Here’s how “Tests” is described:
A new villain has come to town to challenge Batman for control of Gotham City: Anarky (Wallace Langham). Resembling a ghost image of Batman, Anarky prides himself on his brilliance — and intends to prove it to Batman by manipulating a pair of unsuspecting pawns to do his bidding. But Anarky’s real plan is far more devastating: seeking to create a disaster seen by all of Gotham and proving once and for all that even the great Batman is powerless to protect his fair city from the clutches of Anarky.
I look forward to your thoughts, opinions, gripes, live-blogging, etc.
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You have no idea how happy I am to hear that Anarky is FINALLY being used outside the comics. He’s a character that could easily be the primary villain in a video game or movie. No idea why it’s taken this long for him to be involved in the media until now. (Actually he is rumored to be in ARKHAM ORIGINS which, if true, will be sweet too.)
He IS in AA. There are screenshots, if you haven’t seen them. 🙂
At least three reasons:
1. He’s a character who has been very much attached to his original creator, in this case Alan Grant, and it seems it sometimes takes a few years to throw that yoke (Fantomex and Quentin Quire for instance).
2. He’s a highly political character (thus a constant source of potentially unwanted controversy) whose creator has nonetheless refused to state which side of the political divide he is supposed to be on. He has been portrayed as both a hard-core socialist and a free-market rationalist over the years and so noone is probably sure exactly how to portray him correctly.
3. Isn’t his character originally a little kid dressed as an adult (thus the strange body shape in the original comics)? It can lead to some iffy situations when you have a child being portrayed as a bloodthirsty criminal and/or being chased down and beaten up by the adult Batman.
1. True
2. Also true.
3. I’m not sure, I didn’t get to be a 90’s kid and always have trouble looking for back-issues of LotDK and SotB…
Yea I remember him being a teenager.
He was a teenager and that was the initial twist because Alan Grant wanted you to believe it was the obvious but it wound up being someone’s kid.
So what if he has specific, political leanings? Not to get on a soap box but considering today’s climate of Democracy and Capitalism a villain like Anarky would be topical for a film. I liked Bane in DARK KNIGHT RISES but the way he acted it felt more like Anarky then anything else. And it would be cool if they kept the teenager angle because it would make him even more unique to other Bat-villains in films. Nolan’s films were great because he also used less loved characters like Scarecrow, Ra’s Al Ghul, and even Zsasz!
So yeah….obviously I think he would be a great choice for a movie.
Unless I later hear about an episode that rivals “Robin’s Reckoning”, this is my last shot with the show. 🙁
This was a pretty crappy episode I thought. That DDDS goon sounded kinda racist, and Anarky was kind of an idiot. He breaks the same 2 guys out of jail twice and they get their heads locked together twice. Why not get more guys? And why did he pick those 2? Nobody better was available? Anarky’s dialogue kinda sucked too. Does anybody else think he’s meant to be a stand-in for the Joker with the way he was portrayed here?
Some parts were cool though, like that batbike turning into a glider (though really implausible) and Bats saving the gondolas. Katana is coming off as kind of dumb (a rich guy with deathtraps in his gym and a private library is a geek with too much time on his hands?!) but looks like we’ll see more development on her soon. I’m beginning to suspect that she was put into the show to appeal to girls, which makes sense I guess. But that was the goal I don’t see why they couldn’t use Batgirl, Black Canary, or Huntess.
Just once, I’d like to see a batman adaptation (movie or show) made soon where Bats already has a Robin and they work together and fight crime and act like the dynamic duo. Hopefully that’s part of the
Part of the new reboot, I meant to say.
@IthoSapien I agree, another disappointing episode… I honestly don’t think that tossing in a girl ACTUALLY appeals to younger girls. I get that that’s the purpose, but I’m not sure that it really works.
If I remember correctly, B:TAS started with Robin from the get-go, right? It’s proven that it works, but I guess when most people hear Robin they think Burt Ward or Chris O’Donnel… I seriously doubt that WB would toss Robin in the new Batman movies, sadly…
You’re right, Batman:TAS did have a Robin set-up in the beginning. What I want tho, is to a Batman introduced who already has a 8 or 12 year old ward who works with him fighting crime known as Robin. The Arkham games have done this pretty well, but those used the Timmverse New Batman cartoons as a launch point.
I’m sick of seeing a just-starting Batman who slowly takes on a Batgirl and Robin. Why not start with Batman and Robin from the get-go? Plus this lack of exposure of Robin just extends this belief that Batman doesn’t need him or that he can’t “work” in a Batman context.
My biggest gripe is that, like Pug, Anarky was SEVERELY watered down… And it’s a shame that this is the first exposure to these obscure characters for MANY people.
“PYG” not “PUG”
Myself included- however, it’s still a net positive.
I think I’m going to hold out hope that this turns out like the GL series. I had the same ho-hum feeling about the first few GL episodes, but those were really just establishing the sandbox that the rest of the series would play in. If they can pull off a season filling backstory/story this could turn out great. Surprisingly the art and voice on the show looks great.
I LOVE this show. I finally had time to watch the last 2 episodes back to back this weekend. I hope it’s on air for a long time. I love Katana’s character in this show too. Alfred took me a little while to get used to but I am starting to like him too.
@Daningotham, what are you loving about this show? Just curious. To me it’s only a minor step up from Brave and the Bold.
Brave and the Bold wasn’t THAT bad. Especially now that I’ve seen Teen Titans GO!
I think BatB was leaps and bounds better than this. But it was a very different take on Batman that I understand a lot of people aren’t into. Obviously the gold standard is Btas. I think BatB showed a very different Batman and that’s what made it work. The whole thing felt like a giant homage to Batman ’66, but with a considerably bigger budget. The Batman always felt like it was trying to do something new with it’s characters. It gave us a little less experienced Bruce with more of an emphasis on his gadgets. The villains were mostly familiar, but each had a certain unique twist that separated them from other incarnations. This show has given us a new dynamic with Alfred that could be interesting and I’m excited to see their take on Katana (whenever she finally gets to suit up…). But for the most part, it seems like the same old Batman, but with less interesting villains. The producers are constantly talking about how they want to use the villains to explore different aspects of Bruce Wayne, but I don’t think they are quite pulling it off. Pyg and Toad obviously had to be toned down for TV audiences, but they seemed to be stripped of everything that made them interesting in the comics. This was perhaps the second best use of Magpie ever, but since she’s only in like three comics, that doesn’t really say much. And Anarky was an interesting character, but we got barely any of him and instead the episode focused on two one note characters who we probably won’t ever see again. I feel like they are still setting up all the pieces, which is fine. But I’ll be glad when they’re actually ready to play with them. Sorry to ramble…
Oh man, I just realized those artists were Junkyard Dog and Doodlebug from Arkham Asylum: Living Hell. Great comic that doesn’t get enough love.