Batman: The Animated Series, Volume 4 (DC Comics Classic Collection)

I gotta say, I love Batman: The Animated Series Volume 4, which is the episodes from The New Batman Adventures. This volume features the final 24 episodes of the Batman series (although it isn't the last time we see Batman, obviously). Also, this is Volume features new animation for every character, as well as the vehicles being redesigned. For instance, Batman's suit goes from a gray suit with the classic Batman Logo, to a gray suit with a new Bat Logo, and a new utility belt. Batgirl's suit is redesigned to match it in the comics, Tim Drake (3rd Robin in the comics, after Jason Todd) becomes the new Robin, and Dick Grayson becomes Nightwing. My personal favorite episodes in this volume are Holiday Knights, Sins of the Father, Cold Comfort, Joker's Millions, Over the Edge, Old Wounds, The Demon Within, Legends of The Dark Knight, and Girl's Night Out. In Holiday Knights, it's a triple segment episode. In the first segment, it's December 22nd. Harley and Ivy are out of Arkham, and decide to hypnotize Bruce Wayne to take his credit cards to go on a shopping spree. In the second segment, it's December 24th, Harvey Bullock is undercover as a Mall Santa Claus to capture a bunch of Child Shoplifters, who turns out to be parts of Clayface. Barbara Gordon is nearby, and becomes Batgirl to stop Clayface. In the third segment, It's December 31st. Joker decides for his resolution to not kill people for 1 year, so he decides to kill a lot of people at the New Year's Eve party in Gotham City. Batman and Robin stop him, and at about 2 am on January 1st, Batman meets up with Commissioner Gordon to say that they're glad to have survived another year. In The Sins of the Father, Batman encounters Tim Drake, who becomes the second Robin to help Batman and Batgirl stop Two-Face from unleashing chemicals in Gotham City. In Cold Comfort, this episode takes place after the DCAU movie Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero, who at the end of the movie, Victor Fries learns his wife is now awake, but doesn't go to be with her. She got tired of waiting, left him, and married her doctor. Mr. Freeze then decides to make everybody else feel how he feels to be alone. It is also the last you see Mr. Freeze until the season 1 Batman Beyond episode Meltdown. In the episode Joker's Millions, one of the Joker's enemies leaves him 250 Million Dollars, which only a part of it was actually real money.In The Episode Over The Edge, Batgirl is exposed to some of Scarecrow's Fear Gas, which causes her to have a nightmare. In her nightmare, she falls off the roof to her death when Commissioner Gordon finds out who she really is. Gordon then goes through Barbara's computer, and finds out that Batman is Bruce Wayne, Robin is Tim Drake, and Nightwing is Dick Grayson. The Commissioner then begins a manhunt against Batman, even recruiting Bane to help him. In Old Wounds, Nightwing reveals to Robin the reason why he quit as Robin. Some time prior, Dick Grayson graduated college. He then was out with Batman one night, and Batman attacks one of the thugs working with Joker in front of his own family. Robin leaves after seeing this. In the end, Dick quits being Robin, and punches Batman right in the face. This episode also reveals that Batman knew who Batgirl was, but never told Robin, and how Batgirl finds out who Batman and Robin are. In The Demon Within, it features Clarion the Witch-Boy, who is attempting to get a Brand Iron that belonged to Morgaine Le Fay (later appears in Justice League), and Jason Blood is attempting to get it as well. When Blood almost loses it in the auction, Bruce steps in and buys the brand for 1 million dollars. Clarion gets it back, to use it to separate Etrigan the Demon from Jason Blood. In the end, Etrigan merges back with Jason Blood. In Legends of the Dark Knight, it has a few kids telling their story of what they think Batman is like (similar to the DC Animated Original Movie Batman: Gotham Knight). In the two segments, the first has Batman and Robin designs from the 1950s comics, and the second features the segment from the Book The Dark Knight Returns. Finally, in the episode Girl's Night Out, it features Batgirl and Supergirl teaming up to fight against Livewire, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn. This is one of my all-time favorite episodes, as it features the girls being the heroes for the first time without Batman or Superman. This volume, like the others of course, feature special features. Special Features included: Interactive Arkham Asylum: Examine the Top-Secret Case Files of the Dark Knight's Many Foes Featurette Commentary on Over the Edge episode Commentary on Critters episode Commentary on Legends of the Dark Knight Episodes included: DISC 1 Holiday Knights Sins of the Father Cold Comfort Double Talk You Scratch My Back Never Fear DISC 2 Joker's Millions Growing Pains Love Is A Croc Torch Song The Ultimate Thrill Over The Edge DISC 3 Mean Seasons Critters Cult of the Cat Animal Act Old Wounds The Demon Within DISC 4 Legends of the Dark Knight Girl's Night Out Mad Love Chemistry Beware the Creeper Judgment Day All in all, Batman The Animated Series Volume 4 is a great volume. I highly recommend you buy this volume, along with the others, especially if you're a fan of Batman. This is one of the greatest series ever created.

