If you saw something that you know probably wouldn't happen, but secretly believed it would, how ready would you be to accept or deny it? Barbara Gordon, one-time vigilante and current commissioner of Gotham City Police, has a tenuous relationship with vigilantism in the city she watches over. When she sees Batman kill Mad Stan,…

Naming this episode must've been a rough one in the Batman Beyond writers' room. By this point, they'd already used Meltdown, Hooked Up, and Mind Games. So when they had to name an episode about a guy getting an android girlfriend, they only had one option left. Batman Beyond: Terry's Friend Dates a Robot Is this…

What does it mean to be Batman? There are the things he does, of course--he stops crime, he protects innocents, he sheds light on the darkest parts of Gotham City. Those are challenging. But the truly difficult part is about the decisions. Batman has to make difficult, painful, and sometimes suicidal decisions. And then he…

This is a strictly-okay episode of Batman Beyond that also has one of the most heartbreaking lines I've ever heard a child character utter in a television show. Batman Beyond: Revenant One solid story idea that Batman writers can go back to over and over is to take a boilerplate story situation and then just…

Batman stories generally tend to lean toward science fiction, but the vast world of DC is full of magic, and it sneaks into Batman stories from time to time. It's hard to tell where this week's story lands; it comes across a bit like Evil X-Men, but it definitely doesn't press as deep into the…

Terry can't seem to be on time. No matter where he's going, Bruce is almost always calling him to look into some crime. I don't think the show ever explains whether public transit user Terry McGinnis is going all the way out to Wayne Manor to change into his cool suit or if he just…

With the focus of Batman Beyond often on younger people, the show is as often about the kids as it is about the villains. Last week was about the influence exerted by parents who want their child to live a certain way. This week, we follow Max and learn that despite her performance in school…

One of the throughlines of almost all Batman stories is the shadow our parents can cast over our lives, whether it be through their reputations, expectations, or the way they raise (or don't raise) us. It shouldn't be a surprise that this comes up for the villains as well from time to time. The Royal…

When I was in middle school, I got to read for class what would end up being one of my all-time favorite short stories, Richard McConnell's 'The Most Dangerous Game.' Even today, this century-old story feels like an early example of an action movie or exciting comic book. You could drop Keanu Reeves into the…

Usually when we run into the Jokerz in Batman Beyond, they're a bunch of clownish goons who seem at times to be barely capable of reading. This time, though, they have a real leader in Terminal, the smooth-talking gang member with a look that stands out from all the other dorks he hangs out with. Batman…

Here with go. This is what we've been waiting for. This episode is awesome--one of my favorites so far. It has just about everything you want from a Batman story. Weird technology, some horror, killer action. It's all here. Batman Beyond: Lost Soul What is a man? According to Dracula, a man is a miserable little…

Batman Beyond Season 2 has, thus far, included some of the show's best episodes so far. This episode, though, is one you can skip. Batman Beyond: Joyride The plot here is pretty straightforward. Some members of the Jokerz gang find an experimental military aircraft that has, unbeknownst to them, a deadly flaw. The nuclear-powered vehicle…

Another great hallmark of cyberpunk stories is suspicion and indictment of corporations. In these stories, it can be easy to make a corporation actively evil and monumentally huge. Oftentimes, though, it's not a matter of evil so much as disinterest and negligence. That disinterest and negligence can ruin lives by sheer happenstance rather than dastardly…

Human-animal hybrid transformation is a frequent favorite of science fiction cartoons. Batman: The Animated Series featured the idea in the episode "Tyger Tyger," in which a mad scientist trying splice human and animal DNA captures Catwoman so that she can be a partner for his creation, Tygrus. This episode shows us what the future might…

The Batman Beyond Season 1 finale marks what is apparently the last appearance of the villain Blight. It's a weird way to say goodbye to a character who is meant to be this Batman's archnemesis. Batman Beyond: Ascension Thus far, Batman Beyond has been pretty light on lore episodes, with Blight--aka Derek Powers--appearing as a villain in only…

Getting villains right is already tough--characters like Calendar Man and the Sewer King are reminders of that. But what about one that doesn't talk and doesn't show their face? Batman Beyond has maybe its toughest task yet with Curare, the blue-skinned assassin targeting future Gotham's District Attorney. Batman Beyond: A Touch of Curare It turns out…

One thing that makes Batman stand out from the rest of the Justice League is the way his stories facilitate horror elements. You can certainly find such things if you look hard enough in stories about Flash, Superman, and others, but it's all over in Batman, with characters constantly falling into acid, being transformed into…