Hey, Bat-Mite, what's new?

Emperor Joker is on Cartoon Network this Friday? Awesomesauce!

Coincidentally, at least 3 of the characters on the cover of that issue of Who's Who will be appearing in upcoming episodes. Watch for 'em!

Art and characters ™ and © DC Comics.

Doomed

Now that the Doom Patrol episode's aired, I thought I'd post a closer look at the sideshow banners from the circus, since a lot of work went into them. That's kind of the nature of animation - working for weeks on images that flash by in seconds. But in this age of DVD extras and blogsa and what not, there's no reason that work has to zip by unappreciated, is there? Let's all linger over this fine art, drawn by Lynell Forestall and Steve Jones, inked by Robert Lacko and coloured by Bill Dunn. They're all clickable for larger versions.

First up we have the bountiful Baboushka and Romulus and Remus, both background characters from Doom Patrol v.2 #37. There's not much to say about these guys, they're just there to fill empty banner slots.

Next up we have Lodestone, also from that era and that same storyline. Lodestone was also a member of the Doom Patrol in one of its less celebrated incarnations.

Following that we have a strongman, because every circus sideshow needs a strongman. This one was drawn by Steve, for some reason doing his take on the style of Frank Quitely.

Then we have Dorothy Spinner and Shasta the Living Mountain. Both were members of the Doom Force, although Dorothy is portrayed here in her Doom Patrol version. Shasta used to have a lot more line work on his tragic self, painstakingly rendered by Steve, but James pulled us back.

  

And here's the much-anticipated Brave and the Bold appearance of  Beast Boy - this is all the Beast Boy you get this episode. Sorry to those wanting him to be a part of the Doom Patrol, but don't be sad - if we put him on the team, we would have had to kill him. Is that what you want? Beast Boy's blood on your hands? I didn't think so.

For similar reasons, we kept Mento off the team - if we killed him, it wouldn't have seemed like a tragedy. That guy is such a jerk!

Next up we have Crazy Jane... wait, I didn't do a poster for Crazy Jane? What the heck is wrong with me?

To finish off, here's Negative Man himself. I wrote that banner copy myself, and I am as proud of those six words as anything I have ever written.

All art and characters ™ and © DC Comics.

Hey, look at this!

I would've plugged it sooner, but I didn't know they were putting it online - a brand new Super Friends short, directed by Ciro Nieli, with boards by four of the world's top board artists and also me!

It was made (I was told) to be packaged with a Fisher-Price toy, but thanks to the magic of the internet, everyone gets to enjoy it for free!

Also, the Doom Patrol is on B:TBatB tomorrow - get your piping-hot images and clips here or here!

DOOM (Again)

OK, as Brianne has reminded me, {SPOILERS FOR SIEGE OF STARRO} Starro is dead now, {SPOILERS OVER} so let's move on and plug talk about my next episode, The Last Patrol!, which is airing this Friday for you lucky Americans with Cartoon Network. Of course, Australia has already seen it two weeks ago, so if you're the type who likes to spoil stuff for yourself, you can find info about the episode all over the internet already, including the special appearance in the teaser of {SPOILERS AGAIN}Batgirl{SPOILERS OVER}.

In non-spoilery news, The Last Patrol! stars my favourite superhero team, the Doom Patrol. I got to direct an episode featuring them (half of a two-parter) for Teen Titans many years ago, but I was still very eager to put them in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Fortunately for me, James was too, so here they come. The story is loosely adapted from a very famous DP story, although we had to change the ending for television, but I think we did a great job capturing the tone of the Doom Patrol all the same. I'll have a post with more stuff after it airs.

In other B:TBatB news, kind of mid-spoilery to non-spoilery, it seems like a lot of info is trickling out about Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!, our big crossover episode. Not so much from me, I think - I've been pretty good about not leaking stuff. Here's what I didn't leak - the episode will have three stories featuring 1/ a teaser with Batboy and Rubin from the MAD Magazine parody, 2/ a story featuring a version of Batman based on Jiro Kuwata's Japanese Batman comics from the 60's, and 3/ a crossover with Scooby-Doo.

Like I said, none of that got leaked by me - I've kept quiet for all these months. It hasn't been easy! So I don't think anyone will mind if I leak one frame from the show, right? So here it is - a genuine exclusive still from Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!

Man, I hope that doesn't get me in trouble with Warner Bros. I'm just so proud of this episode that I couldn't help but share!

It's a pity it wasn't finished in time for San Diego -  I mean, the episode that we did screen there, Emperor Joker!, was great and all, but B-MP:B'sSC (as I have decided to abbreviate it) is tailor-made to be screened at a comic convention surrounded by hundreds of the fans who would've appreciated it the most. But it'll probably air before the next San Diego Comicon (even with Cartoon Network's scheduling shenanigans), and who wants to premiere a cartoon everyone's already seen? I guess the timing just didn't work out, so that opportunity is lost.

If only there were some other comic book convention between now and the theoretical airdate - one that would maybe fly me out and put me up for the night - why, then all I'd have to do is square it with the powers that be at Warner Bros and we could screen the guaranteed fan-servicingest episode of any Batman cartoon ever produced! Ah, but that's just a pipe dream, I suppose.

Batman image ™ and © DC Comics.