The Batman - The Complete Fifth Season

This third TV series of Batman is highly imaginative -- an important contribution to animated art! Rates triple A+++++.

Yeah, I pretty much like anything Batman. However, this series was well done, from the music to the villians. I was excited (as were my kids) when a fifth season was released.

The 5th (and final) season of KidsWB's "The Batman" takes a "Brave and the Bold" approach as Batman teams up with Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, and other heroes from the expanded DC Universe. Also featured this season are villains like Shadow Thief, Sinestro, and Lex Luthor.

If you're a comics fan, there's always a decent thrill in seeing characters cross over and interact, and for that alone this set is worth a purchase. But objectively, it's not really one of The Batman's better seasons. The animation is nowhere near as kinetic and thrilling as in the early seasons, and the writing isn't as strong as season 4, arguably the best season of the series. Really, the superhero guest spots fall into a predictable formula: Hero X comes to Gotham to help Batman defeat villain Y from Hero X's rogues gallery. Rinse and repeat. The two best stories of the season are the two that stick to the classic Bat-family: one involving Firefly turning into Phosphorous, the other involving an anti-Batman and Robin team.

Again it's absolutely awesome to see lesser-used characters like Hawkman appear in a Batman series, but it feels like so much more could've been done with this season. With 13 episodes and some brief bonus features "The Batman: The Complete Fifth Season" is a worthwhile addition to your Batman library, just be aware that the premise of superhero team-ups is ultimately better than the actual execution.

The Fifth and Final Season of The Batman is more of a team-up season. Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon only show up in cameos this season & Firefly becomes Phosphorus. The Joining, who was in the fourth seasons' finale, makes a return in this seasons' finale(which is over 40 minutes long). Batman teams up with the likes of Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter &, in the season finale, the entire Justice League. He squares off against the likes of Lex Luthor, Metallo, Mercy Graves, Count Vertigo, Wrath, Toyman, Sinestro, Shadow Thief, Mirror Master and the Terrible Trio. Vocal talents were provided by Rino Romano, Evan Sabara, Danielle Judovits, Alastair Duncan, Mitch Pileggi, Dorian Harewood, Dermot Mulroney, Robert Patrick, Chris Hardwick, Charlie Schlatter and George Newbern. It's a shame that this season is the shows' last. With every season bought, I got to liking it more and more. This season is, perhaps, the best out of them all. I suggest you collect them all while the getting is good.

Meanwhile, next year-look for a new Batman animated series to debut on Cartoon Network called Batman: The Brave & The Bold. It will see Batman team-up with several other DC Comics heroes during the season such as Aquaman, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Red Tornado and Plastic Man(just to name a few). The series is being produced by Ben Jones, Brandon Vietti and Michael Chang.

Seriously, who would have even begun to think that this serious would really last this long? I didn't believe it would, because I wouuld be what you call a Batman: The Animated Series fanatics. I grew up with that Batman series and I was sure that BTAS would be the pinnacle of Batman in animation. I was wrong though, this series was totally different from the original and in some respects this series was even better than it's predecessor.

Now the real shame is that The Batman has figuratively and literally ridden off into the sunset. The cast, producers, directors, animators, etc should all be proud of what they accomplished considering that they had to constantly be compared to very heavily favored Bruce Timm Paul Dini spawn. This show in my opinion will be sorely missed considering that superhero cartoons now are at a premium with that Chaotic and coutnless others that kids really now.

The series really grew into it's own at around the midpoint of season two and it was magic from there. The first season was very mediocre and then it seemed to just flourish with the animation and the writing, the voices were spot on. Rino Romano wasn't that great in the beginning but he really took to a whole new level all the other seasons. You could safely say that Rino Romano and Kevin Conroy in different respects are the voices of Batman.

The fifth season was the best and you would be making a grand disservice to yourself if you don't pick up a copy of this season and enjoy something that was really special.