Season 2 of Cartoon Network’s hit series Batman: The Brave and Bold swings onto DVD.  The series is colorful and lighthearted, which makes it perfect for young children getting to know Batman. Censorship is also appropriate with no blood shown in the action scenes, although this doesn’t detract from the action scenes.  Instead, it opened up creativity to allow Batman to be transformed into a rubberized material, metallic suit, and even elderly age.

Older ones watching The Brave and the Bold will appreciate the retro style action scenes. When I say retro, I mean Adam West Batman. Action scenes will emphasize the impact of the hits and the only thing missing is the sound effects on the screen “BANG!”, “POW!” and “ZIP!”.

It may not be obvious in the title, but this series actually has a myriad of DC Comics heroes. You will see familiar faces like Green Arrow, Aquaman, Shazam, and the Green Lantern Corps. The good old Batman villains show up as well like the Joker, Ra’s Al Ghul, and the Riddler. Some notable groups that appear are an elderly Justice Society of America and the Metal Men created by Dr. Milton Magnus.

Some episodes stood out more than others with interesting story lines and cool action scenes. In “Revenge of the Reach”, the Green Lantern Corp protect their headquarters on planet Oa against a group of Reach possessed invaders. In “Sidekicks Assemble!” we see sidekick heroes Robin, Speedy and Aqualad prove that they are ready to take on the spotlight. A very humorous episode, “The Super-Batman of Planet X!”, shows how Batman would be if he were to inherit powers like Superman. And in the darkest episode “Chill of the Night”, Batman copes with the vengeance of his past as he discovers the killer of his parents.

The DVD set includes 12 episodes on 2 discs. Each episode starts with a short non-related clip and then proceeds to the opening credits and episode plot.  For the most part, the episodes can be watched in any particular order. There are no DVD extras included, but the diverse language support makes up for that to help reach a wider audience. All episodes are in widescreen aspect and Dolby digital audio.

Audio Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Subtitle Languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Wrap-up

Pros:  Colorful series, great for the kids, diverse language selection

Cons:  No extras, sometimes other DC characters overshadow Batman’s role

Grade: B

Batman: The Brave and Bold Season 2 Part 1 is now available on DVD (since August 16, 2011).  Price goes at $18.95 at the WBshop or $13.99 on Amazon.

Jonathan Ofalla

Jonathan Ofalla works full-time in the video electronics industry. Besides being an Anime/Jpop/Jdrama fan, he is an MMA enthusiast and trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. On his time off, he contributes to Nerd Reactor.

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