News

Looking back, the early nineties were the best of times and worst of times for Batman fans. In 1989, fans got their first big-budget Hollywood Batman movie, followed by the 1992 sequel Batman Returns. Both of these films boasted A-list talent and made huge money. But they weren’t really interested in Batman, at least not the guy that comic book readers loved.

But 1992 saw the launch of Batman: The Animated Series, a cartoon that gave fans some of the best ever tales of the Dark Knight, in any media. Created by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, The Animated Series took some visual cues from Burton’s movies, especially in its designs for Catwoman and the Penguin, but it was grounded in the Bronze Age comics by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams as well as 1940s cinema.

Taking a lead from the Fleischer Brothers’ Superman cartoons, Timm and Radomski insisted upon smooth animation for their project,...

Batman: The Animated Series is one of the greatest adaptations of a comic book character of all time, and a big part of that is one of the original series’ directors, Kevin Altieri. Altieri recently returned to the world of the Dark Knight with the publication of Batman: The Adventures Continue: Season Three #2, for which the legendary animation director provided the art.

With an over thirty-year career in animation, Altieri has worked on not only Batman, but also properties as varied as Spider-Man, the Transformers and Scooby Doo. In addition to his animation work, Altieri has also written and drawn several comics for DC, Wildstorm and other publishers. Altieri also co-directed the 1998 video for Pearl Jam’s “Do the Evolution,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Music Video, Short Form.” In this exclusive interview with Screen Rant, the artist discusses his new Batman issue, his love of comics and animation,...

Todd McFarlane may be an iconic comic book creator who brought the world Spawn, but he's also left his mark as a music video director. One of his most enduring collaborations on that front is Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution" video, which he co-directed with Kevin Altieri (Batman: The Animated Series). The animated musical spectacle breaks open time and space for three-and-a-half minutes and saw McFarlane work closely on editing with Eddie Vedder. Now, on the 25th anniversary of the release, the band and writer have joined forces to share more of it with the world.

While at San Diego Comic-Con this year, McFarlane stopped by Screen Rant's media suite and exclusively announced that Pearl Jam would be releasing behind-the-scenes art from "Do the Evolution," as well as a remastered music video. Given that the song is arguably one of the band's greatest artistic achievements, and McFarlane's video captures its essence so well,...

Warning: Spoilers for Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #2An unexpected love triangle has formed in DC Comics as a potential past love interest of Harley Quinn's also has a romantic history with none other than Batman himself. If one thing has often gone overlooked in DC lore, it's coverage of Harley Quinn's life prior to her life fighting (and eventually teaming up with) Batman. Readers know the basic roots of Harley's pre-Joker origin story, regarding her time as an honor student turned criminal psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. As far as her life outside of her profession, there is still very little known about what Harleen Quinzel's life looked like before she plunged headfirst into the madness that is Gotham City, namely when it comes to her romances.

For one reason or another, writers have not taken the opportunity to delve into the type of people that Harley...

Batman: The Animated Series is one of the greatest cartoons of all time, and now, one of the legendary creators involved in the show is returning to the pages of DC Comics. Original series director Kevin Altieri will be penciling and inking the second issue of Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three, due out this February.

A continuation of the classic animated series, Batman: The Adventures Continue is the brainchild of B:tas writers Alan Burnett and Paul Dini. Running for fifteen issues across two miniseries/“seasons,” this most recent season will conclude the run. In addition to Burnett and Dini, DC is bringing back Kevin Altieri for a reunion of sorts of the classic cartoon’s creative team. Kevin Altieri recently shared his cover for issue #2 via Instagram, resulting in a piece that perfectly captures the film noir mood that made Batman: The Animated Series so indelible in the hearts and minds of fans everywhere.

