Spoilers for "Brave and the Bold - In the Chill of the Night"

[icon_uk]

Peekaboo! He SEE'S YOU!!!



Some new characters debut in Batman: Brave and the Bold's next episode "In the Chill of the Night" (Currently available via iTunes)

From the pre-credit story-ette, and hardly surprising for a Paul Dini episode; Zatanna!



who assists Batman in fighting the classic Flash rogue, Abra Kadabra! (I had to include him just for the awesomely villainous moustache!)


And in later scenes, the addition of Poison Ivy to the classic Bat villain line up!



I like the look here, she wears a sort of burlesque dance hall girls train-dress which covers her rear, but doesn't extend to the front.



The Mad Hatter and Two Face


And the avatars of Vengeance and Justice... Spectre and the Phantom Stranger... (Mark Hamill is unrecognisable as the Spectre, but you can hear Conroy as the Stranger)


The old skulls in the pupils look dates back as far as the Spectre's very first appearances in the 1940's.


And in a rather lovely moment, Batman is taken back in time by the Phantom Stranger to a pivotal night within his own lifetime, as the Stranger tries to get him to understand why what happened to his parents REALLY happened.

Thomas Wayne (Adam West) wearing an outfit that would years later inspire Bruce's costume has been in continuity since the 1950's.



And it's nice to see Batman speechless when his mother (Julie Newmar, sounding a little older than one imagines Martha to have been, if one is completely honest) introduces herself to him.


She extends her hand for a shake, or perhaps a gallant kiss from this stranger who has just introduced himself as Matthew Malone, and is a little surprised to get this instead...


Her comment of "Oh my! You're friendly aren't you?" COULD be taken out of context, but it's a lovely moment so I find I just can't.

A great episode IMHO which I won't spoil further.

And for legality, a scene from "The Untold Legend of the Batman" miniseries that we also get in the episode, more or less.


tags: char: batman/bruce wayne, char: spectre/jim corrigan, creator: jim aparo, creator: john byrne (and I'm loathe to add any more tags in case it spoils the episode for anyone)

Comments

[retro_nouveau]

West, Newmar, Conroy, Hamill. Woobie Bruce moment. I can not wait.

Hamill's unrecognizable, heh. Not surprised, he's got a decent range (example: Solomon Grundy).

...which covers her rear...
No, Pam, noooo!

[icon_uk]

Don't worry, one gets the impression that it shifts as she sashays.... :)

[nerium]

Richard Moll as Moxon! Nice.

[darkblade]

Lacking the ability to pay for things online means I'll have to wait for this to air. Now I'm all sad.

Though what I've seen mentioned about this episode elsewhere he's supposed to be sent back to the night his parents were killed which the series already showed us was Christmas. Why are they wearing costumes?

[icon_uk]

Simple, he's not sent back to the night they were killed, he goes back to the night which set events in motion when led to them being killed.

And they're in costume because they're at a costume party.

[nezchan]

I could swear I saw a comic story way back in the day that had that plot, but damned if I can recall it clearly.

Bruce is pretty fortunate though, he gets to travel back and see them, up close or at a distance, pretty frequently over the years. Certainly more than most orphans can manage.

[icon_uk]

There is a story like that "To Kill a Legend" in Detective Comics #500. Wonderful story, glorious art.

[nezchan]

That's not the same one as where he goes back to the night they die in a different Earth, is it?

[icon_uk]

Yes, that's the one, they travel to a world where the flow of time means that the murders haven't happened yet.

[nezchan]

Not the one I was thinking of, although I liked that one a lot. I think I had it as an Archie Digest-sized reprint called The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told or something similar. Had that, the Joker Fish one (with the wonderful Pimp Joker) and some others I just can't recall at the moment.

Could have sworn I saw something like the story you just posted in an old Batman Family or something, but it's been a lotta years.

[icon_uk]

Well, like I said, there's "The Untold Legend of the Batman", which summarised the entire history of Batman, Robin, Alfred and co, and was reprinted in a digest style format.

[nezchan]

Either way, it brings back some good memories of how I got into comics in the first place.

You know, I think I'm gonna do a "What got you into comics in the first place" thread.

[foxhack]

I think I have that book, and I think it does have the story you mention.

[darkblade]

Ah that makes much more sense. Thank you.

