introduced to a whole new Gotham. Kids'WB! called the show The New Batman Adventures. Batman was still there but there were small changes. Dick Grayson was now Nightwing. Batgirl knew Batman's secret. Robin was now an orphan by the name of Tim Drake. While Batman, and Gotham itself, got darker, his sidekicks got a bit more brighter.

Whoa! Slow down! A 'new' Robin?

Yeah. In the older B:TAS format, Dick Grayson was Batman's sidekick. Then we found out that they had a dispute which lead to Dick Grayson quitting his sidekick role, and seeing the world and learning new techniques. This was highlighted in the episode OLD WOUNDS, as well as the five issue comic mini-series entitled The Lost Years. Then, awhile later, Batman came into contact with Tim Drake while trying to apprehend Two-Face. It turns out that Two-Face killed Drake's dad. Drake saved Batman from drowning and was taken to the batcave where he discovered Bruce's secret. He took on the mantle too soon. Tim now practices to be a better Robin, while fighting along side Batman.

I see. So what happened now with Batman on 'Kids'WB!'?

The first season on Kids'WB! consisted of 11 episodes, which were spread thin between September of 1997 and May of 1998. Batman was supposed to air separate of the Kids'WB! staple show Superman: The Animated Series. Kids'WB! decided to join the two shows and rename them The New Batman/Superman Adventures. Kids'WB! then aired two episodes over the summer before beginning the second season in September of 1998. Season 2 consisted of another 11 episodes. The show's run ended in January of 1999 with the critically acclaimed episode called Mad Love. Mad Love was based on the award winning Batman one-shot. While on Kids'WB!, Batman shared his spot with Superman and gave birth to Batman Beyond.
Batman then moved onto Cartoon Network where it remains.

Wait, Superman: The Animated Series?

Yup. When Batman originally went on hiatus during it's run on Fox, the crew jumped ship over to the fledgling WB network and created an animated series based on the Man Of Steel. The first season lasted for 13 episodes and was critically acclaimed, although the ratings weren't exactly super. The animated Superman series premiered as a movie on a Friday night in September of 1996, then kicked off the next day on Saturday morning. The series opened with a three part origin story of Superman. The season then ended with Superman confronting Brainiac, a super-computer that escaped from Krypton.

Then season two began when Batman joined Kids'WB!. Kids'WB! joined the two shows and renamed them 'The New Batman/Superman Adventures'. Batman joining Superman helped Superman's ratings and helped the show acquire a cult following. Season two consisted of 24 episodes. Three of those episodes was a story arc involving Batman and Superman meeting for the first time while tracking down The Joker and Lex Luthor. Those three episodes were eventually released to video. Season two was a high point both critically and creatively. Season two began with Superman once again facing his Kryptonian heritage. The season finale was one of the most controversial episodes ever made for an animated series. The season finale included a main character getting vaporized and our Man of Steel getting beat to a pulp.

Season three began in the fall of 1998 and consisted of only 13 episodes. With the 'World's Finest' arc in season two so popular, Batman and Superman would be re-teamed twice again...sort of. In Season three, Superman teamed with Robin to save Bruce Wayne. This team up would then lead to their final animated team up in season four.

In Season Four, fans only got three new episodes. One of them was the final team-up between Batman and Superman. In this episode the heroes had to take on Ra's Al Ghul and his daughter, Talia. After that episode premiered in September, it was a long wait until the series finale in February. In February of 2000, Kids'WB! aired the two-part series finale entitled 'Legacy'. In this two-part episode, Superman took on Darkseid for the final time, but it came with a price. Darkseid brainwashed Superman and made him take on the armies of Earth, therefore making the people of Earth unable to trust him. That was the final episode we'd see of Superman on Kids'WB!
 
Superman then moved onto Cartoon Network.

This is where Batman Beyond comes in, right?

