The Brave and the Bold might sound like a daytime soap opera to most people, but comic fans know the title well. Starting in the mid-'50s, DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold featured team-ups between DC's huge stable of characters, eventually settling into a format of "Batman and..." The animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold takes that "Batman and..." concept and runs with it, allowing the show to explore every obscure nook and cranny of the DCU, teaming Bats with big guns like Aquaman as well as fun second-stringers like Red Tornado or Plastic Man. On November 10th, Warner Home Video will continue its (very) gradual release of the series on DVD with Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Volume 2, collecting four episodes of the show.
With its cartoony designs and bright colors, B+B is definitely working the opposite end of the spectrum from the critically acclaimed animated continuity originated in Batman: The Animated Series, and it's even a far cry from more mature fare like Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. But if you've dismissed the show as strictly kids' stuff, you owe it to yourself to give it another chance. Sure, kids will love this stuff, but the show is filled with such a sense of adventure and fun, not to mention a sly wit, that there's plenty here to appeal to older fans as well. Diedrich Bader ("Watch our for your cornhole" guy from Office Space) is very nearly the last person on Earth I would have picked to voice any incarnation of Batman -- slightly ahead of Truman Capote -- but he's got the straight-man role down pat. The supporting cast is likewise well realized, and while you won't get the psychological subtext the Diniverse provided, each of these characters is given a memorable personality. Hell, it's worth checking out the show just to see their hilarious take on Aquaman, which is part Tick, part Groo.
One thing I can't cheerlead, however, is the decision to release the show in tiny chunks, rather than full-season sets. I realize this is a more kid-oriented show, and it makes good business sense to make parents but a bunch of little sets rather than a few bigger ones, but it's still annoying. Sure, the price is only $14.98, but that's still a little bit high for only four half-hour episodes, given the cost-per-ep ratio of your average TV-to-DVD release. For your $15, here are the episodes you'll get:
- Day of the Dark Knight!
- Enter the Outsiders!
- Dawn of the Dead Man!
- Fall of the Blue Beetle!