It’s hard to believe that prior to the mid-’80s when Frank Miller, got his evil genius hands on the Dark Knight with the landmark graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns, the figure of Batman was defined by the kitschy ’60s TV show starring Adam West and the bright and sunny pages of Bob Kane’s original Detective Comics. Released in 1986, The Dark Knight Returns cast Batman as a moody, bitter, aging caped crusader: a musclebound vigilante who spends his nights crashing a tank through the grimy streets of a Gotham that closely resembled the rain-soaked, gothic aesthetic of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982).

From this point on in comics, television, cinema, and the general public consciousness, Batman was forever reinvented as a brooding, tragic, gothic figure who often occupied the thin line between hero and anti-hero. When Tim Burton was handed the reins for Batman’s first real foray into cinema,...

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Okay well only the first week of December but 2020 has been horrendous, so lets take the small victories. For a lot of people 2020 has been tough. Lockdowns, tier systems, furlough and social distancing. We have never experienced anything like this before. I hope in those challenging times the good people of Nerdly have kept you entertained. The comics industry itself has felt the effects of 2020. There were mass layoffs over at DC and countless books from all across the board have faced cancellation. A lot of the challenges thrown up by the pandemic have been met with exciting opportunities. The last two weeks in the pages of ‘eBuying comics’ I have done my little bit to help. This week I will be even more merry (’tis the season after all!) and be running down a few Christmas related comics. I don...

Burbank, CA – With copies of the popular Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited Edition nearly sold out, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC Entertainment have made available – effective today – the streamlined, content-only Batman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray/Digital box set ($89.99 Srp). The 12-disc set (plus a digital copy) features all 109 remastered episodes of the landmark television series along with hours of bonus features, the heralded 90-minute “The Heart of Batman” documentary, and the recently-remastered, fan favorite animated films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero.

Amazon will continue to offer Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-ray box sets while supplies last.

“Demand for the most acclaimed animated super hero television series in history has been tremendous – nearly all of the 70,000 Limited Edition Blu-ray box sets have been sold across North America,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Vice President, Family & Animation Marketing.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is easily one of the best Batman films that has been made, especially to those of us who grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series.

It’s been twenty-five years since the movie was released in theaters and to celebrate the occasion the movie is getting a theatrical re-release for one day only thanks to Fathom Events.

Your chance to see the movie on the big screen will happen on Monday, November 12th. I also included a special trailer that was released promoting the special event screening that fans won’t want to miss!

In this animated feature set in the 1940s, the troubled yet heroic Batman (Kevin Conroy) is pitted against a mysterious figure who is rubbing out Gotham City's most dangerous criminals, and who many believe is the caped crusader himself. Batman's alter ego, millionaire Bruce Wayne, is about to get married to...

The second wave of Batmania was ignited in 1989 when Tim Burton finally got a big screen adaptation of the comic book hero into theaters. It was such a wild success in terms of merchandising that Warner Bros wanted more and quickly. Since features take two to three years, they needed something sooner and the success of their Tiny Tunes and Animaniacs encouraged them to bring the Dark Knight back to television.

Thankfully, the project was placed in the hands of Alan Burnett, Bruce Timm, and Paul Dini who were not only fans of the character but the earliest cartoon fare. Taking a visual cue from Burton and a stylistic one from the Fleischer Brothers Studio, they produced a Batman cartoon unlike anything from the 1960s or 1970s. Batman the Animated Series was sampled on prime time in September 1992 before launching on Fox Kids and for three seasons, there was nothing quite like it.

Pearl Jam were cresting when they made an appearance on the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. Not only did they win Video of the Year for “Jeremy,” trouncing video warhorses like Aerosmith, Peter Gabriel and R.E.M., but they also performed on the show, giving the network footage to air when the band moved away from making music videos. The peak of the evening was when Neil Young joined them onstage for a lively rendition of his 1989 hit “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Young just sauntered onstage in jeans, T-shirt...

Pre-Order the set on Amazon!