Exactly. After a special Sunday sneak preview, Batman Beyond premiered on the same day that the final Batman episode aired. The day was January 16th, 1999. The show was an instant hit! First season consisted of 13 episodes, and season two was quickly put into place. Batman Beyond takes place about 40 years in the future where Batman is no more and Gotham has become a technological cesspool of crime. After a kid, who's father was recently killed, stumbled upon the secret, he becomes the Dark Knight for a new era. Bruce Wayne would be his mentor and train him.

Season two premiered in the fall of 1999 with 26 new episodes. This season got a mixed reaction some fans. Some fans were upset how a lot of the episodes were a bit lighter and emphasized high school, while other focused on comedy. The second season ended with Bruce Wayne going after to find Terry. Kids'WB! aired a new episode over the summer of 2000, and the new third season began in September of 2000. New episodes aired throughout the 3rd and final season.

That series finished its' run on Kids'WB! in September of 2001. A new episode ("Unmasked") was expected to be the final aired episode Batman Beyond on Kids'WB!, before the show moving to Cartoon Network. But due to the tragic events of September 11th, Kids'WB! nixed the episode from it's schedule, but it did see air. "Unmasked" aired in December of 2001, and s the last 'new' episode of the series. Batman Beyond started airing on Cartoon Network at the beginning of October 2001, where it continues to draw a strong audience. No new episodes or movies are planned for the series.

So what happened to The New Batman/Superman Adventures?

The final episode of TNBSA aired on August 31st on Kids'WB! The show fittingly ended with the Superman series finale 'Legacy'. Cartoon Network, which was already airing 52 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, then picked up the remaining episodes of Batman (58), and the 54 episodes of Superman. They began airing in September and November of 2000. Cartoon Network now has the full rights to all Batman and Superman episodes and has them in regular rotation.

Will we see more Batman or Superman Adventures?

Yup! Cartoon Network is airing an animated series called Justice League, which stars the classic DC icons alongside other DC heroes like Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and more!

Cartoon Network and Kids'WB! will also share Teen Titans. The show features Robin leading a group of teenaged heroes - Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg.

So these shows led up to Justice League & Teen Titans?

In a way, yes. Justice League seemed like the natural evolution for the animated continuity to take. First we get Batman, then Superman, and that lead perfectly into Justice League. Plus the two part Justice League Unlimited episodes of Batman Beyond helped as well. That arc led to critical acclaim and demand for more animated Justice League adventures. In fact, the 4th season of Superman, which was unfairly cut short, was supposed to introduce the Justice League over the entire season and lead into a new JL series to air on Kids'WB!. The network, instead, wanted a new teenage Batman and opted for Batman Beyond instead.

In early 2001, Bruce Timm announced he'd be bringing the superteam to the cable channel Cartoon Network and air the show in prime time. The show premiered on November 17th, 2001 and has since been a smash for the network. The roster for the JL consist of DC Comic heavy hitters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash. Plus, the series also included classis villains like Joker and Lex Luthor, who were a major part of the original Batman and Superman cartoons.

Justice League was the natural progression of the series, and it kept true to the style and standards set by the earlier Batman and Superman series.

Then from Justice League came it's teenaged equivalent Teen Titans. The show premiered in August 2002 on Cartoon Network and a few months later on Kids'WB! The show has more of a light-hearted approach and deals with both serious issues and regular superhero dilemmas. The show strayed a bit from the "regular" animated style. The main design artist behind the series was Glen Murikami instead of Bruce Timm. This gave Teen Titans a fresh new look and provides an interesting new take on the "animated style."

The animated shows had spin-off movies, right?

Batman: The Animated Series did. In December 1993, Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm was released in limited release to theatres and mustered up over $ five million. The movie gained it's proper audience when it was rleeased to video a few months later. In 1998, WB released a second original Batman movie called Sub-Zero, which tied up some plot threads introduced in The New Batman Adventures. Episodes of Batman were also released on video whenever a live action movie was released. Kids'WB! also put the three part 'World's Finest' Superman episodes, as well as the Superman origin 'Last Son Of Krypton', to video. Various episodes of Batman Beyond have been released to video over the past couple of years. In December of 2000, and original Batman Beyond movie, Return of the Joker, was released on VHS and DVD, but in edited format.
WB is currently working on more direct to video installments of the animated 'Batman' franchise.

