Batman: The Brave and The Bold
Season One, Part Two
DVD
Starring: Diedrich Bader, John DiMaggio, Will Friedle, James Arnold Taylor
Warner Home Video
Released date: March 15, 2011

Finally, the second part of Batman: The Brave and The Bold Season One has hit store shelves, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Previously, I mentioned how much I love this show, but my love for the show didn’t really develop until the second half of season one. This is really when the show came on my radar, so I’m excited to finally get my hands on this DVD.

This DVD set features some incredibly awesome team ups and voice acting that will make any geek’s heart beat just a little faster. Some of the dream teams that we see are Batman teamed up with Etrigan The Demon, and Sherlock Holmes in “Trials of the Demon!”, Batman and a depressed Aquaman in “Mystery in Space!”, and an AWESOME team up featuring Bat-Mite in “Legends of the Dark Mite!”, which is just as crazy as it sounds. Also, in this season we have the legendary appearance of Neil Patrick Harris in the musical episode, “Mayhem of the Music Meister!”, which is just as awesome as it sounds.

In this second volume, it’s obvious that the creators felt a little more comfortable with taking the recent super dark interpretation of The Dark Knight and turning it on its head with the ultra goofy, and sometimes silly, blue and gray Batman that’s more kid-friendly. But one of the most impressive things about this second half of season one is that they were able to make it relatable to older Batman/comics fans by making hilarious references to the comic books, and doing it well, especially in the Bat-Mite featured “Legends of the Bat Mite!” which features references to Adam West’s Batman and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, as well as addressing fan criticism of the show at a comic book convention with Bat-Mite speaking to a room filled with people cosplaying Batman. You have seriously got to see this.

The voice acting from Deidrich Bader, John DiMaggio, Will Friedle, and the rest of the main cast is phenomenal as usual, and DiMaggio gives an awesome performance as a depressed Aquaman in “Mystery in Space!” But the real standout was “Mayhem of the Music Meister!” You may remember when it was announced a couple of years back, but it was a pretty big deal. On the heels of the incredibly popular musical web series, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, Neil Patrick Harris was announced to be guest starring on a musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and they didn’t fail to deliver. This was rare, but all of the original songs were catchy, silly, and fun, much like the series as a whole, and it features pretty much the entire cast.

The price for the set is completely worth it with episodes like “Legends of the Bat Mite!” and “Mayhem of the Music Meister!”, but you won’t be disappointed by the rest of the episodes either. This show is perfect for people that have a knowledge of DC Comics characters, and for anyone that likes to have fun.