Three episodes and four guest-stars into this new series is the latest adventure I like to call ‘Evil Under the Sea!’
The pre-credits sequences continue to deliver the goods.
This week’s battle with Felix Faust was great and the revelation of Batman‘s secret helper was an especially nice touch (looks like it’s the new Atom rather than the traditional Ray Palmer judging by the costume design alone). I’m very pleased at how this cartoon series manages to present modern comics in a ‘classic’ light. It almost eliminates the disappointment that most of the DC Comics on the shelves are convoluted messes… almost. I know I’m already diving into the cranky pool but it does sadden my heart that any kid who happens to enjoy this series would be well and truly screwed if he tried to follow that joy to the comic shop. Just imagine a father-son team going to the shop on Saturday, high on Batman whimsy only to leaf through the last part of Batman R.I.P. in utter confusion.
But I digress.
The real star of this episode of course is Aquaman. A more confused and distorted super-hero would be hard to find thanks to the many relaunches and re-visions Aquaman has seen. This being the case, I was very curious to see how they depicted Aquaman in this cartoon. It appears that Aquaman is based almost entirely on a fun-loving Hercules-type a la Steve Reeves from back in the day. While this did shock me for a minute, it made my wife laugh out loud and in no time I was giggling as well. A character like Aquaman is apparently more open to interpretation than any other comic book hero, so good on the Brave and the Bold team for exercising their artistic license and delivering a happy-go-lucky underwater brawler.
To get back to my earlier cartoon/comic argument… in this case the Aquaman fan of today would be hauntingly safe in maintaining this image of the character as there are no appearances of the finny monarch of the sea on the racks.
The episode itself was rather light but still very enjoyable and well done. One tiny detail I just picked up on is the bright red fringe on all of Batman‘s vehicles and even the batarang. A simple touch, it harkens back to the 1966 TV program and I doubt that it’s a coincidence.
A creepy-voiced Black Manta and loads of hilarious undersea hi jinx make the third installment of the series a pleasant episode. While not as good as the Plastic Man program, still a lot of fun.
Next week: Red Tornado in Invasion of the Secret Santas!