Some have said this not the best, but this volume has some of my favorite Batman episodes. These were originally broadcast as The New Batman Adventures from 1997 to 1999. I always liked the Harley Quinn episodes-- a sexy lunatic, dangerous, femme fatale, but behaves and sounds like an air head. A weird combination that works. She often pairs with Poison Ivy, who is a serious feminist vigilante who loves plants more than people, but she creeps me out. This set has numerous intriguing stories: "Sins of the Father" is a Tim Drake origin story "You Scratch My Back" has Catwoman getting Nightwing to team up with her in a hunt against a gang, but it is all test to see whose side she is really on. "Growing Pains" Clayface creates a girl as a scout which Robin thinks is a real girl. "Love is a Croc" Baby Doll fals in love with Killer Croc. Has Batman & Batgirl walking through the sewers "I'll Never Get This Smell Out of My Costume or My Nose," "Normally I'm Opposed to Spanking, but This Time I'll Make an Exception" "Over the Edge" Batgirl dies, crashes onto the windshield of her father's police cruiser. Gordon arrets Batman for murder. All based on the anxiety that Barbara fears her father will fight Batman over her night job. But he already knows she is Batgirl and trusts her. "Cult of the Cat" Catwoman is pursued by a fanatical cat themed cult of thieves. Once again Batman teams up with her to defeat the villains. "Old Wounds" Dick reveals to Tim the secret of the strained relationship with Bruce and Barbara. Probably the set's best episode. "Girl's Night Out" Livewire escapes, Supergirl and Batgirl team up to find her, but Livewire has joined Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Batman barely appears. "Mad Love" the famous Harley Quinn origin story and a personal favorite of mine. "Beware the Creeper" Most lunatic episode ever. The Joker throws reporter Jack Ryder into a vat of chemicals and turns him into the wacky, maniacal The Creeper. Has several references to the Animaniacs. Has Harley Quinn's best lines. The box set has lots of Batgirl: "You Scratch My Back," "Cold Comfort," "Sins of the Father," "Holiday Knights" [where she changes into her costume in a department store], "Love is a Croc," "Torch Song" ["Same thing as every night, Pinky"], The Ultimate Thrill, Critters, Old Wounds, "Girl's Night Out," and "Chemistry." Yet also has one of the worst episodes: "Critters" a stupid satire of farmers as supervillians and genetic engineering. Weird, bizarre, doesn't work. Another terrible episode is "Joker's Millions." This one also just doesn't work, The Joker isn't that stupid. On the whole, the best of the 4 box sets.

