Batman: The Animated Series, Episode 69: “Avatar”

Written by Michael Reaves
Directed by Kevin Altieri (who got a shout-out in Holiday Knights that I forgot to mention)
Originally Aired: May 9th, 1994
DVD: Batman TAS Volume 3

Summary: Batman gets wrapped up in “a bad Saturday morning serial”, as he re-unites with Talia al Ghul to prevent her father from obtaining an ancient Egyptian God’s secrets of immortality. Nary a blue furry to be found here.

Blog Notes: Just in case you didn’t notice this on the front page of the blog, you can follow this blog on Twitter to be notified whenever a new entry is posted. Also, I’m using Google Feedburner now, so the RSS feed is apparently all shiny, in case its original bare-bones look scared you off.

Justice League 2×21: “Comfort and Joy”

Written by: Paul Dini
Directed by: Butch Lucic
Originally Aired: December 6, 2003
DVD: Justice League, Season Two

Summary: After averting a crisis on an alien world, the Justice League splits up to grab some personal time during the holiday season. Superman invites J’onn home for Christmas, Hawkgirl shows Green Lantern how she celebrates, and Flash lives out an Arnie movie.

NOTE: If you’re watching these episodes for the first time with the reviews, this one contains very slight spoilers since I’m reviewing it out-of-sequence in order to post it on Christmas Day. When the reviews catch up, it’ll be placed in the right spot.

Batman: The Animated Series, Episode 86: “Holiday Knights”

Written by Paul Dini
Directed by Dan Riba
Originally Aired: September 13, 1997
DVD: Batman: TAS, Volume 4

Summary: Harley and Ivy borrow Bruce Wayne for a shopping spree, Barbara Gordon encounters the world’s grumpiest Santa, and Batman and Robin have a rocking New Year’s. Oh, and Batman picks up a tab.

Batman: The Animated Series, Episode 38: “Christmas with the Joker”

Written by Eddie Gorodetsky
Directed by Kent Butterworth
Originally Aired: November 13, 1992
DVD: Batman, TAS, Volume 1

Summary: Robin’s attempts to get Batman to take a night off to watch It’s a Wonderful Life get derailed as the Joker escapes from prison, kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and two others, and stages a holiday special of his own.

Batman: The Animated Series, Episodes 60, 61: “The Demon’s Quest”

Teleplay by Dennis O’Neil and Len Wein
Story by Dennis O’Neil
Directed by Kevin Altieri
Original Airdates:
DVD: Batman TAS Volume 3

Summary: Batman must work with the mysterious Ra’s Al Ghul in order to find Robin and Ra’s’ daughter Talia. However, the kidnapping is merely a test by Ra’s to see if Batman is worthy of being brought into Ra’s apocalyptic schemes.

Weekend Aside: JLA 27 – “The Bigger They Come….”

Written By: Mark Millar
Art By: Mark Pajarillo, Walden Wong and Marlo Alquiza

Although people remember the first three years of the relaunched JLA as the “Morrison run”, in reality a fair number of guest writers contributed to the run in addition to Grant Morrison himself. While the usual go-to guest writer was future regular writer Mark Waid, by the time JLA #27 hit the stands, Grant Morrison was collaborating with future Marvel star writer Mark Millar (at the time better known for his tenure on Superman Adventures) on a series called Aztek. As a result, Millar got a shot at what was at the time the biggest job in comics: writing the JLA.

Justice League 2×05-06: “Only A Dream”

Written by: Stan Berkowitz
Directed by: Butch Lukic
Originally Aired: October 11, 2003
DVD: Justice League, Season Two

Summary: Worked to exhaustion by a prison break, the Justice League find their dreams haunted by a convict who has acquired the power to control the dream world.

Arc Notes: Hawkgirl’s mind is shielded from J’onn’s probes, and she also seems to have acquired Storm’s issues with claustrophobia. Green Lantern shows concern for Hawkgirl a bit out of keeping with that of a regular teammate.

Batman: The Animated Series, Episode 97: “Over the Edge”

Written by Paul Dini
Directed by Yuichiro Yano
Originally Aired May 23, 1998
DVD: Batman, The Animated Series, Volume Four

Summary: An encounter with the Scarecrow plunges the entire Bat-Family into a nightmarish scenario, as both Batman and Commissioner Gordon are forced to take extreme measures to resolve the matter.

Arc Notes: We learn that Commissioner Gordon knows that Barbara is Batgirl.

Weekend Aside: Best Picture Ever

Yes, I know it’s not a weekend. Just go with it and hit the jump for something I couldn’t resist holding off on posting until JLU. Its purpose is sinister….

Batman: The Animated Series, Episode 28 – “Dreams in Darkness”

Written by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Directed by Dick Sebast
Original Airdate: November 3, 1992
DVD: Batman, The Animated Series, Volume One

Summary: After inhaling a large dose of Scarecrow’s fear toxin, Batman begins suffering nightmarish visions and is committed to Arkham Asylum.