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

And DC Entertainment Present

Batman:The Complete Animated Series

Deluxe Limited Edition

Coming October 16, 2018 To

Blu-ray™ Box Set And Digital

Burbank, CA – Batman: The Animated Series, the most acclaimed animated

super hero television series in history, arrives this fall in an all-encompassing package befitting its

revered place in the annals of fan-favorite entertainment. Remastered for the first time since its

broadcast airing from 1992-1995, Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited

Edition will be available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital and in a stunning Blu-

ray™ box set ($112.99 Srp) on October 16, 2018.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the Emmy Award-winning series captured the imaginations

of generations, setting the standard for super hero storytelling for the past quarter-century with its

innovative designs, near-perfect voice cast and landmark approach to DC’s iconic characters and

stories. Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited...

Burbank, CA – Batman: The Animated Series, the most acclaimed animated super hero television series in history, arrives this fall in an all-encompassing package befitting its revered place in the annals of fan-favorite entertainment. Remastered for the first time since its broadcast airing from 1992-1995, Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited Edition will be available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital and in a stunning Blu-ray box set ($112.99 Srp) on October 16, 2018.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the Emmy Award-winning series captured the imaginations of generations, setting the standard for super hero storytelling for the past quarter-century with its innovative designs, near-perfect voice cast and landmark approach to DC’s iconic characters and stories. Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited Edition box set includes all 109 thrilling episodes, plus two bonus disks containing the recently-remastered, fan favorite animated films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero.

The...

Welcome to Adventure(s) Time’s thirty-eighth installment, an examination of classic animated series and their tie-in comics. These week, we’re looking back on two stories that begin with the premise that Ra’s al Ghul is dead, with Batman and Talia paired on an adventure. (Thanks to reader Gravity Falls Poland for this suggestion. If you have any cartoon/comics pairings you’d like to see, please let me know in the comments.)

Debuting on May 9, 1994, “Avatar” is the sixty-ninth episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Introduced with a stunning title card evoking historical art from ancient Egypt, until you catch the stylized Batman emblems, Carlos Rodriguez’s score draws the audience in with pomp worthy of an old Hollywood epic. Writer Michael Reaves and director Kevin Altieri keep this theme alive throughout “Avatar,” pairing Batman and Talia on a journey across the globe.

After all these years, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is finally coming to Blu-ray! This is one of my favorite Batman movies and I've been wondering when Warner Bros. would finally get around to doing this! I'm surprised the studio waited this long to give the movie a high definition remaster.

The 1993 film has a new 1080p HD remaster and will include both the original 16×9 aspect ratio (1.78:1) and an open matte 4×3 (1.37:1) version.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm begins when the city’s most feared gangsters are systematically eliminated and the Caped Crusader is blamed. But prowling the Gotham night is a shadowy new villain, the Phantasm, a sinister figure with some link to Batman’s past. Can the Dark Knight elude the police, capture the Phantasm and clear his own name?

The movie was directed by Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm, Frank Paur, Kevin Altieri, Boyd Kirkland, and Dan Riba,...

This Christmas will mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm! To celebrate, Mondo is throwing it a little birthday party with a 35mm screening at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz on January 7th.

In addition, they commissioned Phantom City Creative to design these limited edition posters, which will available for sale in the lobby. 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was a near flawless Batman film, one that was overlooked by a lot of people when it was first released. The movie was directed by Eric Radomski, Bruce W. Timm, Kevin Altieri, Boyd Kirkland, Frank Paur, and Dan Riba.

The Movie Pool goes Awol for the G.I. Joe: Renegades Season One Blu-ray!

The Set-up

This latest incarnation of the iconic G.I. Joe franchise follows a group of modern-day soldiers who go rogue after being framed as terrorists by an evil corporation called Cobra.

The Delivery

This Blu-ray set includes all 26 episodes of the outstanding animated series that premiered in November 2010 on The Hub TV network. Our initial review of the Renegades Season One, Volume One DVD set (which you can read here) pointed out a lot that we liked about this new take on G.I. Joe, and some things that we didn't like. Thankfully, having taken in a full season of the show, the pluses far outweigh the minuses.

