Batman: The Brave and the Bold may be aimed at kids, but the Cartoon Network series has given fanboys (and girls) plenty to geek out about. With appearances by heroes both iconic (Green Arrow) and obscure (B’wana Beast, anyone?!), the show has tapped into
DC Comics' rich archives for a colorful cast of friends and foes for the Caped Crusader.
The series returns with new episodes on January 1, bringing Batman a new batch of super friends. Among this winter's guests stars is
Firestorm, a longtime second-tier character with a strong cult following who uses nuclear energy to change the atomic structure of inorganic objects. These powers were gained when two men were caught in the middle of a nuclear accident, which merged them into one flame-haired crimefighter.
Everybody Hates Chris star
Tyler James Williams provides the voice for Jason Rusch, who hosts the dual personality in his body, while
SpongeBob SquarePants’
Bill Fagerbakke plays ex-jock Ronnie Raymond, whose consciousness is along for the ride. (
In the comics, Ronnie was the original Firestorm, paired with brainy physicist Martin Stein.) “When they combine it’s basically the smart kid has the body and he’s got this dumb guy in his head telling him stuff,” says producer
James Tucker. “It’s like the flip side of mentoring. Usually you have the rebellious kid and the older stable guy trying to tell him what to do. This time the kid is stable and the older guy is telling him to lighten up.”
The episode’s main villain is Doctor Double X, a little known character who
first appeared in the 1950s, and Tucker advises to “look for lots of cameos of obscure Batman villains. This is definitely a fanboy’s freeze-frame episode. “
Also on the docket are the
Metal Men (making their animation debut), the
Justice Society (coincidentally
also showing up on Smallville in early 2010) and episodes that give fan favorites Aquaman and Plastic Man their own solo adventures. As always, expect a light-hearted tone that matches up with the show’s bright, retro-style animation. “I always want this show to be what comic books were for me when I was a kid,” Tucker says. “An adult could read a comic book, a kid could read a comic book and you didn’t have to worry about it being too young for the adult or too old for the kid. They just wrote them at a level that was accessible to a broader range of people. There’s not much of that in comics right now. [
The Brave and the Bold is] an introduction for kids to some good, old American entertainment that’s changed since we were kids.”