“Rise of the Blue Beetle” (s01e01)

“The Dark Knight” may have showed us Batman at his darkest and most realistic – but “Batman: The Brave and The Bold” is showing us something completely different. This bright, imaginative series, is unlike any Batman we’ve seen in a very long time.

Even the cartoon version of Batman has remained dark and brooding since the popular “Batman: The Animated Series” in the 90s ruled the airwaves. Subsequent shows may have refreshed the formula, but they have maintained the dark tones of that show.

This series, however, runs in the opposite direction giving us an animated series that looks like something Jack Kirby would have created if he’d been told to make a cartoon based on the 60s Batman series starring Adam West. It’s an amazingly colorful show that promises DC guest stars each week, and a style that has an amazingly retro feel – while still maintaining a modern polish and execution.

The first episode is a mission statement for the show, opening with Batman and Green Arrow bound in an elaborate death trap created by the Clock King to “finish them once and for all”. The imagery immediately draws back thoughts of the 60s Batman series (and really makes you wonder where Robin is). The duo, of course, escape – and clean the King’s Clock. HA!

Then we’re introduced to The Blue Beetle, and before you know it, we’re off into SPACE (Yes – BATMAN IN SPACE…when is the last time you saw THAT?!?!). The Beetle and Bats are transported into an alternate universe where The Blue Beetle, with Batman’s help, must save a race of little jelly shaped people from an evil space pirate who looks like he fell right out of Jack Kirby’s 4th World.

This first episode was a blast to watch – and my daughter and I have rerun it off the DVR at least 3 times this weekend. If that’s not a good sign – I don’t know what is. We’re looking forward to future installments of “Batman: The Brave and The Bold” – and if you check it out…you probably will be too.

Old franchises – no matter how old, or how much no one really seems all that interested – will always come back it seems. In Hollywood’s infinite wisdom it is better to repackage something from 20 years ago than it is to try something new.

I guess there’s probably a certain truth to that, but sometimes you have to wonder -why even bring it back if you’re going to change everything about it? Case in point – Cartoon Network is bringing “Pink Panther” back as a new series.

This time, however, he’s going to be a teenager. Classic characters like Ant and Aardvark will also appear. Why? You got me. Kids today don’t know who the Pink Panther is – and if they do – they don’t think he’s a teenager. There is no word on if the series is going to be set in a school or not – but you’d almost bet it would have to be.

Franchises like this that return “in name only” seem kind of odd to me. I don’t know exactly what the point of doing this is. If you’re going to create something completely new with an old coat of paint on it – why not just create something completely new?

Anyway – look for it at some point in the future…you know…if you care.

Cartoon Network announced during a special “Alien X” episode of the popular “Ben 10″ series this weekend that “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” would premiere on the network on October 3rd, 2008 at 9:00 pm EST.

The show recently made its debut on the big screen, and was met with decidedly “mixed” reviews. Personally, I enjoyed the film, and my daughter (arguably the target demo – not sure if they ever “target” girls for this type of thing) really enjoyed it, and was looking forward to watching the tv series.

I’m actually kind of surprised to see its coming so soon. The network promises a new adventure ever week, and the trailer they showed during the “Ben 10″ episode looked even better than the trailer for the movie – so I’m excited to see where they go with it.