My Cultural Diet

As a kid, my only real exposure to Batman was Adam West’s campy portrayal. Thus, Batman: The Animated Series was a revelation, and I daresay that for many of us who grew up in the ’90s, Bruce Timm’s series remains the definitive take on the Dark Knight, even more so than the actual comics. Timm’s Batman: Caped Crusader, which follows Bruce Wayne’s early adventures in crime-fighting, is clearly intended as a spiritual prequel to Batman: The Animated Series, even tapping into the same Art Deco-influenced aesthetic and noir tone. But the resulting series is just… OK. There’s nothing bad about Batman: Caped Crusader, though the blend of cel and CGI animation is surprisingly rough at times. But while the series has some bright spots (Hamish Linklater’s voicing of the Caped Crusader and the approach taken to Harvey Dent/Two-Face, voiced by Diedrich Bader), there’s nothing truly great about it, either. I’ll probably check out the already announced second season, but I don’t know if I hope that it hews even closer to Batman: The Animated Series, or tries to truly differentiate itself.

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