The episodes compiled in this fourth collection of the animated Batman series is from the Kids WB New Batman Adventures, which hit Saturday mornings a while after the classic Batman: The Animated Series was over with. Most of the voice cast was retained (including Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight), but the animation underwent a complete overhaul, which would be seen on the animated Superman series as well as the current Justice League Unlimited. The animation transformation isn't for everyone, but it works for the most part, and the storytelling is still top notch. In the episodes collected here, we learn why Dick Grayson quit being Robin and became Nightwing, and we also see the origin of the new Robin, Tim Drake. DC character the Creeper makes his animated debut, and there's a delicious new, and horrifying, twist and look to the Scarecrow (voiced by Jeffrey Combs). The "World's Finest" episodes are here as well, which is the first (of many) cross overs with Batman and Superman as they team up to take down the Joker and Lex Luthor. However, this volume does have it's share of low points. The attempted new twist on Two-Face doesn't work, and the re-vamped animation is definitely going to be a downer for some. However, the strikingly mature tone of these episodes (including a nightmare-esque scenario where Batgirl is killed and Commissioner Gordon launches a full scale attack against Batman and co.) makes this set worth owning for longtime Bat-fans, and this is most certainly better than what's being passed off as a Batman cartoon these days.

New adventures await you and the Gotham Knights in Batman: The Animated Series, Volume Four - The New Batman Adventures! Revamped from the dark deco days of the original series with a simpler yet stylized new look, the New Batman Adventures featured the Gotham Knights: Batman & Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing in some of their most memorable episodes. Introducing the voices of Mathew Valencia as Tim Drake, the new Robin and Tara Charendoff-Strong (replacing Melissa Gilbert-Brinkman) as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, this 4-disc (521 min.) set contains all 24 episodes from the series which include classics "You Scratch My Back", "Old Wounds" and fan-favorite "Over the Edge". Other highlights include "Legends of the Dark Knight" which acknowledges the works of Bill Finger, Dick Sprang and Frank Miller. Not to mention "Never Fear" featuring the most horrific version of the Scarecrow (chillingly voiced by Jeffrey Combs) ever animated. The New Batman Adventures not only refined the designs of the characters (a "taste great/less filling" matter of opinion) but also how the stories were presented to viewers. The show's pacing and even balance of mature melodrama and stylized action would serve as a blueprint for the success of future shows Batman Beyond and Justice League Unlimited. Here are the contents of this set: Disc 1: Holiday Knights Sins of the Father Cold Comfort Double Talk You Scratch My Back Never Fear Disc 2: Joker's Millions Growing Pains Love Is a Croc Torch Song The Ultimate Thrill Over the Edge Disc 3: Mean Seasons Critters Cult of the Cat Animal Act Old Wounds The Demon Within Disc 4: Legends of the Dark Knight Girls' Night Out Mad Love Chemistry Beware the Creeper Judgment Day Special Features: Commentary: On "Over the Edge", "Critters" and "Legends of the Dark Knight" by Bruce Timm (Producer), Paul Dini (Producer), Glen Murakami (Art Director), James Tucker (Storyboards), Dan Riba (Director) and Moderator Jason Hillhouse. Featurette: "Arkham's Finest": Inside Batman's Rogue Gallery. Worth the wait, and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

