The Brave and the Bloody Awful

I've never been the hugest Batman fan--I've never bought any of his titles regularly (except the Brave and the Bold when I was about 8, although I preferred DC Comics Presents, especially a great Superman/Superboy clash as I hated the senior but loved the junior Kal-El) and have only bought the most seminal of special projects (Dark Knight Returns, Year One, Killing Joke, etc). However, I've always been a fan of the Bruce Timm animated show and last night I cracked open the final DVD set to watch the first of the revamped later episodes. While the same talent was involved behind the voice booth and production offices, what a step up in quality the animation was! Crisp, clear animation that jumped off the screen, easily dovetailing into the recent Justice League episodes, easily the greatest comic cartoon of all time (in terms of characters, characterisation, art, stories, practically everything!).

So, I'd been waiting with interest to see the first glimpses of the new Batman: Brave and the Bold animated team-up show, set to feature Aquaman, Green Arrow and Blue Beetle in early episodes. The recent The Batman show was nicely animated but a little oddly designed so I was hoping for a return to something like the Timm heyday, especially as some (undisclosed) voice talent from that show will be returning.

Then I saw this:

A picture really does say a thousand words, doesn't it? I'll choose but two: dog and shite.