BATMAN (Gotham Knight)!!

God, I love him. I'm not talking about Christian Bale (though he is hot), but about the actual character himself from the DC Universe. Batman is my idea of a man: dark-humored, brooding, dealing with inner demons and turmoil, yet kind-hearted, heroic, and beautiful in black. I have always loved him, from back when I was a kid watching Batman: the Animated Series. Kevin Conroy's voice was perfect for the laid-back playboy Bruce Wayne, and then the badass Dark Knight. Those men who are most mysterious are the most intriguing, you know.

I recall watching Justice League: The New Frontier a few months ago and liking the overall story behind the formation of the Justice League and Hal Jordan becoming the Green Lantern, but I hated whoever was cast to do Batman's voice. HATED it. I didn't realize how important a child's association with a particular animated character carries through to adulthood. Who I envisioned this fictional character was from the cartoon series and the voice was my connection to who I imagined him to be (somewhat) in real life. So when I saw a gaunt version of him and heard him, I was thrown and displeased with the choice. The rest of the movie was good, but the movie's portrayal of my favorite male comic book character was not.

By default, I feared Gotham Knight, the new animated Batman movie release. It's...interesting. Told in six chapters, it goes through the myth of who is Batman to the struggling emotional core of the character's soul to the embodiment of the superhero. Six different animators and voices take a stab at creatively rendering their interpretation of the Dark Knight. Unfortunately for me, only the last two chapters struck a cord. "Working Through Pain" and "Deadshot" were visually dark and more realistic, unlike the earlier anime-style (I'm sorry, I love anime, but not when it comes trying to fit Batman into a Sailor Moon-style - see below). The anime versions are edgier, grittier, most likely great portrayals of Batman's essence and inner turmoil, but it proved to be a little too much for me. Overall though, the viewer can really connect with the character and understand the pain that he goes through as Gotham's protector. The earlier chapters were interesting enough, but the last two chapters are what sells the DVD, if you're interested in watching it.

I still have yet to see The Dark Knight (do NOT call me a fake fan - these theaters have been ridiculous and I was bought out of my movie showing that I had bought tickets to in advance!), but I liked seeing the animated DVD first for just a bit of a reminder of what we're following now in the movie (they're different enough, but they follow the movie mythology over the comic book one). As its accompaniment, I'm beyond eager to see the second showing, especially with its take on The Killing Joke. Go Batman!