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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Brave and The Bold: "The Fate of Equinox!"

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As everyone here knows, I'm a regular watcher of Brave and The Bold, so when I sat down to watch last Friday's episode, I had no idea that Aquaman would make yet another appearance on the show, along with many of his fellow heroes!

The opening scene features Batman teaming-up with, and then fighting, Two-Face, in a nifty sequence that perfectly encapsulates the madness that is Harvey Dent.

The main story follows, with Batman fighting the villain Equinox. When Equinox displays extraordinary powers, Batman calls in Dr. Fate for help.

Equinox manages to escape, with some help from the Lor
d of Chaos, so Batman and Dr. Fate head back to Fate's sanctorum:
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While there, Dr. Fate uses his powers to see that reality itself is starting to come apart, and monstrous demons from other dimensions have begun to appear in their world.

The first example of this disturbing turn of events is in Atlantis, as Aquaman and his kingdom prepare to defend their city at all costs:
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Since this isn't an Aquaman episode, we don't get to see the Sea King tear into the hordes of monsters. Too bad, that would've been a really fun sequence!

Other heroes are similarly bedeviled by Equinox, who now has managed to transform himself into a giant being, ready to trample all over Gotham!

Batman and Dr. Fate aren't enough, so Fate grabs a bunch of other heroes to help in the fight, including Aquaman, Plastic Man, Green Lantern, and more.

Fate's plan involves using his powers to combine all the heroes' energies into one being, powerful enough to fight Equinox. Aquaman, of course, assumes he is the one best suited for this dangerous mission:
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Batman turns him down (causing Aquaman a moment of embarrassment), saying it should be Dr. Fate. But Fate says it needs to be Batman, so Fate has all the heroes contribute some of their energy and will to Batman.

Aquaman takes it all in stride, telling Batman to "Smash Equinox right in the blowhole!":
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The perfect Adventure Comics line-up--right there!

Anyway, Batman and Equinox's fight starts out like a Godzilla movie, with two giant beings punching it out amid the buildings. But eventually it moves into more mystical territory, and even into outer space:
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(Methinks we'll be seeing this particular version of Batman on toy shelves before too long)

Batman ends up defeating Equinox, and he returns to Gotham, thanking "brave and bold" friends for their help:
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...I loved this shot so much, as the camera pans across all the heroes, that I did a bunch of screengrabs and stitched them all together. Click to see a bigger version!


Another very fun episode (as they all are), and it was a great surprise to see Aquaman and the other heroes appear, something I had no idea was coming.

The people who make Brave and the Bold have done such a good job building up some of Batman's co-stars that I seriously think some of them could carry their own episodes, sans Batman. I don't know how that would work on a marketing level, but creatively it'd be fantastic.

And of course, we all know who should be the first Brave and the Bold co-star to get his own episode...

5 comments:

Josh Hill said...

I doubt you'll ever see them drop Batman from the show, but as I know you are aware of, they did an episode where the official team-up did not include Batman but instead Aquaman and The Atom (who were attempting to save Batman's life). That would be a hard trick to pull off again, but maybe they could find some other way for an episode or two to shuffle Batman to the side while still having it be about him.

Russell said...

I really need to make more of an effort to watch this!!!

Love the pan-shot, Rob, thanks!

Wings1295 said...

Sounds great, I need to catch this episode.

And I think you are spot on, Rob. Our adoration for Aquaman aside, this version of the character could carry a half hour toon all by himself. Or, even better, with Mera and the gang!

Earth 2 Chris said...

I love this show. Their bombastic version of Aquaman took some getting used to, but I really enjoy it now. Certainly better than sullen hook-handed Orin.

Chris

Orin's dad said...

It is a very fun show, and I've enjoyed all the Aquaman episodes, as well as team-ups with some other faves, such as GA and the Question. Looking forward to new episodes soon (I hope)!