Utilizing the original characters introduced in the classic A Real American Hero animated series of the 1980s, this new spin takes a handful of core characters (Duke, Scarlett,...

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - The Animated Movie was a hell of great Batman film. Here's a great poster designed for it by animator and artist Kevin Altieri, who was the sequence director on the movie. The poster was actually an insert of Superman/Batman Magazine #2, and these are scanned images.

It's been awhile since I've watched Mask of the Phantasm, and I think its time to watch it again. If for some crazy reason you havn't seen this movie yet, you should check it out. 

Source: keane on comics (http://keaneoncomics.tumblr.com/post/14239979470/poster-insert-by-kevin-altieri-for-superman-batman)...

Following last year's pattern, the last day of San Diego Comic Con 2011 is all about kids. With the 8th annual San Diego International Children's Film Festival being kicked off on Sunday, July 24, about 60 short films from around the world are brought to the convention in a presentation that runs from 10:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M.

"Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz", which will be available on Blu-Ray Combo Pack and DVD on August 23, will be premiered in a screening taking place at Room 6A. Eleven-year-old animator and child film critic Perry Chen will participate in "The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child, Animated by a Child" panel which will bring forward his work "Ingrid Pitt: Beyond The Forest" as a topic of discussion.

The final day of this year's Comic Con is also filled with education programs such as the fourth day of comprehensive course on...

Comic-Con International has released the full schedule for Sunday July 24th for San Diego Comic-Con 2011. This is the final day of the convention. Sunday is known as Kids day and is usually the slowest of all the days, there are a few surprises though. In all my years of going to Comic-Con I've never been to a panel in Hal H. Usually nothing is happening in Hall H on Sunday, this year there are a few TV programs going on in Hall H such a as Glee, Supernatural, Doctor Who, The Cleveland Show, Sons of Anarchy, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and this year Buffy the Musical will be in the great Hall as well. I've never been to the Buffy Musical event, and I think I finally want to go this year. A couple of other things worth noting are a one on one panel with Nathan Fillion, and Max Brooks talks about zombies.

Chicago – We’re back with our recurring feature, the Blu-Ray Round Up, a collection of HD releases that might have slipped through the cracks but that could grab your attention. With dozens of catalog titles and straight-to-video releases hitting the next-gen format every week, it’s easy to miss a movie that you’d love to add to your collection. The Blu-Ray Round Up is here for you.

This edition of the Round-Up focuses its laser gaze on six titles from two companies, a series of four catalog releases from Twentieth Century Fox and a pair of new titles from Lionsgate. “Antwone Fisher,” “Drumline,” “Hulk Vs.,” “Repo!: The Genetic Opera,” “Stargate: The Ark of Truth,” and “Unfaithful” - an Oscar nominee, Denzel Washington, Bruce Banner, and Paris Hilton. Where else would you find a line-up like that?

“Stargate: The Ark of Truth” was released on January 13th, 2009.

“Antwone Fisher,...

If there was any doubt that The Hulk is still a force to be reckoned with, the over $135 million domestic box office haul by Ed Norton and Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk (DVD/Blu-ray review here) has proven his incredible staying power as a Marvel comic icon. And on January 27, 2009, he'll take on both Wolverine and Thor in two highly anticipated animated features on one DVD: Hulk Vs.

From the press release: Make way for the clash of Marvel's mightiest heroes as Bruce Banner's alter-ego takes on fan favorites Wolverine and Thor in two epic, all new, action-packed animated films: Hulk Vs. Wolverine and Hulk Vs. Thor. These dark and violent showdowns have been seen in various forms throughout Marvel comic book history, and the rematches have continued to thrill comic fans ever since. Now Marvel and Lionsgate have taken the two epic comic book battles and merged them...

