BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD; SEASON THREE (2011)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological, metaphysical, psychological*

As noted earlier, the final season of BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD only amounted to thirteen episodes, half the number allotted to Seasons One and Two. But since the showrunners made the perhaps tongue-in-cheek claim that their show was in danger of literally "jumping the shark," possibly there was a sincere sense that they'd said all they had to say.

Season Three doesn't dip its toes into the deeper, darker waters as did Season Two, meaning that the closest any characters come to death is when Batman becomes a Bat-vampire and almost turns the whole Justice League into the undead, until they're all miraculously returned to normal. But once again, Batman's so resolute in his desire to vanquish crime that in another episode he keeps on finding ways to battle villains while he's in a body cast.

It's notable that while the other two members of the DC "Trinity," Superman and Wonder Woman, were off limits in the first two seasons, both make a total of three appearances, though the Amazon only gets one "main story" and two teasers. In contrast, Superman is in one teaser and participates in two main stories, one of which is clearly designed to reference as many Silver Age Superman images as the writers could shoehorn in. A few new heroes debut in Season Three, the most notable being a crossover with non-DC hero Space Ghost.

The lead episode, "Joker: the Vile and the Villainous," is a novel switch on the basic concept, as both the teaser and main story depict the Joker "crusading" on behalf of Gotham's villains. He even succeeds in thwarting Batman's crime-predicting device, and comes off as slightly sympathetic, if only because such a machine would obviate the entire purpose of hero/villain struggles. Somewhat less successful is a spoof on sixties sitcoms with Aquaman and his undersea family dealing with their wacky neighbor Black Manta. One episode is given over to four shorts starring separate DC characters with only minimal Bat-involvement. The least successful episode is the predictable "Powerless," in which an arrogant Captain Atom scorns Batman for having no powers, only to learn his lesson in the end-- okay, he doesn't learn anything, leading me to think that maybe Atom was not particularly beloved by the writers. And they seem to like EVERYTHING.

The only outstanding episode is the final one, entitled "Mitefall"-- which, not by coincidence, sports the title of a very different comic book special, though the two have nothing in common but the participation of Bat-Mite. Given that this extra-dimensional enthusiast for all things Batty got one episode in each season, his re-use supports my theory that the showrunners had a particular jones for Silver Age Bat-comics of the Jack Schiff era. While the other two episodes depicted the Caped Crusader being bedeviled by the imp's maladroit magicks, this time Bat-Mite serves the purpose of the show's creators in that he's tired of the show and wants it cancelled. This remains in line with his Bat-fandom, since getting rid of tongue-in-cheek Bats will make it possible to get yet another "Dark Knight" iteration.

Bat-Mite then wreaks changes on the B&B universe, so that Batman will become so ludicrous that his fans stop watching. However, there's a bug in his ointment: Ambush Bug, who like Bat-Mite also knows that they're all fictional characters in a series of stories, and he tries to find a way to restore Batman to his original parameters. This opens up an unusual metaphysical proposition: can a fictional character become self-aware enough to refuse changes to his identity? In addition, the script includes a few jabs at the fans themselves, when Ambush Bug gets more viewers to watch by appealing to their love of slapstick violence.

The episode then concludes with a minute or two of Batman hosting a party of his most celebrated friends and a few foes, and saying farewell to his fans. And aside from a later team-up with Mystery Inc., this incarnation of the Bat-universe has remained out of circulation.