In the teaser, Batman has a rematch with Black Manta, this time alongside B'Wana Beast. Unlike in JLU, which did try to make many awkward DC heroes "cool", this show embraces all of those wild and bizarre third stringers. So the Beaster here retains his ability to "merge" animals into weird gestalt creatures that have the best traits. Fortunately, Batman himself sees the ability as "incredibly gross", and that is why the bit works. B'Wana Beast, of course, uses his gifts to the fullest, whether it is making a Spider-Horse or a Pelican-Shark. Reminded me of Bart's evil twin Gomez from the TREEHOUSE OF HORROR: "See? I've been practicing. I've made a Pigeon-Rat!" Played by Kevin Micheal Richardson (who has become a WB/DC veteran actor in a few years time), B'Wana Beast is as manic as one would expect.
Probably what I like about this Batman more than others is that he comes across as unique simply BECAUSE he has a genuine sense of humor, or even companionship with other heroes. Most other Batman animated incarnations embrace his loner-ness to the point where he barely has friends and seems to exist on the Justice League out of convenience or professionalism. Here, it seems like Batman genuinely likes hanging out with other superheroes sometimes. His parent's deaths motivate him to fight crime, but they haven't sucked out a lot of his optimism. Some see this as the "Superfriends" Batman, but as the show goes along I am seeing this having some similarities to how Morrison sometimes described Batman, as someone who has worked through a lot of his issues just through sheer success as a crime fighter. He's fought and fought alongside damn near everything and everyone. Usually in other shows, Batman would be gruff if someone stepped into "his" city, or would only team up if he absolutely had to, and usually insisted on calling the shots. While some of those qualities still exist here between Batman and some heroes, Batman in BRAVE AND THE BOLD also seems to treat heroes as rivals and even peers. It's Batman as "typical daylight hero" I suppose, but they are embracing that depiction with full gusto without being ashamed of it, and it has been a while since that has been on TV.
The best parts of the episode are Batman's interactions with Wildcat, voiced by R. Lee Ermey. While he isn't as intense as Dennis Farina from JLU, and certainly sounds a bit older, he brings his own charm to the role. Lost as a minor detail in his single JLU appearance, this episode makes full light of the idea that Wildcat actually was around long before most "modern" heroes and trained some of them, including Batman himself. Batman shows up for a sparring match to keep things loose, as well as to check on his mentor, who has heart issues. Wildcat, for his part, thinks Batman is simply doting on him because he is old and hates being presumed to be over the hill, and refuses to retire. The only thing I didn't care for was the mask; it looked more canine than feline to me. Still, there is something interesting about seeing Batman and Wildcat hop on their custom vehicles to go chase some bad guys; from how neither how powers to the animal themes, one can see the connections between the two. Some of Batman's lines about Wildcat "fighting time" as an enemy he can't beat were amazingly well done for a show that is trying to be "light". It at least shows that "light" doesn't have to mean "flat".
Where the episode stumbles are with the titular guest stars, the Outsiders. Basically a gang of three teenage characters, Black Lightening, Metamorpho, and Katana, they seem out on random rampages, which is an all too cliche plot device to get heroes and villains to fight. Scott Menville, best known as Ma-Ti on CAPTAIN PLANET AND THE PLANETEERS and Robin from TEEN TITANS, voices Metamorpho here and he comes off a bit awkward, honestly. He had some decent lines but I just couldn't buy a teenage Metamorpho. Or it could be because I have always hated his comic design; he always looks like a different blind artist designed each body part and someone merged them. I know it is intentional, but it makes him look color clashed. Black Lightening and Katana fare a bit better, being passable as teenage gangers like they are supposed to be. Bumber Robinson, who has had some minor roles on BATMAN BEYOND and BATMAN:TNGA (as well as the recent TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED, where he stars as Bumblebee) plays Black Lightening here and he does fine.
It is worth noting of course that while various African American DC superheroes with electricity powers have appeared in animation, this is the first time Black Lightening *actually* appears. SUPERFRIENDS shifted it to "Black Vulcan". Modern audiences best recall Dwayne McDuffie's younger homage, STATIC SHOCK, who has an allusion in this episode. And of course, "Juice" was one of the Ultimen in JLU. Honestly, though, none of the three Outsiders came off well as characters, which is probably why the episode stumbled. They were just misled teens with super-powers, something we have seen all too common from DC shows to X-Men cartoons and so on. What they can do seemed to be more important than who they are and was 90% of what we saw of them. Thus, Lightening is the electric shooter, Katanna the girl with a sword and Metamorpho the shape-shifter. Unless you count things like Meta liking cookies or Katanna speaking rarely (and when she does, she is to the point). Honestly the Outsiders here almost seemed like refugees from the Hive Five from TEEN TITANS.
Seemingly just a gang of trouble makers, the Outsiders are part of an underground group run by a massive albino obese man named Slug, who may be based on some other DC characters, but here just came off with the whole "us freaks got to stick together in the sewers and smash those pretty surface people" we have seen a million times since Mole Man. Slug of course is more zealous the the trio and sees them as means to and end.
The highlights include Wildcat seeming to always spar against Metamorpho and even begin to hold his own for a while. When both are trapped (once again due to Wildcat's bumbling), Batman acknowledges that he saw the old timer as a father figure, hence his concern, which, again, for a "light" show was actually kind of touching for Batman to display genuine feelings with characters other than Robin or Alfred. Wildcat proves to have some tricks up his whiskers when he goads Slug into a boxing match. Taking the slob's best punches, Wildcat gets in some good trash talk and lowers the boom, KO'ing the lug into some toxic waste. I was particularly fond of, "I'd better turn up my hearing aid, because all I can hear is you sucking wind!" Batman, meanwhile, escapes being eaten by some giant turtles (it is a WEIRD episode). Probably forgetting that Batman warned about the dangers of toxic waste mutations, Slug emerges a monster in time to convince the Outsiders to give Wildcat's teaching a chance, especially since he starts smashing everything in sight. The bad guy is beaten, Wildcat is saved from a near-fatal heart attack, and the kids get to train in his gym.
In JLU, Wildcat got decently fleshed in his one episode as a superhero who was borderline over the hill who was driven by his urge to compete and an almost uncontrollable anger. This Wildcat wasn't anywhere near as angry, almost to the point where some could say his "old jokes" got a little predictable. The show works best in archetypes; Blue Beetle the awe-stricken rookie, Plastic Man the reformed thief, Green Arrow the cocky rival, Aquaman the overconfident braggart, and so on. Which means here, Wildcat came off as the "old timer hero". He did everything but walk with a cane and cough mid-battle. But that is alright because he proved to still have "a strong jaw and a good uppercut" and in a way I did like how while he was old, he wasn't exactly the best experienced hero, as he was far more headstrong than Batman was with charging into situations. This version of Wildcat, you could say, worked better as a mentor; the JLU version was just so angry one could barely imagine anyone wanting to trust him.
Like I said, the Outsiders were where things fell through a bit for me. While this show isn't about remaking the wheel and has always used some well worn bits, this episode's bits just seemed more worn than others. Still, I did like how various people reacted to Wildcat's "energy drink mix". While Diedrich Bader will never replace Kevin Conroy in the hearts of Batman, I think he is doing well for this incarnation and approach to Batman. While in some episodes, the Batman tech is a bit ridiculous, this episode Batman really just used his Batarangs, some tracking devices and brute strength (enough to snap chains, apparently).