People have been giving this volume quite a bit of hate, of which I certainly don't think is deserved. The animation is, of course, different, which is what I think warranted a lot of negative reviews. However, the story writers, production team, and even voice actors (except save Barbara, who gets a more high-pitched feminine voice) are still the same as the other three volumes - the only thing that is changed is the animation. And there is a reason why. The team behind Batman: The Animated Series was also working on Superman: The Animated Series at the same time. Not only did they have to outsource a few episodes to Japanese animation companies (The "Over the Edge" episode's animation was actually outsourced), but they wanted a smooth crossover to be possible between Superman: The Animated Series and the Batman animated series. Since Superman's animation was much sharper, they wanted the new re-vamped batman series to match superman's animation more closely. "Girl's Night Out" is a perfect example of the two worlds of Metropolis and Gotham coming together - this definitely would not have been possible with the old animation. After a two-year break from the Batman animated series, they chose to return to it, with a revamped animation scheme, of which, with these items in perspective, makes sense - they had reasons for altering the animation, of which are all explained in full in this volume's wonderful director's commentaries and extras ;) (And, to go even a step further in explaining this new animation, this new re-vamped animation also paved the way for a smooth transition with the team's "Justice League" TV series, which ran from 2001-2004. So there you go!) The women, in my opinion, look exceedingly better in this volume than previous ones - I like the male animation better in the old volumes (I think it gave them more character), but I digress. There were reasons for this change which are very well-supported reasons. My advice when first watching this volume: skip "Holiday Knights" and watch the rest of the Disc 1 FIRST. "Holiday Knights" is exceedingly childish, and (in my opinion) was a pretty bad way of introducing this new volume to Batman-fans (but yes, yes, I know, they listed these episodes in the order they were created lol). I often wonder if most of these bad rating happened because of frustrations with this first-episode?? So yes, skip that episode and come back to it - you'll thank me later ;) Same great story lines, same voice actors, just a little different animation. Batman is darker and more brooding in this series, which helps promote the need for more of Bat-girl, Robin, and Nightwing. Tim Drake/Robin often serves as a source of genuinely funny/snarky comic relief, and certainly doesn't feel out of place in this series like I thought he would. Overall, get this volume! It's truly a delight, and is certainly exceedingly enjoyable to watch (especially Nightwing's fascinating story line in this scheme of things). There are so many gems in this volume, if you don't get it, you're really missing out! (Mad Love, Nothing to Fear, and Old Wounds are just three of the greats on this volume). So ignore the haters - get this volume! You won't be disappointed :) <3

Though the series took a change in its look - opting for a less "film noir" look - the series, which actually aired first as "The New Adventures of Batman and Robin," later alternating with Superman episodes, it still carried on the tradition of great storytelling, wonderful voice acting, and continuing to offer a show that appeals to both young and old. This set features the familiar rogues' gallery, still featuring bravura performances from Mark Hamill (Joker), Paul Williams (Penguin), Scarecrow (Jeffrey Combs), Richard Moll (Two-Face), David Warner (Ra's Al Gul), Michael Ansara (Mr. Freeze) and the wonderful Arlene Sorkin (Harley Quinn), among others. In fact, four episodes feature Quinn and that's enough to make this a keeper. One-time only appearances are made by genre favorite Malachi Throne and the late Elizabeth Montgomery in what would be her last television performance. There are some really exceptional episodes but the truly standout installment is the delightfully weird "Chemistry." In this one, Batman, Robin, and Batgirl must deal with a villain unlike any other that they have faced. The late Peter Breck, known by baby boomers as Nick Barkley on the old "The Big Valley" show of the 60's, really threw himself into the role as a character twice-removed from Jed Clampett. The episode comes complete with commentary and what a wonderful commentary it is. Great packaging and clarity of picture and sound!

My five yearold and three year old LOVE LOVE LOVE this show. They watch it constantly. For those who are fans of the old Batman animated series (my husband and I are), we couldn't wait to show these to our kids. The animation is a little different. I don't like the style as much as the old one. I guess they changed the style to match the Superman animated series. Whatever. The stories are still excellent, particularly the ones that involve the New Robin and Nightwing (the old Robin.) What parents should be warned about is that there are some instances of the characters taking God's name in vain. I realize that for many this may not be a big deal, but for those who don't want their kids saying, "oh my god!" at age 3, be warned. We had to have a long talk to ours about this. We realize we can't shelter the kids forever, but these words didn't seem to happen in the earlier seasons. All in all, a great show. Watch it with your kids if violence scares them, or start them off with the older episodes which were more mild.

I am a huge fan of Batman, eversince I was a kid. Seeing this show while growing up, I finally wanted to own it and watch through the entire series. I purchased all the seasons from here last year, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the show! It is still in a lot of people's minds, the best representation of Batman outside of the comics. Definitely a must have for any Bat fans! Volume 4 changed art styles in order to resemble the Superman animated series they were working on at the time. Leaving many characters revamped visually, most of them for the worse. However, the quality of storytelling and everything else is still here in this last season of episodes. Still a fantastic show, and if you want the whole experience, get this volume too. I would recommend volumes 1-3 first, but this one is still great and recommended as well. As for the packaging and presentation, Volume 4 was in great condition!