Batman The Brave and The Bold The Complete First Season Cover
Batman: The Brave and The Bold The Complete First Season Cover

Batman: The Brave and The Bold is . . . unique. Well, it’s unique when looked at alongside the litany of animated iterations of the Caped Crusader that have found their way to television over the last few decades. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s got an underlying level of camp that actually works, and it feels like a late 60’s – 70’s comic book (which this little ray of animated sunshine got its name) or animated series slightly updated for the 21st Century. I instantly found myself taken in by this fun throwback of a series back when it was originally running every Friday on Cartoon Network from 2008 – 2011. With that said I never purchased any of the DVD editions of collected episodes and seasons due to the sporadic nature of said releases and the “just OK” sound and video quality those DVDs possessed. Granted, they weren’t horrible, but I will be honest in saying I was holding out for a Blu-Ray release at some point.

Well Huzzah!

"Gotham by Gaslight"? Etrigan? I'm in!
“Gotham by Gaslight”? Etrigan? I’m in!

Batman: The Brave and The Bold The Complete First Season is the first animated release from Warner Archive and the quality of the content of the two-disc set (which is two discs fewer than the previously-released DVD set, might I add) is superb.  This release sports 1080p High-Def and DTS-HD Master Audio, meaning all 26 episodes from Season One are crisp, colorful, and bright visually (I told you this cartoon was like something from the 60’s!) and theater-quality sound aurally.The difference between the quality of the picture and sound on the Blu-Ray set and the DVD set are at least a mile apart. This is the way these episodes were meant to be enjoyed.

While the Blu-Ray is the superior release the set suffers from the same issues that all of the previous DVD releases suffered from: no special features. Not a vignette, no audio commentary, no behind-the-scenes process video. Nothing. I myself don’t partake in those things (so I don’t miss them when they aren’t included) but I know some consumers do and, in this respect, they will be disappointed. Maybe Warner Archive will heed the call and add some special features to the next installment . . . ? Only time will tell.

A lack of special features should not deter you from picking up this set. If you are a fan of Batman, a fan of this animated series in particular, or curious about a different approach to the Batman mythos in animated form then this is the way to do so!

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