Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez The Batman cartoon series had several seasons back in 2004, and while the first season had the Caped Crusader go solo, later seasons would bring in Batgirl and Robin. Due to Robin being popular in the Teen Titans cartoon show, and to avoid confusion, this time around Batgirl becomes Batman's sidekick in the second season.  In the TV show, Barbara was friends with Pamela and due to a series of circumstances, Pamela would become Poison Ivy and Barbara would become Batgirl. As you can tell from the title, issue 18 brings Batgirl into the comic book series, so let's take a look at the comic debut of this version of the character.  "The Greenhouse Effect" opens with Commissioner Gordon calling his daughter Barbara and trying to find out where she is that late at night. Barbara said she needed a break from studying and went out for a walk. Actually, Barbara is dressed as Batgirl and staking out some trouble-makers that are breaking into washing machines ...

 By Mark Rodriguez The Batman was the first new Batman cartoon to show a different incarnation of the Dark Knight that wasn't tied to The Animated Series and Justice League. I'm not sure how beloved it was when it first came out, but I remember it took a lot of flak because it was different from the DCAU shows. It also came out at an odd time when they couldn't use Robin since he was associated with the Teen Titans cartoon, and they also couldn't use Rahs Al Ghul, Scarecrow and Two-Face since they were in the Nolan movies. Joker got a pass cause he's the Joker. The show inspired a comic book series I didn't know existed and I managed to grab a handful of copies at the mall, so let's check them out one by one. Since I've binge watched the show a few years go, I'll add extra context on this version of the characters when needed. "Sands of Time" opens with Clayface burying Batman and Catwoman in clay as they fight on a penthouse rooftop. Batma...