[nezchan]

Wait, Batman's parents are dead? I wasn't informed of that!

[icon_uk]

It's a new addition to the continuity I believe.

[nezchan]

Stupid retcons. Next they'll be telling us Superman is an alien.

[sir_mikael]

Don't let that alien propaganda fool ya!



---
This message was paid for by Earthman and the Justice League of Earth.

[lamashtar]

Aliens! They're gonna take our superjobs!

[3goodtimes]

They're not dead. They're deeaaaaaaad!!!

Subtle difference.

[benicio127]

This looks awesome. I've only seen a handful of these episodes, but what I've seen, I've enjoyed.
I can't wait until the HQ episode!! I hear that airs in May. Yay!

[icon_uk]

I wasn't aware there was going to be a Harley episode.

[benicio127]

Well, it's supposed to be called Emperor Joker. Ha. But the fact they're bringing HQ into this world is what excites me. Batgirl is also supposed to appear in it, as well.

[espanolbot]

Hm, the Spectre's face is transparent in the first screenshot, with his skull partially visible. That's interesting. :)

[icon_uk]

Only briefly, because it's part of his materialisation process, it's VERY cool, but again, I don't want to spoil too much.

[cmdr_zoom]

That's a rather different look for Jervis.

Motto on the Bat-Woobie.

[icon_uk]

Not really, like most of the villains he takes his look from the 1960's TV series, in this case, the Mad Hatter as played by David Wayne.



Who went up in my estimation as a villain when, in his first appearance, did this to Robin. :)

[nezchan]

Am I the only one who thinks that needs to be a unicorn?

No, I can't adequately explain why.

[kingrockwell]

I can. Phallic imagery in your Robin bondage scenes is a must.

[icon_uk]

Because you have to be a virgin to ride a unicorn... hmm, maybe THAT'S why they had to tie him to it!

[nezchan]

So it's BD for the Robin and SM for the unicorn?

I can deal with that.

[cmdr_zoom]

Ah, all becomes clear now. Never saw that Hatter before. But with context, it absolutely fits.

[3goodtimes]

Hmmm... it's pretty fab, but I think he could have gone more Lady Godiva with it. ;)

[icon_uk]

Hey, you can't actually SEE his briefs in those pics, so if you want to unfetter that imagination of yours, I'm not going to stop you! :)

[sailorlibra]

OMG, so watching this episode. It looks awesome.

[3goodtimes]

Oh! *wibbles* Mom hugs for Batman. <3

[theanswer]

I hope Ivy appears in the episode with Harley Quinn coming up.

[iskander]

This show just never fails to deliever. Is Season one out on dvd ( a collection of all the eps, not just a couple) ?

[icon_uk]

Alas not yet, but we live in hope.

[jelly_ace]

The episode was very dark, I'll have to say. Had trouble associating it with the usual BatB, and by the end of the episode I was near tears.

But Conroy! Hamill! West! Newmar! Unmasked Bruce! My fangirl heart is happy.

And I loved Poison Ivy's costume. So cute, with all the flowers. She should definitely have more flowers in her costume.

[silicone_soul]

A bit of a mood whiplash with the cheerful BatB end credits music, wasn't it?

[jelly_ace]

A definite mood whiplash, considering you realize how much of a woobie Bruce really is in that episode.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, just a little....

[icon_uk]

Yeah, Ivy's costume is great, and the flowers and a nice colourful touch.

I was sort of hoping she might have a Southern accent, since she somehow looks like she could have stepped off a Mississippi paddle steamer in the olden days, possibly after fleecing some gamblers. She only gets three words though, so it's hard to tell.

[jelly_ace]

Come to think of it, you're right. A Southern accent would go well with her dress and how she was animated. And didn't she spend some time in the swamps in the DCAU? Maybe it was in Louisiana, and she kind of got the accent.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

I can't wait until this airs on TV proper. I'm too broke to get anything on iTunes. *EPIC SADFACE*

But yaaaaaaaaaaay, P.S! *throws confetti, waves pompoms*

[cmdr_zoom]

Doncha just hate it when someone else shows up at the party wearing the same thing?

[icon_uk]

Funnily enough, that's pretty much exactly what Thomas Wayne says. :)

[team_mummy]

WOW! I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH! NEVER LEAVE MEEEEE!!!