The Animated Series That’s Bigger Than The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man Finally Comes To DVD, With All 147 Episodes of The Real Ghostbusters And Slimer! In Remastered Clarity, Packaged In A Collectible 25-dvd Set.

*Check Back Next Week For An Exclusive Hands-on Review, Right Here At Fangoria!

Charge up your Proton Packs and get the P.K.E. Meter running! One of the most popular animated series in television history to spin off from a major motion picture, The Real Ghostbusters, will soon be available for the first time on home video from Time Life. The 25-dvd set includes all 147 astonishing episodes of the seven-season series for over 55 hours of ghost-busting goodness — in their complete original form, but re-mastered for picture and audio perfection. Produced by some of the team members behind the legendary Ghostbusters motion pictures, The Real Ghostbusters features scripts by some of the top names in animation, science fiction,...

One of the best series in all of TV these days is ''Batman: The Animated Series, '' the Emmy-winning afternoon program featuring the Dark Knight Lite in adventures filled with gorgeous, Deco-styled visuals. The show's popularity has even justified a big-screen incarnation, ''Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.''

Nonetheless, the movie has a couple of question marks hanging over it -- will parents want to take their kids to see something they can watch for free every weekday afternoon? And, how will they feel when they discover their youngsters are sitting through something more violent and macabre than the average installment of the tube version? Boxoffice prospects appear mild, though it'll likely clean up on video.

In ''Mask of the Phantasm, '' a new vigilante (who is actually not named in the movie, except in the title) has come to Gotham City. This one makes our hero seem timid in comparison: it wields an ax for a hand, and grimly murders mobsters. Batman/Bruce Wayne (voice of Kevin Conroy) soon finds himself knee-deep in guano -- an opportunistic, corrupt city councilman (Hart Bochner) is blaming him for the murders, and is also romancing Wayne's old flame, Andrea (Dana Delany).

Of course, it's not too long before the Joker (Mark Hamill) figures into the proceedings.

The animation is slightly better than the series' already high quality, though nowhere near the state-of-the-art of recent Disney efforts. Still, the visuals retain the extraordinarily evocative and imaginative polish of the series -- a World's Fair-style exhibit of the future is creatively rendered, particularly in its condemned, run-down stage (Batman and the Joker have a particularly neat Godzilla-like battle within a miniature cityscape).

Scripting is competent and clever, as good as if not better than your average live-action action flick. Shirley Walker (who also scores the TV series) contributes effectively operatic music.

Still, the mayhem level here may give parents pause when it comes to bringing younger children to the film. As opposed to, say, ''Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas, '' in which the gruesomeness is couched in a sweet and gentle atmosphere, the Gothic ''Mask of the Phantasm'' is practically fatalistic.

Its baroque tale of a couple whose love is doomed because they're too much alike is sophisticated (give the filmmakers points for not talking down to their audience), but the fact that the tale is steeped in high tragedy may not appeal to younger fans.

And the violence -- deaths, explosions and automotive accidents, all graphically rendered -- is almost on a level of Tim Burton's ''Batman'' movies (not for nothing is this rated PG). A wake-up call to kids that life can try one's soul isn't necessarily a bad idea, but in this particular forum, it seems a tad inappropriate.

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

Warner Bros.

Produced by Benjamin Melniker, Michael Uslin

Directors Eric Radomski, Bruce W. Timm

Executive producer Tom Ruegger

Producers Alan Burnett, Eric Radomski, Bruce W. Timm

Sequence directors Kevin Altieri, Boyd Kirkland, Frank Paur, Dan Riba

Music Shirley Walker

Screenplay Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, Michael Reeves

Story Alan Burnett

Color/stereo

Voices:

Batman Kevin Conroy

Andrea Dana Delany

Arthur Hart Bochner

Phantasm/Carl Stacy Keach, Jr.

Salvatore Abe Vigoda

Alfred Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

Joker Mark Hamill

Running time -- 75 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...