Later episodes would jettison the two detectives for entirely different reasons, eventually bringing in the likes of Batgirl (via Gordon's noticeably younger daughter Barbara), Robin, and Nightwing, plus a new crop of foes such as Poison Ivy, Toymaker, Clayface, Black Mask, The Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn, and even a sudden heel turn for a friend introduced during earlier times. The show's fifth and final season, which was made without the involvement of departing original producers Jeff Matsuda and Michael Jelenic, understandably took a different approach, often pairing Batman and his young sidekicks with DC notables including Justice League members Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkeye, as well as bringing in appropriate baddies such as Lex Luthor, Sinestor, the Mirror Master, and many more. All the while, it graduated towards slightly more serialized stories, though more in the vein of multi-part storylines and character development than air-tight continuity. Most fans of the series consider seasons 3-5 to be of overall higher quality than the first two and, while none approach the level of Batman's best incarnations (animated or otherwise), these more ambitious years at least elevated the series proper to modest heights.

Behind the microphone, The Batman features a wealth of voice talent including Rino Romano (new to Batman/Bruce Wayne, but a great choice for the dual role), Jerry O'Connell, Mitch Pileggi, Alastair Duncan, and Ming-Na Wen; guest appearances and other a few recurring / minor roles are filled out by the likes of Kevin Michael Richardson, Gwendoline Yeo, Piera Coppola, Ron Perlman, Clancy Brown, Gina Gershon, Brandon Routh, Jason Marsden, Robert Englund, Patton Oswalt, John Larroquette, Diedrich Bader, Tom Kenny, Jeff Bennett, John DiMaggio, Miguel Ferrer, Frank Gorshin, Jim Cummings, Richard Green, Dan Castellaneta, Phil LaMarr, and Mark Hamill as someone who isn't The Joker. The Batman also served as an early launching period for several young crew members including Sam Liu and Brandon Vietti, who would go on to direct quality feature-length Batman direct-to-video fare such as Soul of the Dragon and Under the Red Hood ... but then again, they also directed The Killing Joke and Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery.

All told, The Batman a decent enough series that may have aged better than you remember and plays well on Warner Bros.' welcome new Blu-ray edition: pairing a new 1080p widescreen presentation (which showcases the series in its proper 1.78:1 aspect ratio for the first time) with lossless audio and a nice collection of bonus features, The Batman: The Complete Series makes for a no-nonsense package that should appeal to Batman fans of all ages.

If you squint hard enough, The Batman doesn't look half bad; the show's ultra-flat and very simple aesthetic (to put it kindly) translates well enough to high definition, with an overall smooth and readable appearance that will look pretty damn good on most small or mid-sized displays. But closer examination reveals plenty of problems, mostly in the areas of compression artifacts, jagged edges (although some may be baked into the source material, as the show did often feature scruffy linework), and especially banding. Gradient skies and shadowy interiors are absolutely slathered with banding at times, and it can be awfully distracting once you notice the problem. (Later episodes traded in flat skies for weird swirly backgrounds, which hide some of these problems but are distracting in a completely different way.) Along with those compression and encoding-related issues also come mild amounts of black crush and posterization, although "blacks" are actually more of a soft, medium gray in most cases so it's not always as noticeable. What we're left with is a passable* presentation that could have been further improved with more careful treatment. Either way, the included 40 screenshots (which briefly touch on all five seasons) at least offer a largely faithful representation of how these Blu-rays look, although some of those compression-related problems aren't quite as noticeable in motion.

* While both my score and comments paint an obviously less-than- perfect picture, this Blu-ray collection does look quite a bit stronger than the included 1.33:1 DVD-era clips featured on several vintage behind-the-scenes featurettes included as bonus features. The mid to late 2000-era DVD releases, while likely good enough for their time, likely don't hold a candle to this Blu-ray collection in any major category and the visuals will not be revisited anytime soon.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during all episodes and bonus features.

NEW! The Dark Dynasty Continues (15:56) - This all-new retrospective featurette takes a look back at The Batman's development and legacy, including the studio-mandated limitations put on it in the considerable wake of Batman: The Animated Series and Christopher Nolan's upcoming Batman Begins, as well as the challenges of portraying the character's early years from a new perspective. Key participants include producer / head writer Duane Capizzi, voice director Andrea Romano, director Brandon Vietti, voice actor Rino Romano (Batman), director Sam Liu, writer Steven Melching, and voice actor Alastair Duncan (Alfred).

Season 3 Unmasked (8:05) - Several key contributors, including voice actors and other members of creative team such as producer / head writer Duane Capizzi, offer a brief overview of the third season from a production and story standpoint, with Batgirl understandably dominating the discussion.

Joining Forces: The Batman's Legendary Team-Ups (25:21) - Members of the creative team speak about later-season episodes featuring the Justice League, many of which were inspired by the comics.

Season 4 Unmasked (9:22) - This second installment of "Unmasked" goes into slightly more detail than the Season 3 piece, likely due to the higher quality of episodes, and features similar contributors.

The Batman Junior Detective Challenge (5:28) - A kid-friendly trivia game -- self-playing, not interactive -- that's nonetheless almost punishing in its quick speed if you don't have the pause button handy.

The Batman Junior Detective Exam - Level 2 (4:44) - As the name implies, it's another trivia game... this time narrated by The Batman himself rather than Alfred, although the DVD-ROM "reward" isn't carried over.

Building The Batman (6:43) - Half toy commercial and half featurette, this short piece -- winkingly "hosted" by Detective Yin -- includes video shot at Mattel Toys and jokey interviews with the show's creative team.

Gotham PD Case Files (6:24) - A brief primer of the Rogue's Gallery villains accomplished by re-used (and very jerky) animation from the show. Not exactly valuable stuff, but it's here.

New Look, New Direction, New Knight (5:45) - Duane Capizzi, Jeff Matsuda, and others speak about The Batman's bold visual approach, character designs, and other production tidbits.