WB is also releasing Batman animated movies and episodes to VHS and DVD. The first Batman direct-to-video feature 'Sub-Zero' and the Batman/Superman crossover 'World's Finest' were released on DVD in 2002, along with the unedited version of the Batman Beyond direct-to-video movie, called 'Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker - The Original, Uncut Version'.

WB started releasing episodes of Batman in 2002 and has plans to release more episodes to DVD for the foreseeable future. Also, the video ordering chain Columbia House is also releasing Batman episodes to DVD.

The newest Batman direct to video feature, 'Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman', was released in fall 2003. WB is planning to release more, based on the sales of that movie.

What about their spin-off comic books?

The Batman animated series spun off three multiple award winning ongoing series and a mini-series. The first spin off comic, entitled 'The Batman Adventures', premiered in 1992 and lasted 36 issues, as well as two annuals, a holiday special, and a movie adaptation. The second series, entitled 'The Batman & Robin Adventures', premiered in 1995 and lasted 25 issues, as well as two annuals, and a movie adaptation. Then in 1997 a five issue mini-series which gave us some info on the 'Lost Years' (time between episodes #85 & 86) was released, which lead into the current series. Also, a one shot entitled 'The Batgirl Adventures' was released. In 1998, the third series, entitled 'Batman: Gotham Adventures', premiered. The series concluded with issue #60 in early 2003. The newest incarnation, called simply Batman Adventures began with a free issue in May 2003.

The most popular Batman animated comic was the one shot issue entitled 'Mad Love' which gave us Harley Quinn's tragic origin. This comic also won a host of awards, as well as acclaim from comic creators and celebrities. The animated comics are known for just winning award after award due to the great storylines and art.

Superman's multiple award-winning animated comic series began in 1996 and ran for fix and a half healthy years, ending with issue #66. Aside form the regular ongoing issues, there was also a one-shot special and movie adaptation released. There series was finally cancelled in 2002.

Batman Beyond's comic has had a bit more bumpy road. A six-issue mini-series debuted in 1999 and was trashed by fans and critics. The mini-series sold astonishingly well, though. In the fall of 1999, an ongoing series was issues, and the response has been more favorable. The series still continues and released a movie adaptation in October. The series released it's final issue in August of 2001. It was issue #24.

A comic book based on Justice League was released in November of 2001. The comic, called Justice League Adventures, features story based on the characters in the animated series and usually focuses on a specific member.
Teen Titans did not receive an animated comic spin-off.

What about Merchandise?

There is just way to much to list here. You name it - they probably made it. There have been the obvious action figure lines as well as clothing lines. There has also been basically everything from Superman towels to a Batman cookie jar. Batman, Superman, and Beyond have made a tremendous amount of money off the merchandising of these characters, and you can bet that all new merchandise will continue to come for quite sometime in the future. There have been video games as well. While most were lackluster, there has been the stand out SNES game for 'The Adventures of Batman & Robin'. There have been games based on Batman, Superman, and Batman Beyond released for all the major gaming platforms. There are plenty of websites dedicated to merchandise of our favorite characters. Another popular Batman item is the red-hot BATMAN: ANIMATED book which was released in 1998 to critical acclaim.

How can I find more info about these characters and shows?

Well, you can go through this website. World's Finest is constantly adding new sections and information all the time so come back a lot to see what's new & updated. Also, there are plenty other websites on the net dedicated to these characters. WB has created 'official' sites for Batman/Superman and Batman Beyond, although both are updated far and in between. A website was also created for Justice League. There are tones and tones of fan websites out there as well devotes to these characters. All ya gotta do is check out our link section or us your favorite search engine to find the information you need! I'd strongly recommend picking up Batman: Animated and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Screenplay. It goes completely in-depth to the creators and creation behind the Batman animated show, as well as drops a couple pieces of info on the Superman animated series and the Batman Beyond series.

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