Friday at the Batman: The Brave and the Bold panel, things started off great. It was announced that on August 17 we would get Season 1 Volume 1 (okay, maybe not super great since it's not the complete season). On September 7 the video game comes out. Even John DiMaggio, voice of Aquaman, showed up moments before the panel started. We also had Diedrich Bader (Batman), James Tucker (Producer), Michael Jelenic (Producer), Andrea Romano (Voice Director) and Sam Register (Executive Producer) moderating.
Then came the bad news. This will be the final thirteen episodes of the series. We got to see a live reenactment between "Batman" and "Aquaman" as to how they would take the news. But it wasn't all bad news.
== TEASER ==
We were informed that the Music Meister episode is up for an Emmy. Andrea Romano was asked if it was more difficult to work on a musical episode and she said it wasn't. They were lucky to get Neil Patrick Harris to take the role. She also commented on how strange it was to see a German dubbed version of the episode with a German voice actor that sounded just like Neil. Andrea's first exposure to Batman was the Adam West version and she's enjoyed that this series hasn't been as serious as some of the past ones. We've been getting to see a different side of Batman.
Producer James Tucker said they never make fun of Batman and he doesn't always have to be serious. He related it to the weird 50s stories that people like Grant Morrison have read. Despite the bad news of the series ended, it was announced that Tucker would be working on a new Batman series. He said it would be like the dark Dark Knight and joked, "I think he's going to be a serial killer in the next one."
Producer Michael Jelenic mentioned that we would be seeing more musicals. He and Tucker are both fans of musicals. He joked that the reason they keep doing musicals is because they get residuals.
John DiMaggio was glad that he got to make Aquaman cool again. Why shouldn't Aquaman be cool. In the last version we saw in Justice League of America, he would summon a whale. "Another whale?!?" This Aquaman is more "broad and fun." "They let me go and have fun with him." (We'll have an interview with DiMaggio up later).
Once again, Diedrich's kids were at the panel dressed as characters again. Last year they dressed as Marvel characters and this year they dressed as Ra's al Ghul and Black Canary (you'll be able to hear more about his kids and the pronunciation when our interview with Diedrich is posted).
More good news, we got to watch a complete new episode. It started out with Batman and Robin. We got to see "Rainbow Batman"!! The main episode was (wait for it...) "Emperor Joker" written by Steven Melching and directed by Ben Jones. It starts out with Batman fighting the Ten-Eyed Man along with Bat-Mite (voiced again by Paul Reubens) showing up. Without giving away too much, I will say that Joker gets Bat-Mite's powers, there is a musical number, Joker has a familiar looking female hench-person and Batman dies. Oops, too much information there? You'll definitely want to see this episode.
During the Q&A session, Diedrich mentioned that they will be getting two of the biggest Justice League members to show up. They had to get permission from DC to use them. He also hinted that one is masculine and the other is feminine. On the "Batman from Planet X" episode which featured Kevin Conroy, Diedrich mentioned that they couldn't be in the same room when recording. He said it could cause the timestreams to cross and create chaos. He also said he thinks that Kevin is the best Batman.
Andrea brought up how she's cast Batman about twelve times now. Kevin Conroy was the first. Each Batman she's cast has been different and brought a new interpretation. She said she looks for versatility and acting. It doesn't matter how many voices someone can do if they can't act. She can't teach that.
John was asked what he'd give to work on the show again. "This is an 18 and under crowd so I can't say what I'd give...but it would be the left one or the right one."
Next we got to get information on Young Justice. It's a different take and premieres in November. It's all about secrets and lies. It will have a firm part in the DC multiverse set on Earth-16. It's not the Teen Titans or Justice League Unlimited. It's a more realistic approach and will have appearances by Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Captain Marvel and others. Young Justice will be their secret weapon.
We'll be seeing Dick Grayson Robin who is 13. He has the most experience but won't be the leader. Leadership goes to Aqualad. Geoff Johns gave permission for Aqualad's father to be revealed. It's Black Manta, if you hadn't already guessed. We'll also see Kid Flash (Wally West, age 15), Superboy (age 16 weeks), Miss Martian (16 Martian years) and Artemis (age 15).
The clip looked amazing. Considering I don't get a chance to sit in many panels at Comic-Con, this was a great one to sit through.