Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Man of Steel: The Animated Series

Yes, as a rule a I agree that Superman should not go around killing people, but I was a bit surprised by the outrage at the end of Man of Steel when he reluctantly killed Zod. Much more blatant was Superman's killing of Zod in their last live action encounter in Superman II. Still, this Man of Steel parody incorporating the animated series designs got a chuckle out of me.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - SuperRabbit

Super Rabbit returned in the fun and reverent 2013 series finale of The Looney Tunes Show. Warners has continued its fine tradition with this superb tale including Braniac, Lex Luthor, and Zod.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Cry of the Coda

Up third with a character focus episode was Zealot. Not sure I know much more about her other than she is pretty boring. Apparently she formed the Coda to fight the Daemonites, but then a rival,  Artemis, turned them into mercenaries. Sadly, I am having a hard time getting into this series. It just seems like a very poor man's X-Men.

-----
Episode Count: 0618
Series Count: (3 of 12)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Heart of Steel

Along with convincing me that the WildCATS civilian outfits were more ridiculous than their costumes, the episode did a decent job of focusing on a single character. Although its doubtful that each CAT will get a spotlight, this adventure told the back story of Spartan the lovestruck cyborg. It wasn't high art, but at least I could remember something about him 5 minutes after the episode ended, which is more than I could say about anyone from the premiere. Up next, Grifter?

-----
Episode Count: 0617
Series Count: (2 of 12)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Dark Blade Falling

Being new to the series, it did take a fair bit of the episode to figure out who everyone was. The plot is basically just a good versus bad aliens on Earth, so I don't know if it will get any more sophisticated than than. I do like the Ghost Rider meets Wolverine look of the villain Helspont, but I didn't understand how the CAT Maul was able to catch him so easily or why he just let him go. Didn't seem too menacing to me. Overall, I think the heroes have interesting looks, but the series hasn't blown me away yet with story.

-----
Episode Count: 0616
Series Count: (1 of 12)
First Appearance: Grifter
First Appearance: Helspont
First Appearance: Maul
First Appearance: Spartan
First Appearance: Void
First Appearance: Voodoo
First Appearance: Warblade
First Appearance: Zealot

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - WildC.A.T.s

Superhero cartoons were all the rage in the early 1990's. The success of Batman: The Animated Series coupled with the explosive popularity of comic books had opened the floodgates for the likes of The Phantom 2040, The Tick, The Mask, and of course the uber-popular Image brand of The Savage Dragon, The Maxx, and Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.s. The WildC.A.T.s.comic was introduced in 1992 establishing the Wildstorm comic universe. A few years later, the property would be purchased by DC Comics and eventually the WildC.A.T.s would be integrated into the main DC continuity like other acquisitions Plastic Man, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, and many more.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero

SubZero is a good movie that plays almost like it was a three part episode of the series but it really doesn't rise to the level of epicness of the Mask of the Phantasm. That's not to say its not terribly enjoyable, because it truly is.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

And so we have come to the very first of what would become many animated features and the only one to be released theatrically. This truly is a masterful film which captures the tragedy of Bruce Wayne. It's not just that he lost his parent at such a tender age, becoming Batman and forgetting his own personal happiness was a destiny he was never able to escape.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Lost Episode

Although its been dubbed by fans as "The Lost Episode" the compilation of animated cut scenes from 1995's The Adventures of Batman and Robin Sega CD game lack a complete plot - as significant story points were covered in the gameplay sections. Still, the 16 minutes of animated segments do contain some fun and in fact violent action scenes that are something any fan of BTAS would want to check out. Poison Ivy, Clayface, Riddler, Harley and of course the Joker are all along for the ride making this a somewhat more gratifying series conclusion than the official one.

-----
Episode Count: 0613
Series Count: (79 of 81)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Lion and the Unicorn

I suppose its somewhat fitting that Batman: The Animated Series should close like it opened, with an adequate but underwhelming adventure featuring Red Claw. While this episode did offer some interesting insight into Alfred's past, it was a sub-par series finale and not one of the series finest. In fact, although I am pretty sure I had seen all of the episodes prior to the Infinite Episodes experiment, this is the one episode that I had no recollection of  upon the most recent viewing. Thankfully, the series isn't quite over yet...

-----
Episode Count: 0612
Series Count: (78 of 81)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - A Bullet For Bullock

Its fitting that before series end, Bullock (who Alfred described as looking like an unmade bed) and Bats got a team up. For not including any sort of super villain this was a surprisingly enjoyable adventure with an emphasis on solving a mystery. I'm not sure it made Bullock any more likeable, but you got to give the guy credit, at least he is trying to be on the right side of the law.

-----
Episode Count: 0611
Series Count: (77 of 81)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Catwalk

Catwalk gave us the team up that no one asked for in Catwoman and the Ventriloquist.  And yet, this episode worked surprisingly well and just may be my favorite Catwoman spotlights. Although it was fun seeing Batgirl and Catwoman team up, its also nice seeing Selina being a bit villainous as the puppet master pulled her strings.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Showdown

The series gets points for creativity by introducing  Jonah Hex through this weird western tale via Ra's al Ghul flashback. That being said, this portrayal of Hex didn't do much to win me over as a fan of the bounty hunter or his ugly mug.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Terrible Trio

 This one has a reputation for being one of the series worst, but that's not really fair. While it may not be a great episode due to the lackluster villains, a trio of bored frat boy 1%ers, this is not Batman in My Basement. Its just a fairly mediocre tail.

 

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Deep Freeze

 From the return of the cold and calculating Mr. Freeze to the interesting Easter eggs and homages peppered throughout, this was a massively entertaining episode.Who would have thought that anyone would crave Mr. Freeze's curse? But I suppose some would rather live forever than enjoy the life they have. Kind of funny given urban legends that it was a Walt Disney look-alike who wanted to cryogenically freeze himself. The portrayal of Freeze was once again solid. Yes, he is a villain, but only so far as his actions would help save his wife.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Lock-Up

The title character, Lock-Up just wasn't terribly interesting and consequently, I found the episode to be a bit forgettable.  I guess the idea of a cruel warden is a good contrast to Batman who wants justice rather than vengeance. But overall, this was kind of a dud.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Batgirl Returns

Trouble in paradise? The episode opened with a slightly inappropriate fantasy in which Barbara rescued and then seduced Batman. Guess sidekicks just didn't cut it for her any more. Being a huge Batgirl fan, I loved this episode which truly gave Babs the spotlight.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Make 'Em Laugh

I wasn't really feeling this episode about Joker's bid for the "King of Comedy" in Gotham City. Seems like he wouldn't concern himself with something so petty. But introducing Hatter tech did give it a modest boost in enjoyability.  

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Harley's Holiday

Probably the best Harely episode, at least from the original series pre-revamp even though t did get a little ridiculous - what with Robin using fish as nun-chucks and Veronica's dad attempting a rescue with a tank on a freeway. But you get to see that underneath the craziness, Harley wants to be a better person than she is. She just had a bad day.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Time Out of Joint

Not quite as good as the Clock King's debut, this follow up was another delight. Time manipulation is the perfect ability for the royal keeper of minutes and seeing Batman infused with Flash-like abilities due to his time accelerator was a bit of fun. Too bad Clock King never really caught on.

 
-----
Episode Count: 0602
Series Count: (68 of 81)