Throwback Thursday: Does Batman: The Animated Series still hold up?

Does Batman: The Animated Series still hold up after 20 plus years?

The 1990s were an amazing time for comic book TV shows. Iron Man, Superman, and X-Men had children and adults alike rushing to get home before their favorite show started. However, one of the premier shows was undoubtedly Batman: The Animated Series — a show that, at the time, was considered to be the best comic book cartoon of all time.

It had all of the drama, action, and comedy that anyone could want from a show, and it was also influential in that it created Harley Quinn, a character who would go on to become one of the most iconic comic book characters of all time.

It’s been over 25 years since the show debuted but, after all this time, does it still hold up? It certainly does.

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Batman: The Animated Series has more than a few things that have kept the show entertaining over two decades later. First, Batman and Bruce Wayne remain fresh and layered. Your lead character has to remain fresh or the show will get boring, and both Batman and Bruce are complex characters. Batman has to be intimidating, smart, and sometimes creative to beat some of the most complex villains. Conversely, Bruce Wayne has to be naive and a little awkward. Bruce Timm, a co-creator of the show and the architect behind the DC Animated Universe, wrote 85 episodes and managed to keep his lead character interesting on every occassion.

Then there are the compelling stories. At no point did the audience anticipate the ending. Every week, we watched, waiting (and hoping) for Batman to defeat his enemy. And how he did it made the show incredible. The best part is that he did it differently every time. Punching the Riddler may take him down, but you have to find him first. And not every installment was wrapped up in a half hour. There were more than a few episodes that ended with, “To be continued…”

Of course, there’s also the plethora of exceptional villains. Everyone knew who the Joker was. He was always one of the most recognized faces in pop culture, but what Mark Hamill did for the Clown Prince of Crime was nothing short of amazing. His voice is the one most fans hear when they think of Joker, and his laugh is still one of the best. There were also characters like Ra’s al Ghul, who the casual fan may not have known that, but became popular after he debuted. And he quickly solidified himself as someone who could match Batman in terms of intelligence and fighting prowess.

Before writing this piece, I took a step back to make sure that nostalgia wasn’t playing a part in my opinion. And it wasn’t. Most of the stories are still entertaining and heavy. Villains like Mr. Freeze and Baby Doll were given sympathetic tales. While audiences knew their methods were wrong, you still understood why they the were people they became and why they were doing what they set out to do. Villains that are clear cut are great, but being more than just the base bad guy is important.

To this day, Batman: The Animated Series is the most complete cartoon of all time. Main characters like Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and Robin played their roles to perfection, while the side characters like Harvey Bullock were flawless additions, adding witting banter and growth as the show progressed. This may very well be the greatest cartoon of all time.