> > > Why create a show that relies on previous continuity while also stopping new kids who might like an entry point to the Batman.
> >
> > That's funny. I'd like to see some little kid really like "The Brave and The Bold" so their parent buys them a copy of Batman and then the kid has nightmares for six months after seeing the Joker slice his tongue in half.
> >
> > I really don't think comics are for kids anymore, as witnessed by the gore or R.I.P. and the heavy continuity of Final Crisis.
>
> That's why Brave and the Bold would be an "entry point" and not "continuity-enriched 7-part of a 9 part series."
>
> Think about it this way: no one ever starts listening to Bob Dylan as a young kid. If you're 7 or 8, you'll probably want to listen to pop music or watch High School Musical or Hannah Montana. You wouldn't necessarily want to pick up or understand why Blonde on Blonde is such an important album.
>
> But if you introduce them to loving music, even poppy music, you introduce them to a love of music that they will carry for the rest of their lives. If we introduce Batman in this pop-y new way to kids, we get them hooked on the character and we can bring them to purchasing comics that have our favorite character in them.
>
> Batman: TAS really brought in comic book readers to the shops when I was a teenager. Many kids my age watched the WB and really liked the animated characters on a daily basis. I had friends who were Catwoman or Mr. Freeze for Halloween because of the TV Show and not because they had any particular love for the comics. But it did make them seek out those comics. I have a friend who still only purchases Catwoman because she likes Selina Kyle.
>
> You have to build your base, and part of building it is having pop music and alternative music and older music available at the same time for different stages of people's love for the character. Personally, if a kid loved that Brave and the Bold episode, I would give them a Blue Beetle tpb or possibly Batman Strikes as a comic jumping off point. I wouldn't give them Watchmen or the Dark Knight Returns because, for the most part, they just wouldn't relate to the issues presented in those books.
>
> I didn't start off with Watchmen when I was a kid. I got into comics reading Archie Comics and Silver Age Digest reprints of the Adventure Comics. When I started seriously collecting as a teenager, I cut my teeth on CoIE and I rolled with the changes and inferred a lot of backstory based on what I saw and what I found in back issues. I think many kids will do the same with the comics today.
>
> - l.k.
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You've made an excellent point, little kon-el, very true. Also, to add to this, there are those who have said that the Batman featured in this show is not "The Real Batman", or "That's not something that Batman would do", but that is because it's compared to their own interpretatation of who Batman is, based upon their personal contact with the character in their lives. But, it doesn't make it an any less valid version of Batman than the dozens that have appeared since 1939 and may be the real version to others. The Batman of this show is reminiscent of The Batman as he was portrayed in comics during the late 1940's-1960s, the Batman who appeared in every issue of the original Brave and the Bold series from the sixties to early eighties, and a little bit from the 60's TV show and past cartoon incarnations such as the Batman cartoon of the late 60's, The New Adventures of Batman from the 70's and Superfriends. It all worked then, it can still work now.
I also find it a bit humorous when I read posts on boards that Batman fighting in Space, underwater, throughout time and other dimensions, etc. is ridiculous when if you pick up any old issue of Brave and the Bold or Justice League of America...he did all that and more! My own personal exposure to Batman started with the 60's show back in 1978 when I was 3 years old. My father picked up this "Comics To Color" book for my brother and I, shortly after that...
[IMG]
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/theMightyKnip/batmancoloring.gif[/IMG]
...quickly followed by our first, real Batman comic book...
[IMG]
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/theMightyKnip/Detective477.jpg[/IMG]
And since then I'd read about the adventures of the Caped Crusader (the more superhero-type, crime-busting Batman) to the Dark Knight (the more brooding, sombre, hero) and it all works for me.
I'm really happy about the new Batman: Brave and the Bold show and it's really catching on with all of my nephews (7-year-old, 5-year-old, 2-year-old twins) as well as my own 2-year old son. It's great that I can actually get them interested in Batman and the wonders of the DC Universe at a young age with something that genuinely excites them and not because I like it. Just my two-cents.
-BMK!-
